The first Mickey Mouse Club

When you mention the Mickey Mouse Club, one might think of sitting in front of a TV and watching Annette Funicello or Christina Aguilera. Or pulling out your phone and streaming Ky Baldwin, all depending on your generation.

But how about actually heading to a movie theater.

Long before first premiering in 1955 on ABC, Mickey Mouse Clubs and meeting were held in movie theaters.

The club started in January 1930 at the Fox Dome Theater in Ocean Park, California.  The kids who joined would meet on Saturdays where kids would watch Mickey Mouse cartoons, listen to Mickey-themed; and recited Mickey Mouse “credos.” By March 31 there were 60 theaters hosting the clubs. By April 1930, the club released its first issue of the “Official Bulletin of the Mickey Mouse Club.”

By 1932 there were 1 million members and by 1933 the first British Mickey Mouse club opened.

But as 1935 came along Disney started to phase out the club. Twenty years later, The Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television.