“Come In! And Know Me Better, Man!" | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Mickey's Christmas Carol opens this scene with Scrooge in bed, still distraught over reliving his break-up with Isabelle. I suspect that's as close as we'll get to his acknowledgment to the Ghost of Christmas Present that he's still learning from the previous Spirit, but it's enough for now.

This version is one of those that had Marley announce that all three Spirits would visit in one evening, so Scrooge's little bedside clock chimes Two and not One before the next Ghost arrives. Scrooge isn't nervously anticipating the new Ghost; he's still beating himself up about Isabelle when a light comes on through his bedcurtains and he hears, "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!"

He peeks through the curtains and sees as lavishly decorated a room as we've had so far. This version has Scrooge living in pretty much just one room, so Scrooge doesn't even have to get out of bed to see what the Ghost has done.

Since we're dealing with a giant ghost, Disney has cast Willie the Giant from the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Willie's kind of a dumb character, which is funny, but that does mean we're not going to get the joyful, ultra compassionate character I love so much from other versions. But because Willie was created as an antagonist for "Mickey and the Beanstalk," he's going to be a bit threatening to Scrooge and that may not be entirely inappropriate as we go through these next scenes. 

Physically, Willie doesn't have either a beard or long hair, but he's dressed correctly in the green robe with white trim and the holly crown (still no icicles, though). His chest isn't particularly exposed, but then maybe that's best when this version isn't defined by his heart the way that others are. He's not wearing a shirt under the robe though, so that's something.

He also doesn't have bare feet (and won't really need them since we won't get Ignorance and Want in this version). Instead, he's wearing medieval hose like he did in "Beanstalk." He has no sheath or scabbard of any kind and doesn't even have the iconic cornucopia-shaped torch. He'll find another light source when they get outside, which will be funny, but I still miss that torch. Like I said, though, the room is packed with food and the Spirit is sitting on a literal throne that's covered in and surrounded by it. 

Scrooge is initially terrified of the Ghost, but after Willie declares that Scrooge is too distasteful and miserly to be appetizing to even a man-eating giant, Scrooge becomes more like his old self. Willie refers to the much more appealing food around them and Scrooge is greedily interested (unlike his earlier reaction to Donald's description of Christmas dinner). 

In lieu of Willie's actually being an exemplar of love and generosity himself, Disney has Scrooge ask where all the food came from, which prompts Willie to explain that it's "from the heart" and to give a speech about the generosity that Scrooge has "long denied your fellow man." That's what I mean about Willie's antagonistic background being a benefit. When he confronts Scrooge about his failings, it carries weight that little Jiminy Cricket - as fussy as he can be - could never bring.

Scrooge is still resistant though. He asks when anyone has ever been generous to him, clearly forgetting about the vision of Fezziwig he just experienced. But then again, the Fezziwig scene was really all about Isabelle for Scrooge.

Willie's first response to Scrooge's accusation is that "you've never given them reason" to be generous. That always makes me a little nervous, because I always forget what he says next. I don't like the implication that generosity is something that should be earned. Clearly people have been generous to Scrooge. Just look at Donald's consistent, annual invitation to Christmas dinner. That's a much stronger argument and happily it's where Willie is going next.

He tells Scrooge that there are people who care about him, but Scrooge is incredulous. By this time, Willie has already stuffed Scrooge in his giant pocket, so he lifts the roof off of Scrooge's house so that they can both leave and see what Willie's talking about.

This Scrooge is a tough nut to crack, so it works symbolically that the Spirit doesn't even ask him to take the minor action of touching the Spirit's robe. Instead, Scrooge is forcibly brought along with no choice in the matter.

“Another Idol Has Displaced Me” | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Mickey's Christmas Carol is so short that it's quite abridged and even left out the scene of Scrooge at school. Instead, the Ghost of Christmas Past took Scrooge directly to Fezziwig's which ended up being mostly about Scrooge's good days with Belle (or Isabelle, as she's called here). Watching this, Old Scrooge had sighed heavily and said that he remembered how much he was in love with her, almost willfully not thinking about how the relationship ended. Scrooge hadn't taken the Ghost very seriously, so maybe he didn't expect to have to watch the break-up scene. But the visit to the past is all about the one-two punch of Scrooge-in-love and then the break-up.

