She was talented at both singing and dancing as a young girl, which led to her performing in a professional capacity at an early age. She wound up performing in a production of Swan Lake that was being put on by Walt Disney at the Starlight Bowl, located in Burbank, California. It was NUMBER_TOKEN when Annette performed in Walt Disney’s production of Swan Lake at the Starlight Bowl, and she was subsequently invited by the mogul to audition for a new show that he was brainstorming. That show turned out to be The Mickey Mouse Club, and Annette blew Walt out of the water during the audition. She was brought onto the show and given significant time on the screen, quickly becoming the most popular of the show’s numerous child performers. The child performers on The Mickey Mouse Club were dubbed the "Mouseketeers", and Annette was the most popular of them all during her time on the show. She was just NUMBER_TOKEN years old when she took up the gig, and children loved getting the chance to watch someone their own age performing on the screen - not to mention the fact that Annette was an incredibly talented performer for her age! Annette’s time on The Mickey Mouse Club took advantage of both her singing and her dancing skills. She grew to have a great deal of respect for Walt Disney during her time on the series, and stayed under contract with the company for a period of time after leaving the show behind. Annette had shared that she considered Walt to be something of a second father to her, and claimed he was a child at heart. Although Annette was certainly incredibly talented going into her tenure on The Mickey Mouse Club, she claimed that her time on the series was a great learning experience. Unlike numerous other child stars throughout the decades, Annette never went on to share any bad experiences about her time on the show that made her famous. Instead, she continued to appreciate all that her time on the program had done for her career. After leaving The Mickey Mouse Club, Annette appeared on numerous other programs under the Disney brand, and also in some of its feature films. Some of the other Disney programs that Annette appeared on during her time with the company included Zorro in NUMBER_TOKEN and The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca in NUMBER_TOKEN. Following these appearances, Annette was promoted to starring in feature films, with her most memorable appearance in a Disney film being her turn in the NUMBER_TOKEN comedy feature The Shaggy Dog. Besides The Shaggy Dog, she could also be seen in the Disney features Babes in Toyland and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, as well as the latter film’s sequel: The Monkey’s Uncle. If you're enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! While you're at it, subscribe to the channel if you'd like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way! During Annette Funicello’s later days with Disney, she decided to branch out and start appearing in features for a slightly older audience. In NUMBER_TOKEN, Annette appeared in the film Beach Party alongside Frankie Avalon. The film was a massive success, and it catapulted Annette out of the box that her Disney success had put her in. The film ended up spawning several successful sequels, all of which Annette returned for. As well, both her and Frankie came back to the series two decades later to parody the
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