Well, it appears we have reached the final entry in Mouseka-Notes. Today, we will be talking about the last version of the Mickey Mouse Club to air on TV. The '90s version. Ever since this one there has never been a new Mickey Mouse Club. The closest we have come is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but that's not the same. Other than using an odd rendition of the theme. Anyways back on topic, today I will look at the '90s version of this show, which is often abbreviated to MMC.
A Brief History
While this show is regarded as show from the '90s, it technically premiered in 1989. This time however unlike the old Mickey Mouse Club which aired on ABC, this version was aired on the Disney channel. Also MMC, as I'll be calling it, outlasted the '50s Mickey Mouse Club which only aired for four seasons. MMC lasted for seven seasons. Unlike the previous two incarnations, however, the old format of using serials was dropped and instead replaced with sketches and comedic skits.
Mouseketeers
I have decided to get the Mouseketeers out of the way first, today. Now I told you I would talk about more than one Mouseketeers and I'm one to keep my promise. However if you recall last time, I told you Courtney Love auditioned for the '70s Mickey Mouse Club, well today we have two future stars to auditioned but didn't get the part. Those two stars to auditioned for MMC are Matt Damon and Jessica Simpson. Now I had known about Jessica Simpson auditioning but not Matt Damon until doing some research for this installment. Funnily, enough later on in life the two Mouseketeers I have chosen to talk about would go on to date each other.
Justin Timberlake
In 1993, Justin joined the cast of MMC and he actually met alot of people who would be involved in his future music career. As I mentioned, he met his future girlfriend, Britney Spears as he was also a Mouseketeer and future N*Sync band mate and America's Best Dance Crew judge, JC Chaez. I don't want to give away to much because his name will come up again when we get to the cancellation.
Britney Spears
As I said, Justin's future girlfriend was on this show as well. Britney was not an original Mouseketeer either. She joined the show later in its run. This is just an odd coincidence but does anyone else find it funny that Britney was on a reboot of the MMC (Mickey Mouse Club) while her younger sister Jamie-Lynn Spears appeared on the reboot of All That. Both of which were sketch comedy shows for kids and both of them got their start on that type of show.
The Opening
You remember how I said that I felt the '70s opening was lazy. That's not the case at all. They did not rely on the opening of the classic. Instead they decided to get creative and make their own opening. While Mickey is not directly featured in this opening, he is still in it. As the opening starts at the animator's table, it is Mickey that is putting together the collage. Sure, they got rid of the "Donald Duck" part from the old song but it would not have worked here. I'm probably not the first to comment on this but I swear the graphics remind of Saved by The Bell. There is one other variation of the opening, I wish to talk about.
Now the reason, I bring this opening is because it is from a special reunion episode where members of the '50s Mickey Mouse Club joined the '90s Mouseketeers and for this special episode they decided to mix the two openings. It almost feels like a compare and contrast as it shows how had changed between the time the original ended and the '90s version started.
Gear
The Set
Now I know I haven't brought this up before but here I really want to talk about the set for MMC. At least the main set that was seen at the beginning and ending of each episode.
Now I'm not sure how well, you can make out the set in this group shot. It looks like a diner to me from days gone by and perhaps I'm wrong but it almost feels like they are paying homage to the '50s Mickey Mouse Club by having the main set be a diner. As diners were big in that day.
I'll be totally honest, it was not my intent to go back Britney and Justin but I just liked this sketch. I think I'll just let this speak for itself as there is not much else I can say.
The End!
I have to admit that I got a good chuckle when I learned of the reason why the show was cancelled. Apparently, the producers thought the new Mouseketeers such as Brtney, Justin and Christina Aguilera were not strong enough talent-wise to carry the show.
My Final Thoughts
In the end, I find MMC to be quite enjoyable and I still think that it holds up to this day. I also appreciate the fact that they were not lazy and decided to make the show their own. Just as with the older versions of Mickey Mouse Club, MMC has been released on DVD but so far the only DVD release I know is The Best of Britney, Justin, Christina. Now perhaps it is just me but does anyone else find it funny that they would release a Best of when these Mouseketeers are part of the reason why the show was cancelled.
I have seen some people say that they would like to Mickey Mouse Club make a comeback. I'm on the fence about this. On the one hand, I would love to see this generation get their own club but on the same token, I worry that Disney would dum down the show and it would lose the magic and charm of the classics.
Now I have not included these videos in the past intentionally and I'm not going to say anything else except for I feel that the proper way to close out Mouseka-Notes is with the closing song, the Mickey Mous Club Alma Matter. I give you both the '50s version and the '90s version from the reunion speical.
I hope you have enjoyed this special retrospective of Mickey Mouse Club. But wer'e done yet, come back Friday when I truly close this thing out with a special Mickey Mouse Club ediiton of Music Fridays.
A Brief History
While this show is regarded as show from the '90s, it technically premiered in 1989. This time however unlike the old Mickey Mouse Club which aired on ABC, this version was aired on the Disney channel. Also MMC, as I'll be calling it, outlasted the '50s Mickey Mouse Club which only aired for four seasons. MMC lasted for seven seasons. Unlike the previous two incarnations, however, the old format of using serials was dropped and instead replaced with sketches and comedic skits.
