The Little Rascals
Our Gang was first created in 1922 by Hal Roach. In the beginning Our Gang was silent, sound wasn't added until 1929. In 1938 Roach sold the program to MGM which continued to produce new episodes until the show was canceled in 1944. In the 1950s MGM syndicated a selection of 80 episodes and changed the title from Our Gang to The Little Rascals.
Throughout the 220 total episodes that were produced there were more than 40 children who got to become actors and actresses. Many of them went on to do other television shows and movies.
Some of the most popular and well known characters from Our Gang were Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, Spanky and Stymie. Unlike other television programs, the cast for Our Gang was chosen from untrained children. Most of the children came from the Los Angeles area. You can imagine how excited the children and their families must have been when they were chosen for the show!
This Squidoo lens was written by Aldric Chang (Follow Me on Twitter!) - best described as a creative entrepreneur with business interests in internet marketing, virtual worlds, animation, cartoons, interactive digital media, web 2.0 and music.
His 3d animation studio - Mediafreaks - is focused on producing high-end animation work for documentary producers, advertising houses and cartoon animated series - with projects ranging from the animation of dinosaurs to the visualization of natural disasters and something as chic as 3d jewelry animations. He runs a popular animation blog where he frequently posts informative articles on the animation industry and shares useful advice on the business of animation.
He is currently working on a series of free online virtual worlds for kids besides other creative endeavors.
Visit MovieInform.com for the latest and upcoming movie trailers.
Throughout the 220 total episodes that were produced there were more than 40 children who got to become actors and actresses. Many of them went on to do other television shows and movies.
Some of the most popular and well known characters from Our Gang were Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, Spanky and Stymie. Unlike other television programs, the cast for Our Gang was chosen from untrained children. Most of the children came from the Los Angeles area. You can imagine how excited the children and their families must have been when they were chosen for the show!
This Squidoo lens was written by Aldric Chang (Follow Me on Twitter!) - best described as a creative entrepreneur with business interests in internet marketing, virtual worlds, animation, cartoons, interactive digital media, web 2.0 and music.
His 3d animation studio - Mediafreaks - is focused on producing high-end animation work for documentary producers, advertising houses and cartoon animated series - with projects ranging from the animation of dinosaurs to the visualization of natural disasters and something as chic as 3d jewelry animations. He runs a popular animation blog where he frequently posts informative articles on the animation industry and shares useful advice on the business of animation.
He is currently working on a series of free online virtual worlds for kids besides other creative endeavors.
Visit MovieInform.com for the latest and upcoming movie trailers.
Our Gang Breaks New Ground
Our Gang was the first television show to portray African Americans and females in leading roles. The children in the show did not seem to regard race as an issue and shared in their adventures as equals.Many different television programs and movies followed the lead set by Hal Roach and soon "mixed" casts and stronger roles for African Americans and females became much more common.
Another element that was new and different about Our Gang was that the children were not trained to be professional actors. This allowed the kids to act more naturally which made for more realistic and humorous stories.
Child Cast Of Our Gang ~ The First Episode
Joe CobbJackie Condon
Mickey Daniels
Jack Davis
Allen Hoskins (Farina)
Mary Kornman
Ernie Morrison (Sunshine Sammy
Pictured on the right are Mary Kornman and Mickey Daniels.
Alfalfa
Carl Dean Switzer
The real Alfalfa was Carl Dean Switzer was born to G. Frederick and Gladys Switzer on Aug. 7, 1927 in Paris, Illinois. Six year old Carl and his eight year old brother Harold were well known locally for their singing talents as well as for playing musical instruments.In 1934 the family traveled to California to visit with family. While they were there they visited the Hal Roach Studios facility. Carl and Harold were "goofing" off in the studio's public cafeteria perhaps unaware that Hal Roach himself was watching them. Roach was so impressed that he signed both boys to be a part of Our Gang. Carl was nicknamed Alfalfa, of course, and Harold was called Slim and sometimes Deadpan.
Carl was, in real life, a good singer and musician although Alfalfa was always singing off key and forgot the words.
