Mon, Jan 16, 1956
In the 'Cooking with Minnie Mouse' segment, Jimmie and Ruth come on stage dressed as chefs and sing the prologue. The camera then shifts to Chef Bobby and the four girls who dance and bake cookies while Ruth continues to sing in voice-over. Terrific little number, well-staged by director Dik Darley. Choreographer Burch Mann and arranger Buddy Baker threw touches of "An American in Paris" (1951) into the action. As with so many of these numbers Buddy Baker's musical arrangements really made the whole thing come alive.
Wed, Jan 18, 1956
'The History of Drums' from Prehistoric Times forward, courtesy of Cubby and Roy. A Fun with Music number that was switched to 'Anything Can Happen Day' because there really wasn't much music. The scene opens at the front of a cave dwelling. Cubby, dressed in leopard skin as a caveboy, is at the right, gnawing a bone. Roy, also dressed in leopard skin as a caveman, is to the left, fast asleep. Cubby strikes Roy on the belly with his bone and it makes a "boing" sound. Cubby continues to strike Roy on the midsection, delighted by his discovery. Roy wakes up, annoyed. The scene changes to Cubby, still dressed as a caveboy, sitting at his drumkit, playing a drum solo.
Mon, Jan 23, 1956
When the children come home from school, the village blacksmith knows it is time for fun and replaces his anvil with a small piano, and everybody boogies. The camera opens on Jimmie, dressed in a full-body "pencil suit" with a hat shaped like the sharpened end of a pencil. Jimmie is standing on a large platform that looks like an open three-ringed binder loaded with lined filler paper. As Jimmie sings, the camera dissolves into various scenes in which the Mouseketeers act out Jimmie's lyrics.
Mon, Jan 30, 1956
'When I Grow Up' was Darlene Gillespie's signature song and was one of only two Fun With Music Day numbers throughout the show's entire run to feature a solo performer. In the Mixed-up Mother Goose segment, Jimmie appears singing a refrain of sorts, which he repeats after every Mouseketeer's segment, then introduces each new Mouseketeer by name. The set consists of a cottage from which each Mouseketeer appears. The Mouseketeers are dressed as the nursery rhyme characters they talk about. The Mouseketeers cut up commonly-known children's nursery rhymes in the same way kids would have done on the playground.
Wed, Feb 1, 1956
The live studio orchestra plays variations on the theme song, each style being interpreted in dance by two Mouseketeers. Sharon and Nancy are '20s flappers, Karen and Cubby do a minuet, Sharon and Don glide thru a comic tango, Lonnie and Annette give us the old soft shoe, Darlene and Doreen are en pointe, while Bonni and Bobby first perform a swing-tap routine then finish with a Lindy Hop.
Mon, Feb 6, 1956
In Mousekedance, the scene opens at a malt shop counter with a cut-out figure of a Dutch girl stage right of the counter. There is a jukebox stage right of the Dutch girl. Don and Mary sit at a table at the right of the screen. Lonnie and Annette are doing a slow foxtrot at the left of the screen to low level music playing. Jimmie, dressed as a soda jerk, glides around the dancing Lonnie and Annette to deliver a tray of ice cream sodas to Don and Mary. The girls are dressed in satin party dresses, the boys in coats and ties. A dance number with just enough dialogue and song to hold it together, it is one of the fastest and most complex dances of the First Season. Tie-in to re-release of Song of the South (1946) during 1956. Johnny introduces each act. Mike, Sharon, Doreen, and Bobby handle the first song, Karen and Cubby do a soft-shoe dance to the second, while Jimmie and Mouseketrio of Darlene, Judy and Annette sing the third, being joined on the final reprise by all the other Mouseketeers.
Mon, Feb 13, 1956
The set consists of six large alphabet blocks forming something of a pyramid, on which are seated (from left) Judy, Tommy, Karen, Darlene and Dennis, with Jimmie at floor level seated in the middle. The presenting Mouseketeers run down the alphabet from A to M, stepping to the camera one at a time.
