The Mickey Mouse Club players were introduced to the public before the television show began on a stage at Disneyland. It was on October 3, 1955 that the famous children's show first aired. They started out as hour-long shows from Monday to Friday, and later were reduced to half-hour shows. Each day of the week had a different theme, and was an opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talents. There were many Mouseketeers, only about nine remaining as regulars throughout the run from 1955 to 1959. The ears were a result of an idea from "Mooseketeer" Roy, who remembered a Mickey Mouse cartoon in which Mickey removed his ears and tipped them like hat. As well as the trademark ears, each member had his or her first name stitched boldly across the front of a T-shirt. Popular members went on to bigger and better careers including Bobby Burgess, to the Lawrence Welk Show and Annette Funicello, to the big screen. Other members showed up here and there, the club giving them a boost to future projects, notably Johnny Crawford. Although the first club had a short-lived lifespan, and the driving force, Jimmy Dodd, passed away at an early age, it was resurrected again in 1977 and later in 1989, and has included other notable entertainment stars, such as Christina Aguilera. The popular theme song is still remember fondly by aging youngsters, a song that of course incorporated many of Walt's most famous characters.

   

   

Although the Walt Disney characters, like Disney's Tinkerbell, were the drawing cards for the show, there were many basic concepts built into the presentation that virtually guaranteed success. Latter day children's shows studied the success of the Mickey Mouse Club and in some instances patterned their child recruits after the style of the great Walt Disney institution. One of those was "Barney", but a close study of the two, finds that the Disney children are much more natural as they were expected to be less-than-perfect. The result is that they are much more identifiable than the overly coached purple dinosaur crew.

   

   

One of the most popular children was Annette Funicello. Her presence on television was innovative, as an "ethnic" member. Many reviewers have commented that her screen presence was magical or undefinable, with that special something which created a desirable screen presence. They are unable to identify the reasons. For those of you who may be interested, the opinions of this author likely explain the essence of her magic. She had a slightly wider nose than most of the other children, which gave her a very cute appearance, combined with her dark eyes and early budding stature. The boys and girls in the audience could not take their eyes off her, as a result one barely remembers the lesser Mouseketeers such as Don, Mike, and Nancy, all of whom were excellent dancers and performers in their own right. The cute ethnic appearance of Annette has been successfully but quietly identified and reproduced in the charming characters of the animated series, "Lilo and Stitch." Just take a look at the noses, and you'll see the reason for the charm. Of course, it helped that the Mickey Mouse club children were often encouraged to behave like children, so you will see them waving their hands and jumping for attention, and behaving bored or moody just within the range of the camera, like the little girl Mary who is frowning when the camera is not on her. The older Mary is less candid and more adult, aware that the camera might be watching.