Film Albums: Songs from Annette and other Walt Disney Serials

Every once in a while you come across a gem of an album that you never even knew existed. This one caught my attention because Annette Funicello was on the cover but then I saw the subtitle "and other Walt Disney serials" and my heart skipped a beat. This album is actually just an updated release of Disney's "Songs from the Mickey Mouse Club Serials" album (another one I never knew existed) but with the inclusion of Annette's music from her latest serial Annette. If you enjoy Walt Disney serials then that one is well worth watching. 

This album features songs from some of the popular Mickey Mouse Club members including Tim Considine, David Stollery, Darlene, and Annette, as well as tunes performed by the Walt Disney studio chorus. In my own humble opinion, these are the best ones on the album. There is a ripping version of "Pieces of Eight", the theme song to The Hardy Boys - The Mystery of Applegate Treasure; a lilting tune called "Moochie" (about Moochie, of course); a rosing version of The Boys of the Western Sea, the theme from a rare serial about Norwegian fishermen; and "Annette" performed by Jimmie Dodd. 

Click here to listen to the album in full on Youtube. 

Track Listing

Side One

How Will I Know My Love

Annette

Meetin' at the Malt Shop

Buckwheat Cakes

Hap-Happy Snowman

Pieces of Eight

What I Want to Be Theme

Side Two:

Don't Jump to Conclusions

Theme from Spin and Marty

Triple R Song

Uncle Dan

Moochie

The Boys of the Western Sea

Top Picks: Annette, Pieces of Eight, Meetin' at the Malt Shop, Theme from Spin and Marty, Moochie

Dublin's Fair City - My Three Sons ( 1964 )

There were a great number of episodes from classic television shows of the 1950s and 1960s that featured characters visiting Paris and Rome, but there were very few that had characters going to Ireland. Since today be St. Patrick's Day, we'll be sharing with ye one of the best of these rare episodes - it be the 1964 classic "Dublin's Fair City" with none other than Steve Douglas and his brood of winsome lads visiting the Emerald Isle. 

This 2-part episode begins with William "Bub" O'Casey ( William Frawley ) receiving a letter from his cousin in Ireland announcing that he won the Irish sweepstakes. Bub had been sending his cousin money from time to time to buy sweepstakes tickets and they finally won the jackpot. With his share of the winnings, Bub decides to treat his family to a trip to Ireland to visit with his Irish side of the family. 

In Ireland, Bub reunites with his cousin ( Robert Emhardt ) and his aunt ( Jeanette Nolan ) and Steve Douglas finds himself being pursued by a young woman ( Mariette Hartley ) anxious to wed and come to America. The boys have little to do in this episode but strangely enough, their absence is not noticed.  

"Dublin's Fair City" is a fun episode to watch, primarily due to the presence of Jeanette Nolan as 103-year old Aunt Kate. She's a feisty biddy, yet lovable. Nolan steals every scene she is in and clearly enjoys spewing out nonsensical Irish sayings like "A man who mumbles often stumbles." She has a strong hold on her son Mickey and treats him like a little boy, even though he be in his 50s. One afternoon, when she catches him leaving his wood shavings on the ground outside after a bit of whittling, she sends him to his room without supper. Bub remarks that "that's telling him" and then she promptly sends Bub to his room, too! Mickey is portrayed by Robert Emhardt, who is best remembered for playing the visiting businessman in The Andy Griffith Show episode "Man in a Hurry". 

There is also a fun bit of not-so-romantic play between Mary Kathleen Connelly ( Mariette Hartley ) and Steve Douglas ( Fred MacMurray ). Mary takes a shine to Steve when she learns that he is a single man from America but her boyfriend Tom Grogan ( Sean McClory ) doesn't take to this lightly and, with his slingshot, aims acorns at Steve's head anytime he sees him with his girl. 

Naturally, the countryside of California becomes "Ireland" for the episode but it is really set quite well. With Irish music playing in the background, the episode does indeed have an Irish air to it and makes you feel like you went traveling with the Douglas' overseas. 

If this episode is new to you, then it is well worth checking out. Watching it may become a new St. Patrick's Day tradition in our house. 

