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

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Little Steven brought this up again on his radio show, Little Steven's Underground Garage, this weekend. He notes this just about every year, it seems.

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The character of Mickey Mouse appeared in every show, not only in vintage cartoons originally made for theatrical release, but also in the opening, interstitial, and closing segments made especially for the show.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).

{snip}

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". 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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Fri Jul 12, 2024: On this day, July 12, 1942, Mouseketeer Dennis Day was born.

Thu Jul 11, 2024: Man sentenced to 4-plus years in death of original 'Mickey Mouse Club' cast member

Mon Apr 8, 2024: On April 7, 2019, the body of Mouseketeer Dennis Day was discovered.

Thu Mar 28, 2024: On this day, March 28, 1910, Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd was born.

Tue Oct 3, 2023: On this day, October 3, 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club went on the air.

Sat Apr 8, 2023: On April 7, 2019, the body of Mouseketeer Dennis Day was discovered.

Sat Apr 8, 2023: On this day, April 8, 2013, Annette Funicello died.

Tue Mar 28, 2023: On this day, March 28, 1910, Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd was born.

Mon Oct 3, 2022: On this day, October 3, 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club went on the air.

Sun Mar 28, 2021: On this day, March 28, 1910, Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd was born.

Wed Apr 8, 2020: Body discovered, April 7, 2019: Dennis Day, Mouseketeer

Hat tip, left-of-center2012:

Mon Jun 10, 2019: Disney Mouseketeer Dennis Day Found Dead

Hat tip, Faygo Kid:

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

[Aristus]

1. Sherry from the original cast married an Army officer.

She lived with her family just down the street from us in the officers’ housing area of Fort Knox, Kentucky back in the ‘70’s.