On this day, October 3, 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club went on the air.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Little Steven, last night or this morning on Little Steven's Underground Garage, which I haven't heard in a few months

The Mickey Mouse Club



The title card used 1955–1959

Presented by: Jimmie Dodd (1955–1958)
Theme music composer: Jimmie Dodd
Original release: October 3, 1955 – August 10, 2018

The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by the late Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC. This original run featured a regular, but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during the 1958–1959 season, airing right after American Bandstand. The show was revived three times after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977 to 1979 for first-run syndication as The New Mickey Mouse Club, then from 1989 to 1996 as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (also known to fans as MMC from 1993 to 1996) airing exclusively on cable television's The Disney Channel, and again in 2017 with the moniker Club Mickey Mouse airing exclusively on internet social media. It ended in 2018.

The character of Mickey Mouse appeared in every show, not only in vintage cartoons originally made for theatrical release, but also in the opening, interstitial, and closing segments made especially for the show. In both the vintage cartoons and new animated segments, Mickey was voiced by his creator Walt Disney (Disney had previously voiced the character theatrically from 1928 to 1947 before being replaced by sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald).

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1955–1959 show

Members



Mickey Mouse Club was formed

The Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a songwriter and the Head Mouseketeer, who provided leadership both on and off the screen. In addition to his other contributions, he often provided short segments which encouraged younger viewers to make the right moral choices. These little homilies became known as "Doddisms".[5] Roy Williams, a staff artist at Disney, also appeared in the show as the Big Mouseketeer. Williams suggested that the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears should be worn by the show's cast members. He helped create these ears, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, and Bill Walsh.

The main cast members were called Mouseketeers, and they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, as well as some informational segments. The most popular of the Mouseketeers constituted the so-called Red Team, which was kept under contract for the entire run of the show (1955–1959), and its members included:

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Related, a little:

Wed Jun 27, 2012: Don Grady, One of TV's 'My Three Sons,' Dies at 68

[Arkansas Granny]

1. That's about the time my family bought our first TV. Only 2 channels were available where we lived.

I remember watching Howdy Doody after school, but not Mickey Mouse Club. Captain Kangaroo ruled the mornings.

[RoverSuswade]

2. I would rush home from basketball practice

So I wouldn't miss spin and Marty

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Was that on the show from the beginning?

Okay, okay; I'll look it up.

Oh, yes it was. It was on the show only for the first three seasons.

Spin and Marty



David Stollery (left) as Marty Markham and Tim Considine as Spin Evans introduce the series

No. of episodes:
The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1955): 25
The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956): 23
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957): 30

{snip}

[snowybirdie]

6. We Catholic

school girls were divided as to who was cuter, Spin or Marty. I was a Spin girl.

[Chainfire]

4. Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?

[Kablooie]

5. I've still got two drawings Roy did for me.

He was sometimes at Disneyland and made drawings for kids.