As part of the latest wave of Disney's celebrated DVD line, the Walt Disney Treasures, The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 showcases the popular mystery serial, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure from the M. M. Club's second season, along with a few extras to fill out the backstory on this well-remembered adaptation.

I'm not sure where The Hardy Boys series of books stand with young readers today, but when I was a boy, most everybody I knew had a few on their bedroom bookshelf. They were fairly obligatory Christmas and birthday gifts from parents and grandparents who wanted to pass along their own cherished memories of the stories, and school librarians always prominently featured them along the library book cases as examples of wholesome excitement for inquisitive pre-teen and teen readers. The brilliance of those books was their ability (cannily designed by the publisher) to make young readers feel grown up; these were stories written for us, not adults, yet they didn't talk down to us. We could easily project ourselves into the exciting stories, while admiring the upstanding, yet slightly (and safely) rebellious protagonists of Frank and Joe Hardy: All-American boy detectives. I have many fond memories of lazy summer afternoons, propped up against a tree or sprawled on the couch, pouring over those brightly jacketed mysteries.

When Walt Disney and his most trusted producer, Bill Walsh, decided to bring the Hardy Boys into the Disney Studio fold, it must have seemed like a natural fit. Both were internationally known brand names which stood for clean, family-friendly entertainment, professionally executed for willing consumers. The premiere of The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 on October 1, 1956, was way before my time, and as a life-long viewer of Disney's Sunday night NBC show, I don't remember it ever being re-run, nor has it ever been available on video. So I was very excited to see this latest installment in the Walt Disney Treasures DVD line.

There's a moment in one of the bonus features on the disc, where actor Tim Considine talks about the continuing remembrance of this serial, and The Mickey Mouse Club, and the good feelings they generate for fans who grew up with these shows. He eloquently puts into words what most fans of TV and movies already know: it's not the actual shows themselves that make us happy; their quality very well may seem less impressive than our minds remember. No, their significance comes from being there for us at a specific time in our lives. The Mickey Mouse Club had such a tremendous impact on its young viewers because of its uniqueness on the TV schedule. There just weren't that many sophisticated, well-produced shows on at the time that were aimed exclusively at young viewers. Walt Disney, recognizing this (just as he recognized that there was a need for vacation destinations for families; hence, his invention of the theme park), created an entertaining, glossy show that made kids feel included and catered to. And that feeling never left them as they grew up. Many of those viewers to this day, fifty years later, can vividly recall running home from school to watch the next installment of The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957. Since I wasn't one of those original viewers, it's difficult for me to accurately gauge the nostalgia factor that these shows must register with older viewers (just like my kids can't understand why I hold such affection for certain older movies and TV shows). The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is, however, very entertaining; it moves briskly, and it's professionally done: it's a vintage Disney product with all the positive hallmarks that go along with that label. The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is a diverting mystery program that fans of the original show will welcome.

Based on The Tower Treasure, the first book in the series, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure was adapted by celebrated mystery writer Jackson Gillis to be the first installment of the Hardy Boys adventures for The Mickey Mouse Club. Broken up into 15 minute installments (timed with commercial breaks), the 19-part serial employed the time-worn plot construction of having each installment end with a "cliffhanger," inviting the young viewer to come back the next day to see how the episode was resolved. This particular mystery has the Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe (Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk), trying to find old Mr. Applegate's (Florenz Ames) treasure of gold doubloons, which have been lost for over 10 years. At Mr. Applegate's broken down mansion, young Perry (Donald Mac Donald), a reform-school kid who's working at the mansion, suddenly becomes the object of suspicion when some tools go missing from Mr. Jackley's (Robert Foulk) tool box. The boys desperately want to be detectives, like their father, Fenton Hardy (Russ Conway), who is seldom home because he works his cases in the "big city" adjacent to the Hardy's small town of Bayport. Looking after the boys is Aunt Gertrude (Sarah Selby), a befuddled, kind guardian forever exasperated by the rambunctious boys' adventures. Lending her questionable talents as a junior detective is Iola (Carole Ann Campbell), the bratty, annoying girl from down the street who has a not-so-secret crush on Joe Hardy. Rounding out the mystery is Irish rogue Mr. Boles (Arthur Shields), a ratty petty thief who knows more about the gold doubloons than he's willing to say.

It's understandable why so many kids back in 1956 thought this Hardy Boys serial was so entertaining. It captures very well the slightly rebellious nature of the Hardy Boys (an appealingly safe titillation for strict 1950's values), particularly by emphasizing how relatively unsupervised the boys are at home. With their father away most nights, and only their slightly scatterbrained Aunt to keep watch, the boys come and go with surprising freedom, sneaking out of their house at night in the search for clues. Do you remember how it was when you were a kid, during the dog days of summer, and you were bored to tears? Anything out of your ordinary routine - a stranger in the neighborhood, an unusual item found in an attic or out in a field - was ripe for speculation and exaggeration. The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure captures that feeling of "anything is possible; everything is exciting" in a young person's world, very well, amplified by the many night scenes that add an element of suspense and imminent danger to the proceedings (remember how much fun it was to sneak out of your house at night, when you weren't supposed to?). The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure manages to recreate that sense of forbidden freedom quite nicely.

As well, the actual mystery itself is quite involving for young viewers, providing a fair amount of false starts and red herrings to keep them guessing. Anytime I review a show such as this, I like to have a couple of my kids watch along, as well, just to gauge their reactions. After all, these kinds of programs were designed specifically for young viewers. And you can get a good idea of the timelessness (or lack thereof) of these shows by having kids from today comment on them. My 13-year-old said he enjoyed the show, but he bailed after about five installments (damn video games), but my 8-year-old son enjoyed the show very much; I suspect he's pretty close to Disney's target age for The Mickey Mouse Show.

