This makes me happy:
“Genius Products will be releasing The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection on October 28th. The 8-disc collection will include all 80 Our Gang theatrical sound shorts produced by Hal Roach from 1929 until 1938 – all remastered, restored and uncut. The first seven discs will contain the shorts presented chronologically and introduced by original cast members. The eighth disc will be a bonus disc containing three silent Our Gang shorts and a number of featurettes on the background to the Our Gang productions and on the past and present of some of the cast members.”
Anyone ever wonder why the Simpsons’ Mrs. Krabappel was so named? It’s a gag reference to the beauteous Miss Crabappletree, the focus of several of the most hilarious early (pre-Spanky & Alfalfa) Our Gang shorts.
For some reason–maybe because they don’t get much TV play these days–the Little Rascals have fallen out of favor even with fans of old comedy. They shouldn’t. They can be a little hokey, but particularly back in the Jackie Cooper days, they were great stuff. Remember when the Gang built a car with a punching glove on lazy susan and used it to knock down a road gang on the side of the street? That’s gold, baby.
I could blather on the on very real effect that the shorts had on tearing down racial barriers, and it would not be in any way exaggerated. However, the main point is that the shorts remain very funny and in many cases (again, especially the early ones) touching. Great stuff.
