A World of Disney Christmas

The First Tale

December 9, 1977 – The First Tale

It was supposed to have been Mad Man Mooney's Hubcap Heaven's big holiday sale – every car on the lot given away for the "reasonable" price of five thousand dollars. However, considering the insane price and horrid condition of the cars, it should not have come as a surprise to Mad Man Mooney why no one showed up. Because of the car dealer's displeasure in his failure, he took his frustrations on his "Jack," who actually went by the name of Sweetums. He assigned the large, hairy ogre to go out in the fierce cold and polish off the cars – a task Mooney knew was impossible with his rusty vehicles but assigned it just to see Sweetums suffer in the frigid weather.

Fortunately, because of his excessive fur, Sweetums barely felt the chilly breeze while he "polished" the heavily used cars on the lot. The ogre still bore a ripped-up scarf regardless of the fur protection; it seemed like the "festive" thing for him to do. As he carried out his boss's orders, he wished there was some way to bring customers to the lot. To Sweetums, the cars didn't look all that bad, and Mooney's prices weren't too shabby either, even though the ogre had major problems with math.

Just as Sweetums reached the third car on the lot, he caught a glimpse of something shiny sitting on the ground. Momentarily abandoning his duties, he picked the object up and examined it. "It's a hat," the ogre happily exclaimed, noticing how sparkly and brand new it looked. Its "stars and moon" design thrilled Sweetums to the core, urging him to put it on. The ogre did so and immediately felt a tingling sensation course through and make him burst out with laughter. "Oh, wow! That tickles!"

In his moment of fun, Sweetums placed a hand on the car that he meant to polish up. It was then that the unimaginable happened. That single touch engulfed the old, rusty vehicle in a golden hue that irradiated Mad Man Mooney's entire dreary lot for just a few seconds. Some passersby took notice in the magical scene and stopped long enough to see the old, rusty car that Sweetums stood near transform into a new, shiny sports car. Even the price tag on the vehicle changed to a more realistic price value of five hundred dollars.

"Whoa!" Sweetums shouted on the phenomenon.

"I'll take it!"

The ogre turned to where the excitable voice spoke from, seeing a man hold up five hundred-dollar bills in his hand. He was quickly overshadowed by a woman who rushed into the lot, doing the same. Soon enough, Sweetums was bombarded by dozens of people, all bidding for that one sports car. The overwhelmed ogre reflected from the mob, accidentally bumping into two other cars. Before he knew it, his touch once again transformed the decrepit vehicles into sporty new ones, further provoking the customers into frantic, on-the-spot bids.

All of the commotion soon went noticed by Mad Man Mooney, who rushed out of his office to find the crowd of hectic customers filling in. As grateful as he was with the sudden interest, he was puzzled over its source. Only when he spotted the new sports cars that somehow made it onto his lot did his confusion increase. Quickly, he interjected, "Hold it, everybody! Hold it! Hold it!" The crowd was silenced on Mooney's command, allowing Mooney to address Sweetums. "Jack, what's goin' on here? I ask you to do one simple thing – simple even for a big klutz like you – and you create havoc!"

"It was the weirdest thing, boss." Sweetums said. "I found this hat on the ground, put it on, and now whatever I touch becomes brand, spankin' new. See?" He demonstrated his newfound ability by touching another used car and instantly turning it into a new model that Mooney yet to see on the market.

The cigar in Mooney's mouth fell droopily to the ground. "W-Wow. Wow-wee. Wow-wee-woo. You've done it. You beautiful big klutz. You've really done it!"