Meet our Mouseketeers
Disney brings back The Mickey Mouse Club and offers a Malaysian version called Club Mickey Mouse, writes Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli
CREATED by Walt Disney in 1955, propelled the careers of young Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Ryan Gosling. Over in the US, Disney is reviving the iconic children’s programme as a digitalfirst show called Luckily for us in Southeast Asia, we will be having our own TV version!
airing Fridays at 1.30pm on Disney Channel and hosted by its own bunch of Mouseketeers, is a new multi-platform variety show comprising a Malaysian cast and content, games, comedy, music and celebrity appearances.
The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia Media Networks vice president and general manager Amit Malhotra said: “We, at Disney, work very hard to find ways to bring in iconic international shows as well as local shows that are relevant to Malaysian audiences, which are high on storytelling and creative in nature. Amit says being Mouseketeers will help them to develop their star potential.
“We feel that Club Mickey Mouse will resonate well with our Malaysian fans and provide them with more ways to engage with their favourite Disney content.”
DEVELOPING TALENT
The Disney team also went on a two-month nationwide Club Mickey Mouse Star Search, where hundreds participated. Two potential Mouseketeers. Ahmad Faiz Najib, 15, and Nur Alianatsha Hanafi, 14, emerged winners.
“They have great raw talent and we hope their experience in being Mouseketeers will help them to develop their star potential,” said Amit.
The team also cast Dheena Menon Jayadeep, 13, Erissa Puteri Hashim, 14, Mohd Wafiy Ilhan Johan, 15 and Gabriel Noel Pountney, 16, through casting calls.
Amit said: “We were looking for talented children who can sing, act and dance, and who have the potential to be Malaysia’s home-grown stars. They are all Malaysians who viewers can relate to and feel a connection with.”
Dheena said: “This is a dream come true! We’ve all loved Disney ever since we were little, so this is an opportunity we just couldn’t pass up.”
Wafiy added: “All of us have the skills in singing, hosting, dancing and acting that we’d like to showcase them through the programme.” DID FILMING THE SHOW INTERFERE WITH SCHOOL?
We use all our free time to study as much as we could.
The crew also tried to film as many scenes as they could during our school holidays so that we wouldn’t miss school.
Our teachers were informed beforehand, so they’d tell us what syllabus we would need to study.
ARE THERE PLANS FOR YOU TO BE FEATURED IN DISNEY PRODUCTIONS OUTSIDE OF MALAYSIA?
For now, we’d like to see how the show fares. If the ratings are encouraging, then perhaps we will be meeting our Disney pals in the US one day.
I have never imagined that I’d be part of the great Disney brand, so I hope that as Mouseketeers, we can inspire others to reach for their dreams.