Customer Reviews

The Little Rascals Collection

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Well, I wrote the review about this set, and boy was I disappointed when I got it. I see that the company who produced it must have paid very little in royalties as there are numerous silent episodes and ones with the lesser caracters. 1 disc has spanky and alfalfa and the fifth is a sad attempt at filling out this collection. The transfers are terrible and the sound is worse. Come on guys, at least try to put some effort into it!!! I got the set, watched it< and traded it in at the local hock shop for something i could use. What a waste of money!!!

Like the reviewer before me, I too was very disappointed in this dvd. The clips that have sound are terrible. Most of the clips were from the silent film era, and the players were unfamiliar to me. There was one clip with Alfalfa and Spanky that was fun to watch, but the majority of these clips was awful. No effort was put into digitally re-mastering and transfering the picture and sound. I could have done just as good of a job transfering these clips using just a VCR and a DVR. Don't waste your money on buying this disc. It is a shame, because with a little effort these clips could of had much better quality and it would have been more fun to watch these vintage clips.

The Little Rascals collection is a set of 5 DVDs with a few shorts on each DVD, the fifth disk with an extra from the 50s and a documentary about child stars. This set was poorly put together, the shorts included are quite random, and buying this set would be a waste of money.

Each disk opens with a montage of some of the characters. First there is Alfalfa, then Buckwheat, Spanky, Darla, Porky, Mickey, Stymie, then Fatty- oh wait, no that is Joe Cobb only they didn't know his real name, then Farina, and last Phil MacMahon- WHO you may be asking? Phil MacMahon, the kid who got bitten by the love bug in a song number in Our Gang Follies of 1938. Still don't know him? Maybe that is because he wasn't a regular cast member and should never have been featured like he was in this collection.

Disk One features the shorts Dogs of War and Derby Day. Dogs of War is a silent film featuring the gang running loose on the Hal Roach lot; it is one of my favorite shorts from the series. However, it seems that they ripped off the Cabin Fever print and added a worse score. Derby Day also seems to be lifted from the Cabin Fever series. It is a silent film about the gang visiting the horse races. The films themselves are very good.

Disk Two features a rarer silent film called Stage Fright. It is a film about a show put on about Marc Anthony by the kids in front of their parents. It is a total disaster. Just like in Reunion in Rhythm, one kid wants to go out on stage and recite poetry. The film has been seriously cut; there are no opening credits and the short is much shorter than the usual film length. The print is washed out and new title cards have been inserted. The music is much more childish than normal silent Rascals scores, but it works. There are sound effects too. Sundown Limited is a great short about the gang building their own train. It is a very cute film; Farina is especially funny in it. The train that the kids build would have been the envy of all the children in the neighborhood. The print is washed out and the music sounds just like Grapevine Video's soundtracks. The film titled The Pirates in this set is really called The Buccaneers. It is also a cute film about the kids trying to build their own ship. When it sinks, they find a real one to destroy. This short has also been cut; there is no opener for it either. It is a bad print and has kiddie music attached to it.

Disk Three opens with Mary Queen of Tots. It is a really enjoyable film where Mary receives toys that look like the gang. She dreams they come to life, and when she wakes up, she finds the gang and believes they are her dolls come to life. This print is really bad especially considering there is a better print available on another cheaply made DVD set. It is funny that the music is the same on this set as on that one though. The Fourth Alarm is a film about the kids becoming junior fire fighters. The print on this one is not bad at all. The last film is School's Out, a talkie featuring a different cast. It is a film featuring Miss Crabtree, the new teacher. The picture is good; it seems to be the one from Cabin Fever.

Disk Four begins with Bear Shooters. This is a less than great film. The print is great; it is the one from Cabin Fever. Our Gang Follies of 1938 is a great film, very funny, long, and exciting. It features the later talkie cast. Waldo's Last Stand is a film from the later MGM years, a lesser film that seems forced. It was also released in a 5 part Rascals set.

Disk Five is the extra features DVD. It starts out with a segment from the You Asked For It television show. On it, some of the silent gang are reunited. Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Farina Hoskins, Johnny Downs, and Mickey Daniels are featured. The documentary called Kid Stuff really doesn't have a whole lot of information about the gang although Jackie Cooper is mentioned and Butch Bond does an interview. Other child stars like Jackie Coogan, Judy Garland, Shirley Temple, Roddy McDowall, and Ron Howard are focused on as well.

The films in this collection are films that have lapsed into the public domain. Many of them have been available cheaply for years. The only reason a fan might want to see this collection, the same reason I bothered, was to see the rarer silent films. However, the rest of the set is trash.