He still doesn't realize what's coming when the Ghost shows him his own office and says, "In ten years' time, you learned to love something else." Young Scrooge is at his desk, not even visible behind the huge stacks of gold coins that he's counting. Isabelle is there too, dressed warmly as if she's just come from outside. It's a colorful outfit and not suitable for mourning, but this very condensed version will provide a different, quick, clear reason for the break-up.

Isabelle talks about this little honeymoon cottage she has and wonders if Scrooge is going to keep his promise to marry her. She says, "Now I must know," which raises the question of why it's suddenly so important. Has she just run out of patience? If so, she's very sweet and humble about it. Or is there a material reason that she needs to know now? Maybe a financial one?

Scrooge's answer might be a clue. "Your last payment on the cottage was an hour late. I'm foreclosing the mortgage!" It's a ridiculous, comedic reason appropriate to this outlandish Scrooge, but Isabelle's being late with the payment might indicate that the cottage is a financial burden to her. Maybe she has a buyer who's interested in taking it off her hands and that's why she needs to know if she and Scrooge are ever going to use it. These details clearly aren't important to the story; they're just fun to speculate about. What is important is that we're seeing in action Scrooge's change in attitude toward money and toward Isabelle. It's a great example of showing instead of telling and it's played for laughs in a really effective way.

Old Scrooge does look upset about watching this, so it's effective when the Spirit piles on a little more guilt. "You loved your gold more than that precious creature, and you lost her forever." Scrooge pleads that he can no longer bear these memories and asks to be taken home. He's not super emotional about it like in Dickens and other adaptations, but any amount of regret from this Scrooge is a milestone.

After one last dig from the Ghost that Scrooge fashioned these memories himself, the scene dissolves back into Scrooge's bedroom where his bedside clock is chiming two.

“Why, It’s Old Fezziwig!” | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Mickey's Christmas Carol has some things in common with Rankin-Bass' also very abbreviated version. They both skip the schoolhouse scene and have the Ghost take Scrooge directly to Fezziwig's where the party is already in full swing. Mickey's has Scrooge reminisce fondly about Fezziwig though (where Rankin-Bass all but ignored the character).

The sign on the building says Fezziwig Tea Company, which is a cool, added detail. And as Scrooge wipes some soot off a window to peek inside, he admits, "I couldn't have worked for a kinder man." Jiminy Cricket is too polite a Ghost to challenge Fezziwig's service, not even rhetorically, but Scrooge's confession does show that he hasn't forgotten what kindness is. And it's a surprise to hear him speak fondly about it as a character trait.

Fezziwig is played by Toad from Disney's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which is a lovely piece of casting. Toad's silly, fun-loving nature fits wonderfully with jolly old Fezziwig. He's up on his high desk wearing a powdered wig and in this version he himself is the fiddler.

But even though Mickey's pays more attention to Fezziwig than Rankin-Bass did, the focus of the scene is still on Young Scrooge and Belle (renamed Isabelle and played by Daisy Duck). Old Scrooge finds his younger self sitting alone in a corner. He mentions that he was a "shy lad," but he seems nothing but pleased to be reliving these memories so far. Isabelle pulls Young Scrooge under the mistletoe, but he's too awkward to follow through on what she clearly wants. They dance instead and she ends by planting a kiss on his cheek, sending him all a'flutter.

Old Scrooge isn't melancholy about this at all. He sighs heavily and says that he remembers how much he was in love with her. It's like he's willfully not thinking about how the relationship ended. He probably doesn't realize that the Ghost is going to take him there to witness that, too. Since this is Scrooge's first stop on his tour of the Past, he hasn't really picked up yet what the Ghost is trying to accomplish.

Mickey's Scrooge was frightened by Marley's warnings, but recovered quickly when the Ghost of Christmas Past showed up. He hasn't really shown the Ghost any respect so far. I get the feeling that he knows he needs to change, but he's testing to see just how little he can change and still be okay. There's even a line in this scene where the Ghost notes that Young Scrooge hasn't yet become "a miserable miser consumed by greed." To which Scrooge replies, "Well, nobody's perfect." He tosses that out so playfully that I don't know whether or not he even believes it, but maybe that's the point. He's still trying out these old attitudes to see what will fly and what won't anymore.

