Search - The Little Rascals: Best of Our Gang on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/9/2023...

A classic for the whole family!

A Great Little Rascals compilation

Fred Lamperzi | Springfield, VA | 03/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Revisiting the Little Rascals is something I had been meaning to do for a long time, but with so many collections on the market, it is tough to know where to start. Well after checking out the latest release of The Little Rascals in color, I can advise you to wonder no longer. These new releases offer up a little something for everyone in your family.

Adults can appreciate revisiting the television hits from their childhood, which have held up remarkably over time. My wife found all the kids to be quite cute, while I appreciated observing how influential the show has been. My teenage son, who has seen the Rascals parodied on The Simpsons and Family Guy, was impressed with how the "old timey" humor held up. And my youngest child enjoyed being able to watch the episodes in color, which I had to admit looked great.

This Best of Our Gang DVD includes the following episodes:

-Fly My Kite - Stymie and Chubby help Grandma ward off a con man with the help of their kite. My youngest enjoyed seeing the slapstick as the kids fend off the bad guy.

-A Lad An' A Lamp - Through a series of wacky mixups, the gang believes that Stymie's brother Cotton has been turned into a chimp. Spanky and the chimp run amok in a local diner. It's always fun to see the kids interact with animals.

-The Kid From Borneo - In this infamous episode, the escaped "wild man" is befriended by Spanky.

-Hi Neighbor - A new neighbor moves in with a fancy new toy fire truck. He of course manages to impress the girls, so the Rascals have to build a truck of their own to compete with him. It wouldn't be a Rascals short if it didn't end in good natured mayhem.

-Hide and Shriek - Alfalfa and Buckwheat run a detective agency and stumble into a haunted house. A classic Rascals premise, and a great example of what made these shorts so fun.

In addition to the five shorts, (most close to 20 minutes in length,)
there are some great bonus features on this disc.

-The Little Rascals meet Laurel and Hardy - A quick short called "The Stolen Jools" featuring both comedy teams

-The Singing Lesson with Alfalfa - An Alfalfa starring role, as he terrorizes a barbershop with his caterwauling

-Pete the Dog at the Nightclub - An old time newsreel, commemorating Petey's initiation to the Sidle Club.

-You Asked for It: Our Gang Reunion - The original cast reunites on a talk show 25 years later. They interview the now grown up kids about the show and what their lives have been like later on. Very interesting to watch, especially after watching the shorts earlier on the DVD.

Altogether a very comprehensive and entertaining package. The shorts are available on Color or Black and White, and while purists may want to watch them this way, my family has enjoyed watching them in Color. Very fun, and great to see that comedy of this style still holds up over the years."

35mm restored & COLORIZED! But you can also watch this in B&

Paul J. Mular | San Carlos, CA USA | 02/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I give this only **** four stars because most of these films have already been released on DVD restored from 35mm. There is little new here.

The thought is that kids won't watch B&W films, so lets COLORIZE The Litle Rascals. Purists can watch this in B&W also, which is good since the colorization looks cartoony & unnatural.

I just could not pass up the extras that are included on these DVDs.

BEST OF OUR GANG has
Alfalfa short soundie "The Singing Lesson",
Broadway Highlights short clip of Pete the Pup becoming a member of a entertainment night club,
"You Asked For It" clip of the segment with the OUR GANG REUNION showing the silent stars (Jackie Condon, Joe Cobb, Farina & others) as they are in 1955.
Our Gang clip from "The Stolen Jewels" ( o.k. this is the only clip un necessary as the complete short is widely available ).

Oh, yes.. there are the comedy shorts. These are all from 35mm 1950's RE-ISSUE PRINTS, not the same MGM transfers as the Cabin Fever / Hallmark DVDs. But they are 35mm prints and they look very good. There is a variety of title sections representing almost every company that re-issued these shorts in 35mm, including Official Films which I never knew made 35mm prints.

BEST OF OUR GANG
"FLY MY KITE" - Official 'Famous Kids' titles - The rascals help Grandma save her property from the evil banker.

"A LAD IN A LAMP" - ERKO 'Kids 'n Pets' titles (1st time on DVD?)- Spanky & the gang find a 'magic lamp'. Spanky whishes Buckwheat was a monkey and thinks his wish came true when a real monkey comes in (there is always one around in a Little Rascals comedy).

"KID FROM BORNEO" - Monogram titles - a short that has been long banned from television due to racial jokes & the main character being a wild man from borneo who goes around saying "Yum , Yum , Eat'em Up" while chasing Spanky & the gang. It is unlikely that Hallmark will do an official release of this on their DVD sets, so you might want to consider this if you don't have the old Cabin Fever videos.

"HI! NEIGHBOR" - Allied Artists titles - The gang gets a new neighbor, who owns a shiny new kiddie firetruck.

"HIDE & SHRIEK" - Official 'Famous Kids' titles - another classic featured on this disc starring Alfalfa, Buckweat & Porky. Alfalfa plays a sherlock holmes type of detective and hires Buckweat & Porky to investigate some missing candy.

The shorts are offered in both Colorized & original B&W restored versions, but switching back & forth while playing the short is not possible. The bonus material is B&W only."

Little Rascals in Color

Austin S. Murphy | Hawthorne, New York | 05/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a Little Rascals fan, I was mesmerized by how these selected episodes came out in color. It would be nice to see further episodes done likewise. I highly recommend this product to both the fan and the occassional viewer of the Little Rascals"