I was just talking to our HR Administrator, a friend, and we began recalling—and singing—the theme songs of cartoons and comedies of our era: The Flintstones, the Jetsons, and the Beverly Hillbillies song. When we got to the Mickey Mouse Club song, our memories diverged. She remembered “M-i-c (See you real soon) K-e-y (because we like you), and I remembered “Mic (See you real soon) k-e-y (WHY? Because we like you).” I insisted that the “Y’ was repeated twice, with the repetition being the word “why”? We made a bet, and of course I won. The Internet is great for settling these disputes.
Now you won’t remember this unless you’re in your dotage, but here it is, complete with Roy and Jimmy. Annette and Darlene, the older and pretty Mouseketeers, were the first love of many men my age, and I was particularly smitten with the dark and sultry Annette. Sadly, she died five years ago of multiple sclerosis. (If you’re a bit older, you’ll remember her in the “Beach Party” movies with Frankie Avalon, which afforded us a chance to see her in a bathing suit.) I haven’t heard this song in what must be at least 50 years.
Here’s the intro to the first episode. Roy gives me the creeps!
I used to watch the reruns…why? Because we liked it…cackle!
Disney always gave me the creeps. (BTW, PCCE, we’re the same age I think – graduated high school in ’67.) Knowing now what was going on with some of these child actors, my intuitive misgivings are explained. My favorite Disney trivia: the name of his partner in creating MM was named Ub Iwerks.
His full name: Ubbe Eert “Ub” Iwerks
I had forgotten about Roy and Jimmy. I think maybe I had a crush on someone named Lonnie??
I would have agreed with you, Jerry, on the second Y in the theme song. Useless garbage in my hard personal drive🙀
I had to go check the years – 1955 thru 59. So that means 5 to 9 years old for me. Everything in television was new and experimental in those days. Also all in black and white. I remember the Saturday morning cartoons, Roy Rogers and also all those Westerns. There was even a guy who flew around in an old Beachcraft airplane with his daughter – Sky King. We didn’t have any Sesame Street in those days.
9-14 for me. Thanks alot Jerry for making me feel so old! LOL!
Hey…you are old.
Sky King…I actually saw him in person at the Allegheny County (PA) Fair back in the early 60s.
No kidding. And there was Penny and Shadow.
Penny was his niece, not his daughter, and there was a nephew, too.
Remember, in those days, there was no implication of sex, hence, no children.
L
Butt Monkey? WTF! I had to look up the nickname to find out the meaning is far from what I supposed.
This was supposed to get kids excited for something? It sounds like Mickey Mouse’s funeral dirge.
It is one of those things where they say, you had to be there. The first song there was the closing theme song. So it was the sign off at the end. You know…sorry to say good bye and all that stuff to the little kiddies.
The version they used on the show–at the end–wasn’t this one; it was far more lively! But I couldn’t find it on the Internet.
Heres the SCA version:
I’m in my dotage. Still don’t remember it, at least not from direct experience. (My parents didn’t get a TV until ’63 or so.)
The Mickey Mouse theme was used to great effect by Mr. Kubrick at the end of Full Metal Jacket:
Did not see that movie…interesting.
Speaking of mickey mouse here is impeachment material, all ready to go if the congress wanted to actually do their job.
We know of the famous meeting in June/July 2016 with Donald Jr and company. Even the president now admits it was to get dirt on Hilary. He just does not admit he knew about the meeting. He is of course, lying. Cohen will testify that Trump did know and he approved the meeting. Once that little detail is cleared up we have Conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Second half of the movie is set in and around the Battle of Huế, during the ’68 Tet Offensive. First half is set at the Marine boot camp on Parris Island. You oughta see it, buddy.
I’m generally unable to watch war stories, but “Full Metal Jacket” was an exception. I can think of a handful of others.
I recall Brit children’s TV was pretty dire in the 50s – slow & simple. Blue Peter [from 1958 onwards] might be the nearest thing to the Mickey Mouse Club – it did have a certain amount of kiddie involvement.
The best kiddies programmes were enjoyed by all ages, often for charmingly unintended [or hidden subversive] humour, but that was later than the 50s. The two that come to mind are Captain Pugwash & The Magic Roundabout. Here’s the latter which we hijacked from the French & to which we added a new voice over – beloved of students. Man:
Thank Ceiling Cat that the BBC didn’t show this sentimental codswallop.
WE had Andy Pandy, The Flowerpot Men, Watch with Mother and the iconic Muffin the Mule.
Oh wait…
Wot, no one else watched Howdy Doody?
https://youtu.be/QHU_1Y7Ix5s
I loved that show!
My husband, who was born in 1950, still sings –
“It’s Howdy Dowdy time
The show ain’t worth a dime
And as for Claire-Abel,
She sure can go to Hell….”