Mouseketeers
I have decided to get the Mouseketeers out of the way first, today. Now I told you I would talk about more than one Mouseketeers and I'm one to keep my promise. However if you recall last time, I told you Courtney Love auditioned for the '70s Mickey Mouse Club, well today we have two future stars to auditioned but didn't get the part. Those two stars to auditioned for MMC are Matt Damon and Jessica Simpson. Now I had known about Jessica Simpson auditioning but not Matt Damon until doing some research for this installment. Funnily, enough later on in life the two Mouseketeers I have chosen to talk about would go on to date each other.
Justin Timberlake
In 1993, Justin joined the cast of MMC and he actually met alot of people who would be involved in his future music career. As I mentioned, he met his future girlfriend, Britney Spears as he was also a Mouseketeer and future N*Sync band mate and America's Best Dance Crew judge, JC Chaez. I don't want to give away to much because his name will come up again when we get to the cancellation.
Britney Spears
As I said, Justin's future girlfriend was on this show as well. Britney was not an original Mouseketeer either. She joined the show later in its run. This is just an odd coincidence but does anyone else find it funny that Britney was on a reboot of the MMC (Mickey Mouse Club) while her younger sister Jamie-Lynn Spears appeared on the reboot of All That. Both of which were sketch comedy shows for kids and both of them got their start on that type of show.
The Opening
You remember how I said that I felt the '70s opening was lazy. That's not the case at all. They did not rely on the opening of the classic. Instead they decided to get creative and make their own opening. While Mickey is not directly featured in this opening, he is still in it. As the opening starts at the animator's table, it is Mickey that is putting together the collage. Sure, they got rid of the "Donald Duck" part from the old song but it would not have worked here. I'm probably not the first to comment on this but I swear the graphics remind of Saved by The Bell. There is one other variation of the opening, I wish to talk about.
Now the reason, I bring this opening is because it is from a special reunion episode where members of the '50s Mickey Mouse Club joined the '90s Mouseketeers and for this special episode they decided to mix the two openings. It almost feels like a compare and contrast as it shows how had changed between the time the original ended and the '90s version started.
Gear
While not exactly the same as the jackets that the Mouseketeers wore. This is the basic idea. Save for the fact that there was a logo on front with their name above it. Personally, I think these jackets are a suitable replacement for the Mouse Ears and they are pretty cool. They actually give off the club mentality. If that makes sense. I found this picture at Another fun fact here when the original Mouseketeers appeared on the reunion special, they were given MMC jackets with their names on them. I wish, they sold these because I would love to get one.
Logo
I do apologize for using the same picture twice but this is the only picture I could find with the MMC logo. As you can see they made some minor changes to it. Such as you now see Mickey's upper body than rather just his head. Mickey is now laying his left arm on the bottom of the circle and he is wearing a nice black and red striped collared shirt. I like this logo and I even think that it is on par with the classic logo.
This picture comes from VintageTVshowJackets
The Set
Now I know I haven't brought this up before but here I really want to talk about the set for MMC. At least the main set that was seen at the beginning and ending of each episode.
Now I'm not sure how well, you can make out the set in this group shot. It looks like a diner to me from days gone by and perhaps I'm wrong but it almost feels like they are paying homage to the '50s Mickey Mouse Club by having the main set be a diner. As diners were big in that day.
Sketches
This is where things get tricky because unlike the two previous versions. MMC used sketches not serials and for the most part they did not have an ongoing story arc. I think the best way to explain this is by showing you rather than telling you.
I'll be totally honest, it was not my intent to go back Britney and Justin but I just liked this sketch. I think I'll just let this speak for itself as there is not much else I can say.
The End!
I have to admit that I got a good chuckle when I learned of the reason why the show was cancelled. Apparently, the producers thought the new Mouseketeers such as Brtney, Justin and Christina Aguilera were not strong enough talent-wise to carry the show.
My Final Thoughts
In the end, I find MMC to be quite enjoyable and I still think that it holds up to this day. I also appreciate the fact that they were not lazy and decided to make the show their own. Just as with the older versions of Mickey Mouse Club, MMC has been released on DVD but so far the only DVD release I know is The Best of Britney, Justin, Christina. Now perhaps it is just me but does anyone else find it funny that they would release a Best of when these Mouseketeers are part of the reason why the show was cancelled.
I have seen some people say that they would like to Mickey Mouse Club make a comeback. I'm on the fence about this. On the one hand, I would love to see this generation get their own club but on the same token, I worry that Disney would dum down the show and it would lose the magic and charm of the classics.
Now I have not included these videos in the past intentionally and I'm not going to say anything else except for I feel that the proper way to close out Mouseka-Notes is with the closing song, the Mickey Mous Club Alma Matter. I give you both the '50s version and the '90s version from the reunion speical.
I hope you have enjoyed this special retrospective of Mickey Mouse Club. But wer'e done yet, come back Friday when I truly close this thing out with a special Mickey Mouse Club ediiton of Music Fridays.
No comments:
Post a Comment