I am a Little Rascals fan, I watched them all the time when I was growing up. They don't televise the re-runs any more and I wanted to introduce my children to some of the wonderful and funny shows I watched as a kid. I was so excited when I saw this DVD collection but was very disappointed after viewing it. I found the description of contents given on the box to be somewhat misleading. The movies on disc 1 and 2 are silent movies with characters I've never seen. Disc 3 has two silent movies and one that actually had sound with some of the characters I was used to seeing. Disc 4 had sound, contained more of the characters I grew up viewing and was actually pretty good, disc 5 was more about a reunion with the characters along with information on other child stars from back in the day. If a slightly broader description would have been given stating that the majority of the movies were silent films and that only approximatly 4 of the movies not discs, had the actors Alfalfa, Darla and Spanky in it, I would not have purchased them. During the time I was a child and watched the Little Rascals, it always had sound. I never knew that some of their films were silent, it would have made a big difference in my selecting this paticular collection. It would have been nice to have this information disclosed in the description on the packaging.

I agree with most of the reviews here.
I also grew up with watching the re-runs on Sunday mornings as a kid, and so when we introduced a VHS rented tape to my daughters they loved them. The "talkies" are the only films I'd consider buying and I think most people would only want as well. There was 1 DVD missing (we had two #5 DVD's)and missing the Spanky gang #4 disk. Right now we only have 1 original "talkie" and the rest documentaries and silent movies. I believe the company who produces this DVD set should be ashamed of themselves. They plaster Spanky's images all over all the videos and then we don't even have one of him!!!!!!
DO NOT BUY THIS VIDEO (unless you like silent movies and bad documentaries) with film qualities that were bad copies (that are hard on the eyes!!!!

We're taking this one back and damanding a refund!!!

The other reviewers for this product have no idea what they are talking about and are not true fans of the OUR GANG series. Just because you haven't seen the characters before, or because they are silent doesn't mean they aren't any good. That's just plain ignorance. If all you care about from the OUR GANG series is Alfalfa and Spanky, then you have much to learn about being a true Little Rascals fan. You might as well stick with the crappy 1994 remake while you're at it.

This collection has some VERY RARE silent classics of the original gang, including the classic baby Farina, who is arguably a much more adorable character than Buckwheat. People don't realize how amazing it is to have these gems restored the way they are in this collection. The collection of films in this DVD are hilarious and fantastic! This is for the TRUE Our Gang fan only. I would give this DVD 5 stars if it weren't for each disc being an hour long and for the unnecessary fifth disc.

Just a note to everybody:

The Little Rascals / Our Gang made almost 100 films BEFORE SOUND films were in production. The "Spanky & Alfalfa" films you are familiar with are a small sampling of the total output of The Little Rascals. Unfortunately, that is mostly what was shown on television, so that is what most fans want.

If you are looking for Spanky & Alfalfe, I steer you to these Hallmark DVDs:

The Little Rascals, Vols. 1-2 [DVD]

Little Rascals Vols. 3-4

The Little Rascals Collector's Edition III

If you are looking for RARELY seen early Little Rascals / Our Gang silent films, then get this collection. Until LAUGHSMITH gets their restored 32 title "Our Gang, Before The Little Rascals Learned To Talk" released, this is the largest collection of silent Our Gang shorts available on DVD.

I loved these guys as a kid. This collection sucks!!! Don't BUY It! The first 3 DVD's are silent and the 5th DVD is a reunion show. The grand total for shows you can actually watch is 4. Take your time and search out the specific shows and characters you love and get them individually. If I could get my money back I would RUN to the nearest post office and return this item ASAP!!!

Don't buy this set if your looking for Spanky {Wanky} and that crowd! These are the original Our Gang shorts. Filmed in and around the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, Ca. makes for interesting location shooting. {And was it ever economical!!!}

Esp. if your from L.A. and acquainted with this area and can recognize certain areas, streets and buildings! You'd be surprised just how many! As for the DVDs themselves...well... some shorts are better quailty than others, but you expect that because this is from the 1920's!!!!

So, if you have a hankerin' to see L.A. back in its heyday and kids making their own toys to play with while invading the cops and parents too on some scratchy B&W film then this just might be for you! Roll em!

This is a great collection for those of us who are TRUE Our Gang fans. Those who only know Darla, Spanky, Alfalfa and that cast don't know about Sammy Morrison, Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornmann, Alan "Farina" Hoskins and Joe Cobb. Maybe these people who gave bad reviews should EDUCATE THEMSELVES on this history of Our Gang before trashing what they obviously don't know.

That being said, some of the video transfers are not that good, which is why I'm only giving this collection 3 stars.