Tag Archives: Mickey Mouse Club

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Jimmie Dodd Meets Private Snuffy Smith

Welcome to another installment of ‘Where On Earth Did You Find This‘ on Disney Nouns! The blog that seeks to share the most obscure Disney references imaginable.

Case in point:

This is a 1942 American film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring Bud Duncan as Snuffy Smith. It was actually a comic strip made into a movie, and done quite well, I might add.

Synopsis: Inspired by and envious of the $21 a month and free khaki britches and gold buttons of his friend Don Elbie (our man Jimmie Dodd), Snuffy Smith joins the US Army with his dog, Mr. Carson, concealed by an invisibility potion. As fate would have it, his company First Sergeant is Ed Cooper, a former revenuer who had unsuccessfully attempted to locate and destroy Snuffy’s still.

The clever Don Elbie (yup, Jimmie Dodd) has invented a new rangefinder that he hopes to have adopted by the army. General Rosewater hopes to test the new rangefinder in war games with a rival general. A pair of Fifth columnists hope to steal the rangefinder but are defeated by Snuffy’s wife Lowizie, Snuffy’s invisible dog and his hillbilly neighbours.

Sounds sane enough. And here is what the title cards have to say about Jimmie Dodd:

  Jimmie Dodd 3

Jimmie Dodd actually cares for the only three tunes in the film:

Times a-Wastin, which is Snuffy Smith’s battle cry, was written by four men but sung by Dodd.

The Yard Bird, which referred to the Smith character once inducted, was written and performed by Dodd.

I Don’t Know What To Do Blues was also written and performed by Dodd.

Now here are some stills of Jimmie Dodd as Don Elbie from the film:

     Jimmie Dodd 5    

Jimmie Dodd 7         

Keep in mind that this film was released in 1942, so it is a full 13 years before Dodd became the leader of the Mouseketeers. But we can see that he was already a musical player and songwriter. It was nice to find him in such a substantial role!

Jimmie Dodd 9

 Jimmie Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964)

Dodd did many turns in the movies before linking up with Disney, usually uncredited, but Private Snuffy Smith is seldom mentioned.

History, Movies
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Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess on the Lawrence Welk Show

And here we have yet another Disney reference popping up on television. We all remember the Merry Marching Mouseketeers with everyone’s favorite female performer, Annette. But who was your favorite male performer?

Perhaps it was Robert Wilkie “Bobby” Burgess (born May 19, 1941), who was one of only nine Mouseketeers who stayed for the entire run of the show:

Later he would continue his dancing career on the long-running Lawrence Welk Show. Here he is as he appeared in a LW clip show some time after the original run was completed:

And here he is with his full-time dance partner on the original LW show:

     Bobby Mouseketeer Welk 012

With so many of the original Mouseketeers ending their careers after the Club disbanded, and others falling into trouble, it is so nice to know that some were able to go on to continued success, both as people, and performers!

Music, Television and Movies
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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.

MMC Scrapbook 1975 014

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

MMC Scrapbook 1975 015

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:

MMC Scrapbook 1975 016

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

MMC Scrapbook 1975 017

MMC Scrapbook 1975 018

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

MMC Scrapbook 1975 019

MMC Scrapbook 1975 022

  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:

MMC Scrapbook 1975 020

And who was everyone’s favorite Mouseketeer?

MMC Scrapbook 1975 021

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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Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia – Jiminy Cricket!

Image ©The Walt Disney Co.

Image ©The Walt Disney Co.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia!  Along with Jodi from Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, Heidi from Heidi’s Head, and Jenn from Disney Babies Blog, I’m Mike from My Dreams of Disney here to share a special bit of Disney Trivia!

This month the questions all come courtesy of my daughter Sophie, and our resource is the excellent book Disney Trivia from the Vault by Mr. Dave Smith.  If you like our trivia and want to purchase your own copy of the book, you can do so by clicking on the link!  It’s a great read!

Today’s Trivia is written in from Kathy in Wheeling, IL , who asks:

In what movie or short did Jiminy Cricket teach us how to spell “encyclopedia”?

Jiminy Cricket’s Encyclopedia was a separate little cartoon that appeared a number of times on the Mickey Mouse Club television show beginning in 1956.

Now, for a little fun, take a look at the cartoon that Kathy was referring to! It’s a short little ditty, do you remember this from your childhood?

Thank you for stopping by today, but don’t forget to check out the rest of the entries this week! Just click on the links below, and have a Disney Day!

Magical Mouse Schoolhouse

Disney Babies Blog

Heidi’s Head

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Bloggers, My Dreams of Disney, Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia
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