(c) Disney

Not as revered today as its predecessor, the 90s version of the Mickey Mouse Club, which began in 1989 as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (eventually shortening the title to MMC), still has its admirers, usually those who grew up watching it on The Disney Channel.

In updating the classic, the ears were gone and less and less emphasis was put on the founding mouse over the show’s five seasons. And, this being the early 90s, the hair was bigger, as was its ethnically diverse, rather cumbersomely large cast; even the “adult hosts�? went co-ed. In a nod to the past, the famous theme song (in a popped-up version) and “Alma Mater�? remained, albeit with an unfortunate rap coda (with its admonition of “We got it goin’ on with a funky style�?) that must of sent the late, great Jimmie Dodd a spinnin’. The show consisted of concert and in studio production numbers, laugh-tracked comedy sketches, lame commercial parodies that were dated even at the time, even its own version of a serial, the soapy Emerald Cove, which starred most of the cast. The producers never quite achieved a balance between the goofy goings-on, too-adult musical performances and obvious attempts to present serious “teen issues�?. Remember how I said that the original “MMC�? never wore its their message on their sleeves? Well, these Mouseketeers wore them embroidered next to their names on their color-coordinated football jerseys - and who wears those in sunny Central Florida anyway? (The show was filmed in front of a live studio audience at the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.)

What the show is most remembered for now is its amazing eye for burgeoning talent - no other show since Star Search in the 80s until American Idol today has quite had such impressive alumni. And although fellow future big names J.C. Chasez, Keri Russell and Ryan Gosling (who should be calling their agents to get them some free publicity on “Volume 2�?) can be seen throughout this collection, the focus is obvious on the trio of so-called pop demigods, Britney, Justin and Christina.

What is most striking about their appearances here is their appearances: boy, they’re young! Comparing them now to their fresh-faced visages then, one can see the toll of all the tabloid years of quickie Vegas weddings, “wardrobe malfunctions�? and skanky music videos. The four episodes included here feature “hometown profiles�? and MMC in Concert footage of the three, all of them accessible through a “Highlights�? feature so you can jump right to the main reasons why this DVD exists.

Or you can just watch the episodes in full, the first of which is “Hall of Fame Day�? (episode #607). Britney is seen in her Louisiana home go-carting, visiting her “Granny�? at the crawfish store and evincing such words of wisdom as “When you’re dancing, you just can’t do a step … you gotta get into it, you know?�? She is then joined by Justin in a duet of Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You�?. Justin himself is up next in “Music Day�? (#618), spotlighted in Memphis playing golf, hanging out with his prepubescent “homies�? and taking a tour of Graceland, where he attempts a passable Elvis impersonation. Also appearing is musical guest Brian McKnight, who sings that ol’ chestnut, Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That�?.

It’s Christina’s turn in another “Hall of Fame Day�? (#619), tackling the Bodyguard ballad “I Have Nothing�?, which she surprisingly under-sings; at the time, Whitney Houston had “nothing�? to worry about. The episode then, unnervingly, shifts gears into Oprah territory, with a frank discussion on teen depression and suicide. Three youths (including, surprisingly, a gay teen - something you would probably not see nowadays for fear of being too "political", sadly) share their experiences with the disease in a commendable, but out-of-place, segment.

Finally, its “Guest Star Day�? again (#629), featuring the freakishly strong Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton in a precursor to MTV’s Fanatic, as well as Christina’s turn for a profile. Although she’s from Pennsylvania, she tours her then current home Orlando instead, where she’s seen horseback riding, playing with her dog Fozzie and baking brownies (I kid you not). But the real highlight of this episode, and even the whole disc, is Keri Russell’s deft comic turn in the skit “The Teenage Zone,�? an unusually (for this show) funny riff on The Twilight Zone. With her luxurious mane of hair, the future Felicity Porter displays a heretofore (for me anyway) knack for comedy, so far not fully exploited in her subsequent work. She should keep an eye out for one of those rom coms Sandra Bullock is getting too old for …

I suspect that these two releases are meant to “test the waters“, to see if people are indeed interested in buying full seasons sets of the two shows (other studios have released similar “DVD samplers�? of such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer for this reason). After all, with five shows a week spread out over several seasons, any “complete season�? boxes would be pricey (on both ends), so it makes sense to find out if anybody would be actually interested in buying them. So, if you really want the full sets of either of these Clubs, I suggest you snatch these up.

Now, if only they’d get around to the 70s New Mickey Mouse Club (a show I grew up with) - doesn’t anyone else want to see Lisa “Blair Warner�? Whelchel belting out “Walkin’ the Dog�? …?

(Also of note is the lack of any of the Jiminy Cricket segments from the original series. Could they be saving them for the rumored Walt Disney Treasures collection of educational shorts?)