The Original Mickey Mouse Club Show

The magazine listed here merits its own page because it printed the earliest articles about individual Mouseketeers in a (non-Disney) national publication. There's a curious symmetry to the first four articles. A short article on Annette is followed by a short article on Darlene, then a longer photo-illustrated article on Annette is followed by a longer photo-illustrated article on Darlene. It's likely that this was an organized campaign by the studio, which was promoting both girls at this time.

The articles appeared at three month intervals, except for the last one on Darlene. It should have appeared in October 1957 (with a November date on the cover) if the pattern was maintained. At that time, the information in it about Darlene being in the Annette serial would still have been valid.

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	TV Radio Mirror Nov 1956 A small photo and several paragraphs signal the first non-Disney appearence of Annette in a national magazine. It gives the outline of her life and mentions her current assignment as narrator for the "Foreign Correspondent - Italy" newsreel special.
	TV Radio Mirror Mar 1957 A small photo and a short column titled "Junior Miss" mark this first solo appearence of Darlene in a non-Disney publication. Darlene early on caught the attention of adults, both in the crew and the audience, but was never as popular with kids or teenagers as Annette.
	TV Radio Mirror Jul 1957 A two page photo layout and a page and a half of text on Annette. Contains the story of her pre-MMC modeling career. She says her friends are the kids on the show near her own age: Doreen, Sharon, Bobby, Tommy, and Lonnie. Hmmm, anyone missing from that list?
	TV Radio Mirror Jan 1958 A long feature with photos is devoted to Darlene. This is the best article on her family, childhood, and first year on the Mickey Mouse Club in any magazine.

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The remaining articles from this magazine are very different in approach. They contain no studio publicity and do not appear to have been the result of actual interviews.

	TV Radio Mirror Aug 1959 This multi-page article on Annette at sixteen appears to have come largely from rumors and interviews in other magazines. It makes much of her crushes on older men, both on and off the studio lot, and was the sort of tripe that no doubt set her father's blood boiling.
	TV Radio Mirror Oct 1960 As if to make up for the previous article, this one now has Annette saying there's a lot of fun to being a teenager, and implies she's in no hurry to grow up. It seems intended as a primer for other teenage girls on how to look like Annette.