Although its been called the first series to feature kids as the stars the original members were not household names. This story may contain some links from which we may earn a small affiliate commission. All we knew was that it featured an appealing bunch of kids and that it was funny as Hell! The Little Rascals (1994) - Clubhouse Fire Scene (3/10) | Movieclips. These shorts marked the departure of Jackie Condon, who had been with the group from the beginning of the series. When Our Gang stopped production in 1944, Laughlin appeared in Johnny Doesnt Live Here Anymore (1944), then left show business to enjoy his teenage years. Another 1930 short, Teacher's Pet, marked the first use of the Our Gang theme song, "Good Old Days", composed by Shield and featuring a notable saxophone solo. The MGM Our Gangs today appear periodically on the Turner Classic Movies cable network. Even the big stars had to chase around and audition; it seemed like a rat race to me, with no security. Of being part of The Little Rascals, he added, I enjoyed it. The Our Gang series was a success from the start, with the children's naturalism, the funny animal actors, and McGowan's direction making a successful combination. Our Gang entered another transitional period, similar to that of the mid-1920s. "The Little Rascals" redirects here. That same year, Darla Hood, Patsy May, and Eugene Lee as Porky joined the gang. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. [1], Senior director Robert F. McGowan helmed most of the Our Gang shorts until 1933, assisted by his nephew Anthony Mack. She had a bobbed haircut and acted quite tomboyish. Eugene Lee was born on Oct. 25, 1933, in Fort Worth, Texas. Lee retired and became analternative school educator at Broomfield High School inColorado. On May 29, 1936, when he was only 21, Norman died of myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle. then-and-now look at the original Little Rascals. Other popular elements in these mid-to-late-1930s shorts include the "He-Man Woman Haters Club" from Hearts Are Thumps and Mail and Female (both 1937), the Laurel and Hardy-ish interaction between Alfalfa and Spanky, and the comic tag-along team of Porky and Buckwheat. After the girl and her mother left the office, Roach looked out of his window to a lumberyard across the street, where he saw some children having an argument. The folk-rock group Spanky and Our Gang was named for the troupe because lead singer Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane's last name was similar to that of George "Spanky" McFarland. He died on January 28, 1946. (2003) Itinerant Filmmakers and Amateur Casts: A Homemade, Academy Award for Best Short Subject (One Reel), The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show, "Life & Times (Interview with Donald Bogle). On Oct. 16, 2005, at the age of 71, he lost his battle with lung and brain cancer. The Little Rascals, which debuted on television in 1955, introduced a band of ragtag children to the world. [56] Bracken's official biography was once altered[56] to state that he appeared in Our Gang instead of The Kiddie Troupers, although he himself had no knowledge of the change. Coupled with a brief suspension in McFarland's work permit,[28] Our Gang went into a four-month hiatus, during which the series was revised to a format similar to its original style and German-born Gus Meins was hired as the new series director.[25]. While Harold would eventually be relegated to the role of a background player, Carl, nicknamed "Alfalfa," eventually replaced Scotty Beckett as Spanky's sidekick. By the end of 1941, Darla Hood had departed from the series, and Spanky McFarland followed her within a year. Starting in 1928, Our Gang comedies were distributed with phonographic discs that contained synchronized music-and-sound-effect tracks for the shorts. Producer/creator Hal Roach re-bundled 79 of the shorts to make The Little Rascals TV series, which is still broadcast today. Unfortunately, Daniels career never took off after the shorts. Our Gang was very successful during the 1920s and the early 1930s. [25] At the start of the 193334 season, the Our Gang series format was significantly altered to accommodate McGowan and persuade him to stay another year. There he attended public school and attempted a life of normalcy. Matthew Beard, Wheezer Hutchins, and Dorothy DeBorba carried the series during this period, aided by Sherwood Bailey and Kendall McComas, who would play Breezy Brisbane. I have no regrets. The MGM-produced Our Gang shorts, General Spanky, and the rights to the Our Gang name are owned by Warner Bros. A new book offers a different perspective on the feisty crew of kids. After getting thrown out of a ballet recital, Spanky (Travis Tedford) and Alfalfa (Bug Hall) are chased by a pair of bullies. In later years, many adults falsely claimed to have been members of Our Gang. CBS offers original black-and-white and colorized prints for syndication. He became an avid speaker about his days as a part of The Little Rascals. As the profit margins continued to decline owing to double features,[32] Roach could no longer afford to continue producing Our Gang. Laughlin did the voice himself. Blake got his break at 9 years old when he began playing Mickey in Our Gang, after replacing Porky. Among the most notable are The Kiddie Troupers, featuring future comedian Eddie Bracken; Baby Burlesks, featuring Shirley Temple; the Buster Brown comedies (from which Our Gang received Pete the Pup and director Gus Meins); and Our Gang's main competitor, the Toonerville Trolley-based Mickey McGuire series starring Mickey Rooney. " Groovin' " is a single released in 1967 by American rock band the Young Rascals that became a number-one hit and one of the group's signature songs. A spin-off based on the live-action Our Gang comedy shorts, it was broadcast as part of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals . The group's original lineup reunited in 2012 for their first public performances in over 40 years with The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream, a combination concert/theatrical event that was produced and directed by Steven Van Zandt and Maureen Van Zandt with lighting/projection by Marc Brickman. Most casual fans of Our Gang are particularly familiar with the 19361939 incarnation of the cast: Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, and Porky, with recurring characters such as neighborhood bullies Butch and Woim and the bookworm Waldo. Blake, now 85, has maintained a low profile since his acquittal, filing for bankruptcy with debts of $3 million for unpaid legal fees and taxes. In spring 1929, the Roach sound stages were converted for sound recording, and Our Gang made its "all-talking" debut in April 1929 with the 25-minute film Small Talk. