I found this site for those who enjoy The Hardy Boys serials on The Mickey Mouse Club- I've got The Mystery of Applegate Treasure on DVD. I really wish Disney would release The Mystery of Ghost Farm on DVD as well.
Anyway- this site has a number of cool screenshots from both serials and a good synopsis of each as well. :)
http://www.originalmmc.com/hardy2.html
It's also worth noting that some parts of The Mystery of Ghost Farm have been officially released to VHS and DVD.
Disney released a set of 10 VHS tapes in 1994 with compilations from The Mickey Mouse Club- it seems Volume 4 contains an introduction to the serial and Volume 10 actually includes the first chapter from the serial.
A 2005 DVD release, The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club also contains the opening chapter from this serial. So that's nice to know- but I'd still like to see the whole thing and enjoy this piece of Hardy Boys history.
I haven't seen any of these and I'm not sure I'd like them. GASP...I know...It just doesn't seem like my vision of the Hardys. Definitely a cool part of their history though. ;)
You should give them a try- yes, it's probably quite a bit different from your vision of The Hardy Boys, but it is a fun take on it in any case. And The Mystery of Applegate Treasure, the one available in its entirety on DVD, is a pretty fun adaptation of The Mystery of the Tower Treasure (original text). If you don't want to outright purchase the set, check your local library- they may have a copy to check out! (If not, ask the Reference Department about their InterLibrary Loan service. They can probably get it sent over for you.) :)
I've seen The Mystery of Applegate Treasure. It's in a lot of 10 minute increments (if I remember correctly) and I had to keep fast forwarding the intro.
I just remember that it was good for what it was -- a 1950s adaption with kids. I also remember that the actor playing Joe was really good.
Tommy Kirk was a great child actor for Disney who also did some cool films as he got older (The Shaggy Dog, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and one of my favorites- The Monkey's Uncle :D
Quote from: Olivia on December 15, 2010, 08:20:06 PM
I've seen The Mystery of Applegate Treasure. It's in a lot of 10 minute increments (if I remember correctly) and I had to keep fast forwarding the intro.
I just remember that it was good for what it was -- a 1950s adaption with kids. I also remember that the actor playing Joe was really good.
Actually it was 15. But you have to remember that back in the 1950's the serial was meant to be viewed over the course of nearly 4 months, instead of a couple of hours.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on December 15, 2010, 05:33:02 PM
I haven't seen any of these and I'm not sure I'd like them. GASP...I know...It just doesn't seem like my vision of the Hardys. Definitely a cool part of their history though. ;)
They'd be really good for younger kids. 5-10, maybe. But, yeah, they're different. I didn't mind them.
Quote from: Olivia on December 15, 2010, 08:20:06 PM
I've seen The Mystery of Applegate Treasure. It's in a lot of 10 minute increments (if I remember correctly) and I had to keep fast forwarding the intro.
I just remember that it was good for what it was -- a 1950s adaption with kids. I also remember that the actor playing Joe was really good.
Yeah, that intro got
really freaking repetitive.
I suppose the time issue was due to children attention spans? lol I will have to do some searching and see. Will I feel like I have warped back in time like I was watching Leave it to Beaver or something? :)
Leave It to Beaver is awesome! :) Wally rules! 8)
But The Mystery of Applegate Treasure isn't exactly like that. And honestly, though that show is used as the picture of idyllic American life- the Beaver got into trouble all the time. The brother relationship between Theodore and Wally is pretty reminiscent of Frank and Joe to some degree, actually.
The time issue was due to The Mickey Mouse Club being a variety show- so they fit in a lot of different acts. Yeah, I suppose they catered to short attention spans for kids too- Sesame Street used a similar model when it started too.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on December 17, 2010, 08:26:56 PM
I suppose the time issue was due to children attention spans?
For the first 2 seasons of the 1950's
Mickey Mouse Club the shows ran an hour in length, while the 3rd Season saw the shows cut back to half-hour shows. But if you watch the other serials that have been released in the
Walt Disney Treasures line (
Spin and Marty & Annette) to the complete first week of the 1950's MMC, you'll notice that the show was a magazine variety show for kids (even watch the introductory episode for the
Hardy Boys serial that was included as a bonus on the DVD and you'll get an idea as to the type of show that the MMC was).
How could I forget that MMC was a variety show?! That makes total sense as to why it was in short increments. :)
I did some quick searching and didn't come up with anything like a preview or a snippet on Youtube. Perhaps I will check my library. I guess I should see what it was like.