Tim Considine - A Disney Legend

Tim Considine was one of Disney’s most popular television actors and was in fact one of the very first of TV’s teen idols in 1955.

Born Dec. 31, 1940 in Los Angeles, California, Tim grew up not very much unlike his first screen roles – the restless son from a wealthy family. His family background included an Oscar-nominated movie producer ( John Considine Jr. ); a vaudeville impresario grandfather ( John Considine ); a sports writer for King Features Syndicate ( Bob Considine ); and a theatre magnet grandfather ( Alexander Pantages ). It’s no wonder that at a young age Tim wanted to enter into show business and try his hand at making a name for himself.

By-passing traditional “bit-part” starts, Tim was fortunate to have an endearing personality that made him appealing to producers from the start. He was given the lead in The Clown ( 1952 ) opposite Red Skeleton at the tender age of 12. It was a remake of MGM’s previous success The Champ ( 1932 ).

A few brief television roles followed an appearance in the star-studded Executive Suite ( 1954 ), where Tim played the son of William Holden and June Allyson. In later years he would return to television guest-starring on such television shows as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Untouchables , Johnny Ringo and The Fugitive. His most successful characterization was that of a boarding school snob, a role which he played in Her Twelve Men ( Greer Garson, 1954 ) and The Private War of Major Benson ( Charleton Heston , 1955 ). These performances caught the attention of Walt Disney Studio executives who wished for him to continue these roles and offered him the lead in an upcoming serial for The Mickey Mouse Club – “Marty Markham”. Considine, however, didn’t want to be pigeon-holed and asked for the part of cool kid Spin Evans instead.

When the newly retitled The Adventures of Spin and Marty debuted, Tim Considine and costar David Stollery were instant successes. Fan mail began to pour in and Tim’s flat-top buzz-cut hairdo became the “in” style of the teen set of the 1950s.

The popular Hardy Boy’s serial The Mystery of Applegate’s Treasure followed in the heels of Spin and Marty’s success, as well as several other third and fourth season reprises of their signature roles, and a recurring role in The Swamp Fox with Leslie Neilson.

In 1959, Walt Disney decided to cast Tim Considine opposite his Hardy Boy brother Tommy Kirk in The Shaggy Dog, a film which grossed big at the box-office.

In spite of his blossoming success at the Walt Disney Studios, Considine wanted to branch out and try his hand at other things. A growing love for automobile racing was sparking as was a thirst for writing. Living in an apartment with his older brother John, Tim collaborated with him on several scripts and teleplays before serving overseas with the U.S. Air Force.

Upon his return in 1963 he was back in front of the cameras though- this time as Mike Douglas….Fred MacMurray’s eldest son in the popular My Three Sons television series. While working on the show he tried to contribute to the teleplays and direct sequences of episodes. Don Fedderson ( the producer of the show ) didn’t want Tim directing full episodes and after a disagreement over this, Tim walked out on the series in 1965.

Although Tim Considine continued to make films throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, he has devoted most of his time to writing, and pursuing his love of automobiles and photography. Three talents which he combined in his award-winning book “American Grand Prix Racing: A Century of Drivers and Cars” ( 1997 ).

Considine currently lives in California with his wife of 38 years, where he continues to write as a freelancer about sports, automobiles, travel, and photography.

The Shaggy Dog ( 1959 )

In the mid-1950s, Walt Disney gave ABC network their very first full-hour western television program - Davy Crockett. The series was such a success that the network soon launched many other similar series such as Maverick, Wyatt Earp, and Lawman. These westerns brought ABC so much income that in 1957, when Walt Disney approached them with a fresh idea for a sitcom (sans the gun belts and tumbleweed) they turned him away. This minor detail didn't bother Mr.Disney in the least since he turned the material that he had offered ABC into a feature film release. The Shaggy Dog became one of the top-grossing films of 1959 earning $9,000,000 at the box-office and out-performing The Diary of Anne Frank and North by Northwest. That's something to bark about. 