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the producer of the Laurel and Hardy films, Our Gang shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. So I learned to disown Porky. Director Fred C. Newmeyer helmed the first pilot film, entitled Our Gang, but Roach scrapped Newmeyer's work and had former fireman Robert F. McGowan reshoot the short. Our Gang (also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals) is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Starting in 1928, Our Gang comedies were distributed with phonographic discs that contained synchronized music-and-sound-effect tracks for the shorts. Several Our Gang alumni, among them Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Scotty Beckett, Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Billy "Froggy" Laughlin, Donald Haines, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Darla Hood, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, and George "Spanky" McFarland, died before age 65, in most cases well earlier. [67] The first ClassicFlix release, The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1, was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 1, 2021, featuring the first eleven "talking" short subjects in the series from 1929 and 1930. The colloquial usage of the term Our Gang led to its becoming the series' second (yet more popular) official title, with the title cards reading "Our Gang Comedies: Hal Roach presents His Rascals in"[20] The series was officially called both Our Gang and Hal Roach's Rascals until 1932, when Our Gang became the sole title of the series. 1 - ClassicFlix", "Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations Volume 1, The (Blu-ray Review)", "The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 4 (1933-1935)", "In the Heat of the Night hits 4K on 4/19, plus The Untouchables, The Sleeper Must Awaken, Peter Robbins RIP & more", "ClassicFlix: First Look at New Restoration of The Little Rascals Volume 6", "Qintex Entertainment to Sell Virtually All of Its Assets", "The Little Rascals - The Complete Collection (Centennial Edition) Blu-ray - ClassicFlix", "Warner Bros. to Run Most of Turner's Entertainment Units", "Our Gang. Under the supervision of Charley Chase, work began on the first two-reel shorts in the new "kids-and-pets" series, to be called Hal Roach's Rascals, later that year. As a result, Lee nicknamed Porky by the studio joined the cast as Spankys little brother. When I was a kid in the '70s (B.C.= Before Cable) they used to play THE LITTLE RASCALS on TV after school. For years afterward, Blackhawk Films released 79 of the 80 Roach talkies on 8mm and 16 mm film. The original Petey was an American Pit Bull Terriernamed Pal, the Wonder Dog. Hal Roach noted how much the 18-month-old toddler looked like Our Gang star Spanky McFarland, also from Texas. He was honorably discharged from active duty, receiving a National Defense Service Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. December 31, 1922. They were born from the 1922-1938 'Our Gang' shorts from MGM. In the 1994 feature-film remake of The Little Rascals, Petey is an American Bulldog. It was her first and last adult role in a movie, and she played a secretary alongside Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. The final Roach-produced short in the Our Gang series, Hide and Shriek, was his final short-subject production. Carl Dean Switzer was born on Aug. 7, 1927, in Paris, Illinois. A cover of the song "Good Lovin '" was used in 1988 the film Salsa. His trademark was a bald head, crowned by an oversized derby hat. Carl was dubbed Alfalfa and, over the course of the films, he became best friends with Spanky and, of course, was always pursuing Darla. After outgrowing Our Gang, Hood continued her education in high school, where she organized a vocal group called the Enchanters. Lazy Days, Moan and Groan, Inc., the Stepin Fetchit-guest-starred A Tough Winter, Little Daddy, A Lad an' a Lamp, The Kid From Borneo, and Little Sinner were deleted from the syndication package because of perceived racism, while Big Ears was deleted for its depiction of carelessly ingesting an assortment of drugs out of a medicine cabinet. [47] It starred the voices of Patty Maloney as Darla; Peter Cullen as Petey and Officer Ed; Scott Menville as Spanky; Julie McWhirter Dees as Alfalfa, Porky and The Woim; Shavar Ross as Buckwheat, and B.J. We didn't care that our folks -or even grandparents- had watched it. Until its closure in 2018, the MGM Our Gangs were available for streaming via the subscription-based Warner Archive Instant streaming video service.