Quote from: hardygirl847 on December 18, 2010, 11:11:29 PM
I did some quick searching and didn't come up with anything like a preview or a snippet on Youtube. Perhaps I will check my library. I guess I should see what it was like.
Well, if you can find the
Walt Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse Club DVD that was released back in December 2004, you'll be able to watch all 5 episodes from the series first week on the air (October 3-7, 1955) and get an idea of what each day was about. But as I said earlier,
The Hardy Boys, Spin & Marty and
Annette have the introductory and (for
Annette) closing episodes of the MMC that are complete hour/half-hour episodes.
Quote from: Captain Santa Claus on December 19, 2010, 05:17:35 PM
Well, if you can find the Walt Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse Club DVD that was released back in December 2004, you'll be able to watch all 5 episodes from the series first week on the air (October 3-7, 1955) and get an idea of what each day was about. But as I said earlier, The Hardy Boys, Spin & Marty and Annette have the introductory and (for Annette) closing episodes of the MMC that are complete hour/half-hour episodes.
I guess I will see what I can find and go from there. I appreciate the help though, thanks! :)
I picked up The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Original-Mickey-Mouse-Club/dp/B0007Z9QXK/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1341349385&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Best+of+the+Mickey+Mouse+Club) on DVD a few days back at a second hand store and it was nice to at least see the introduction for "The Mystery of Ghost Farm" serial. The introduction gives you a pretty good idea of the basic plot of the serial. I still would like to see the actual show itself, but at least that's something from the serial and it is preserved on DVD. Frank and Joe Hardy are involved in solving a mystery surrounding a farm that seems to be deserted and haunted. Iola Morton shows up again and so does Aunt Gertrude and Fenton Hardy, as well as Mr. Applegate. And it's set a year later from the previous serial. It looks pretty cool- I wish Disney would release this Hardy Boys serial in its entirety on DVD.
I also found Volume 4 of The Mickey Mouse Club VHS releases from the early '90s at a thrift store a few months back. It was a nice find, but it still just has the same introduction to The Mystery of Ghost Farm that's on The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club DVD. Now if I can just find Volume 10 of the VHS releases, I'd have the first chapter of the serial as well. Better yet, if Disney would actually release the entire serial to DVD, then I could enjoy it in its entirety.
I'm doing a review on the first serial (which to be honest, has been rather difficult getting through----and I'm one to watch silent films), I've got both the original text, revised text and the DVD set, is there anything else I need to double check on? I'm not aware of any books on the Disney adaptation, and have personally only seen it mentioned in passing in MMC books.
Well, keep in mind that the first serial ran in 1956 and therefore it is definitely based on the original text version of The Tower Treasure since the revisions didn't start until 1959. Still, it doesn't hurt to have the revised text on hand just for comparison's sake. If you want to do any further research on The Mickey Mouse Club and The Hardy Boys serials from that show, I would recommend this site (http://www.originalmmc.com). It has a page listing a number of books that were released about the show and those might be work checking out at the library for further research. (Though I don't think any of them are specifically just about The Hardy Boys portion of the show- though they may well have chapters on it or something.) Also, there was a comic book adaptation of The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure released, some of the pages of which you can see at this portion (http://www.originalmmc.com/comics.html) of that site.
Other than that, I know that one of The Hardy Boys PC video games is based on The Tower Treasure (presumably the revised text version), although it's modified to fit the Undercover Brothers universe and that would be The Hidden Theft. (Unfortunately, to be based on that book, Frank and Joe are not modeled after Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk, like they are in the second game- The Perfect Crime. It would have been nice if the video game based on the original book in the series had used the likenesses of the ones who had done the first adaptation of the book on the Disney serial.)
Thanks for doing a review on the serial! We definitely appreciate everyone's insights on all aspects of The Hardy Boys. As an equivalent of the Book Club we've done for the last few years, I started up a TV Show/Media Club to review all the various appearances of The Hardy Boys (and Nancy Drew, since they crossover with her in places). It'd be great if you could post your review in the thread for The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure here (http://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/forums/index.php?topic=2293.0). Thanks! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. I really enjoyed watching the serial myself when I finally got to see it when I got the DVD a few years ago. It's been a while since I've watched it, but I think it's fun. When I get some time, maybe I'll watch it again.