Mon, Feb 20, 1956
Fun With Music - Jimmie with his Mouseguitar are backed by the Mouseketeers and a band; they invite us to have fun with music. The Mouseketeers include Doreen as a nightingale and Sharon as an owl (with facemasks), Mary Espinosa and Nancy in cat outfits, Cubby with a stalk of bluebells, Bonni standing behind a full moon, Bronson and Johnny in beaver outfits, Mark, Bobby, Lonnie and Don as a barbershop quartet, Mary Sartori and Lee as Mambo dancers, with Roy holding a trumpet and Bob Amsberry on a keyboard that looks like a typewriter. Mouseguitar Music Lesson - This is something of a "day in the life" segment. There is no introduction, but an opening overhead view of the Mouseketeers to the left, with the band on the stand playing at the top right, and Dik Darley in suit at the front of the band. The Mouseketeers are positioned by height: Karen, Cubby and Bronson are sitting on the floor. All the Mouseketeers, except Mike Smith, are present.
Mon, Feb 27, 1956
The Mouseketeers, portraying woodland animals, follow Hiawatha (Jimmie) asking to join him as he goes out hunting. The scene is in a forest with trees in the background. Generic "Indian music," heavy on the tom-toms, begins playing. Three pairs of Mouseketeers dance into the screen "disguised" by the animal masks they hold in front of their faces. First to enter are Annette as a squirrel and Darlene as a bear; they dance a jig of sorts. They are joined by Lonnie as a chipmunk and Mike as a skunk, and finally Judy as a mouse and Tommy as a beaver. Johnny Appleseed: several brief songs and two scene changes make this a skit as opposed to the usual standalone numbers. The songs all come from the Disney animated short of the same name.
Fri, Mar 2, 1956
The winner of the Talent Roundup Day this week is Sandy Black. She was a trick horseback rider. Her horse, a Paint, was brought onto the Dry Gulch stage, Bobby held the reins for her while Sandy did a dance with a lariat to the tune of a Davy Crockett song. After the commercial break, everyone ran into the Dry Gulch theater and watched home movies of Sandy performing her riding tricks.
Top-rated
Mon, Oct 1, 1956
Shooting gallery operator Darlene laments her single condition until Bobby shows up. The Mellomen provide singing voices for the four guys who serve as targets in the gallery. The second season opener was a surprise for touching on teen romance and even more so for celebrating a non-Disney amusement park.
Wed, Oct 3, 1956
Five-part occasional series with photographer Earl Theisen from Look magazine teaching the kids how to use a camera. Filmed on location at various sites including the San Diego Zoo and Disneyland. Jack Jackman was not a Mouseketeer, but was used for two 'Anything Can Happen Day' series. He was likely related to Bob Jackman, then head of the Disney Music Department.
Fri, Oct 5, 1956
The tap-dancing Steiner Brothers were Talent Round-Up winners in the second season. Middle-brother Ronnie joined the Mickey Mouse Club as a Mouseketeer during the first season as a dancer. Placed on the Mouseketeer Blue Team, Ronnie soon missed performing with his brothers, and declined to renew his option and left at the end of the first season.
Mon, Oct 8, 1956
Jimmie and the Mouseketeers bop to the first song, then Cubby plays his drums to pay his soda fountain bill. Terrific staging and choreography, and the kid's own feel for the music, made this a real treat. Introduces two elements common to other skits in Season 2: Bob's Sweet Shoppe, with Bob Amsberry as the elderly sodajerk, and the choreography built around three or four couples. There would be no more character or story type dancing as in the first season.
Wed, Oct 10, 1956
This series was shot on film without sound. Voice-over narration by Eileen and sound effects were added later in the studio, as was commentary by photographer Earl Theisen. There were no titles, theme song, credits, or continuity between episodes. It was just a bare bones newsreel style feature that was inexpensive and quick to make.
Wed, Oct 17, 1956
Another educational series, this followed four kids as they trained to be rookie firemen. Walt Disney himself hosted this series. Filmed at the Disneyland Firehouse and at local Fire Department training facilities. Because of the physical exertions required the kids replaced their "ears", slacks, skirts, and dress shoes with helmets, jeans and sneakers instead.