An Afternoon at the Triple R Ranch

Our Movie of the Month for November is actually a collection of chapters from the beloved Mickey Mouse Club serial, “The Adventures of Spin and Marty,” showing daily at 1:00 & 4:00pm (except Tuesdays, and November 19 and 24).

On Saturday afternoon November 12, a crowd of buckaroos gathered together in our digital theater and were transported back to a simpler time at the Triple R Ranch. Tim Considine (aka Spin Evans) and David Stollery (aka Marty Markham), were on hand to guide us through a “discovery of fun” as Donna Tuggle, Director of Education and Visitor’s Experience described the afternoon.

Photo by Hillary Lyden, courtesy The Walt Disney Family Museum.Author and Disney historian Don Peri was the moderator, and after welcoming everyone, he brought out Considine and Stollery, who received a warm welcome from the appreciative audience. Don reminded us all that the "Spin and Marty" show debuted 56 years ago on the Mickey Mouse Club, which "changed the landscape of children’s programming." In addition to the show, there were books, records, and comics that helped to tell the Spin and Marty story. Over the years, the show has had many fans, including Pixar’s John Lasseter. Andy, the young boy in the Toy Story series, wears a Triple R Ranch tee shirt because Lasseter wanted to pay “homage to a show he loves so much.”

Don provided detailed biographies of the two stars of the series. Tim Considine’s father was a movie producer whose credits include the classic Spencer Tracy/Mickey Rooney film Boy’s Town, and his mother was a member of the famous Pantages theatrical family.  His family didn’t encourage his desire to be an actor, but “they permitted me” to be one. He and Stollery appeared together in a film before their Spin and Marty days, Her Twelve Men, co-starring Greer Garson and Robert Ryan. Tim said of David, “he was very experienced working at that age. I was shy and bashful.” To which David replied, “I would never use the word bashful to describe Tim.” One thing is for sure, the friendship that began so many years ago on the TV show is still going strong, as the two played off of each other so well it was hard to believe that so much time has passed since they (and many of us) were younger.

Click to read more ...