The Forgotten Uncle Mooch Historical Record

Way back, long ago, in the previous century, a day came when me and my siblings were introduced to the entity who our favorite uncle intended to marry.

Our soon to be new aunt did not know, prior to meeting her soon to be nephews and nieces that us kids had a nickname for our favorite uncle.

Nicknamed after our favorite Disney movie character, an actor named Kevin Corcoran who became quite popular playing the character nicknamed "Moochie" in multiple Disney films and TV shows.

The character nicknamed "Moochie" reminded me and my siblings of our favorite uncle, and so, he became known, to us, as Uncle Mooch.

Well.

Uncle Mooch's bride to be took umbrage at hearing her beloved referred to as Uncle Mooch. 

I recollect getting chased around Burlington's Maiben Park by our soon to be Aunt Jane, who was determined to re-educate her soon to be nephews and nieces regarding what she determined to be the proper name for Uncle Mooch.

Now, it must be added, that in addition to nicknaming our favorite uncle as Uncle Mooch, due to the similarity to the Disney character, Uncle Mooch was also known, to us kids, for his habit of sneaking a bite of something tasty off our plates, such as French fries, and similar things.

As recently as August of 2017 that mooching aspect of Uncle Mooch happened in a restaurant at Birch Bay, with Aunt Jane and Uncle Mooch in a restaurant, sitting near me, with Uncle Mooch next to my nephew, David. Uncle Mooch mooched a clam and a French fry off David's plate.

Upon Uncle Mooch purloining such from David's plate I said to my sister Michele, (who was born well after we'd nicknamed our favorite uncle as Uncle Mooch)....

"And now you see one of the reasons we call him Uncle Mooch!"
 
The above info about Kevin Corcoran, aka Moochie, came from Wikipedia, with the following part of the article about this Disney character...

Corcoran appeared in a Mouseketeer outfit with the name Moochie across his chest just once. In Disneyland: The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957), "Mouseketeer" Moochie repeatedly badgers Walt Disney for information about Zorro.

Continuing his fictional Moochie roles, Corcoran played Montgomery "Moochie" Daniels in the 1959 Disney film The Shaggy Dog. He also starred as Moochie Morgan in Moochie of the Little League (1959) and Moochie of Pop Warner Football (1960), both for the Disney anthology series. Character actor Russ Conway played his father.

In each iteration, Moochie likes to hang out with the older "guys" (big brother Wilby in The Shaggy Dog, the title characters in Spin and Marty), and hates being treated like the little kid he is. His determination to emulate elder peers despite adult warnings (swimming, helping Wilby, even switch-hitting) frequently gets him in trouble, but Moochie's bravado always returns soon afterward. Film writer Donald Liebenson has called Corcoran's character "part All-American boy and part hellion."

I guess that also sort of describes Uncle Mooch, part All-American boy and part hellion....