Walt Disney Treasures: The Hardy Boys – The Mickey
Mouse Club (1956-1957)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B-
Gee
Golly! It is the Mickey Mouse Club
sleuth team The Hardy Boys! Here are the
earliest of their filmed television adventures in Walt Disney Treasures: The Hardy Boys collection. This collection contains a first for Disney
DVD, releasing the Mickey Mouse Club serial with new digital mastering of the
1956-1957 television ‘season’ of The Hardy Boys. After having great success with the first
season of the Mickey Mouse Club and the Spin
& Marty serial which ran as part of the Mickey Mouse Club, Disney
decided to clean house on the M.M.C.
and hired new members while creating a new serial entitled The Hardy Boys. The serial ran
for two seasons along with the Mickey Mouse Club, but after running from 1955 –
1959, the M.M.C. was canceled due to
the expense of running the show (having a great deal of commercials) along with
sponsors not seeing the profitability of educational children’s television.
This
first ‘season’ of the Hardy Boys serial follows the Hardy Boys, Frank (Tim
Considine) and Joe (Tommy Kirk), as they investigate ‘The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure.’ The episodes are actually quite short, but
long enough to wet the viewer’s appetite to continue watching each and every
segment of the classic.
When
first viewing this Hardy Boys series this reviewer did not think it would have
held much interest, possibly being outdated and in bad visual condition. The truth of the matter, however, is that the
Hardy Boys serials held up quite well and were enjoyable throughout, being
enticing to this reviewer. The mystery
element was well written and stood the test of time, though a bit corny the
storyline remained exciting. Other
elements, such as Old Man Applegate threatening the boys with a sword and
grabbing them (tossing them around by their shirt collars) or a little girl
having a canvas sac thrown over her, would surely be elements for Law and Order: SVU these days and not
the Disney Channel. In this way to
Politically Correct world the Hardy Boys serial was refreshing and
entertaining.
If
nothing else these collectable sets are excellently put together and
presented. The set comes in a
collectable tin, the entire set being a limited edition of 65,000. The production numbers in wave 6 are greatly
reduced from the original Disney Treasure Collections, which were limited
editions of 150,000. The set includes a
certificate of authenticity, a 7” x 4.5” poster reproduction on hard cardboard,
as well as a booklet nicely explaining the limited set. A nice set well worth looking into purchasing
for a Disney fan’s collection.
The
technical aspects of this DVD compilation were overall balanced and well
prepared. The picture presented in a
classic Black and White 1.33 X 1 Full Screen format that is crisp and is mostly
absence of debris. There is the occasion
where the black and white picture seems cloudy and/or dark, but that is rare. The Sound is in a simple Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono that is adequate but hard to get used to in this day and age of surround
sound. The sound remains clean but has
some high/low issues that can distract. Extras
on this set are not as good or plentiful as on some of Disney Treasure Collections, but offer viewers a nostalgic view of
the past while zooming forward to today and catching up with the old Mickey
Mouse Crew. Some extras include "From
Dixon to Disney" featurette, "The
Hardy Boys Unmasked" featurette, as well as some production
galleries. Overall, the extras are well
put together but not extremely entertaining.
From
people who remember when this serial originally aired too a new generation of
Mouseketeers, this set is sure to please.
- Michael P Dougherty II