The Ghost never takes Scrooge's bait though. He simply announces that he's about to contrast what Scrooge had with what he eventually lost.

“I Was a Boy Here!” | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Like The Stingiest Man in Town, Mickey's Christmas Carol also includes a flying scene, but Christmas Past bypasses the school and takes Scrooge's right to Fezziwig's.

The Spirit does get in a cute line though. When Scrooge expresses fear, Past says, "I thought you enjoyed looking down on the world."

“Your Reclamation, Then” | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

In Mickey's Christmas Carol, Scrooge seemed like a believer when he was talking to Marley, but his tone quickly changes once Marley's gone. He searches his room, and finding nothing, he grumbles, "Spirits." That doesn't necessarily mean that he no longer believes in Marley's ghost, but maybe he thinks that Marley was wrong about the other visitors. At any rate, he goes to bed with a final, "Humbug!"

He does fall asleep and we get a nice POV shot of something bouncing into the room and landing on Scrooge's nightstand. It's Jiminy Cricket, who raps his umbrella on the bells of Scooge's clock. That's all the chiming we'll get, but this Marley never made any predictions about what time the spirits would show up. In fact, Scrooge's clock says that it's not quite ten minutes after midnight. So no waiting around 'til one this time.

Jiminy makes an okay Spirit of Christmas Past. He's tiny (something that Scrooge comments on), but his real advantage is his personality and the role he's known for in Pinocchio. It's in character for him to lecture about morality, which will be a major part of his job in the coming scenes as he points out the lessons that Scrooge should have learned in his past. Unlike some of the other characters in this adaptation, Jiminy's look isn't modified to represent Dickens' version. There's not so much as a holly branch. In fact, the only modification to Jiminy's traditional look is that his medal now says "Ghost of Christmas Past - Official" instead of "Official Conscience."

Scrooge and the Spirit's conversation is almost entirely changed from Dickens. They briefly debate the importance of kindness before Jiminy declares that Scrooge didn't always undervalue the trait. As Scrooge tries to ignore him and go back to sleep, the Spirit hops over to the window and opens it. The snowy breeze gets Scrooge out of bed as the Spirit announces that they're going to visit Scrooge's past. Scrooge worries that he'll fall, but the Spirit hops in his hand and tells him to "just hold on." Then he opens his umbrella and flies out the window, dragging Scrooge behind him like Mjolnir pulling Thor. Well, maybe not so gracefully as that.

There's no touching Scrooge's heart and all together it appears that Scrooge has backslid in this scene. He seemed willing to change with Marley, but he doesn't respect this little Spirit. He's going to need some more convincing.

“More of Gravy than of Grave” | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

In Mickey's Christmas Carol, Scrooge has a lion-faced knocker again. Dickens doesn't describe it that way (or at all, except for its being large), so I did some quick Googling to try to find the first instance where it's depicted as lion-shaped. I didn't have any luck, except to find this cool Brief History of Door Knockers that explains that lions were an incredibly popular shape to put a knocker in. They symbolize strength and honor and they just look darn cool. There's even one on the Prime Minister's house at 10 Downing Street. So this might not be a case of everyone's imitating a particular illustration or movie depiction of Scrooge's knocker. Could just be everyone having similar ideas about what the knocker might have looked like and what's most visually impressive.

Something else visually impressive is ignoring Dickens' "no intermediate process of change" and having the knocker morph into Marley's face. That's what Mickey's does and it looks great. Scrooge also gets to interact with Marley a little here. Marley moans Scrooge's name which leads Scrooge to test his senses by tweaking Marley's nose. Since Marley is played by Goofy, there's plenty of room for silliness. I'll talk in a minute about whether that's a good thing.

Scrooge is a little freaked out by the encounter and rushes inside, but he decides it was his imagination. There's no hearse on the stairs - in fact, the stairs are narrow and creaky in keeping with Scrooge's miserliness - but Marley's shadow follows Scrooge up with some more interaction. It's a pretty funny bit with Marley trying to be sneaky, but his clanking chains give him away. So Scrooge turns to look and Marley disappears, then reappears to mess with Scrooge some more when Scrooge continues walking. Scrooge is getting concerned now and rushes into his room where he bolts the door. No simple double-lock for this version; Scrooge has six locks.