Where The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure runs into some trouble is in the very construction of the serial. Produced to be seen in small increments, there can be some loss of focus, as well as some obvious repetition to the plot points, when watching all the installments strung together. Certainly, that wasn't a problem for young viewers back in 1956, who had a whole day in between each 15 minute episode, as well as the weekends to get their anticipation high for the coming installment on Mondays. Perhaps it's best to only watch a few installments at a time if you purchase The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957; it may have more of an impact viewed that way. Another (admittedly small) drawback, at least for me, with The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, was with the performance of Tommy Kirk as Joe Hardy. Now, I'm a big fan of Tommy Kirk. He's great in other Disney classics, such as Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson, as well as the two highly enjoyable Merlin Jones comedies (when are those going to be released???). But I was less than impressed with his performance here. While the serial stays mostly true to how the individual Hardys act in the books (Frank, the older brother, is more calm and reasoning, in comparison to his more impetuous younger brother, Joe), Kirk's sometimes over-the-top emoting occasionally grated on this viewer, throwing off the balance of the two actor's performances. Considine plays Frank just right - cool, laid-back, capable - but he can fade into the background when Kirk has an especially messy emotional scene. Still, the two actors do have an undeniable chemistry together, and they make the best on-screen incarnation of the literary sleuths I've seen (okay, yes, I admit a fondness for Parker Stevenson and Shawn Cassidy - but that has more to do with youthful nostalgia, than any logic or taste).

The rest of the performances are first-rate, with a supporting cast of veterans and pros who deliver the goods, a hallmark of the care with which producer Bill Walsh cast his productions. Standing out in the good cast is delightfully confused Sarah Selby as Aunt Gertrude ("I've been dieting today, a salesman made me buy something I didn't want, I stubbed my toe...."), precocious Carole Ann Campbell as Iola (it's a shame she didn't do more films), and Arthur Shields as the wily thief Boles. Shields is particularly good at getting across the alternating charm and villainy of the Boles character, with plenty of Irish blarney for good measure. Walsh also does first-rate work in creating a small-town environment, shot mostly on the studio sound stages.

The DVD:

The Video:
The black and white, full screen video image for The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is crystal-clear sharp, with velvety, glossy, solid blacks. The 19 installments are spread over the two discs, so the bit rate is generous.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital mono audiotrack accurately reflects the original TV sound presentation.

The Extras:
Perhaps because of the limited nature of this serial, The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 somewhat surprisingly (for the usually comprehensive Walt Disney Treasures line) is a little skimpy on the extras. Each disc opens with a good, solid, informative introduction by film and animation historian, and Disney expert Leonard Maltin. Maltin really is the ideal host for these collections, and his enthusiasm for the material is contagious. On disc one, Disney has included the original full-length Mickey Mouse Club Season Two opener from October 1, 1956, which includes the extended introduction for the coming Hardy Boys serial. The segments included on this fun episode of The Mickey Mouse Club are a visit to the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Nautilus (check out those steaks and prime rib they serve in the galley); a "Fun with Music" introduction and the Mouseketeer roll call; a musical/dance number with Darlene and Bobby called, "All Alone at Coney Island" (can you imagine today's "nanny culture" responding to a skit where a girl pantomimes shooting ducks in a shooting gallery -- and the ducks are kid's heads?!?); an extended introduction to the upcoming The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure serial; Jimmie extolling the virtues of America; a Mickey Mouse cartoon called, "Mickey's Rival;" and of course, the show's sign off. It's interesting that in the sneak peek for The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, the studio went to great lengths to reassure the kid viewers at the end of the show that pirates weren't real, and that they shouldn't be scared when watching The Hardy Boys - can you imagine such concern today? I know a lot of people would label The Mickey Mouse Club hopelessly naive and corny, and laugh off its good intentions, but I'll take it any day over the garbage that's put out for kids today. When you consider that the Nickelodeon Network regularly shows a short feature instructing kids on how to break wind in public and then blame it on their friends, I'll stick with the so-called "corny" and "out-of-touch." Also included is a 14 minute documentary, From Dixon to Disney, which gives a brief, but detailed account of the books' inception, and the connection with Disney.

Disc two's bonus features include a new, 18 minute interview with Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk, The Hardy Boys Unmasked, which is a great, nostalgic trip down memory lane with the two thoughtful, eloquent actors. As well, there's a gallery feature with stills from the production, as well as images of the various tie-in products and marketing strategies for the series. Unfortunately, you can't zoom in on these images with a standard DVD player (although I was able to with my computer). Considering that The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is part of the Walt Disney Treasures line, I was expecting a few more extras than these brief features.

The Packaging:
The packaging for The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is the same as the previous Walt Disney Treasures boxed tin sets. Two discs are enclosed in a sturdy keep case, which is then placed tightly in a metal tin, embossed with the series' logo. A certificate of authenticity, a full color plate depicting a Hardy Boys Dell comic book, and a full color, glossy 8-page booklet, listing the contents of the tin, are included.

Final Thoughts:
If you were a kid back in the 1950s, and a fan of The Mickey Mouse Club, then I highly recommend The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957. Disney scholars and completests will also want to purchase this set. For the parent who wants to buy their young child an entertaining mystery series, The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957 is a safe bet. But for the casual DVD viewer who may be unfamiliar with vintage Disney shows such as The Hardy Boys - The Mickey Mouse Club: 1956 - 1957, I suggest you rent the series first, before buying.