M-i-c…k…e…y… M-o-u-s-e: a Mouseketeer Memory

I was sad to read that Annette Funicello passed away. She was one of my favorites on the Mickey Mouse Club.

This was an early post in Zero to Sixty in One Year, but I’m dusting it off for any old-timers out there who loved the show and the Mouseketeers the way I did.

He was my first crush.

Cubby O’Brian played the drums on The Mickey Mouse Club. Much to my dismay, he was always paired up with Karen, who had pretty blonde curls. I didn’t look anything like this:

Not me. No way.

When I saw an  article in the SF Chronicle about the Disney Family Museum, it jogged a pleasant memory of those early days of  TV, and the way kids used to pretend we were part of the club too.

Me, with a crush on him–>
Isn’t he adorable?

The article mentions Karen and Cubby cut-out dolls…and I am pretty sure I had some! Why else would I have her pretty little face (and his adorable one) seared into my memory? 

I used to play “Karen and Cubby” with my across-the-street-neighbor John when we watched “The Mickey Mouse Club” together. He had a big rumpus room and that’s where the TV was. Plenty of room to play and act out what the Mouseketeers were doing.

  The picture of Cubby  (his real name is Carl, but his mom thought he looked like a bear cub — how cute is that?) today, even with glasses and without the ears, reveals a nice man who looks like he has lived a good life. And he’s still playing the drums.

I loved reading about the Mouseketeers in this article. It brought back some of the excitement of watching the show, sprawled on my tummy in front of the TV…  dreaming about the first pint-sized power couple.

2 Responses to M-i-c…k…e…y… M-o-u-s-e: a Mouseketeer Memory

  1. It all seems so simple by the standards of what kids watch these days..but boy did we love it! Lovely reminiscence.

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