#The cast of the original little rascals series

#The cast of the original little rascals series

Some Rascals departed from the series before their contracts expired.

What would have been the 222nd Our Gang film, Home Front Commandos, was in early development stages when the series was cancelled.

The movie, Crooks Incorporated, was to have co-starred Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, and Patsy Kelly.

Hal Roach submitted a script for a proposed Our Gang feature film in 1935.

June Marlowe was supposed to have reprised her role as Miss Crabtree in Teacher's Beau, but (having retired from show business) turned town the offer to appear in the film.

Cooper had departed from the Our Gang series by the time production began.

Promotional material for the all-star film The Stolen Jools reveals that Jackie Cooper was supposed to have been featured alongside his fellow Little Rascals.

Roach also considered a series featuring Oliver Hardy as the father of Spanky, presumably to involve family hijinks.

Ironically, there is a teen version of the series (which was also the spin off to Our Gang), The Boy Friends, which only lasted for three years. However, a remnant of the idea did remain in that a teenage Joe Cobb and Farina Hoskins showed up once during the Spanky era to give the younger kids some well-intentioned, but comically bad, advice.

Hal Roach toyed with the idea of keeping the original kids and following them through their teen years, but ultimately decided that the series should focus on young children, and wound up replacing the cast every few years.

Among the child actors who auditioned for roles in the series, but were rejected, were Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple.

Rearrange the Song: Happened to 'Good Old Days' several times, notably shifting from a quiet piece to a louder, marching band piece in the mid-late 1930s.During the MGM years, the theme tune became David Snell's 'Our Gang,' a medley consisting of 'London Bridge,' 'Mulberry Bush,' and 'The Farmer in the Dell.'.after which the theme music became 'Good Old Days,' an original piece by LeRoy Shield. Real Song Theme Tune: For a brief period, the series' theme music was Ray Henderson's 'That Old Gang of Mine.'.This was debunked by Snopes, who point out that such claims of an ' Our Gang curse' deliberately single out the actors who died young while leaving out those who lived past 65 their own analysis of the deaths of Our Gang regulars reveals that the majority of them reached the life expectancy for people born in their era. The Production Curse: The series is often reputed to be cursed due to a supposedly high number of cast members having met untimely deaths.Pete was smart, loyal, and good with kids which made the breed become popular with families (to the point where it had a nickname of 'Nanny Dog'). Pet Fad Starter: The original shorts helped popularize the Staffordshire Bull Terrier ( the American Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier, according to some sources) in the early 1900s.Supporting player Marianne Edwards was slated to be the series' new leading lady during the mid-1930s, but lost the role to Darla Hood.However, Powder-Puff was only in two shorts, as the role was quickly given to Eugene 'Pineapple' Jackson. After Ernie Morrison's departure from the series, a new character named 'Powder-Puff' took his spot as the series' older black kid.The Other Darrin: Buckwheat was played by Willie Mae Taylor for two shorts, before the role permanently went to William Thomas (though some fans consider Taylor's Buckwheat and Thomas' Buckwheat to be two completely different characters).As such, all of the Butch episodes were not shown in syndication for a period of time. Cast member Tommy 'Butch' Bond once filed a lawsuit against the owners of the MGM entries for using his likeness without his permission.Some stations supposedly didn't air The First Seven Years, possibly due to its climax involving the kids playing with swords. Railroadin' was never shown on television, as its soundtrack was reported missing during the initial sell to syndication (it has since shown up). Some of the sound shorts ( Small Talk, Lazy Days, Moan & Groan, Inc., A Tough Winter, Little Daddy, Big Ears, A Lad an' a Lamp, The Kid From Borneo) were removed from the Little Rascals' television package in the early 1970s, largely due to content deemed inappropriate.Harvard, Heebee Jeebees, Edison, Marconi & Co., Growing Pains, The Holy Terror) are completely lost, while footage from a handful of other silent entries (notably Our Gang, the series first film) has also gone missing. A few of the earlier silent films ( Yale vs.

I Am Not Spock: Carl Switzer was asked to reuse his off-key singing shtick in several of his earliest post- Little Rascals films.Follow the Leader: The shorts spawned a few imitators, such as Mickey McGuire, Hey Fellas, and McDougall Alley Kids.