"The Mickey Mouse Club" (1955) TV series 1955-1959

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | unknown

Release Date:

3 October 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Drama | Music

Plot Keywords:

Different Gags During Credits | Part Animated | Kids And Family

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Don Grady	...	Himself (96 episodes, 1955-1956)
Tommy Cole	...	Himself (61 episodes, 1956)

Series Directed by
Sidney Miller		(121 episodes, 1955-1957)
Charles F. Haas		(5 episodes, 1955)
Dick Darley		(4 episodes, 1955)
William Beaudine		(2 episodes, 1955)

Series Writing credits
Stirling Silliphant		(5 episodes, 1955)

Series Produced by
Bill Walsh	....	producer (12 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Original Music by
William Lava		(5 episodes, 1955)
Buddy Baker		(3 episodes, 1955)
Joseph Dubin		(2 episodes, 1955)

Series Film Editing by
Joseph Dietrick		(5 episodes, 1955)
Ellsworth Hoagland		(5 episodes, 1955)
Wayne Hughes		(5 episodes, 1955)
Bill Lewis		(3 episodes, 1955)
Jack Vandagriff		(3 episodes, 1955)

Series Art Direction by
Bruce Bushman		(5 episodes, 1955)
Marvin Aubrey Davis		(5 episodes, 1955)

Series Set Decoration by
Harriet Burns		(126 episodes, 1955-1957)

Series Production Management
Mike Holoboff	....	production manager / production supervisor (6 episodes, 1955-1956)
Hal Adelquist	....	production supervisor (5 episodes, 1955)
Ben Chapman	....	production manager (5 episodes, 1955)
Stirling Silliphant	....	production supervisor (5 episodes, 1955)
Bill Park	....	production supervisor (4 episodes, 1955-1956)

Series Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound (5 episodes, 1955)

Series Visual Effects by
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes (3 episodes, 1955)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
James V. King	....	camera operator (100 episodes, 1955-1956)
Gordon Avil	....	camera operator (5 episodes, 1955)
Edward Colman	....	camera operator (5 episodes, 1955)

Series Animation Department
Xavier Atencio	....	layout artist (1 episode, 1955)
Barbara Begg	....	background artist (1 episode, 1955)
Jack Boyd	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Al Coe	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Phil Duncan	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
John Freeman	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Fred Hellmich	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Cliff Nordberg	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Jack Parr	....	animator (1 episode, 1955)
Thelma Witmer	....	background artist (1 episode, 1955)

Series Music Department
Buddy Baker	....	musical director (unknown episodes)
Jimmie Dodd	....	composer: theme music (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Tom Mahoney	....	choreographer (5 episodes, 1955-1956)
Alan Currier	....	assistant choreographer (5 episodes, 1955)
Burch Mann	....	choreographer (5 episodes, 1955)

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1955-1959) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Runtime:

USA:30 min (1957-1959) | USA:60 min (1955-1957)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G

Filming Locations:

Morrison Ranch, California, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Annette Funicello has stated in interviews that, upon being cast for the show, she told Walt Disney that she wanted to change her last name to one that sounded more "American". To his credit, Disney told her to keep her original last name because, "once someone remembers it, they will never be able to forget it".

Quotes:

Mouseketeers: [singing] Now it's time to say good-bye to all our company, / M-I-C...
Jimmie: See you real soon.
Mouseketeers: K-E-Y...
Jimmie: Why? Because we like you!
Mouseketeers: M-O-U-S-E!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Buck Henry/Leon Redbone (#3.6)" (1977)

Despite the Worship of a Fictional Mouse, One of the Best Children's Programs of All Time

To create a show or movie with an animal character, such as Lassie, Benji, Charlotte or the Black Stallion is reasonable enough, especially for children. A show based on the worship of an animal character, in this case a mouse, seems a little ridiculous. Yet the whole Mickey Mouse Club idea has to be very American. Entertainment industries have constantly capitalized on icons produced for movies and television and exploited them to the hilt for profit. The studio corporations know that when Americans fall in love with characters and worlds from the movies and television, part of the spectator public wants to connect with it on a deeper level. The Mickey Mouse Club allowed younger viewers enthralled with the Disney universe to experience their favorite mouse on television once a week instead of only when mom and dad would take them to the cinema.

Simultaneously, all things considered, The Mickey Mouse Club was a good children's show with merit. The original show incorporated games, educational segments, sing-a-longs, and even some dramatic episodes. It seems to me I remember the Hardy Boys, but I am not sure. In short, the Mickey Mouse Club encouraged children to be children. And hey, the young Annette Funicello was worth the price of admission. She will probably be best remembered for this show rather than her silly beach movies 10 years later.

Today most children's programming via the networks is about pure entertainment, barring PBS, and a lot of it seems grossly inappropriate for underage viewers who are not yet pre-adolescents. Propagating that 8-to-10-year-olds should have boyfriends and girlfriends, i.e. behave like adults or even adolescents, is I think harmful misinformation. Children are still learning what is appropriate and inappropriate except for what they see modeled in front of them, which is often on television. If the Mickey Mouse Club had a clear message, it was that childhood should be enjoyed for what it is, and there is a magical wonder about childhood that should not be missed.

Still, it raises my eyebrow that the show's participants would not only sing hymns to a fictional mouse but don mouse-inspired attire. Even as a kid, I thought the mouse ears were ridiculous, especially on the adults! But given the low-quality of material being presented to children today, maybe the mouse ears are a small price to pay. Afterall, donning the mouse ears represents "make believe", the essence of childhood.