What made this low-budget comedy such a smashing hit? For one thing, it was a novelty. After a decade of musicals, crime dramas, spectacles, and method-acting melodramas, here was a little film that played out like a television series, a Leave it to Beaver versus Enemy Agents. It was unique. It was fun. And above all, it was great family entertainment. Walt knew how to appeal to all ages and The Shaggy Dog provided entertainment and humor for the young and old alike. It was filled with excitement, clever dialogue, and plenty of visual gags. The studio went on to recycle many of these gags in their recurring films.

Unlike the other box-office hits of 1959, The Shaggy Dog did not have any moments of great splendor, instead it leisurely followed the story line only to stop occasionally to wittily comment on the social status at the time or sprinkle gentle humor. Writer Bill Walsh penned the amusing screenplay based on the 1930 novel, "The Hound of Florence", by Austrian author Felix Salten (Bambi).

The Shaggy Dog follows the adventures of a junior scientist who accidentally recites an ancient Borgia curse that releases a 400-year-old shape-shifting spell. With the magical words "In Canis Corpore Transmuto," Wilby Daniels transforms himself into a big, shaggy dog - a Bratislavian sheepdog to be precise - belonging to the new neighbors on the block. It is while being in the four-footed state that Wilby overhears a plot to steal a secret missile plan at the nearby air base. It's Shaggy to the rescue then as he tries to convince his father, and the local authorities, that Continental spies are at work in the neighborhood!  

"In Canis Corpore Transmuto...In Canis Corpore Transmuto....it's a dosy do and awaaaay we go!"

The Shaggy Dog boasted a fine cast of young players, all of whom would come to be associated with the Walt Disney Studios. Tim Considine took a radical turn from his wholesome Spin and Marty role to play Wilby's scheming friend Buzz. At the expense of his good ol' pal, he whizzes around in his hot-rod wooing the most eligible girls in town. One of these girls just happens to be Allison, played by Annette Funicello in a brief part, her first film appearance. She is soon replaced as Girl No. 1 when sophisticated Franceska Andrassy (Roberta Shore) moves in with her father in the big Victorian manor across the street. If this street looks familiar, it is because it is the Universal cul-se-sac featured in The Munsters, The Burbs and Leave it To Beaver. 

Tommy Kirk proves to be in top form as Wilby Daniels. Although he made many more films with Walt Disney during the 1960s, none of his roles would be as appealing as Wilby. Tagging along as a mischievous helpmate is his little brother Moochie, naturally played by Mickey Mouse Club "Moochie" himself - Kevin Corcoran. Moochie doesn't display much surprise when he discovers his brother is a dog, but rather jumps at the notion of having a pet playmate to take on walks and throw sticks to. Corcoran later went on to become a producer with the Walt Disney studios in the 1970s and 1980s. 

Unlike the childish, bumbling crooks seen throughout the Walt Disney productions of the 1990s, The Shaggy Dog featured some pretty normal rough-and-tough criminals (played by Anthony Scourby and Jacques Aubuchon), although in this flick they are spies and quite debonair to look at. In fact, they are so suave that our damsel-in-distress does not even realize they are up to no good until after they kidnap her. Our devious villains conjure up images of the sophisticated foils that were so popular in series of the 1940s, such as those seen in Sherlock Holmes, Michael Shayne, or The Three Stooges shorts. These criminals are upstanding citizens loaded with wealth which they love to lavish on their collections of fine art and furniture. No one in the community would even dare consider them to be enemies of the state.

Fred MacMurray had been making films covering every possible genre since he began his career back in 1929. After making a number of mediocre pictures during the 1950s, Disney asked Fred if he would be willing to try his hand at comedy once again. The Shaggy Dog marked the beginning of a seven picture association he had with Walt Disney Studios. In the film, MacMurray plays a retired mailman and the father of our two leading lads. He has an allergic reaction to dogs that makes him despise the mere mention of their name and prompts him to bring out his trusty double-barreled shotgun from the hall closet. 

"You know that dog thing is all in your mind"

"All in my mind?! I itch, my sinuses are bloating up, my throat is constricting so that I can hardly breath, those old Pekingese wounds on my ankle are throbbing like bongo drums...and you say it's all in my mind!" 

