Working with Disney (27 page)

DP:
And I guess he didn't smoke around you guys?

SB:
No, no. I was shocked when I heard that he had smoked. Bobby ran across him one time, and he was smoking, and Bobby was flabbergasted. But no, he never smoked around us. And, of course, with Annette he was really a father figurehead. She wanted to change her name and he said no, no, no.

DP:
When they canceled the show, was the last day a tough one?

SB:
Tough, tough day.

DP:
How far ahead did you know that it was going off the air?

SB:
I don't think too far in advance. Annette and I must have gone through two boxes of Kleenex. And we were doing reaction scenes. We didn't always see who was performing, and they would say, “Okay, now you're watching some good stuff”—you know, just a reaction shot to put in there. We were supposed to be happy and go, “Yay!” And, you know, of course, we're crying, so [director] Sid Miller had a rough time with us. He said, “The more you work, the more we'll all be working together again.” And sure enough, way down the road, I'm doing a TV show for Sid and Marty Krofft, and Sidney Miller was doing the voice of one of the characters on the show. So we worked together again. At one point, I had heard that Walt Disney wanted us to grow up and become young adults and just continue the show into adulthood. But that didn't happen.

DP:
But I guess in reality only a few of you continued in show business.

SB:
Right. Yeah, that's true.

DP:
When did you all really get a sense of how popular you were?

SB:
Australia. It didn't dawn on us until [the May 1959 and May 1960 tours of] Australia.

DP:
The huge crowd at the airport?

SB:
Right. There were more people to greet us than greeted Frank Sinatra when he went there. And they broke through the lines. We were
coming down those stairs when you deplane, and they broke through the ropes, and they told us get back up the stairs. So we ran back up, and they rolled us through the crowds on the stairs that you board. And then they had bodyguards for each of us. They would pick you up and carry you over the crowds and put you in the car. And after one of our performances, my dad was carrying my costume, and they'd picked me up and put me in the car. My dad was worried about me, and then pretty soon someone grabbed my costume, and it was going down the crowd. My dad was on his knees, and he said, “Oh, my gosh.” He was worried about himself. So I'm in the car, and the car is just rocking back and forth, and it's just wall-to-wall faces, and the driver just put it in gear and started driving. It was scary. So that's when I realized.

DP:
In some books about the show, they talk about strong competition between the different teams of Mouseketeers. If somebody was shifted to a less favored group, was it humiliating? Did it seem to you at the time like it was strong competition?

SB:
When someone was moved to another position, it didn't change my feelings or anything. We were still having fun and [being] kids together. I never saw it as a competition. I just saw it as fun and doing what I wanted to do. What a wonderful life! And you know, I just always looked at it that way. I've never lived for the negative. I guess it's easier when you're short, because it just passes right over your head!

DP:
Someone said that being Disney-trained left the Mouseketeers ill equipped to deal with Hollywood realities and ill prepared for the exigencies of a rapidly changing world.

SB:
It was great training for me. I had no problem with the changing world out there. The only thing was that maybe you were typecast, because when you would go out for a part, they would say, “Oh, that's Mouseketeer Sharon.” That's about the only thing I could consider negative. If anything, it was [also] an icebreaker, and people knew you and it was a good thing.

DP:
When you turned twenty-one, you got a special telegram.

SB:
Yes, I was working at Litton Data Systems, and Walt Disney sent a telegram.

DP:
That's really nice. Just wishing you a happy birthday?

SB:
Yeah.

DP:
That's great that he would remember.

SB:
Yeah.

DP:
I remember being at the studio, visiting the archivist, Dave Smith, and he must have taken me through the soundstage where they filmed the twenty-fifth anniversary show, because the original
Mickey Mouse Club
curtains were hanging there. They were in color! I expected them to be black and white. I guess they are still around, because they are in the background when you appeared on the DVD with Leonard Maltin.

SB:
They found them packed away. It's amazing enough they weren't in too bad of shape. When we walked in to do that, I had no idea those were going to be hanging there. I walked in, and I just stopped dead in my tracks, and it made my knees buckle. It caught my breath.

DP:
On a television show, Mouseketeer Tommy Cole was saying something about how great it was that you were all so comfortable with each other, that the routines just kind of fall into place when you perform now.

SB:
We can go several years without seeing each other and sit down and pick right up where we left off before. It's amazing. But yes, when I would go out there and do those [reunion] shows at Disneyland, I'd be doing a number that of course we did when we were kids, and I'd turn and see that same face turning towards me, and it's just a wonderful feeling. And every time, we'll finish a show, like out at Disneyland, and we sing “M-I-C” for the last time, oh, I lump up. It's just like the last day again all over.

DP:
Well, that's a really touching song. I haven't been in an audience singing it along with you, but I would think that it would be very emotional for people.

SB:
Very touching.

DP:
Do you remember what your reaction was to Walt's passing?