Since Marley's following Scrooge, there's no time for searching the apartment or fixing gruel. Scrooge keeps his coat and hat and hides in a big chair, but Marley comes on through the locked door. He's wearing the bandage (never takes it off though) and is blue and transparent.

Scrooge shivers and quakes comically. None of this is supposed to be actually scary and Marley is even a little hurt that Scrooge is afraid of him. "Don't you recognize me?" he asks. And that calms Scrooge down enough to have a conversation with his old friend, ghost or no ghost. There's no debate about Scrooge's senses. Right away, Scrooge is a believer.

The conversation is weird though, tonally. The problem with having Goofy play Marley - and this casting is the weakest thing about this version - is that he's so likable. It's hard to imagine Goofy doing all the horrible things he and Scrooge talk about. The dialogue even struggles with it, having Marley humorously proud of robbing widows and swindling the poor, then remembering that he's supposed to be sorry about it. It's not really sure how to play Marley, so it goes both ways.

Scrooge is consistent though. This version is a playful, happy miser. When Marley throws his chains and cash boxes (and a piggy bank) at Scrooge for emphasis, Scrooge picks up the bank and jiggles it, wondering how to get at the coins inside. But he's appropriately horrified by the thought that he'll have to share Marley's fate and he's immediately willing to change. When Marley predicts the coming spirits ("tonight," he says, so all in the same evening), Scrooge nods silently. He's not excited about it, but he's compliant.

There's no host of phantoms outside in this economical telling. Marley simply leaves the way he came in, by materializing back through the door. And tripping on a step on the way down. That Goofy.

His Usual Melancholy Tavern | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

Mickey's Christmas Carol all but eliminates this scene, but still brings in the melancholy aspect nicely. Cratchit goes home and leaves Scrooge alone at his desk until a slow dissolve brings a clock chiming nine o'clock. That's when Scrooge finally leaves the office, but the streets are empty now. Everyone is home and Scrooge only has the sound of a mournful oboe in the score to keep him company. He doesn't stop for dinner and the streets are still abandoned when he gets home.

His house is right on the sidewalk and well lit by a street lamp. Quite the opposite of the withdrawn location that Dickens described. As we'll see on Christmas morning, it gets a lot of activity in front of it during the day. None of that matters right now though. The fresh heaped snow, the gloomy lighting, and the music all make Scrooge and his house plenty sad and lonely.

“If Quite Convenient, Sir" | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

Because Mickey's Christmas Carol is balancing the characters' personalities with the established personalities of the "actors" playing them, Scrooge and Cratchit's relationship is a lot different here than in the other versions. Like the Carl Barks/Duck Tales Uncle Scrooge, Ebenezer Scrooge is a happy miser and his stinginess is played for laughs. And a couple of Mickey's defining traits are his pluck and optimism, so his Cratchit has that too. That means that he's more assertive than usual.

We already saw how Cratchit jumped into Scrooge's conversation with Fred when Scrooge started to get the better of his nephew. It's also Cratchit who brought up getting some time off for Christmas Day; not at closing time, but back when Scrooge first showed up at the office. That's all classic Mickey.

But there's also some traditional Cratchit, too. Mickey will stand up for the right thing to a point, but Cratchit's timidity - and Scrooge's large personality - keeps Mickey from taking over the role. So we have Cratchit's doing Scrooge's laundry and getting only a half day off on Christmas (unpaid).

Already though, there's affection between the two characters. Scrooge lets Cratchit leave a couple of minutes early, eliciting a genuine, "Thank you, sir! You're so kind!" from his clerk. Scrooge's response to the compliment is, "Never mind the mushy stuff!" And as Cratchit leaves, he accidentally wishes his boss a "Bah, Humbug" that he boldly changes to "Merry Christmas." Scrooge's "Bah" in response in almost warm.

Scrooge's problem in this version isn't that he's completely unfeeling, it's just that he lets his greed keep him from doing the right thing by people. Like the Rankin Bass version, this is a simplified Scrooge, but it's a fuller approach than the one Rankin Bass took. We're meant to like and root for Scrooge, not just judge and pity him.