He was from the east coast and I heard it on the west coast.
That was not the official song but that song got around without social media.
The word “hell” was not a good word to say back then.
Hard to believe.
Oops-that should be
Claire-a-Bell.
She was the cow on the show
Apparently there was Clarabelle the Clown PLUS Clarabelle the Cow. What an embarrassment of riches!
I was in the peanut gallery! Among the little gifts the kids were given, I remember receiving a small loaf of Wonder Bread.
I hope you saved it!
I have the Princess’ charm necklace.
Every young lad of a certain age–yes me too–had a crush on Annette.
Absolutely. And then, if I’m not mistaken, 10 years later we all had a crush on Linda Ronstadt.
I still have a crush on Linda Ronstadt. And Emmylou Harris.
Me too. Who couldn’t have a crush on Linda?
cr
I don’t know how to post a link without embedding it, but if you ask youtube for “julie london mickey mouse march” you’ll be able to waste 2:12 quite enjoyably. (It’s all in the delivery….)
Other than having a crush on Annette, I found the show pretty much unwatchable. Although I wasn’t a wild kid by any means, it was way too bland.
It might be said, with some accuracy, that the 50s were rather bland on the whole.
I recommend, instead, the following classic, unforgettable theme song:
When you find youself in danger,
When you’re threatened by a stranger,
When it looks like you will take a lickin’, (puk, puk, puk)
There is someone waiting,
Who will hurry up and rescue you,
Just CAAALL for Super Chicken! (puk ack!)
You knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred.
He will drink his super sauce and throw the bag guys for a loss and bring them in alive and kickin’!
One of my favorite jokes was from Super Chicken. The plucky pullet and Fred are flying in the super coop (a clear bubble top flying egg) looking for the bad guy when Fred says, “Why don’t you use your super vision?” whereupon Super Chicken replies, “If I had any supervision, would I be flying around up here with you?”
I have a Super Chicken episode up on my YouTube channel. I have been considered putting up other episodes, but I am afraid of the copyright backlash.
In my favorite episode, the plucky fowl and Fred put a dastardly villain in the lockup, in which he reflects on where he went wrong. “I have it,” the reflective villain exclaims, tapping his forehead at the Eureka! moment.
“Next time, I ought to steal from the poor and give to the rich.”
Just when I desperately needed something in the form of “good news”, Super PCC(E)and his faithful followers come to the rescue “with a Hearty, Hiyo Silver!) Yes, I’m old enough to remember these shows and theme songs. I’m also old enough to remember such radio shows as Amos and Andy, Behind the Green Door, The Lone Ranger, Mr. and Mrs. North, etc.
Following is a piece of “good news” I didn’t fish out of my ancient memory, or make up:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-helps-man-short-on-cash-at-wawa-finds-out-hes-keith-urban/
“I’m also old enough to remember such radio shows as. . . .”
Right on, Rowena! And let’s not forget The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly, and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. This last may be the strangest success story in entertainment history–a ventriloquist on the radio!
We had a similar success story in the UK with ventriloquist Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews, whose radio programme “Educating Archie” apparently attracted up to 15 million listeners in the 50s.
Remember sitting in the living room as a family and listening to these great old shows together?!
And the strangest vntriloquist on radio was Tommy Riggs who didn’t even use a dummy (or his hand for Senor Wences fans) for his character Betty-lou.
Saw Señor Wences somewhere a few years ago ( maybe an Ed Sullivan rerun?) He always cracked me up, especially the man in the box with the ‘Salright? ‘Salright! My ex and I did that with our pedal-operated trash cans…
My favorite rendition of the Mickey Mouse theme song was when Edward G. Robinson appeared on the show and sang, “See,see!” after “MIC”, and, “Why? Because I said so. That’s why”, after “KEY”. I also had a crush on Annette, but what prepubescent boy didn’t way back when.
Addendum: How I wish we had a video of you and your friend reminiscing about, and singing the theme songs from these shows.
It truly pleases me to think of PCC(E)doing
this. Who says we elders do not have fun?! Makes me want to follow suit.
My brother and I, who used to sing all the popular songs of our era while washing dinner dishes (singing into stock pots, for example) used to joke that, as elders, all we’d have left in our memories were some of the more ridiculous lyrics and refrains from those Pop Songs. Hasn’t happened quite yet, but I’m looking forward to “Louis, Louis”,
“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, all the background doo wops, “dip, dip, dips”, etc.
Of all those old themes, “Flintstones” remains my favourite. It’s actually one of dozens based on the Gershwin “I Got Rhythm” chords.
I had a friend who worked as a composer in the music department of Disney. Back in the days I went to church, the choir was getting ready to practice when somebody asked him to play the Mickey Mouse song, but in a non-standard key. She said, “C’mon, Bob, you can play anything in any key.”
