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Little Rascals/Our Gang - What to buy???

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Little Rascals/Our Gang - What to buy???

Old 06-02-04, 02:45 PM
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Little Rascals/Our Gang - What to buy???

Had this problem last week with Three Stooges, and some of you were kind enough to shed light on what were the best things to buy to get the most for your money, as far as quantity of episodes and quality of video/sound.

Ok, anyone care to tell which Our Gang/Little Rascals sets or single discs to buy? There are so many to choose from!

Thanks!

uk
Old 06-02-04, 02:49 PM
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the hallmark copies are the best prints to my knowledge. they have some leonard maltin stuff on them as well. i think they run under 15 most anywhere.
Old 06-02-04, 02:57 PM
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I see that The Little Rascals have Hallmark releases, but not Our Gang. Are you also saying don't buy the Our Gang DVDs and stick to The Little Rascals.

I don't know the difference between "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals." I grew up thinking they were the same thing. Perhaps not?
Old 06-02-04, 05:46 PM
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I think they are the same, but from what I understand, the Our Gang sets actually repeat some episodes across the DVDs, which is crazy.

Personally I own the Little Rascals 12-Volume set from Cabin Fever (this is the same as the US Hallmark version, but sold from Canada together in a nice box set). I don't know what retailers carry it, but you can get a sealed set from many retailers on ebay for $50. It's VERY complete and has the Leonard Martin stuff. Here's what it looks like:


It has 48 episodes across 6 discs.

Volume 1 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 Pet the Pup) to the rescue! 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. 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! 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 and Ladder No sooner does the gang start their own fire department, than they’ve got their own fire! “1st Fire Cheef” 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 and they’ve brought everything…except their courage! Teacher’s Beau The gang’s teacher, Miss Jones is leaving to get married… just when they were starting to like her. Hearts are Thumps
Volume 3 Teacher’s Pet It’s the first day of school and the gang isn’t ready for readin’, writin’… or their new teacher Miss Crabtree. Jackie, Chubby and Farina decide to “welcome” her with gifts of sneezing powder, red andts and a mouse. School’s Out Now it’s the last day of school and Jackie’s developed a big crush on Miss Crabtree. Worried that she’ll “go and get married” Jackie’s ready to do anything to keep her- like “scaring the pants off” a stranger who comes calling. Love Business “Oh Miss Crabtree, there’s something heavy on my heart”, confesses Chubby. “Oh Chubsy-Ubsy there’s gonna be something heavy on your nose!” counters similarly smitten Jackie. Spooky Hooky The gang is in for some mighty frights when they have to retrieve their “doctored” doctor notes from school in the middle of the night! Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Porky must brave thunder, lightning, wind, rain – and each other – to make the grade.
Volume 4 Readin’ and Writin’ “Learn that poem… learn that poem…” is ringing in school-skipping Brisbane’s head. Why is his conscience bothering him? The Kid From Borneo “Yum-yum, eat ‘em up!” is all Spanky’s “Uncle George” can say. But it’s not his real uncle, it’s “Bumbo the Wild Man”! Soon Stymie, Spanky, Wheezer and even Pet the Pup are running for their lives. Sprucin’ Up The gang hates to clean- and it shows – yet, they scrub themselves silly after meeting the new truant officer’s daughter. Now supremely spruced, Spanky and Alfalfa attempt to impress with a battle of chin-ups. Pay As You Exit
Volume 5 Bouncing Babies Farina gives Wheezer a simple solution about how to get a little more attention from his family -–take his love-hogging baby brother back where he came from: the hospital! Pups is Pups The high-falutin’ society pet show has gone to the dogs now that the gang’s all here. Farina, Jackie, Chubby, plus Wheezer and his bell-chasing pups are having a swell time lowering the upper class in this funny free-for-all. Dogs is Dogs Well, well, well, Spud fell in the well, but it’s poor Wheezer who’s suffering. He’s forced to live with a mean old stepmother; his dog Pete is in the pound. Glove Taps
Volume 6 Free Wheeling Rich-kid Dickie Moore has a stiff neck, but Dr. Stymie has a cure money can’t buy: a wild ride in his custom-made “taxi”. Soon, the mule-drawn cab is careening out of control down the steepest hill in town. Mike Fright Who’s that rag-tag group driving everyone crazy at the radio station audition? Why it’s the International Silver String Submarine Band! They may not tap dance, do the hula, or be as cute as The Darling Sisters, but nobody plays “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” like this. Washee Ironee The gang is in the middle of a muddy football game when white collar Waldo wants to play. But he’s supposed to be playing something else: the violin at his mother’s society luncheon! Fishy Tales Alfalfa’s done it again: he’s made Butch the Bully see red. Spanky has a plan to save his skin- fake a broken shin bone. But what’s fishy is Alfalfa’s fake leg! Butch and Woim don’t buy it and the chase is on.
Volume 7 Helping Grandma, Spanky, Littlepa, Two Too Young
Volume 8 Shiver My Timbers The gang is playing hooky again- how unusual. This time, they’re down at the docks dreaming of life on the high seas. Their dream comes true – but one wild night on the water shipwrecks their desires. Choo-Choo! When Stymie, Wheezer, Brisbane and the gang trade places with a group of orphans on a train, it spells trouble for everyone on the track, especially the kids’ guardian- the hopeless, hapless, helpless Mr. Henderson. Divot Diggers The gang is on the links- and on the brink of a riot. Homemade clubs, a runaway lawn mower, Jiggs the chimp, confounded club members, and above-par gags are the course for this unforgettable round of chaos. Bored of Education As usual, Spanky and Alfalfa want no part of school. But when Miss Lawrence catches on to their fake toothache scheme, the boys get a nasty taste of their own medicine.
Volume 9 When The Wind Blows Jackie Cooper’s locked out of his house… and it’s no secret. With all the commotion, the neighbors think there’s a burglar on the prowl. Have no fear, “Kennedy always gets his man!” The Pooch Oh no, Pete the Pup is in trouble- he’s been caught by the dogcatcher. If Stymie doesn’t come up with five bucks fast, he’ll be put to sleep! But Stymie can’t find food, much less a five. Mush and Mild “Don’t drink the milk- it’s spoiled!” When Cap’s back-pension comes in, the gang won’t ever have to worry about spoiled mild or lumpy mush again. Framing Youth The prize pupil at Spanky’s Voice Studio (Alfalfa, naturally) is tuning up for the big talent contest… until rival Butch the Bully arrives to voice his concern: stay out of the show or get a beating.
Volume 10 Birthday Blues Dickie’s mom is crying: no one remembered her birthday. But with the help of little brother Spanky and chef Stymie, he’ll fix that! The boys bake a gigantic cake with prizes inside and sell slices for a dime- but the plan (as well as the cake) falls flat. For Pete’s Sake Bully-Boy Leonard has broken Marianne’s doll and brother Wally has to find the money for a new one… but how? He offers the bully a barter: Pete the Pup! The Lucky Corner Bratty Leonard and his dastardly, diner-owning dad are trying to “remove” poor Scotty and his grandpa Gus from their tiny adjacent lemonade stand. Arbor Day Buckwheat, Spanky and Alfalfa star in the school play… along with two truant vaudeville midgets! To make a long story short, every classic poem, song and speech gets chopped down to size before the curtain falls.
Volume 11 The First Seven Years Jackie and Speck both have eyes for Mary Ann. She has an idea to settle the score: a rousing swordfight! Hi’ –Neighbor The gang decides to build their own fire engine to compete with the shiny new one owned by the spoiled rich-kid Jerry. The Pinch Singer Darla’s supposed to be at the radio station talent contest, but she’s nowhere to be found. Just in the nick of time, in steps Alfalfa with his winning rendition of “I’m in the Mood for Love”! A truly “noteworthy” classic! Rushin’ Ballet As ministers of justice in the Sekret Revengers Club, Spanky and Alfalfa seek to get even with Butch and Woim for a nasty tomato-smearing incident.
Volume 12 Boxing Gloves After years of feuding, Joe and Chubby are finally going to fight it out in a real heavy weight boxing match. Mama's Little Pirate A fantasy comes to life! Spanky and the gang go exploring a remote cave in search of buried riches-and find them. They discover gold, silver, rubies, crowns...and a hungry giant who isn't too fond of tiny trespassers! Our Gang Follies of 1938 Hide and Shriek

