i always thought that Vanessa[high school musical],was annettes counterpart...she looks more like Annette....Vanessa seems very sweet and shy...but...nobody ,,nobody can be Annette funicello.....nobody! she was very,very special...a gift from GOD..
Rest in peace Annette Funicello. Thank you for sharing your grace and talent with the world. Also for showing me that a devastating diagnosis doesn't have define who we are or what we can become. I choose to remember you forever young.
As I watch Annette when she was young, pristine, and appearing to be the ideal child, I think, "Who could have known that 32 years after this ballet scene she would be hit with the diagnosis--MS? I watched her husband and the caretaker lift her on to the bed and I couldn't help but think, "What a contrast between then and now!" I reminds me that life is so uncertain, no matter who you are.
Annette was a living doll. I saw this when I was 11 and told mommy, "I want to marry her!" Me and millions of other boys. Now she Ballet's for the Angels. Love you Annie!
Oh Wow! I danced ballet since age 3 and went to college for a dance degree. I am so impressed by her talent and technique! I had no idea Annette could do pointe.
What a sweetheart! I was a little boy in the late 60s watching MMC reruns. Immediately fell in love with her. Still in love with her now. Pure and wholesome rolemodel. Wish I could have found a girl like her to marry! Darn.
I'm only 27 so this is obviously a bit before my time, but I've had the privilege of discovering Annette thanks to reruns on the Disney channel. I have to admit I find her completely adorable here, and of course gorgeous later on in life. You just don't see talent like her anymore, its sad. I can truly appreciate how wholesome and simple things were back then, even though I never actually experienced it first hand.
And she maintained that unassuming demeanor even though she received a lot special attention on the show that the other Mouseketeers didn't, which is what made it all the more impressive. The average kid -- or even adult for that matter -- would have become big headed.
Rhianna Barr she was an inside/out beautiful woman,she had it all,looks,personality,morals and honesty,she was one of the most beautiful female celebrities of all times in all ways!
RIP Annette. I remember watching her on Mickey Mouse Club; I wore my official t-shirt and Mouseketeer ears while seated in front of my grandparent's small-screen TV set.
OMG! I remember this! I was about 7 years old when I first saw it . I love this gal. Many blessing to you Annette. And thanks ncatt for putting this up for us to see.
I would like to address a couple of things. (1) Britney Spears was and is really talented when she puts her mind to it and she has said that Annette was her inspiration for being on the new MMC in 1990. (2) I talked to a couple of Mouseketeers awhile back and they said that it was understood at the start that unofficially the show was meant to be a launch pad for Darleen as a Disney super-star but Annette turned out to be so popular that they turned it into a platform for her.
I was in almost complete disbelief when I saw what happened to this beautiful woman and her body in the last ten years when I watched "Annette's Story" on W5. I just couldn't believe it, Annette lived to dance. She's joined the angels now.
I think one of the reasons for Annette's impact, sometimes overlooked, was her ethnicity, which stood out amongst all those supercute Anglo-Saxon kids. She was really the first child star of a dark, exotic Mediterranean background, and for hundreds of thousands of kids across the land with similar ethnicity, immediate identification. Don't get me wrong, her personal qualities and her talent had a lot to do with it too, and we all loved her.
I hope you'll continue to enjoy classic television and remember black & white has America's 1st stars and some of the best talent ever. No camera tricks nor retake after retake, many were done "live" or with very little practice or rehearsal, most stars relied of true talent to entertain us, and entertain us they did.
Annette is my name too! When the Mickey Mouse Club Show was on and the mouseketeers were introduced I would always stand up and say ANNETTE because I could! LOL!
By the end of 1955, viewers wanted to see more of Annette, and more segments began focusing on her. By the beginning of season two [October 1956], she was the unofficial "star" of the show.
Annette was the last of the original Mouseketeers chosen for the MMC, Annette was also completely unknown, as were most of the Mouseketeers, though a few were seasoned and with real proven talent. As with almost any new TV series, fans will eventually choose favorites over a period of time, characters change, kids mature & grow, Her fans increased over the entire life of the series.
Annette and some other 50' & 60's stars have always joy and pain - joy because they are so wonderful and pain because I couldn't live those times! (born 1985, when most of the beautiful things were gone or wouldn't find any more space on tv)... I'm happy people like you - real witnesses of those good old times - keep sharing this wonderful videos! Thanks!
Loved this video. It reminds me of the first time I saw it in the 1950's. I like every other male baby boomer loved Annette and I think people watching it today can understand why.
She was always a bright & shinning example of sweetness and wholesomeness, something missing from the world of today.. !!! :( Today we say goodbye to our sweet & wonderful Annette (tears) But, now her tears are over and she can dance again in heaven. RIP sweet girl.