There are no street scenes or carollers directly connected to this scene, but the adaptation covers that ground in other ways. We got lots of Christmas busyness and celebration in the opening shot as Scrooge walked to his counting-house (no social commentary about the poor in this one, outside of the charitable solicitors' remarks of course). And Cratchit's sliding scene is unnecessary, too.

When I was writing about the Richard Williams cartoon the other day, I noticed that it distances the viewer from Cratchit. I didn't remember until later that Dickens does the same thing. In fact, he doesn't even give us Cratchit's name right away, but just calls him "the clerk." The sliding scene is the first glimpse that Dickens gives us to any kind of joy in Cratchit's life or that he's even an important character at all. Mickey's Christmas Carol has already shown us both of those things.

'You Wish to Be Anonymous?' | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Index of other entries in The Christmas Carol Project

Possibly because Mickey's Christmas Carol puts as much value on humor as on faithfulness to Dickens, its Scrooge is arguably the most relatable version ever. As I've mentioned before, Disney's Scrooge isn't a miserable miser; he's a merry one. Unlike most other Scrooges, he gets joy out of his wealth and has a robust sense of humor. That's never more evident than in his encounter with the charitable solicitors, played in this version by Rat and Mole from The Wind in the Willows. (I used to get Rat confused with Basil from The Great Mouse Detective, because of his pipe and hat, but that character looks completely different.)

When Rat and Mole enter, Scrooge first thinks that they're Fred, coming back to irritate Scrooge some more. And why not? He quickly realizes his mistake though and warmly welcomes the pair, now thinking that they're customers. And again, why wouldn't he? For all his silliness, this Scrooge behaves more rationally around prospective customers than either Reginald Owen or the cartoon version of Alastair Sim.

Of course, when their true purpose is revealed, Scrooge changes his tune, but not dramatically or even noticeably. He has this in common with the cartoon Sim: he has a private joke at their expense. In Disney Scrooge's case, he cheerfully defeats them with logic, pointing out that if they give money to the poor, they won't be poor anymore, which means that Rat and Mole won't have to raise money for them anymore and will be out of a job. "Oh, please, gentlemen," he concludes. "Don't ask me to put you out of a job. Not on Christmas Eve!"

As he does this, he shows them outside, almost without their even realizing it. Once there, he turns nasty and throws Fred's wreath at them, saying that they can give that to the poor. Finally rid of them, he states outright his problem with charity: "What's this world coming to, Cratchit? You work all your life to get money, and people want you to give it away." It's the most clear - and again, relatable - rationale for Scrooge's bad behavior that we'll ever get in any version.

I'm not saying that a rational, relatable Scrooge is preferable to the more sinister, dramatically wicked versions, but it's a unique take and I'm glad it exists.

'Merry Christmas, Uncle!' | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

In Mickey's Christmas Carol, Fred doesn't enter abruptly (he's announced by the clanging of Scrooge's bell on the door), but he does enter boisterously. He's played by Donald Duck, after all, who's never been known for having a subdued personality. He enters with wreath in hand and shouts, "Merry Christmas!"

Donald's an interesting choice for Fred. Of course, he is Scrooge McDuck's nephew, so the casting is a no-brainer on that level, but Donald's famously short temper doesn't fit with how Fred is usually portrayed. That's why we see none of it in this short film. Here, Donald is all about enthusiasm for the Day and he makes a delightful, if somewhat dim Fred.

Most of Dickens' dialogue is right out the window in this version, replaced with jokes that still manage to get across the point of the scene. Fred loves Christmas; Scrooge doesn't see the point. In a variation on Dickens, Scrooge declares that Christmas is "just another workday and any jackanapes who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding." As with the other short versions of the story, Scrooge and Fred's bad relationship is centered entirely around Christmas, with no mention of Fred's marriage.

I mentioned before that Donald's Fred is a bit dim. That fits with Donald's personality, but it does mean that someone else will have to do the heavy lifting in expressing the true meaning of Christmas to Scrooge. As you might expect, that's Mickey's job. He bravely inserts himself into Scrooge and Fred's conversation a couple of times, good-naturedly defending Christmas to his boss. There's no fear of his being fired here, but that's to be expected too. An integral part of Mickey's personality is his pluckiness and optimism, so his Cratchit can't be timid and afraid of Scrooge. Especially not when Scrooge is already being played for laughs. Scrooge's grumpiness is comical, not frightening, and Cratchit reacts accordingly.

