Weekday afternoons was my Disney Channel addiction as a kid. I’m in the central time zone so 4:00-5:00pm every weekday afternoon was my prime viewing. Kids Incorporated is what originally drew me to Disney Channel when that show moved over there in the late 80’s. When Kids Inc. moved there, I begged my parents to get Disney Channel so I could keep watching it. Not long after Kids Incorporated, another show popped up that would be another addiction and that was the Mickey Mouse Club. Every day at 4:30pm, I’d turn the TV to Disney and watch this incredibly talented cast and show. The music. The comedy. The skits. The mouse club movies. The stars. All of it. 7 seasons with this incredible show and cast. Recording the episodes so I could watch them over and over. I’d record the music performances to cassette tape so I could listen to the songs again. At one point, I made a VHS where it was just all the music performances all right in order by season so I could watch the music stuff right in a row. I remember going to the mall when The Party singles and CD’s would be released. The same with the MMC album. Keeping an eye on The Disney Channel Magazine for any promotional material of when new episodes were coming and new seasons. I still remember the stress of looking for the first promotion of a new season hoping my favorites would be back. The joy of seeing new cast members that I would soon love. The sadness when some would disappear not returning for another season. It felt like hanging out with friends every weekday afternoon and I think that is such the ultimate compliment of this show. It felt like all of us fans grew up with them. The stories of the incredible talent that came through this show and continued on to big things after are long told. Now we have a companion book to continue to tell the stories already told and many more that we haven’t heard. This year, Always In The Club which was co-founded by the reunited Mouseketeers and fans released a book called Always In The Club: The True Story Of The All New Mickey Mouse Club. I, of course, had to order myself a copy. The book was released in different versions with eBook, coffee table, hardcover, and paperback. I went with the hardback version.
The book is split into four volumes. Volume one focuses on the early years of seasons one through three. The original pilot, the audition process, the parents sacrifices, friendships formed, dating (which flashed me back to MMC 30 with that panel where we all were wide eyed listening to who dated who and who liked who LOL). The discussion of the early stages of The Party is discussed where after floating the idea, they pondered are they gaining or losing by doing that. That’s how I felt as a fan at the time. I was so excited for them but I also had obvious sadness not having them on the show anymore cause I loved them so much and they were such a core of the show. We get the story of the epic pie fight, the Michael Jackson visit to set, the talk of how they were feeling like they were hitting stride with the show by season three, and the stories of the 100th episode bringing back the original Mouseketeers. The music clearances being discussed was something I was loving reading about with hearing the process of that and also ones that weren’t able to get cleared. Doing 135 episodes in over a year and a half by the end of season three and just the amount of non stop work involved leading to one moment with Damon’s health that made health of the kids an even bigger priority after that. I love reading so much just how much care was put into that cast of kids. They wanted them to be kids along with their job. Always wanting to make sure everyone was ok and making it a good working environment for them. Just massive kudos to the amount of stories from the adults of making sure these kids were always taken care of. A lot of sets aren’t like and I’m so thankful to hear the stories of how well they were taken care of.
Volume two focuses on The Party. The process of who was chosen and how the cast found out. The reactions to all of this from the cast and families. The after effects of it. The effect it would have on the other cast members missing their friends including Mylin who went through a massive struggle without Deedee and Tiffini there. I’ve heard Mylin tell that story before too of how she struggled without some of her closer friends there. Disney using The Party to test the market on if they could launch something like this music wise out of this show and pick up an audience. It was very successful obviously! The Party tour bringing out a massive amount of fans and energy. Testing the market for what would be trailblazing for many musicians in the future coming from Disney shows. We get the whole journey of The Party with the style changes of each album. The amazing people they worked with and what ultimately led to the end of The Party. I really enjoyed the stories of The Party!
Volume three picks up with season four till the end. Season 4 was like a massive reset with adding so many new people to the cast. The bonds that formed early at auditions. New and veteran mousekteers bonding together including age differences with some. Evolving the music for the show to the next level. The struggles at times now that the show was a success that the network was getting more involved which led to the writers not being able to be as close to the kids as in seasons past cause they were kept so busy with so much input and rewrite changes from up higher. In the early seasons, the writers and staff pretty much just did their own thing as they just kept learning and trying figuring out what this show was going to be. Success often means more input from networks. My experience with shows over the years is usually network input is what messes things up. The show was so successful that it got a 55 episode order for season five. Season five was said to be more of a business feel to it. New producer added. Going to the next level. The disappearance of the Mouse Club Movies which would be replaced by original content including Prescott Press and Emerald Cove and allowing the cast to stretch their talents even further. Stories of the MMC Rocks The Planet concert. The changes after season five. Tasha not returning made me soooo sad at the time. Some knew they weren’t coming back and some didn’t with the story of Mylin knew she wasn’t returning while Blain tells the story that he just never got a call about coming back. The changes of season six with bringing in a bunch of new cast members which was basically them setting the show up for years ahead. It felt like that at the time too as a fan when those new six were brought in so young that they were being set up to be the headliners of the show in a few years. Stories in here of how it was a bit of a struggle with the age gaps with the new and the veterans but how they made it work great. The behind the scenes of the MMC album and getting that album in the stores. The success of that and the tour. The format change for season seven. The story of how one conversation behind the scenes likely got the ball rolling on what would end up being the decision to end the show after season seven. The wrapping of the series airing its final episode in 1995.
Volume four is fan submitted stories. There are also great stories like this through the book too telling of live experiences and fandom watching on TV. The many stories of fandom by fans that maybe didn’t feel like they fit in at school and this show came on and filled a void for them where it was like having friends to hang out with every weekday afternoon. When the MMC 30 reunion happened, I was all over You Tube waiting for people to post videos since I couldn’t be there. It felt like a high school reunion with being excited to see everyone back together again and it felt like seeing friends again that we haven’t seen in a bit. I think that is how everyone felt. I think all of us fans kept track of them post show. I know I was subscribed to a newsletter and checking a website daily in the late 90s and early 2000’s that kept us constantly informed of anything going on with projects by the MMC crew. They did such an awesome job. It was just so fun seeing all of the success the MMC crew were having. It was like supporting friends every time you saw a project of theirs. I got to meet Nikki when she was opening as part of Innosense on the Britney Spears Oops I Did It Again tour in 2000. I told her I had been keeping up with her since her MMC days. She was so friendly and nice including saying thank you for keeping up with me! I know I have my stories of MMC and it’s fun to read everyone else’s stories in this book of fandom that bonded all of us MMC fans.
I thought this paragraph from the book summed up MMC so well from page 437 talking about the ending of the show. “The circle was indeed complete. The show that had begun as an experiment in children’s television had become an incubator for talent, a family for those who needed it, and a launching pad for dreams. But most importantly, it remained what it had always been at its best: a place where kids could discover not just what they could do, but who they could become.”
If you want more content of MMC stuff here, you can check out my unboxing of the book here with this video:
I also have these two Q&A’s on the website and a big thank you again to Jennifer McGill and Lindsey Alley for answering my questions for the website back in 2012.
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