The Mickey Mouse Club '' (1956) Funicello took dancing and music lessons when she was a child in order to overcome her shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by
Walt Disney when she performed as the Swan Queen in
Swan Lake at a dance recital at the
Starlight Bowl in
Burbank, California. Disney cast her as one of the original Mouseketeers. She was the last to be selected, and one of the few cast members to be personally selected by Walt Disney himself. In 1955, she signed a seven-year contract with Disney at $160 a week that would rise to $500 a week if all options were exercised. Funicello proved to be very popular and by the end of the first season of
The Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, more than any other Mouseketeer. She dated fellow Mouseketeer
Lonnie Burr. Saying goodbye to cast members in the 1958 show finale, Funicello said "I never cried so hard in my life". that Walt Disney issued it as a single, and gave Funicello (somewhat unwillingly) a recording contract. A proposed live-action feature,
The Rainbow Road to Oz, was to have starred some of the Mouseketeers, including
Darlene Gillespie as Dorothy and Funicello as Ozma. Preview segments from the film aired on September 11, 1957, on
Disneylands fourth anniversary show. By then, MGM's
The Wizard of Oz had been shown on
CBS Television for the first time. Theories on why the film was abandoned include Disney's failure to develop a satisfactory script and the positive reception of the MGM film's television screening. Disney ultimately replaced this film project with a new adaptation of
Babes in Toyland (1961), which starred Funicello as Mary Contrary.
Post-Mickey Mouse Club After the
Mickey Mouse Club, Funicello remained under contract with Disney for a time. She had a role on the Disney television series
Zorro, playing Anita Cabrillo in a three-episode storyline about a teen-aged girl arriving in Los Angeles to visit a father who does not seem to exist to the citizens there. This role was reportedly a 16th birthday present from Walt Disney, and it was the first of two characters she played opposite
Guy Williams as Zorro, on whom Funicello had developed a crush. Funicello made her feature film debut in the Disney-produced comedy
The Shaggy Dog (1959) with
Fred MacMurray and
Tommy Kirk. The film was a success at the box-office. Although uncomfortable being thought of as a singer, Funicello had a number of pop record hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, mostly written by the
Sherman Brothers and including: "
Tall Paul", "First Name Initial", "
O Dio Mio", "Train of Love" (written by
Paul Anka) and "
Pineapple Princess". They were released by Disney's
Buena Vista label. She also recorded "It's Really Love" in 1959, a reworking of an earlier Paul Anka song called "Toot Sweet" (which was later reworked again into ''Johnny's Theme
for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''). In an episode of the
Disney anthology television series titled "
Disneyland After Dark", Funicello can be seen singing live at
Disneyland. Walt Disney was reportedly a fan of 1950s pop star
Teresa Brewer and tried to pattern Funicello's singing on the same style. However, Funicello credits "the Annette sound" to her record producer,
Tutti Camarata, who worked for Disney in that era. Camarata had her
double-track her vocals, matching her first track as closely as possible on the second recording to achieve a fuller sound than her voice would otherwise produce. Early in her career, she appeared on the
NBC interview program ''
Here's Hollywood''.
Return to Disney In 1961, Funicello returned to
Zorro playing a different role. She starred in a big budget musical for Disney,
Babes in Toyland (1961), alongside
Tommy Sands and Kirk. She also appeared in two television movies filmed in Europe for Disney alongside Kirk, both of which were released theatrically in some markets:
The Horsemasters (1961), shot in England, and
Escapade in Florence (1962), filmed in Italy. It has been pointed out that although Disney had Funicello under contract a long time "he never seemed to have much faith in her abilities to carry a film (she usually supported the boy)."
Beach party series at the height of the
Beach Party era Funicello moved on from Disney to become a "
teen idol", starring in a series of "
Beach Party" movies with
Frankie Avalon for
American International Pictures. These started with
Beach Party (1963) when Funicello was 21 years old. The movie was so successful
American International Pictures signed Funicello to a seven-year contract and starred her in a series of beach party movies. Funicello guest-starred on episodes of
Wagon Train, ''
Burke's Law and The Greatest Show on Earth; she then starred in another two-part Disney telemovie with Kirk, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964). This was released to cinemas in the US and became a surprise box office hit. The follow ups to Beach Party
, Muscle Beach Party (1964) and Bikini Beach'' (1964) were also popular.
advertisement for Annette's Beach Party'', July 20, 1963 When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney requested that she wear only modest bathing suits and keep her
navel covered. However, she wore a pink two-piece in
Beach Party, a white two-piece fishnet suit in the second film (
Muscle Beach Party), and a blue and white bikini in the third (
Bikini Beach). All three swimsuits bared her navel, particularly in
Bikini Beach, where it is visible extensively during close-up shots in a sequence early in the film when she meets Frankie Avalon's "Potato Bug" character outside his tent. Funicello made
Pajama Party (1964) for AIP with Kirk, not Avalon, though it was an unofficial Beach Party movie, and Avalon made a cameo. Avalon was back as Funicello's co-star in
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965); she and Kirk then did a sequel to
Merlin Jones, ''
The Monkey's Uncle (1965). The Monkey's Uncle'' featured Annette singing with
The Beach Boys and was another huge hit. Funicello made a cameo in two AIP comedies starring Avalon,
Ski Party (1965) and
Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965). Following these, she filmed
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) with
Dwayne Hickman. Box office receipts for the series were in decline, and neither Avalon nor Funicello appeared in the final installment,
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).
Stock-car racing films AIP tried a new formula with stock car racing films, starting with
Fireball 500 (1966) which starred Funicello, Avalon and
Fabian Forte. The movie was popular enough for them to try another stock car movie,
Thunder Alley (1967) with Funicello and Fabian. It would be her last lead in a feature film for two decades. Funicello guest starred on
Hondo and had a short role in
Head (1968), opposite
The Monkees.
1970s and 1980s During the 1970s, Funicello focused on raising her family. However she still occasionally acted, making guest appearances on shows like
Love, American Style,
Easy Does It... Starring Frankie Avalon,
Fantasy Island and
The Love Boat. In 1979, Funicello began starring in a series of television commercials for
Skippy peanut butter. Her role as spokesperson for the brand forced Funicello to turn down a role in
Grease 2. In November 1985, she starred in the 16th episode of the Disney Channel documentary series
Disney Family Album in an episode about her career. She starred in a TV movie for Disney,
Lots of Luck (1985), and was reunited with Avalon in
Back to the Beach (1987). The two also performed together live.
Later career Funicello's autobiography,
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story, was dictated to Patricia Romanowski and
published in 1994. The title was taken from a
song from the Disney movie
Cinderella. A television film based on the book,
A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story, appeared in 1995. In the final scene, the actress portraying Funicello (
Eva LaRue), using a wheelchair, turns away from the camera and when turning back, Funicello herself appears to deliver a message to a group of children. During this period, Funicello produced a line of teddy bears for the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company. ==Personal life==