One of Fred's best scenes involved him trying to convince the head of security at the missile plant that his son is a dog. Variety magazine noted, "It's a pleasure to see such a master of timing and emphasis as Fred MacMurray back in comedy again, even though he is somewhat limited in his material. Where he has a good line, he shows that he has few peers in this special field of comedy". 

Playing his wife is the lovely Jean Hagen, another gal who had her share of duds before snagging this wholesome part. Cecil Kellaway, Paul Frees (a legendary voice-over actor for Walt Disney Studios), Forest Lewis and Gordon Jones rounded out the great cast, but let's not forget the film's star player - the shaggy dog. "Chiffon" was in fact Sammy's Shadow, a talented pooch belonging to a California State Division of Highways clerk. He had an illustrious pedigree and, after enrolling in William Koehler's obedience training classes at the age of 4 months, he joined the Allied Movie Dogs firm and landed this wild and woolly part. Twenty sheepdogs had been tested for the part but Koehler knew he had a winner with Sammy and it is truly the dog performing all of the stunts seen in the film ( except for one talking sequence where a hand puppet was used ). Sammy went on to win the 1960 PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) award for his performance in The Shaggy Dog. 

The Shaggy Dog has held up well over time, which is a testament to the enduring strength of a simple story told well. It is also notable for instigating important changes within Disney's production outlook for the coming decades. It was the first film to use animated title sequences and the picture's success told the studio that live-action comedy films were a profitable venture not to be overlooked. Unfortunately, they held to its "formula" so closely that many of the later Disney productions lacked novelty. 

This post is our contribution to the Snoopathon, a celebration of spies and agents being held over at Movies Silently. Be sure to check out the site and read  all of the great posts!

The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure

" Gold doubloons and Pieces of eight handed down to Applegate, from buccaneers who fought for years for Gold doubloons and Pieces of eight….pieces of eight "

Arrrgh….Old Man Applegate’s legendary chest of pirate’s treasure is gone a-missing. Some thieving scoundrels took his booty and it’s up to the intrepid Hardy Boys to find it!

On October 1, 1956 the first Hardy Boys serial "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" debuted on Walt Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club. Composed of ten minute segments the serial ran for 19 days, gaining popularity and excitement with each subsequent episode. Little buccaneers from all across America scurried home from school each day to see what new clue the Hardy Boys had discovered.

Old Silas Applegate’s fabled chest of golden treasure had been missing for ten long years but when young Perry Robinson finds a solitary doubloon lying beneath a bush on Applegate’s creepy estate, the search begins anew!

The first season of The Mickey Mouse Club had featured a serial called “Spin and Marty” about two boys ( Tim Considine and David Stollery ) who spend a summer at the Triple R dude ranch. It was enormously popular, so in the wake of its success Walt Disney launched “The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure”, a mystery serial based on the popular Hardy Boys story The Tower Treasure by author Franklin W. Dixon. 

The Studio considered reteaming the two young actors as the Hardy sleuths but instead chose to search for a younger actor to play Frank Hardy’s impetuous kid brother Joe. Tommy Kirk was the lucky lad chosen after dozens of applicants were scoured, and he went on to make many more films for Walt Disney in the upcoming years, becoming one of the Studio’s most famous child stars. Tim Considine was a natural to play Frank so no recasting was necessary there.

Iola Martin, the spunky little neighborhood girl who likes to join the Hardy’s in their sleuthing, was played by Carol Anne Campbell, and Sarah Selby and Ross Conway, two veteran television actors were cast as papa Fenton Hardy and worrisome Aunt Gertrude. Florenz Ames pranced around waving cutlasses as old man Applegate and Robert Foulk and Arthur Shields ( Barry Fitzgerald’s brother, and a man with just as fine an Irish brogue ) played our two “thugs”.

In 1957 "The Mystery of the Ghost Farm", another installment in the Hardy Boys series, premiered but alas, this one was much tamer due to some complaints from parents that the dangers encountered by the Hardy boys in the Applegate mystery were too exciting for their wee ones. Such a shame, because that triggered the end of the series and it would have been so nice had a few feature films been made in addition to them. At least “ The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure “ is available on DVD and on these cool and colorful October days we can sit back and enjoy a good mystery done in classic Disney fashion…..wholesome, humorous, and thrilling.