[77]. After he left the film shorts, Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Army when he was just 23 years old. It regards a group of children who hang out at a club house with a strict rule against girls. A new kid moves into town and is soon bullying little Jackie. The last few of the Roach comedies featured Alfalfa Switzer as the lead character; Spanky McFarland had departed from the series just before its sale to MGM. 1:57. Permalink. Overall, the Our Gang films produced by MGM were not as well-received as the Roach-produced shorts had been, largely due to MGM's inexperience with the brand of slapstick comedy that Our Gang was famous for, and to MGM's insistence on keeping Alfalfa, Spanky, and Buckwheat in the series as they became teens. Alfalfa is the Little Rascal who had his hair sticking up. [13], In their adult years, actors Morrison, Beard, and Thomas defended the series, arguing that the white characters in the series were similarly stereotyped: the "freckle-faced kid", the "fat kid", the "neighborhood bully", the "pretty blond girl", and the "mischievous toddler". Maksymilian Faktorowicz, who foundedMax Factor & Company in Los Angeles, drew the circle. Even as an adult, I told none of my friends. [29] McGowan returned two years later to direct his Our Gang swan song, Divot Diggers, released in 1936. With these releases, Cabin Fever made all 80 Roach sound shorts, and four silents, available for purchase unedited with digitally restored picture and sound. [37] The children's performances were criticized as stilted and stiff, their dialogue being recited instead of spoken naturally. [3][4][5], Even when there was no talent search, the studio was bombarded by requests from parents who were sure their children were perfect for the series. As to where Hal Roach came up with the concept for Our Gang,Do You Rememberturned to film historian Leonard Maltin, who also wrote the bookThe Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang. second assistant director (as Ronnie Chong) Art Department . In 1994, Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures released The Little Rascals, a feature film based loosely on the series and featuring interpretations of classic Our Gang shorts, including Hearts are Thumps, Rushin' Ballet, and Hi'-Neighbor! In later shorts, both Butch and Waldo were portrayed as Alfalfa's rivals in his pursuit of Darla's affections. Their legend continued on the big screen in the 1994 Universal release, The Little Rascals, which was a feature film loosely based on interpretations of those classic Our Gang shorts. According to IMDB, Daniels was living pretty large during his time on the show, making $37 per week when he started and up to $175 per week when he left (or more than $2,500 in todays dollars). In 1983, with the VHS home video market growing, Blackhawk began distributing Little Rascals VHS tapes through catalog orders, with three shorts per tape. Among them were the future child stars Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple, neither of whom made it past the audition. He and his brother, Harold, became famous in their hometown for their musical talents. Just "silent movies" accompanied with music and subtitles!) In 2014, Universal Pictures released a direct-to-video film, The Little Rascals Save the Day. Here's a video from AOL talking about The Little Rascals reunion, looking at the cast then and now: . Ms. Beard was cast as a baby in many films before signing a five-year contract to play Stymie in Our Gang. Some time in late 1958 or early 1959, according to Film Daily, Switzer agreed to train a hunting dog for Moses Stiltz. Yet, the story of Our Gang is no Hollywood fairy tale. His offspring inherited the role of Petey, though his eye circle mysteriously moved to the left side of his face. Sidney Kibrick, the younger brother of Leonard Kibrick, played Butch's crony, Woim. After video rights for the classic MGM library reverted to their new owners, Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros., in the late 1990s, four of the MGM Our Gang shorts appeared as bonus features on Warner Bros.-issued classic film DVD releases. The scooter was given to Laughlin by his parents only two weeks prior to the accident. The Little Rascals, which debuted on television in 1955, introduced a band of ragtag children to the world. I used to follow him around the lot, hed buy me ice cream and one day he said, Well, give this kid a derby. Thats why it never fit me; it belonged to Stan Laurel.. [6], The Our Gang series produced during the Jim Crow-era is notable for being one of the first in cinema history in which African Americans and White Americans were portrayed as equals. Television syndication package of the classic 1929-1938 shorts from the "Our Gang Comedies" movie series.Television syndication package of the classic 1929-1938 shorts from the "Our Gang Comedies" movie series.Television syndication package of the classic 1929-1938 shorts from the "Our Gang Comedies" movie series. That portrayal would be deemed quite controversial in the years to come. The Roach-produced The Little Rascals shorts (1922-1938) are currently owned by Halcyon Studios who manages the copyrights as well as theatrical and home video releases, while CBS Media Ventures (via King World Entertainment) owns the television distribution rights to the Roach era shorts. Blackhawk Films was acquired in 1983 by National Telefilm Associates, later renamed Republic Pictures. They were such a wild success that according to Zocalo, they eventually made the jump to television, and became "The Little Rascals." By the time "The Little Rascals" run came to an end, 23 years had passed and 220 films had been made. The Little Rascals, originally known as Our Gang, first debuted in 1922, chronicling a group of ragtag neighborhood kiddos and their adventures. I remember always carrying a special torch in my heart for the show all through my teen years and early adulthood. For other uses, see, For a detailed listing of the Our Gang child actors, recurring adult actors, directors, and writers, see, 19261929: New faces and new distributors, 19932011: Cabin Fever/Hallmark VHS and DVD releases, 20212022: ClassicFlix restorations and releases, Maltin & Bann, p. 119. Its hard for a child actor to start working again. When did the TV show Little Rascals come out? ClassicFlix, a company specializing in releasing classic films and TV series on home media, licensed the home video rights to Hal Roach's Our Gang sound shorts from their current owners, Sonar Entertainment. xavi acl injury,