Top-rated
Mon, Oct 3, 1955
In the Mickey Mouse Club Newsreel, two cub scouts get an air boat ride through the Everglades with an Oceola Indian guide, a group of Italian kids perform Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo and updates on various Disney projects are given - the "Spin and Marty" serial and the keel boat race between Davy Crockett and Mike Fink. The Mouskateers and Jimmy Dodd do a tap dance roll call. "The Friendly Farmers" song involves a lot of animal sounds with rapidly switched cutouts. "The Shoe Song" has Roy Williams drawing live sketches of anthropomorphic footwear for each verse. Part 1 of the serial "What I Want to Be" has a young girl, Pat, hoping to be an airline hostess and a young boy, Duncan, hoping to be an airline pilot. Alvy Moore and personnel from TWA are involved. The Mouskartoon is "Pueblo Pluto" in which Pluto fights with a pup over a buffalo bone.
Top-rated
Tue, Oct 4, 1955
Harvey Corbett and his bear puppet Sooty star in the first segment. Sooty gets a parcel with a gift television set from Mickey. It has some problems. Another guest is Wally Boag who is both a balloonologist (who does balloon sculptures) and a bagpipe player. Part 2 of the serial "What I Want to Be" has Alvy and Pat watching Duncan fly his gas-powered model airplane in several competitions - a carrier landing challenge and a tail ribbon cutting contest. The Mousekartoon is "Mickey's Kangaroo". A friend from Australia sends a package with a boxing kangaroo and it joey, who also boxes. Both Mickey and Pluto have their hands full with these speedy punchers.
Top-rated
Wed, Oct 5, 1955
The Mickey Mouse Club Newsreel shows boys racing power boats on Lake Sammamish in Washington state, boys in Africa's Cape Province doing the Leopard as a rite of passage, a Kentucky Future Farmers of America boy who is the Boy of the Week, a two-year-old baby girl who swims and a youth rodeo in Loveland, Colorado. The Mouseketeers create a "gaget band" from a variety of household objects. Part 3 of "What I Want to Be" takes Pat to airline hostess school and Duncan into the control tower at the airport. The Mousekartoon is "Mickey's Service Station". A thuggish dandy leaves his car for Mickey and his crew to find a squeak. They completely disassemble the car looking for it.
Top-rated
Thu, Oct 6, 1955
Jiminy Cricket presents "I'm No Fool (with a Bicycle)". He describes bikes through the ages starting with the hobby or dandy horse in France about 1810. He goes on to use a fool and a smart rider to illustrate points of bicycle safety - show-off moves, too much of a load, and riding backwards. "Here Comes the Circus" includes the Mouseketeer roll call. Guests are the DeWaynes Circus Troupe of acrobats. In part 4 of the serial "What I Want to Be", Pat continues her lessons in hostess school on make up, hair styling, balance and poise. Duncan learns about weather balloons and maps that pilots use in planning their flights. He has a daydream about piloting an airliner toward New York City in a storm. The Mousekartoon is "The Wise Little Hen". She keeps asking Peter Pig and Donald Duck for help in sowing and reaping her corn crop. They complain of belly aches as an excuse to not help.
Top-rated
Fri, Oct 7, 1955
The Mickey Mouse Club Newsreel showcases a boxing match between two 8-year-old Boys Club members, the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor that uses animals to help child patients recover more rapidly, kids getting tips from the New York Giants baseball team, an English boy from Middlesex that has three pet sables and Boy Scouts rock climbing in Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs. Annette introduces her musical guest, young trumpeter Larry Ashurst. Then Cubby O'Brien, his father and brother demonstrate their prowess in playing drum sets. Part 5 of "What I Want to Be" has Duncan learn that TWA pilots have to live in one of eight US cities that are crew bases. Pat is tested in a cabin mock-up for her ability serve lunch to a surly guest who is complaining about the flight being an hour behind schedule. She gets a uniform and a set of wings. The Mousekartoon is "Two-Gun Mickey". His prowess as a shooting and roping cowboy are needed to rescue Minnie from a hoard of bandits who are after the money she withdrew from the bank.