Thanks for the source! Work has only "Happy 50th Mickey Mouse!" which has some publicity photos of the boys and Applegate, and the A to Z Disney encyclopedia. I'll try an interlibrary loan, but it may be a a while before it comes in. The review is for a site I help run, so I can happily post a link to it when it's published, my current agreement keeps me from posting it here, since It's an exclusive.
Oh wow- very cool. Well, definitely post the link when you can then. :) 8)
And for the sources, no problem! Ha! (As ALF would say.) ;D
I just found this on Flickr, but I don't know that it actually is what I'm thinking it is.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2195/2413349950_5d6ff1bbb6_b_d.jpg) (http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2195/2413349950_5d6ff1bbb6_b_d.jpg)
According to the site, this is an "original vintage illustration for Walt Disney Magazine, 1950s. Gouache on Board. Artist: Herb Ryman".
It says it is an illustration of The Hardy Boys and perhaps this is true- I can't confirm this for sure. Even if it isn't, it's still a cool, vintage artwork piece. :) 8)
I also found this picture (http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/everything80s/games/game_hardy_boys_treasure-1.jpg) that shows some a bit of the gameboard for The Hardy Boys Treasure Game, a board game that was released in the late '50s in conjunction with The Hardy Boys serials running on The Mickey Mouse Club- the early versions of the game cover used the likenesses of Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk, but after the show had ended, eventually the game cover was changed so that The Hardy Boys were represented as generic characters, rather than in their previous portrayers' likenesses.
(http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/everything80s/games/game_hardy_boys_treasure-1.jpg) (http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss332/everything80s/games/game_hardy_boys_treasure-1.jpg)
(http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5586050/il_fullxfull.346505206.jpg) (http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5586050/il_fullxfull.346505206.jpg)
There's the vinyl 6 inch 78 RPM record from The Mickey Mouse Club with the Gold Doubloons and Pieces of Eight song from the first Hardy Boys serial- The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure. :) 8)
I didn't realize that had it's own release! I knew it had been released as part of
'Songs from The Mickey Mouse Club', but no where else had I ever heard of it by itself! Also that board game's redesigned faces is a lark, they now look extremely funny like the boys had been sniffing paint.
Yeah, I've noticed a similar phenomenon on the cover for The Hardy Boys board game based on the cartoon series. ;D
Here's a look at the gameboard for The Hardy Boys Treasure Game- originally released in conjunction with the Hardy Boys serials on The Mickey Mouse Club- it looks like this is the later rerelease version that changed the looks of Frank and Joe on the game box so that they didn't resemble Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk anymore.
(http://bonanzleimages.s3.amazonaws.com/afu/images/8402/7107/_t2ec16dhjhye9nzpfi_fbqv6q40_____60_58.jpg) (http://bonanzleimages.s3.amazonaws.com/afu/images/8402/7107/_t2ec16dhjhye9nzpfi_fbqv6q40_____60_58.jpg)
From what I could tell through squinting at the instructions and gameboard there, this game seems to be based on The Tower Treasure, which makes sense since The Mystery of Applegate Treasure was also based on this book.
Here's a picture of the version of The Hardy Boys Treasure Game that was released utilizing the likenesses of Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk as Frank and Joe Hardy. (This was released in 1957. I believe the revised version was released in 1959.)
(http://www.thrillingdetective.com/images3/hardy_boys_game.jpg) (http://www.thrillingdetective.com/images3/hardy_boys_game.jpg)
(http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/hbtreasuregame.jpg) (http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/hbtreasuregame.jpg)
Here's a closer view of the Disney Hardy Boys Treasure Game.
(http://www.thestrong.org/online-collections/images/Z000/Z00067/Z0006718.jpg) (http://www.thestrong.org/online-collections/images/Z000/Z00067/Z0006718.jpg)
Tommy Kirk's autograph :) 8)
(http://api.ning.com/files/Wmplu1XRZrm82o9OrevX0AjOoavXLST06HoPToN-H748vs1AEZ2vtN3K0jWtoxS9bKgtDqz41LnHTK6CYqsm4iHbHshzi6V3/TommyKirkIPOct.42008.jpg) (http://api.ning.com/files/Wmplu1XRZrm82o9OrevX0AjOoavXLST06HoPToN-H748vs1AEZ2vtN3K0jWtoxS9bKgtDqz41LnHTK6CYqsm4iHbHshzi6V3/TommyKirkIPOct.42008.jpg)
Here's autographs for both Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk. :) 8)
TV's original Frank and Joe Hardy.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41e2f%2BfHxqL.jpg) (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41e2f%2BfHxqL.jpg)