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Rent Movie.com movie reviews presents The Little Rascals movie review of films produced 1929 through 1938 starring Jackie Cooper, Eugene ‘Porky’ Lee and directed by Gus Meins.

The term “Little Rascals” was not used when these episodes were filmed. They were called the “Our Gang” comedies, or “Hal Roach presents his rascals.” The “Little Rascals” title came from a 1954 television re-airing of these episodes and has stuck to this day over 50 years later.

In The Little Rascals “there are several different casts, with varying combinations of actors. The early 1930s episodes feature Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby Hutchins (Wheezer), Dorothy DeBorba, Allen Hoskins, Jr. (Farina), Norman Chaney (Chubby), and Stymie Beard, in a variety of situations and circumstances. The middle 1930s episodes retain Stymie Beard, Dorothy DeBorba, and add Dickie Moore and George McFarland (Spanky) along with other child actors whose faces - if not their names - will be familiar. The Our Gang episodes from 1936 and after feature George McFarland (Spanky) and Carl Switzer (Alfalfa), Gordon Lee (Porky), William Thomas (Buckwheat), and Darla Hood (Darla).”

I grew up watching the old re-runs of the Little Rascals in the 1980s and watching those shows are some of my most vivid childhood memories.

While watching these Rascals episodes, I am amazed at the positive, optimistic, if sometimes silly view of life they present, considering they were filmed during the 1920s and 30s, many of these years being the Great Depression. Yet, there is a positive view, a moral to the story, and in many cases a given rascal who does wrong gets just what is coming to him/her. In some episodes there are no parents or adults to monitor the activities of the 10 year old and younger children central to the given episode: not very realistic, especially for the 1930s. But these are good fun, and recommended to anyone seeking some wholesome entertainment.

In retrospect, why can’t viewers accept the fact that this show featured good, clean innocent childhood fun AND yet also had some racist undertones consistent with the times?

To say this show wasn’t groundbreaking and hilarious, is to ignore the facts. But to say that this show, looking back, didn’t have some racist undertones is also to ignore the facts.

Look at Amos-N-Andy. A large portion of the Black Community in the 1950s refused to watch this program because of its overtly racist undertones, and yet a lot of those same people will admit today that it’s hard NOT to laugh at some of the humor.

You just have to be honest and be real when watching old footage of Hollywood shows like these.

I’ll continue to laugh when I watch these episodes, but in adulthood, it’s hard not to also think back to what living in the 1920s and ’30s was like for my family — it wasn’t always all fun and games (and no doubt, we all know that TV & Hollywood images have proven to be equally empowering & damaging for a number of reasons).

Little Rascals should serve as the ultimate history lesson.

Great writing & great comedy are timeless. This kind of racism, no matter how blatant or hidden,is dated.

The sensitivity of the American public will kill the rich history of comedy displayed in these shorts if media doesn’t separate racism from racial humor. Our Gang/Little Rascals was harshly racist in some ways before the advent of sound; mostly towards blacks. After the advent of sound, or the depression, the gang’s shorts became good humored parodies of the American culture’s most unique characters. RACISM is when black people are portrayed as constant dice rolling, cotton picking, gamblers that beat their children. Racist humor will portray people in a negative light across the board. RACIAL HUMOR is the use of race traits to provide character, and humor to a story. Such as Stymie talking in a poor black tongue of the times or talking about ‘black sheep’ in the family, etc. Racial humor doesn’t portray percieved character flaws due to racist misconceptions, rather it works with language and racial traits to bring out the humor of the character in situations (white eyes running in the dark, etc). Rascals did the same for any unique qualiy they could bring out of any of the kids; fat, weird hair, odd teeth, etc. And if race was used, it was used to flavor the characters, not bash race. Most times Stymie or Farina (the black kids) were leaders of the gang (mostly white kids)….if that isn’t empowerment, i don’t know what is.

People creating scandal around these fine shorts are evil. Period. Don’t listen to them, whether you are black, white, chinese, whatever. Little Rascals is a charming series of Pre-WW2 shorts. the further back it goes to the advent of sound, the better the stories and characters. Hopefully the race cranks will overcome their humorless attitude and be able to accept unique characters instead of bashing their own traits in hopes of a grey world.