Mon, Oct 10, 1955
Jimmie and his wife Ruth performed this song in voiceover, while six mice danced in cat costumes. Jimmie's predeliction for cats ran counter to Walt Disney's usual feelings about felines. This was the seventh Fun With Music number filmed, the last in which Dallas Johann would appear, though some numbers filmed earlier with him were broadcast later.
Thu, Oct 13, 1955
Bill Henry and son, Bill Henry, Jr. were a tumbling and balancing act, with Junior even getting a chance to hold up his dad. At the end of the act, the Mouseketeers themselves try a tumbling run. Most go sprawling, landing on their rumps, losing their caps, with the girls' careful hairstyles falling apart. A lot of fun for all involved.
Fri, Oct 14, 1955
Christopher Fair appeared on the Mickey Mouse Club for several "Talent Roundups", where he performed magic tricks. He was voted the "Juvenile Magician Champion"of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1958. If you visited Fantasyland at Disneyland in the 1950's and 1960's, you might have been lucky enough to see a Court Jester, juggling and performing magic on his unicycle. Christopher Fair was that jester.
Mon, Oct 24, 1955
The fourth number filmed, it had very simple staging combined with voiceover vocals provided by The Mellomen. The quartet also doubled as on-camera performers playing circus bandsmen. The giraffe costume had an adult male in it, possibly Bob Amsberry. Dallas Johann is inside the drum, which has a clear plastic front, allowing his name to be seen on his shirt.
Mon, Oct 31, 1955
'Old Betsy' was the name Davy Crockett gave his rifle. Mary Espinosa does the usual title card intro, then Roy Williams "carves" a message on a tree. Jimmie sang the song, as each of the Mouseketeers played an adversary dealt with by Davy's shootin' iron. Also, Jimmy and the Mouseketeers sing each stanza of "The Little Cow" while Roy draws a scene to match.
Wed, Nov 2, 1955
The first of a series of Disneyland ride promotion skits. These took the form of two groups of three Mouseketeers riding for several minutes, with short dialogue breaks before and between excursions. The rides were stationary props on a sound stage that could be rotated and tilted by off-camera stagehands. A back-projection film of stock footage was used to provide a sense of movement.
Fri, Nov 4, 1955
The Mickey Mouse Club Newsreel covers kids skiing on Mt. Hood in Oregon, a simulated rocket journey with robot Garko the Great at the Garrett Corp high-pressure research facility in Los Angeles, services at the Little Log Church built by children at Lake Melissa, MN, the first captive born lynx (named Jinx) at the Johanneburg Zoo in South Africa, and a visible beehive at New York City's Metropolitan Museaum of Natural History. The two talents are Mouskateer Johnny (Crawford) fencing with his brother Bobby and Mouskateer Karen introducing young, black concert pianist Jon Robertson. An introduction is provided to the upcoming daily serial "Spin and Marty". Marty shows the boys all arriving for their first day at the Triple-R Ranch in California. Several incidents are also previewed. The Mouskartoon is "Mickey in Africa" in which Minnie is kidnapped and needs to be rescued by Mickey.
Mon, Nov 7, 1955
Frances Archer and Beverly Gile were folk singers who performed songs from many countries, including this Japanese children's ditty about a tanuki, called a raccoon-dog in English, but for this song dubbed simply a raccoon. Archer and Gile usually performed the song only in Japanese. For the show Bill Walsh wrote a few loosely translated lyrics in English. Later that same year, Eartha Kitt did a full-blown treatment of the Mickey Mouse Club version. Jimmie, Bonni, and Sharon sing about Simple Simon's adventures with characters at the fair. Those Mouseketeers playing solo characters had their voices dubbed by Bob Amsberry and the Mellomen.
