| "Walt Disney never did anything half-heartedly. When he committed to the idea of a daily one-hour filmed television show for children, he wound up producing more than a show: he created a pop culture phenomenon. Watching The Mickey Mouse Club became a daily ritual for millions of kids, and the talented youngsters known as the Mouseketeers were overnight sensations." ~ Walt Disney Treasures -The Mickey Mouse Club | |
The Mickey Mouse Club was Walt Disney’s first venture into television programming.
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It ran weekday afternoons and starred 39 pre-teen boys and girls, supervised by two grown-up hosts. In its original four-year run, over 360 episodes were made. The show had the usual 50’s variety-show format: a couple song-and-dance numbers, a cartoon or two, and a serialized short about the Hardy Boys. |
| I have to tell you - I have always fantasized about being a Mouseketeer. Never mind the fact that I was born about 30 years too late and in the wrong area of the United States. I LONG to have been in that roll call, to wear those ears and to have met Walt Disney in person! |  |
I guess you could say I came about as close as you could get for my childhood era when my mom wrangled me a spot on the Romper Room. Although the how and why are still a bit cloudy, she does remember the car we were driving and that we almost crashed because of the snow (a rarity in our part of the country). I remember none of the above mentioned, but do have the pictures to prove my 15 minute stint of fame.
Longing for the nostalgia, I recently purchased Walt Disney Treasures: The Mickey Mouse Club and The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club. It is absolutely fascinating to watch that black and white Mickey image dance across the screen. I can imagine how exciting it must have been when the show aired, children rushing home to make sure they didn’t miss a minute! What a change from today’s programming - TV with a message (and not the infomercial kind!).
| I did get my own version of tv history. I remember Sunday evenings when The Wonderful World of Disney came on; I, along with millions of other kids, sat contently in front of the living room television set for whatever version of Disney coated entertainment/education that evenings programming would bring. Back then we had just a handful of entertainment possibilities: Disney, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and The Muppet Show. |  |
I think some days we’ve gotten too advanced for ourselves.
The extent of entertainment choices has left most over stimulated. Bored because
there is just too much out there to entertain ourselves with. How depressing
it is to know that our children will never have the exciting build up to Sunday
evenings with “Uncle Walt.”
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