Product Description

THE LITTLE RASCALS: Volumes 1-2, includes 8 complete unedited episodes
Volume 1: Fly My Kite/ Honkey Donkey/ Beginner's Luck/ Reunion In Rhythm
Fly My Kite: The gang loves Grandma, but her slimy son-in-law loves her money. When Dirty Dan tries to take away her retirement fortune, it's the kids (and Pete the Pup) to the rescue! Soon, the chase is on and Dan is caught faster than you can say "Granny get your gun"!
Honkey Donkey: Spoiled rich kid Wally just wants to have fun- so he's invited the gang and their pet mule Algebra to his mansion. Now Wally- and especially his stuffy chauffeur Barclay- are about to get some real kicks!
Beginner's Luck: Spanky's reciting Shakespeare in a talent show but he can't seem to get his lines out- because the gang's pelting him with pea-shooters! Spank's mom tries to spare him, but gets "disdressed" along the way.
Reunion In Rhythm: The grammar school is putting on a musical with all your favorite songs and stars: Darla singing "Baby Face", Spanky in "Broadway Rhythm", Alfalfa's "I'm Through With Love", even Buckwheat-the-poet reciting "Little Jack Horner".

Volume 2: Hook & Ladder/ The First Round-Up/ Teacher's Beau/ Hearts Are Thumps
Hook & Ladder: No sooner does the gang start their own fire department, than they've got their own fire! Fire chief Dickie Moore, Stymie and tag-along Spanky are hot to put out the blaze- but they have to find it first.
The First Round-Up: The gang decides to go camping an they've brought everything...except their courage! Darkness falls, the fire burns out, and the ghosts and goblins (in their heads) get the best of them- even brave little Scotty and Spanky.
Teacher's Beau: The gang's teacher, Miss Jones is leaving to get married...just when they were starting to like her. But Spanky and Alfalfa have an idea to get Miss Jones "unhitched"- so they cook up a plan for her going-away party.
Hearts Are Thumps: Spanky, Alfalfa and Buckwheat have a heartfelt reaction to Valentine's Day: they start the infamous "He-Man Woman-Haters' Club". But when Alfalfa falls for the dimpled Darla, Spanky bursts his freckled friend's bubble.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39674 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-08-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Collector's Edition, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Customer Reviews

Childhood memories flood back!
I grew up with TV (the old, fuzzy black & white kind). One of my fondest memories was of watching The Little Rascals after school. When the restored versions showed up on VHS tape, I immediately bought several, but the others soon disappeared from the store shelves. I discovered and bought this double DVD set and LOVED the restored quality of picture and sound! My childhood memories came flooding back to me, and made me hunger for more. I can only hope that the rest of the series will be released also, and soon! Any lovers of The Little Rascals will appreciate the great quality of this set. Don't be misled by earlier cheap releases of The Little Rascals DVD's. This one is THE one to get!

Our Gang and racism
First of all, to argue that there are no racist elements in the Our Gang comedies is nonsense. The unfortunate fact is there are, but they *must* be taken in the context of the time the shorts were made.

To quote OUR GANG: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LITTLE RASCALS by Leonard Maltin & Richard W. Bann:

"Black film historian Donald Bogle, in his excellent 1973 volume TOMS, COONS, MULATTOES, MAMMIES AND BUCKS, sums up the OUR GANG comedies this way:
'The Our Gang series revolved around a group of lower-middle-class American youngsters making their way through childhood in entertaining ups and downs, ins and outs, as black and white together tried figuring out life and play. Thoughout the series the black children spoke in a dialect of the familiar "dats" and "deres" as well as the "I is's", "you is's", and "we was's". On more than one occasion, Farina was seen banqueting on a colored man's favorite dishes - fried chicken and watermelon. In these respects, the adventures and lifestyles of the black children conformed to the accepted notions and attitudes of the day. But for the most part the approach to the relationships of the black children with the whites was almost as if there were no such thing as race at all. Indeed, the charming sense of Our Gang was that all the children were buffoons, forever in scraps and scrapes, forever plagued by setbacks and sidetracks as the set out to have fun, and everyone had his turn at being outwitted.'"

I can't put it better than that. There was no maliciousness meant in the content of these shorts - it was comedy and nothing else. So lighten up and deal with the past.

What Racism?
I grew up watching the Little Rascals and adore this video. I am far from ignorant and will defend these videos till the end. Racism? What the hell are they talking about. Our Gang comedies were WAY ahead of their time. The fact that we are discussing them still some 75 years later is proof positive. Stymie, Buckwheat, and Farina are staples to the series LONG before african-americans (God forbid I say black) were in ANY TV shows. Tell me, where are the african-american characters in Gilligan's Island, Bewitched, Andy Griffith, My Three Sons, Lost in Space, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Charlie's Angels, etc. - or even as recent as Seinfeld & Cheers. What is wrong with you people? These are great shows, absolute classics. The problem with people today as that they don't know how to laugh at themselves. Trust me, even if you have never seen the Little Rascals, this video is worth every penny and then some.