Mon, Nov 14, 1955
Big Bear Roy makes six smaller bears clean-up the woods while he naps. The bears start dancing to music; as the dance progresses the smallest two exit off stage. When big bear wakes, he growls at the unfinished chore. Instrumental dance number, with a few voiceover lines at start and end. During filming the crew reportedly broke for lunch and left the kids trapped in their costumes. By the next season the producers realized it made no sense to hire photogenic kids then stick them into full body costumes with masks. Bobby and Bonni do a fast acrobatic swing dance while filling bushels in the orange grove before raising the ire of Farmer Roy.
Wed, Nov 16, 1955
This was a crossover from Guest Star Day, with vaudeville/nightclub comedian Lionel Kaye and his wife Kathleen. For the first half seven Mouseketeers do Swanee River on bells. The second half had Bobby, Lonnie, Don, Mark, and Dennis exchanging hats upon command, a staple gag of the Kaye's live act.
Mon, Nov 21, 1955
The story of the Little Dutch Boy who saved the Netherlands as told by the Mouseketeers. Jimmie as Tom Sawyer gets the other boys to pay him for the privilege of white-washing Aunt Polly's fence. All-guy or all-gal numbers were equally rare on the Mickey Mouse Club; the show's writers tried to balance the genders. Where the storylines called for only masculine characters it was common practice to dress some of the girls up in male attire. The opposite situation never occurred with Mouseketeer guys; there was no drag on the Mickey Mouse Club.
Tue, Nov 22, 1955
Episode #37 (Year 3, #A-12). Taped July 30, 1955. Originally 1 hour long, later cut to 1/2 hour for 1959 rebroadcast. The Bell Sisters (Cynthia and Kay Strother) performed "Bermuda" and "Little Boy Bullfighter." On the 1/2 hour cut, only "Little Boy Bullfighter" performance remains; announcer voice-over indicates the Bell Sisters will sing "two songs they recorded when they were youngsters."
Mon, Nov 28, 1955
The scene opens at the docks of the Vodoo (sic) Banana Company at an unnamed port in the Caribbean. There are a number of barrels and boxes in the foreground, from which the band emerges doing a mambo step to the front of the Banana Company building. This is a music and dance-only number taking place at the docks of a Caribbean port. The Mouseketeers dance to the music provided by an unlikely looking Caribbean band. The band consists of Jimmie Dodd on piano, Roy Williams on flute, Bob Amsberry on trumpet, George Bruns on bass, Pietro Deiro, Jr. on maracas, and Jimmy MacDonald on wood blocks. Palace sentry (Bob Amsberry) sings while he stands guard. Prentice lads and lasses try to make him smile, but it takes an obnoxious tourist (Roy Willaims) to accomplish it.
Wed, Nov 30, 1955
Les Philmer and his wife Mary were veterans of the 1930's vaudeville and international music hall circuits who did a juggling and balancing act. Anything Can Happen Day shows would occasionally contain material originally devised for other days of the week. This program was likely meant to be a Circus Day show.
Mon, Dec 5, 1955
The scene opens in the darkened bedroom of a young boy (Dennis). A window throws subdued light on the walls and the boy who is asleep in his bed. The shadows of the window sashes create a dramatic contrast in the room. On a wall are hung a stick horse, a lasso and a guitar. A cowboy hat rests on the foot of the bed, and a pair of boots are on the floor, close to the owner. A male/female chorus (the same used in the animated short) begins singing softly a simple song of cowboy dreams. Most people today will not think much of the number. However, anyone who has ever owned a felt cowboy hat, or loaded Greenie roll caps into a Mattel Fanner 50, will understand.
Thu, Dec 8, 1955
We begin on the Great Plains by the Gates of the Mountains, where the Missouri River flows through a spectacular gorge. To the south is Montana's Capital, Helena, with a fine cathedral and state house built at the end of the 19th century. Huge numbers of visitors head for Montana for the beautiful and varied landscape, and the city of Bozeman stands surrounded by mountains, rivers, and forests.