Carl's brand of humor was often cruel. He was a mischievous boy and enjoyed playing tricks on those around him. Many of his "tricks" were far from harmless. For example; Spanky had to get stitches because Carl had put fish hooks into his pants, He placed a switchblade knife in Darla's pocket and told her there was a ring in her pocket, a gift from him. When she put her hand into her pocket she was cut.
Carl also tried to sabotage the show with his pranks. He once urinated on the lights during a break when everyone was out. When the break was over and the lights were turned on the urine caused a terrible odor and everyone got to take the rest of the day off.
Alfalfa ~ The Crooner
Darla Hood
Darla's full name was Darla Jean Hood, she was born to James and Elizabeth Hood on Nov. 8, 1931 in Leedy, Oklahoma. Darla's mother had been putting her into singing and dancing classes from an early age.When Darla was only three years old she was given a screen test for Hal Roach Studios in New York City. Right away they loved her and she became a regular part of the Our Gang cast.
Darla Hood was very often the "love interest" character. Alfalfa, Butch and Waldo were often fierce competitors for Darla's love, Alfalfa with his charm, Butch with his strength, and Waldo with his intelligence.
Darla was responsible for breaking up the He Man Woman Haters Club for which Spanky, Buckwheat and Alfalfa had vowed to give up women and remain bachelors for life. When Alfalfa saw Darla he got starry eyed and just could not resist.
Our Gang ~ The Eagles Club
Spanky
Spanky was born George Robert Phillips McFarland to Emmett and Virginia McFarland on Oct. 2, 1908 in Denison Texas. Spanky had two brothers and one sister. One of his brothers, Thomas, also appeared briefly on Our Gang.McFarland was nicknamed Buddy by his family and had previously done work modeling for advertisements and children's clothing.
When McFarland's Aunt Dottie saw a Hal Roach Studios advertisement in a magazine looking for pictures of cute children she sent in a picture of Buddy. Buddy soon received an invitation from Hal Roach Studios to come in for a screen test.
The new nickname Spanky is generally believed to have originated from his mother who warned him with "Spanky, spanky" when he misbehaved. McFarland himself denied the story saying that the nickname actually came from a newspaper reporter.
Spanky McFarland
Buckwheat
William "Billie" Thomas
Buckwheat's real name was William "Billie" Thomas. William was born on Mar. 12, 1931 and died on Oct. 10, 1980.Buckwheat was part of the regular Our Gang cast from the time he joined in 1934 until the program ended in 1944.
Although the Buckwheat character has often been thought to be demeaning to African Americans, William believed otherwise. He pointed out that Buckwheat was a leading role and the character was always treated equally with white cast members.
In fact, characters like Buckwheat, Stymie and Farina helped to pave the way for future African Americans to be cast in meaningful roles in movies and television programming.
Our Gang ~ Alfalfa and Buckwheat
Our Gang - Little Rascals on YouTube
Our Gang - Little Rascals on DVD
Visitor Comments
What do you think of Our Gang, The Little Rascals?
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James20
Dec 20, 2008 @ 4:03 am | delete
- Well put together lens. I am lensrolling this lens into my Little Rascals lens.
James
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CoCo08
Oct 18, 2008 @ 9:10 pm | delete
- I loved the Little Rascal's, they were always into something and usually into trouble! It was so much fun to see how they'd get out of the next mess!
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OhMe
Oct 9, 2008 @ 3:23 pm | delete
- How did I miss this. Sorry, did not realize you had already done the Little Rascals. I just loved them and in fact are looking their picture on my office wall. I also have the "hi sign and bye sign" quite often and get crazy looks. Thanks for the refreshing my memories. Great job!
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Margo_Arrowsmith
Oct 7, 2008 @ 3:48 pm | delete
- When I was very young I watched these on TV and by that time the actors were old, ancient to me.
But I thought they were real and the stories were real. I remember the Cyclops Monster one, I hid behind the chair and just peaked at it/1
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GreatGazoo
Oct 6, 2008 @ 3:38 pm | delete
- I love the little rascals and grew up watching the reruns
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Aldric Chang is a creative businessman who is active in music composing and production, internet marketing, casual games production, animation production,... more »
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