 James Darren was originally not selected to play Moondoggie because  the role required two songs to sing and Darren was not well  established as a singer. On his own, he cut a single with the  studios recording subsidiary Colpix Records which charted. Columbia  changed their minds and gave him the role despite the fact that he  couldnt surf and was a weak swimmer. He became a huge teen idol and  subsequently repeated the Moondoggie role in Gidget Goes Hawaiian  (1961) and Gidget Goes to Rome (1963)with two other Gidgets: Deborah  Walley and Cindy Carol.