The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-21-2015 - Inside the Disney Marketing Machine, the Walt Disney Hometown Museum and the Walt Disney Birthplace

By Tim Callaway

A Midget Autopia car on display at the Walt Disney
Hometown Museum booth at the D23 Expo.

Another D23 Expo has come and gone. Hopefully you caught our slightly inebriated recap of the festivities on Inside The Mouse Castle. Today, we’re going to sit down in the Lounge with some of the people who were part of the Expo. We’ve got Kaye Malins and Peter Whitehead with the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Walt’s boyhood home of Marceline, MO. They’re going to talk about their ambitious fundraising efforts to restore the Midget Autopia, which was relocated from Disneyland to the city of Marceline in 1966. It operated in Marceline for a number of years before falling into disrepair and now the Museum wants to bring it back…and you can help.

Another great cause to support is the Walt Disney Birthplace in Chicago. It’s the actual home designed and built by Walt’s parents in 1893 and the very place Walt was born in 1901. The Birthplace is undergoing an extensive restoration and Todd Regan will be here to bring us up to date on how it’s progressing.

Author Lorraine Santoli and Dave Mason with
Saturday's Toys at the D23 Expo

Before we get to that, though, we’ll be joined by the former director of corporate synergy with Disney, Lorraine Santoli. She’s also an author who’s had a longtime association with the original Mouseketeers. In fact, Lorraine hosted a celebration of 60 magical years of the Mickey Mouse Club at the D23 Expo. She was joined on stage by Sherry Alberoni, Sharon Baird, Bobby Burgess, Tommy Cole, Darlene Gillespie, Cubby O’Brien and Doreen Tracey. It was a delightful presentation.

Before the Expo, Lorraine and I chatted about her latest book, a memoir of her 22 years at the Walt Disney Company, Inside The Disney Marketing Machine. In it, Lorraine recalls the many memorable events she was part of in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, including Mickey Mouse’s 50th birthday, Donald Duck’s 50th birthday and Disneyland’s 30th anniversary. She also talks at length about the leadership styles of Disney’s top executives during that time, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. It’s an insightful look behind the scenes of an entertainment company on the verge of becoming the media giant it is today.

Enjoy!

For more fascinating books about Disney history, visit www.ThemeParkPress.com.

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The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-03-2014 - Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess

Bobby Burgess at a 2010
Mouseketeer reunion.

Bobby Burgess has spent nearly 60 years in show business and worked for two of the great showmen of the 20th century, Walt Disney and Lawrence Welk. He was one of the original Mouseketeers, joining the Mickey Mouse Club in 1955 when he was only 14. He was part of a television phenomenon that made household names out of himself and his cast mates, talented and energetic kids-next-door with names like Sharon, Darlene, Cubby, Karen, Tommy, Lonnie and Annette--especially Annette.

Bobby would be among the handful of Moueketeers to appear on all four seasons of the first series, but at age 18 he was far from done as an entertainer. In 1961, he became a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show and remained part of that musical variety show family for the next 21 years on both network television and in syndication. Bobby's specialty was tap and ballroom dancing and he choreographed countless routines for himself and his partners on the show. Even today, more than 20 years after Welk's death, Burgess still performs with many of the players from the show, usually to sold out houses.

Bobby dances with fellow Mouseketeer
Sharon Baird at Disneyland's grand opening.

In this edition of The Mouse Castle Lounge, I talk with Bobby about his entertainment career and his new book Ears & Bubbles: Dancing My Way from The Mickey Mouse Club to The Lawrence Welk Show. Bobby shares with me his memories of Walt Disney, Annette Funicello, Lawrence Welk and how being a Mouseketeer once helped him get out of a speeding ticket.

It's a delightful conversation with a charming and talented entertainer. Enjoy!

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Related: 
55 Years Later . . . Mouseketeers, Roll Call, Count Off Now!

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Annette Funicello and the Ravages of Multiple Sclerosis

Annette Funicello

Walt Disney discovered Annette Funicello when she was only 12 years old, performing at a dance recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. Less than a year later, she'd be receiving 6,000 fan letters a month.

As a member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, Annette (really, she's always just been "Annette") became Disney's first superstar girl next door, arguably the most famous of all the Mouseketeers. When the series ended its first run in 1959, she stayed under contract with Disney, appearing in the movies The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and The Monkey's Uncle. Beyond Disney, she was co-starred with fellow teen idol Frankie Avalon in the popular "Beach Party" movies of the 1960s.