He does show a little timidity though when there's a laugh to be had from it. For instance, he quickly explains his applause at Fred's "speech" (actually just Donald's shouting "Merry Christmas!" some more) as an attempt to keep his hands warm.

Scrooge ultimately kicks Fred out of the office, so there's no time for Fred and Cratchit to exchange Christmas greetings at the end of the scene. They did a little of that when Fred came in though, and once he's gone we also hear Cratchit remark that Fred is "always so full of kindness."

"Aye," Scrooge says. "He always was a little peculiar."

Old Sinner: Scrooge McDuck (1983)

Mickey's Christmas Carol lets you know you're in for a Victorian Christmas story before it even shows you the title. It opens with the classic Mickey Mouse logo, only Mickey's wearing a top hat and scarf. Then the title cards begin, showing sketched scenes from the movie over a brown parchment-like background and accompanied by an original song, "Oh, What a Merry Christmas Day." The final illustration is the London skyline (complete with required St. Paul's cathedral) that then morphs into the first shot of the movie.

One of the coolest things about Mickey's Christmas Carol is that unlike a lot of sitcom versions where Fred Sanford or George Jefferson or Mr. Carlson are visited by spirits and learn Scrooge's lesson for themselves, Mickey's version doesn't have - say - Donald Duck learning to be less grumpy at Christmastime. It's a legitimate adaptation and everyone stays in character for the whole thing. We get our first hint of this as the camera pans down to a busy street where the Three Little Pigs carol next to a bell-ringing, Santa-costumed Big Bad Wolf with a collection kettle. This obviously isn't just a Victorian Christmas version of whatever world the Disney characters live in. These classic characters are playing other characters.

Scrooge McDuck stomps through the scene, intent on getting wherever he's going with as little human contact as possible. When he's asked by a homeless dog to give a penny for the poor, he lifts his cane and scowls, "Bah!"

He reaches his office where the Scrooge & Marley sign hangs, though "Marley" is scratched out. No expensive paint; just a cheap scrawling-through with a knife. This Scrooge is still cheap, but proud enough not to want folks confusing him with his dead partner. He pauses to look at the sign and lets us know why Marley's no longer around: "dead seven years today." Scrooge also reminisces with a chuckle that Marley "was a good 'un. He robbed from the widows and swindled the poor."

Though a legitimate adaptation, Mickey's Christmas Carol isn't a serious one. Scrooge's greediness is over-the-top and played largely for laughs. He's not a miserable Scrooge; he enjoys being miserly. As another example, we learn that Marley's will left enough money for a tombstone, but Scrooge pocketed that and had Marley buried at sea.

Inside the office, Scrooge catches his clerk (Mickey Mouse) about to put a piece of coal in the stove. Unlike the other adaptations, we learn right away that the clerk's name is Cratchit. He claims he was just trying to thaw out the ink, and sure enough there's an inkpot on the stovetop with an ice-covered quill stuck in the frozen liquid. Scrooge is having no excuses though ("You used a piece last week!") and orders the clerk back to work.

As Cratchit goes back to his desk, he musters courage to ask for a half-day off for Christmas tomorrow. Mickey's Christmas Carol is a severely condensed version of the story and this is the first example of that. In Dickens' story (and most of the adaptations), this conversation doesn't happen until later when Cratchit's getting ready to leave. The half-day is also unique to Mickey's version, but again it makes Scrooge's cheapness that much more over-the-top and ridiculous. As does Scrooge's agreeing to the time off under the condition that he'll be docking Cratchit's pay accordingly.

As does Scrooge's wonderful "Talk is Cheap" needlepoint that decorates the office.

As does the revelation that Cratchit's last raise was a ha'penny three years ago. When Cratchit started doing Scrooge's laundry.

This part of the scene ends with Scrooge's going to his desk to look over the books. In typical McDuck fashion, he ends up hugging his gold and cooing, "Money, money, money!" before the door opens to reveal a visitor.