My Feedback on The Little Rascals Animated Series

This latest release means that all of the shorts from the first two and last two ABC broadcasts are now covered (though the short from the second-last ABC broadcast on August 25, 1984 - "Cap'n Spanky's Showboat" - was uploaded as Ep. 09 of the first season, with the airdate of February 19, 1983).

I hope more shorts will come eventually - especially "Out on a Limb", "Darla's Dream Dance", "The Irate Pirates", and "All the Loot That's Fit to Print", and maybe some Season 2 shorts.

I wonder if "The Irate Pirates" may contain something that may be a callback to "Shiver My Timbers"?

Thanks for sharing the information RascalsFan84.

I did notice in the most recent upload, "Grin and Bear It", and in "The Zero Hero", there were bank robbers involved. "Grin and Bear It" did feature the "Phantom Lumberjack" who was actually a bank robber in disguise; and "The Zero Hero" did feature bank robbers who were short in height.

I did read somewhere that in "The Irate Pirates", the Rascals encountered two bullies dressed as pirates after the Rascals discovered a treasure map. Makes me wonder if the two bullies dressed as pirates were apparently bank robbers in disguise and not bullies? I cannot picture any bullies in that episode, otherwise they'd be about the same age as Butch and Woim. If bags of money were prevalent, and/or if there was a reference to Officer Ed towards the end of "The Irate Pirates" (though I definitely know Officer Ed never appeared in that short), then bank robbers may be a possible scenario in that short. I definitely know that the Rascals were still on board the pirate ship at the end of that short, and Alfalfa likely came in contact with a sticky substance.

Perhaps bullies was not the right word in that context when I originally wrote those episode summaries. "The Irate Pirates" was more akin to "Yachtsa' Luck" in that it involved a treasure chest and two adult male troublemakers. I don't recall whether the fake pirates were named, but I do recall them holding up Alfalfa's barbell, with Alfalfa still attached to it.

"All the Loot That's Fit to Print" is now circulating, though it's a French dub. The Wiki page for this short is now updated, in addition to a new Wiki page about the fictional publication featured in the short, called "The Neighborhood Bugle."

Where is this episode to be found? I've looked on both YouTube and DailyMotion.

[EDIT] This appears to be it:

Hope this YouTuber does not get any strikes before he gives us more of these rare gems. I really would like to see "The Irate Pirates", "Darla's Dream Dance", some Season 2 shorts, and maybe even a better quality "Cap'n Spanky's Showboat". Regardless of what happens to this video or any of his future videos, I am glad I downloaded it while I did.

Though I wish he could do something about the annoying banner blocking the bottom of the screen.

Also, I did some scanning on Wikipedia, and I discovered that Warner Home Video holds the DVD rights to the black-and-white Our Gang shorts. It may be possible that the information on TVShowsOnDVD may be unproven, as they might have gotten incomplete or inaccurate information, assuming that the animated series may be treated equally as the black-and-white shorts.

I have a funny feeling that if a DVD gets released, it may likely only be available in Europe mostly, though if true, I may be able to purchase it on eBay. I can possibly see the series headed to Boomerang UK and Ireland someday.

I realized something with the syndicated episodes that air elsewhere in the world. Based on "The Zero Hero" segment, plus "All the Loot That's Fit to Print" (dubbed in glorious French and with a modified opening), it appears that "The Zero Hero" has a syndicated opening which starts off with the title card to the ABC-aired 30-second vignettes, followed by an 11-minute cartoon segment, then a commercial break, followed by the closing credits. It makes me wonder if the total running time for a syndicated episode is actually 15 minutes because of having only 35 animated shorts in the series, and doing that helps combat overkill of reruns? I can see why Boomerang Germany doesn't start airing the syndicated Rascals on the hour or on the half-hour.

I also found out on Patty Maloney's imdb page that Darla's voice was heard on 31 out of 35 episodes (most likely shorts, based on my 15-minute episode idea. I could of sworn her voice was heard in all 35 of the shorts, as I know she did appear in all of them - I wonder, what were the four shorts that her voice was not heard?

IMDb isn't absolutely accurate, as it depends largely on user submissions. I, too, recall Darla appearing in all 35 of the quarter-hour cartoons, but only three of the 13 half-minute cartoons.

I also remember viewing "Science Fair and Foul" a while back, and it is claimed that Porky's garbled speech triggered Buckwheat's robot to malfunction. I recently wondered if Porky was not the root of the problem, and it might have actually started from Darla, who was curious and wanted to go in on the secret?

I like that series, I also recommend watching Motu Patlu on Nick India.

I remember the show but do not recall watching it much. I grew up on the original Little Rascals shorts and must have been burnout, when the cartoon was released. Still would be nice to see a release.

It may be possible that the Little Rascals animated series in syndicated reruns may be quarter-hour episodes, with a modified opening, followed by an eleven-minute short, then a commercial break, then the closing credits. In case nobody is aware, Hanna-Barbera did in fact do at least one other series with quarter-hour cartoons, and one example is Paddington Bear, which aired in Canada on Treehouse TV in the late-90s or early-2000s. However, only 13 quarter-hour episodes were included in the series.

B.J. Ward, who lent her voice to Butch and Waldo in the animated Little Rascals series, did provide a voice in Paddington Bear.

For those wondering about a DVD release, I have some bad news to share. I found out on Facebook yesterday evening that the animated Little Rascals series has not been cleared for a DVD release. From what it sounds, it sounds like conditions from Eugene Lee's lawsuit settlement has a lot to do with it, otherwise "cleared" would not be used. Even though Eugene Lee has been dead for over a decade, I am sure his estate is respecting his wishes and the ban remains in effect.

Looks like the Internet is now my only hope.

I was wondering all this time why the "Cap'n Spanky's Showboat" episode was rebroadcast as Ep. 12 in the second season. After learning in recent months about why certain events occur in order to spark interest to the viewers to possibly give the series a second life, I did notice a pattern in the last two episodes of Season 2.

"Cap'n Spanky's Showboat" - designated as Episode 12 - had a dramatic rescue scene towards the end, when Buckwheat and Porky were in danger of going over a waterfall, and the Captain, Spanky, Alfalfa and Darla put their lives at risk to try to save Buckwheat and Porky. That may have been a "jump the shark" moment in the series.

"The Zero Hero" - the 13th and last episode of the second season - did have a dramatic scene where Captain Muscles and Darla were being held up by the bank robbers, and Darla's life was at risk. Alfalfa, as Alfaman, had an opportunity to save her, but he fainted, and Buckwheat's telescoping channel changer was set off and took care of capturing the robbers.

The series apparently got low ratings during the first season, but they were good enough to be renewed for a second season, but with 9 new episodes instead of 26, and airing only one 11-minute cartoon per week, down from two per week. The two animated episodes i mentioned above may have been strategically slotted in Eps. 12 and 13 respectively as a last ditch attempt to try to get a renewal. But sadly, most viewers likely tuned in to "Saturday Supercade" in that half hour slot, and "The Little Rascals" was not being renewed for a third season.

Some TV series, when in danger of cancellation, do try to have something dramatic towards the end of the season in an attempt to try to draw viewers and get renewed while there's still a chance. The finale of All My Children a few years back did have a cliffhanger when Susan Lucci's character, Erica Kane, was shot. An interesting way to reboot interest, but failed.