She was pretty and vivacious. She could sing, she could dance. She could sell Skippy peanut butter. In 1992, Annette was named a Disney Legend.

1992 was also the year she publicly revealed she was suffering from multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system. Hers was the most debilitating kind of MS, the kind that gradually and relentlessly ended her ability to walk and to talk and to care for herself. Today, as Annette nears her 70th birthday, she requires constant care and is attended to by private nurses and her husband of 25 years, Glen Holt.

As the ravages of the disease took its toll, Annette withdrew from public life. In 1993, she founded the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases to fund research and treatment of MS and other neurological diseases. Her last movie appearance was in the 1995 telepic A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, based on her autobiography of the same name. Since then, she has rarely been seen except by her family and her closest friends.

Until now.

On Friday, the Canadian news show W5 presented Annette's heartbreaking and courageous story. For the first time, viewers get a look inside her home, where she must be physically lifted every day from her bed to her wheelchair and back again. We see the devotion of her husband, who talks to her constantly and takes her on daily outings, trying to keep her engaged even though she can only blink in response. This story vividly shows the cruel and devastating nature of MS, which afflicts more than 250,000 people in the U.S. alone. It also offers hope as it details a controversial treatment Annette underwent last year. And while that treatment only provided minor relief to Annette--her body is already horribly damaged by the disease--it could signal a breakthrough to patients worldwide who suffer from this most severe form of MS.

Full story (with video): Annette Funicello: Her Life With Multiple Sclerosis

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Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives at the D23 Expo

One of the highlights of last month's D23 Expo in Anaheim was the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit, 12,000 square feet of Disney props, costumes and memorabilia. These items were among my favorites (click on each image for a larger view):

Talent Roundup Day costumes worn by Annette Funicello,
Roy Williams and Cubby O'Brien on The Mickey Mouse Club (1955).

He makes the sign of the "Z." Costume worn by
Guy Williams on the TV series Zorro (1957-59).

Roger Rabbit maquette from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

She's not bad. She's just molded that way.
Jessica Rabbit maquette from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

It's DIIIIIP!!!! Dipmobile model from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Costumes worn by Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant)
and Joanna Cassidy (Dolores) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Costume worn by Billy Campbell (Cliff Secord) with an airplane model from
The Rocketeer (1991). Disney will release the film on Blu-ray on December 13.

Cirrus X-3 jet pack from The Rocketeer.

Costumes worn by Billy Campbell and Jennifer Connelly (Jenny)
in The Rocketeer.

March Hare, White Rabbit, Dormouse and Cheshire Cat models
from Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Costumes worn by Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter)
and Mia Wasikowska (Alice) in
Alice in Wonderland.

Costumes worn by Johnny Depp
and Mia Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland.

Props from National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).

The Dead Man's Chest from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Props from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007): Tia Dalma's locket and
Davy Jones' spyglass, pipe and cane.

Captain Jack Sparrow's compass that doesn't point north.

Costumes worn by Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) and
Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Captain Jack Sparrow (well, his costume anyway) at the wheel
of the Black Pearl.

Props from ABC Television's Lost (2004-2010)

Costumes from Tron (1982)

Costume worn by Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn/Clu) in Tron.

Costume worn by Glenn Close (Cruella De Vil)
in 101 Dalmatians (1996).

Display of vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse stuffed toys.

The original Mickey Mouse watch made by Ingersoll in 1933.

Mickey Mouse maquette from The Brave Little Tailor (1938).

Mickey and Minnie Mouse Handcar manufactured by Lionel in 1934.
This piece was donated to the Archives by the late Disney animating legend
Ward Kimball.

Mickey Mouse animatronic from the Mickey Mouse Revue,
which played at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World
in the 1970s.

Surrounded by other vintage merchandise, a Mickey Mouse phone from
1976. I still own one myself....and it still works.

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55 Years Later . . . Mouseketeers, Roll Call, Count Off Now!

DOREEN!

KAREN!

SHARON!

CUBBY!

TOMMY!

BOBBY!

MARY!

SHERRY!

There's really no other point to this article. I just felt like doing it. :-)

Related: The Mouse Castle Lounge 08-03-2014 - Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess

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