In fact, I recently learned that everyone thought Darlene would be the breakout star, but things took a twist and it was Annette who really hit it big. But Bobby hit it quite big too, by going on The Lawrence Welk Show, And Sharon went on to play many costumed characters on various Sid & Marty Krofft show and in fact sang the closing theme to HR PUFNSTUF. I have the impression that Karen & Cubby were and are best friends, Not only were those two youngest kids introduced...
CLASSIC & ADORABLE ! thanks for posting this. ... it was a very different world and Era. ... FAR better than this one, ... (which went nuts around the 70's & 80's). sorry if that offends anyone: but IT'S THE TRUTH.
I agree. I was born even later (2000). So I have it rough too. I am proud to have the same name is this wonderful star. She also opened my eyes to the wonders of 60s television.
... together in the role calls, but I've seen footage of theme off the set at Disney Land and they would be paling around together. I would have loved for Cheryl to have been a bigger star, she was so stunningly beautiful
Ithas just been announced that annette funicello at 70m has died following her long battle with MS. What better epitaph than this Jimmy Dodd song for her? RIP
OMG i am only 33 but I would stay of up late at night to watch the early MMC because they didn't show it during the day.. I love this, thank you for posting!!!
She is truly sweet. I was born in 58. So I enjoyed reruns and then her current beach party movies. I adored her. She set such a good example for us young girls. She was always assertive, lady like and tasteful. In this clip, she shows poise and grace. I took ballet and taught it as a youngster and teen. This is a lot harder than it looks. Annette makes it look as easy as gliding butter on a hot griddle. xoxoxo to
Quite a performance by a 12-year-old (maybe 13?)! Lots of pointe work as she channels Leslie Caron. I never watched the MM Club but fell hard for Annette when she appeared opposite Guy Madison in "Zorro".
Annette's either 13 or 14 here. She was born in 1942 and this was filmed in '56, which would make her 14. But still a great performance regardless of her age
A few years ago I asked two of the Mouseketeers about why Darleen had so much trouble after the show went off the air. They said that unknown to the general public Disney intended to use the show as a star maker for Darleen (since her parents were famous vaudeville performers) and they felt she had the talent, but it soon became apparent that despite her singing, dancing, Etc., Annette had the special quality of charisma besides talent that Darleen lacked and the focus shifted away from her.
I don't think it took too long. Within 4 years (1959) of the MMC starting, she was being introduced (in forums outside the MMC) simply as 'Annette'. She was such a household name you didn't need to specify which Annette you were talking about. (See some of the Beech-Nut shows featuring Annette). So I'm sure she had become a standout on the MMC much earlier than that.
Question, how early on did Annette hit it big as a result of this series? Reason I ask, is I have The Mickey Mouse Club Disney Treasures DVD featuring the first 5 episodes in their original hour long format. Annette has very little screen time in those first 5 shows, she does the roll call of course and is seen among the other kids, and the only thing that comes close to her taking center stage is introducing the MouseKartoon on the Friday Show. Other than that her part is small. Anyone know?
The Annette series is available on here. I think you will find it if you go under Annette Funicello...Enjoy I did. I so wanted her for a big sister as didn't have one... I wonder how she is doing. I wish her all the best and much love.
But she was not the only favorite of the group others included Tommy, Darlene (Corky and White Shadow serial), Cheryl, Bobby, Doreen, Lonnie, Sharon, and the youngest 2 of the group Cubby & Karen.
Walt Disney Treasures released the Annette serial and it is now out-of-print so you'll probably have to find it from second hand sources. (This is not from the "Annette" serial)
when I was little, I always thought that Annette was Hispanic. But then i found out that she was Italian when I was like 11... I always mixed up Italians and Hispanics back then..
Don't feel bad. Many - myself included - confuse the two. that why actors like Al Pacino and Andy Garcia are able to portray both ethnicites in movies.
Don't be totally absurd--Annette is Italian American--where do you get your misinformation--She was a very beautiful Italian American girl--get your facts straight...
Britney's success after her time in the MMC more than likely lead to the company's current direction, pushing "stars" like the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and Selena Gomez. Apparently, because a few of their obscure cast members made it big way back when from making bad music, every "star" they produce from now on must do the same. Its a joke.
@johnny14773 Well, they are wrong, Britney is trash, the complete opposite of Annette. And repeating myself, Walt was not there to guide the company. Now . . . like Britney, this subject is now and forever trash.
@johnny14773 Your Joking . . Right? . . . . . You must be joking!!! . . . I know your joking!!!!!!! . . . Britney is the biggest joke to Disney's list of talent, ever to be on the channel. You can see what has happened to the company without Walt to run it.
