Starting on this day in 1955, everyone was as welcome as can be to visit the Mickey Mouse Club Theater in Disneyland, which debuted in Fantasyland. The theater often presented various Disney cartoons, and at one point was home to the 3D Jamboree, featuring the multi-dimensional Mouseketeers in color and introducing the short films Melody and Working for Peanuts—all in 3D. In 1964, the theater was renamed the Fantasyland Theater. Bruce Healey, senior music director/producer for Disneyland Entertainment Productions, recently remembered working in the theater. “In the days of the Fantasyland Theater of old, which was a little movie theatre in Fantasyland, we converted that to a live performance venue for this music education show that ran for about six months called “Fun With Music” which was an educational program that the company put together. This was about 1976 or ’77. It was a live stage show with film and live performers and a six-piece band that I was the leader of, and I played the piano. There were these little opera boxes on either side of the theater that we made into an orchestra pit. Three of us were on one side of the theater and three of us were on the other side, which was a very challenging thing to deal with in terms of staying together.” The Fantasyland Theater took a final bow in 1981 and “Hey there, hi there, ho there” made way for “Hi diddle dee dee” when Pinocchio’s Daring Journey attraction debuted in its place in 1983.
