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Book Review: Mickey Mouse Club Scrapbook

I’ve reviewed the Special Souvenir Edition (SSE) of this book, but in this post I will focus on the regular edition, as it were.

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This book was compiled by Keith Keller and published by Grosset & Dunlap of New York.

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Back Cover

This version of the scrapbook is essentially the same but does contain some more interesting pictures than its SSE sibling. The regular version starts out with an introduction to the Producer of the show, Bill Walsh. This is new to this version. He spends a few pages telling the story of how the Mickey Mouse Club got on the air. Remember, this was about the same time that Disneyland was being built, as seen below:

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There are many wonderful full-page spreads of vintage ads and bulletin pages that were distributed to fan clubs:

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Next we meet the Mouseketeers, and see how they spent some of their off-screen time, and the rehearsal process:

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  Call Sheet

Next we learn about the production of the show, its format, about the Serials, and then about Mouseketeer Mania! There were jumpsuits, ring promotions, records, and:

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And who was everyone’s favorite Mouseketeer?

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Who’s the little lady that we never will forget? – Annette!

The book closely follows the SSE version from here. There is the songbook, the Mouseketeers today (or at least, as of 1975), a call to find a few missing Mouseketeers, and a final dedication to Jimmie Dodd (1910-1964).

Here is what two Mouseketeers thought of the book:

“It’s such a thrill to see a book like this. It’s like reliving my childhood.” – Annette Funicello

“A terrific record of the good times!” – Bobby Burgess (later, of the Lawerence Welk Show)

I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars for being so full of nostalgia, just like its SSE sibling! Any fan of the show, Annette, or early Disney lore will love it!

Books, Cast Members, Ephemera, Promotions, Reviews, Television and Movies
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Book Review: The Mickey Mouse Club Scrapbook – SSE

M – I – C (“See what’s in this post!”)

K – E – Y (“Why? Because I need the blog traffic!”)

P – L – U – G – Geeeeeeeeee!

OK, that last line had one too many capital Gs (and lots of cute little e’s), but I had to make it match the famous chant. The Mickey Mouse Club started in 1955 with many of the original Mouseketeers being on board before Disneyland was actually opened. So it was a natural cross-promotional move to have them present at the parks grand opening.

And of course, the merchandise wasn’t far behind their own television debut!

Copyrighted 1975

The original Mickey Mouse Club was long off the air by the time this Special Souvenir Edition was sold for just $2.50 (I had to pay $4.95 in 2015 at an antique shop). This may have been an attempt to restore interest in the Club before the 1977 debut of the New Mickey Mouse Club. For the new show, the concept was modernized cosmetically, with a disco re-recording of the theme song and a more ethnically diverse group of young cast members. The sets were brightly colored and simpler than the detailed black and white artwork of the original. Like the original, nearly each day’s episode included a vintage cartoon, though usually in color from the late 1930s and onward.

According to the back cover, this book was intended to be a Where-Are-They-Now expose. The book starts with acknowledgments, and an introduction of what the original club was:

It has audition photos and stories for each of the original cast members:

It then gives a review of the show segments, as follows:

  • Monday: Fun With Music Day. Mickey says – “Big doings this week!”
  • Tuesday: Guest Star Day. Mickey says – “Everybody neat and pretty?”
  • Wednesday: Anything Can Happen Day. Mickey says – “Anything goes.”
  • Thursday: Circus Day. Mickey… stammers?
  • Friday: Talent Roundup Day. Mickey says – “You all pretty nigh ready?”

Next to be featured are the serials. These include:

  • White Shadow (1955)
  • The Hardy Boys (1956)
  • Clint and Mac (1957)
  • Annette (1957)
  • The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956-7)

What comes next is very cool:

Three more songs are featured with music sheets: Anything Can Happen Day; Here Comes the Circus!; and Talent Roundup.

Why not sing along, or better yet, sit down at your piano and play along!

Next comes The Mouseketeers Today, a great section with a head shot of the subject all grown up along with a brief blurb about their life today.

There were also 7 original Club members that the compilers of this book couldn’t find at the time of publishing:

Unfortunately, Jimmie Dodd passed away many years ago (1910-1964) but you can read all about this beautiful person at OriginalMMC.com by clicking the link.

All in all this is a wonderful keepsake with much insider information about everyone’s favorite mice!

To conclude, I just couldn’t end this post without publishing pictures of the other three song sheets included in the book. I apologize for the poor color quality in advance, but you can still enlarge them to read the lyrics or play along on your instruments:

This book was compiled by Keith Keller and published by Grosset & Dunlap of New York.

I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars for being so full of nostalgia! Any fan of the show, Annette, or early Disney lore will love it!

Books, Cast Members, Ephemera, Promotions, Reviews, Television and Movies
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