12 Best-Kept Secrets of the Original ‘Mickey Mouse Club’

It was "Big Moosketeer" Roy Williams' idea for everyone on the show to wear the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears while filming. And while we love the nostalgia of them, most of the cast members hated wearing them and would complain about them a lot. 

When Walt Disney met the Mickey Mouse Club kids, he really wanted them to call him "Uncle Walt," but most of the child actors and actresses just couldn't do it, preferring instead to call him "Mr. Disney" because it felt more respectful toward him and his legacy. 

Mickey Mouse Club band leader Jimmie Dodd was a talented musician and very well-known for his singing and songwriting. But a lot of people don't know that he was a deeply religious man and after the show ended, some of the kids recalled that he frequently tried to teach them lessons about morality on set. 

Bonus fact: Dodd was the writer of the show's very well-known theme song The Mickey Mouse Club March. A different version of this march, which was played at a much slower tempo and with different lyrics, became the alma mater that closed each episode.

When casting for the show, the casting directors had one idea for the kids and one idea only. They wanted kids who weren't traditionally "cute" or too perfect-looking. In fact, Walt Disney specifically told them to go after "regular" kids. Another thing they wanted: kids who didn't come with pushy stage mothers.

Shortly after Annette Funicello was hired to work as a Mouseketeers, she approached Walt Disney and said she'd like to change her last name to something less ethnic. His answer was no, so Annette kept it as is. 

Known as the "Accidental Mousketeer," Lonnie Burr first turned down Disney's offer to be on the show because didn't want to risk his already-established career. Then, the show producers called his mom, saying, "If you don't accept our offer, your son will never work in this town again." Frightened, Burr said yes, and thus his nickname as the "Accidental Mousketeer" was born. 

Everyone knows Annette and Lonnie were sweethearts in real life during the time they were filming the Original Mickey Mouse Club. And one time, in the midst of their romance, Lonnie gave Annette his ring on a chain as a gift, but her angry father made her return it back to Burr.

"If Joe’s [Annette's dad] looks could have killed me, I would not have made it to age 13," Lonnie later said.

Originally thought to be the most talented of the Mousketeers, Darlene Gillespie slowly gained a reputation on set for being jealous and difficult to work with. She was also known to be kind of a diva and not very nice to the other Mickey Mouse kids. Her career later stalled, which led to her getting arrested on three different occasions and has been to jail twice. 

When casting for the show, producers first wanted an even boy-to-girl ratio so one gender didn't outweigh the other. But after they did, producers learned that some of the boys were behind in emotional maturity. This led to many of the young boys being quickly let go for acting up — so girls soon took over casting-wise. 

Actor Timmy Rooney and his brother Mickey Rooney, Jr. were originally cast to be one of the Mickey Mouse Club kids, but they were fired for messing around near some paint in the set department. They were never replaced, because at that point the studio had decided to have the girls out weigh the guys on set. 

Poor Dallas Johann was supposed to be an original Mickey Mouse Club cast member, but he never made it past the promotional photo stage. The production staff fired him because he cried whenever the cameras were focused on him. They tried to get him to stop, but it didn't work, so he was let go and they hired his brother John Lee Johann in his place!

A young Mousketeer named Paul Petersen lasted just three weeks on the set of the original Mickey Mouse Club. He was fired though, because he punched a casting director in the stomach. Peterson later had a starring role on The Donna Reed Show, so it worked well for him in the end.