By Stuart Nulman
In memory of the recent passing of Annette Funicello at the age of 70, I thought of reprinting a review that originally appeared in the West End Times nearly three years ago, “Why? Because We Still Like You”, an interesting book about the classic kids’ TV show “The Mickey Mouse Club” (1955-1959), and its impact on TV and pop culture, as told by the people who knew it best … the surviving Mouseketeers themselves.
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Before “Hannah Montana”, “High School Musical” and “Degrassi”, there was “The Mickey Mouse Club”.
What was originally a vehicle arranged by Walt Disney and the fledgling ABC TV network to help promote the soon-to-be-opened Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, “The Mickey Mouse Club” became a pioneer in children’s programming. It was the first kids’ TV show that had kids as its stars. And from its three season run that began exactly 55 years ago, the show turned the trademark Mickey Mouse ears headgear and its “Mickey Mouse Club March” theme song into enduring pop culture phenomena, and made Karen, Cubby, Bobby, Doreen, — and especially one Annette Funicello – into overnight TV stars to millions of Baby Boomer viewers.
How can one forget “Talent Round-Up Day”? Adult Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd’s morality based “Doddism” lessons? The adorable team of Karen and Cubby? The popular “Spin & Marty” serials? And the Mickey Mouse Club “Alma Mater” song that ended every broadcast?
Jennifer Armstrong, a reporter for Entertainment Weekly magazine, has used her skills as an entertainment reporter, as she deftly takes a look behind the mouse ears with her book Why? Because We Still Like You.
This is an oral history of the show, as Armstrong managed to interview many of the surviving Mouseketeers – or “Mice”, as they were called within the confines of the Disney Studios – to get a full-rounded portrait of what it was like to be the most popular kids in America during the golden age of television (the only exception was Annette Funicello, who is in the advanced stages of multiple sclerosis; Armstrong garnered quotes from her from previous interviews and excerpts from her 1994 memoir).
Basically, the Mouseketeers were a carefully selected mix of talented child performers and everyday kids next door (who had to have Walt Disney’s final approval before they made the final cut to become part of the cast). After that, it was a rigorous production schedule at the Disney Studios in Burbank, filming episodes that aired every weekday afternoon, not to mention doing assortment of personal appearances at Disneyland and across the U.S.
Although the Mouseketeers became the idols of pre-teen viewers, they were not immune to the pressures of being TV stars. There were onset crushes with fellow Mouseketeers, mischief, sneaking the odd cigarette and alcoholic drink, and teasing by school classmates (one early Mouseketeer, Dallas Johann, was promptly fired before the show made its debut, because he constantly cried when the camera was pointed at him). There was even a class system within the group, as “Red Team” Mouseketeers were the most popular ones (and always did the “Roll Call” segment at the beginning of each show), as opposed to the B-list “Blue Team” Mouseketeers (who were not immune from being cut at season’s end).
And like many child stars, the Mouseketeers managed to survive life after the show was cancelled in 1958 (i.e., Don Grady and Tim Considine ended up on the hit TV sitcom “My Three Sons”); however, some of them couldn’t buy themselves another acting job after the spotlight faded. For example, Darlene Gillespie, a popular Mouseketeer known for her strong singing talents, quit showbiz to become a nurse, but ended up back in the spotlight in a bad way in 1999, when she was sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in a cheque-kiting scheme.
Armstrong has done quite a good job chronicling this entertaining, first-hand history of “The Mickey Mouse Club” and the mouse ear-wearing group of kids who were TV’s first major child stars. Not to mention, the pressures of trying to meet Walt Disney’s high standards while trying to project the image of the wholesome, everyday kids who for three years joyously promoted the “leader of the club that’s made for you and me. M-I-C-K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E.”
As Cubby O’Brien said recently of what it was like to be one of the original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers more than 50 years ago: “It was a different time. It wasn’t that slick. We were just regular kids who had some talent, and other regular kids were looking and going, ‘Yeah, maybe I could do that, maybe I could be a Mouseketeer too.’”
