Disney Legend Ginny Tyler is most often remembered as the beloved “Disneyland storyteller.” She was the head Mouseketeer for her live segments from Disneyland during the re-edited and repackaged syndication run of the original Mickey Mouse Club in 1962.
Once while reflecting back, she remembered a day at Disneyland when she was talking about the many beautiful aspects of the park with Walt Disney. “I was raving away to Walt how wonderful Disneyland was, and he said, ‘And that goes for my Disneyland storyteller, too.’ I have never felt prouder in my entire life.”
A Mickey Mouse Club headquarters was constructed inside the Main Street Opera House (later home to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln), where Ginny hosted a live 15-minute daily segment of the program. Children who visited Disneyland could also register as an “official Mouseketeer,” complete with membership card, and Ginny, often in the company of Roy Williams or Jimmie Dodd, was on hand for greetings and autographs.
Ginny’s first job with Disney was as narrator on phonograph records for Disneyland Records in the 1960s. For Disneyland Records, she narrated beloved vinyl recordings of Bambi, Babes in Toyland, Hans Brinker, and More Mother Goose. Ginny’s vocal work gradually moved from just narration to character voices for Disney: She played two amorous female squirrels in The Sword in the Stone (1963) and sang for several of the barnyard animals in the “Jolly Holiday” sequence of Mary Poppins (1964).
Her Disney days remain “the most awesome part of my life, and truly a ‘dream come true,'” Ginny once said in an interview. She was named a Disney Legend in 2006.