“Nope, it can only played in ”
“Do it. You know you can.”
So he starts playing the song in the requested key, but as he’s playing he slowly moves up the scale until he’s playing it in the RIGHT key.
“See, I told you.”
I do miss him; he had a great sense of humor. He died back in ’09.
I used to like the “Adventures of Spin and Marty.”
Never good about going to bed at a reasonable hour (or staying in bed if bedtime was enforced) as a young child (1960s), so my TV-viewing was not limited to kiddie shows. Either because enforcing bedtime was not a hill my parents chose to die on most of the time, or because they were permissive hippie types, I watched TV shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E, 77 Sunset Strip, The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner, and Star Trek:TOS.
Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room? Pfft! Boring!
Diana Rigg from The Avengers was the one I was in love with.
You’re no Do-Bee!
Inorite?!
My parents could have used a copy of “Go the F%*k to Sleep” back then.
LOVE that takeoff on Goodnight Moon😻
How long did the show run? I have vague recollections of watching it in the early 1970s.
That was a revived version. Disney does that every so often.
Mention of the Flintstones reminds me how cheapskate Hanna-Barbera’s animations were, compared with e.g. Disney.
Look at an old Mickey Mouse and the animation is done properly – everything that needs to move does move, in every frame.
Now look at Flintstones, when they’re walking and talking – only their legs and lips move, and the background keeps repeating. Cheap and shoddy work.
That was my conclusion at the time, and I was duly offended at being short-changed as a viewer.
cr
On a totally different level check out the animation in Loving Vincent:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3262342/
The characters all look as though they’re painted by Van Gogh. Wonderful film!
Fred Quimby was MUCH better!
THOOOMASSSS!
I now see from his Wikipedia page that “He knew nothing of animation and cartoons were a strange thing to him.” ! Well he still produced them – but those were the days when Hanna & Barbera were not churning them out for cheap TV…
Those children look like they all have false teeth!
Grown men wearing mouse eats – they must have felt like real plonkers!
Mouse eats? Mouse ears…
I liked Darlene Gillespie…thought she could out-sing and out-dance any of them. She had a rough life, I think. Anyone know what happened when she got out of prison?
She did some shoplifting around the time of her ’98 jail. Only in jail a few months. 2005 involved in some type of ID fraud with husband of the time, but didn’t do time.
She’s 77 now & I think lives in Oxnard, CA.
I know of her from a friend who is into country music – she had a failed country music career. I suspect she’s a bad judge of husband material & falls in line with plans for ‘short cuts’ to financial success 🙂
She’s 2nd from the left in this 2015 PICTURE of the Mouseketteers 60th anniversary reunion
Funny that they spelled Mouseketeers wrong.
Showbiz reunions are dreadful things – you gotta be a bit hungry for something to fake-glitter-smile gather around a cake after 60 years & all you get is a Mouse waistcoat!
🐭
Must say I was pretty chuffed about my mouse ears when I was about 8-pink bow and all. Used to tap dance in front of the TV, to the amusement/scorn? Of my younger brothers…
A charming image dear 🙂
My brothers most likely saying “Down in front!”
I had totally forgotten about Spin and Marty:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_and_Marty
Ran into them when looking up Darlene.
I saw “SPIN” not too long ago (long story but I was glad I watched it.) I hadn’t realized how many good ”lessons” were included…just gentle reminders of what good behavior entails, kindness, etc.
Like Mr. Rogers for slightly older kids.
EXACTLY! Would we have “Sesame Street” without the urge to gently educate children? I’ve thought about Sesame Street’s short lessons and have wondered how many adults have watched…and learned?
LOVED watching Sesame Street with my kids.
The version of the Mickey Mouse Club song I like finished with “Mickey Mouse [Donald Duck], Mickey Mouse [Donald Duck].” With the interjected “Donald Ducks” in Donald’s voice, of course. I was at Disneyland once [lived only 3 miles away, so Disneyland was no big deal to me] when they announced Annette would be making an appearance. She never showed up. No big disappointment; she had no more appeal to me than, say, Doris Day. But Natalie Wood or Audrey Hepburn ….
Now that you mention it I remember the Donald Duck version, too. Until quite recently I really only watched TV between 1956 and 1960. We were overseas before and after and then in college and after I wasn’t much interested in TV. The past 8-10 years have brought some great shows, though.
Something else memorable from those years:
N E S T L E S
Nestle’s makes the very best
choccccclaaaattte
(Sung by a basset hound)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQK-AJKtjB0
The hound’s name was Farfel, FYI.
Funny how we can remember all those lyrics (“Donald Duck”….”Donald Duck”) and even the names of the children….but I can’t remember right now where my blasted CAR KEYS are hiding! 🙂
True dat❗️