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A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story
By Annette Funicello,
with Patricia Romanowski.
Published 1994.
Published by Hyperion.
ISBN-10: 0786860200
ISBN-13: 978-0786860203
Description:
When on a spring evening
in 1955 Walt Disney saw a pretty, talented twelve-year-old performing in her
dance school's annual recital, he knew he'd found just what he'd been looking
for: the twenty-fourth and last member of the cast of the new children's TV
series he was planning. Only a few months later Annette Funicello set a pair of
black felt ears atop her brown curls and marched onto the set of The Mickey
Mouse Club, and into the hearts of millions of Americans. From then on, nothing
would ever be the same.
Whether as a
Mouseketeer, as a Top-Forty singing idol, as the reigning sweetheart of the
classic Beach Party films, or as the familiar "Skippy Mom" of TV
commercials, Annette (who almost instantly became known by her first name
alone) has been a beloved star for nearly four decades. In her charming
autobiography, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, the wholesomely sexy (and
eternally youthful) girl next door looks back with equal parts of wit,
wistfulness, and wonder on her remarkable career, and gives us a privileged
look behind the scenes at some of the most cherished landmarks of our popular
culture.
As the shy only daughter
of a close-knit Italian family, Annette was unprepared for the phenomenon The
Mickey Mouse Club would prove to be, and in these pages we learn not only about
the thrill of appearing on the show but also about the pleasures and challenges
her own status of favorite Mouseketeer brought. It was through Walt Disney's
encouragement that she later undertook her successful recording career, and in
her account of her years as a teen idol we learn what it was like being the
youngest member of Dick Clark's arduous Caravan of Stars tour, as well as the
difficulties her popularity placed in the path of her first romance with Paul
Anka (who presented her with the sublime gift of "Put Your Head on My
Shoulder," which he wrote in her parents' living room). Next came the
movies, and a series of beloved Disney films (including her own and her fans'
favorite, Babes in Toyland), until, with Mr. Disney's blessing, she headed for
the beach and a role in the epochal Beach Party. Even though, as Annette confesses,
she never really liked the beach (it frizzed her hair), she was delighted to be
enthroned with her friend Frankie Avalon as one of the great cinema couples.
At
the peak of her career Annette chose marriage and motherhood, and for over
twenty years appeared only occasionally in films and TV shows. By the late
1980s, however, she was eager to perform again, and along with Frankie made a
new beach film, Back to the Beach, and launched a triumphal comeback tour. It
was during this period, after she experienced a series of puzzling symptoms,
that she discovered she had multiple sclerosis. Her subsequent struggles with
her condition, and her ultimate decision to make it public, bring A Dream Is a
Wish Your Heart Makes to a poignant and inspiring conclusion that will draw her
even closer to the millions of fans who, from the start, have dreamed along
with her.