SB:
Yeah, I was married at the time. We had a nightclub act, Two Cats and a Mouse [Sharon; her husband, Dalton Lee Thomas; and David Jourdan], and we were in Jackpot, Nevada. We had finished a set, and we went to the coffee shop to have a piece of pie. And the drummer came in and said, “Sharon, did you hear Walt Disney died?” I said, “No.” And I could tell by the look on my husband's face and the other band members that it was really true. Lee had wanted them to tell me after the evening was over. I ran up to my room and cried. It was just a shock. It came out of left field.

DP:
How would you like people to remember Walt Disney?

SB:
I've been asked before what is one word to describe Walt Disney, and the only one I can come up with is
Disney,
because he's just one of a kind. He really cared about a good product and entertaining people. He didn't care about the pocketbook, because that was his brother's job. I mean, when you look at things like
Fantasia,
that holds up today. I just think he truly was what he called himself, an Imagineer.

I do wear a lot of Mickey shirts and Disney shirts. I must say, was I brainwashed or what? I just feel warm in them. And I just feel warm and happy inside, that it's something positive and wonderful to people. People say, “Where do I know you from? Where did you go to school? Where did you work?” And it's usually
The Mickey Mouse Club.
Some people will say immediately, “Oh, it's Sharon. It's just a privilege and an honor.” “You were in our house every day.” “You were our babysitter.” “Oh, we learned so much from you, and we always wanted to be like you.” It's just so positive and wonderful. Just a glorious feeling.

Academy Awards,
xviii
,
xx
,
xxiv
,
24
,
46
,
60
,
65
–68,
92
,
95

Adelquist, Hal,
80
,
90
,
130
,
149
,
157
–58

Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The,
xix
,
3
,
22
–23,
31
,
45
,
46
,
73
,
84

Aesop's Fables,
xvi

African Lion, The,
158

Alberoni, Sherry,
155

Alexander Theater,
128

Algar, James,
20
,
122

Alger, Horatio,
xxi

Alhambra Theater,
41

Alice Comedies,
xvi
,
xvii

Alice in Wonderland,
xx
,
3
,
8
,
17
,
31
,
46
,
73
,
84
,
99

Alice's Wonderland,
xvii

“All the Cats Join In,”
102

Allen, Fred,
49

Allen, Woody,
67

America Sings,
99
,
113

Amesberry, Bob,
131

Amidi, Amid,
xxiv

Anderson, Bill,
123
,
158

Anderson, Ken,
43
,
46
,
79
,
83
,
87

Andy Panda,
59

Animated Cartoon Association,
63

animator, directing,
34

animator, key,
33
,
34
–35

Annette serial,
160

Aracuan bird,
30

Arden Dairy,
120

Aristocats, The,
17
,
27

Army Air Corps, U.S.,
86

Art Institute of Chicago,
54

Art of Animation,
83

Art of Walt Disney, The,
32

Artists and Models,
160
,
162

Astaire, Fred,
104

Atencio, Xavier (X),
xii
,
86
–92,
99
,
107
,
108

audio-animatronics,
113
–16

Australia,
75
,
152
,
165
,
168

Autolite Spark Plugs,
129

Autopia,
136
,
137
–38,
155
,
167

Avery, Tex,
10
,
30
,
94
–95

Avil, Gordon,
151

Babbitt, Art,
80
,
90
–91,
101
,
112

Babes in the Woods,
69

Babes in Toyland,
86
,
99
,
109
,
110
,
124

Bacall, Lauren,
94

Bacall to Arms,
94

background artists,
xxiii

Baird, Nikki,
160
–61

Baird, Sharon,
xiii
,
125
,
145
,
146
,
148
–50,
153
–55,
160
–71

Baker, George,
88

Baloo,
27

Bambi,
27

Bambi,
xviii
,
3
,
7
,
15
,
17
,
22
,
24
,
27
,
31
,
43
,
46
,
54
,
58
,
75
,
99
,
101
,
102
,
122
,
124

Band Concert, The,
104
,
105
,
129

Barbera, Joe,
75
,
76

Barnyard Broadcast, The,
69

Barrier, Mike,
xv

“Beauty and the Beast” (story),
8

Belanger, Joyce,
xiii
,
xiv
,
132
–35

Ben and Me,
102

Benny, Jack,
49

Bernard,
28

Bertino, Al,
115

Betty Boop,
xviii

Beverly Center.
See
Beverly Park

Beverly Hilton,
152

Beverly Park,
158

Bickenbach, Richard,
75

Bird, Brad,
4

Bird Store, The,
69

Birthday Party, The,
69

Blackton, Stuart J.,
xvi

Blanc, Mel,
60
,
65

Bloodhounds of Broadway,
162

Blue Evening,
125

Blue Fairy,
18
,
27

Boeing,
162

Bolger, Ray,
124

Bon Voyage,
99
,
108
–9

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back),
73

Bounds, Lillian.
See
Disney, Lillian

Bradbury, Ray,
98

Brady, Scott,
162

Brave Little Tailor, The,
30

Bray, J. R., Studio,
54
,
59
,
60
,
62

Breakdown,
xxiii

Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers of America,
26
,
80

Bruns, George,
97

Bugs Bunny,
xx
,
9
,
30
,
47
,
67

Bugs in Love,
69

Building a Building,
54

Building a Tire,
129