Last edited by JuryDuty; 06-02-04 at 05:52 PM.
Old 06-02-04, 05:48 PM
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P.S. I see there is a new 5-DVD set coming out on 7/13 that looks rather nice, for about $25, but I can't find an episode list.
Old 06-02-04, 05:50 PM
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cool! thanks!
Old 06-03-04, 07:04 PM
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This new 5 DVD set seems to be a Koch release -- if it's anything like their Chaplin releases, I'd expect PD crappy quality, taken from whatever they can steal. The Cabin Fever set is worth seeking out. There used to be 4 laserdisc sets from Image that contained all of the non-MGM-owned sound shorts and a number of silents. This DVD set has the complete contents of Vol. 1 & 2 of those LDs. They look quite good -- a bit sharper but sounding a bit more distorted (at times) than the LDs. I think it was marketed in Canada, but so far Hallmark (the US distributor) has only released 2 of these discs -- considering their complete botch on the Laurel & Hardy front, I wouldn't expect much from them -- even though they have access to the best material.
Old 06-05-04, 07:10 PM
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Where did you find this info on the Little Rascals 5-disc set from Koch? I'm interested in picking it up, simply because most of the PD discs I've seen of the Rascals/Our Gang have included several silent shorts that were never available from either Cabin Fever OR Hallmark! If you can, send me info to [email protected] or here! Thanks for your help!
Old 06-05-04, 11:03 PM
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J and R (jr.com) and cduniverse.com both confirm it's Koch (search under Little Rascals Collection), but I haven't found a list of shorts yet. Good idea to look out for some of the silents -- I have that 2 disc Brentwood set (Hal Roach's Rascals) for that reason. Any other ones to look for?
Old 06-06-04, 02:53 PM
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Hmm, I have only the first DVD by Hallmark, but I'd like to get the entire set. And well, pic quality IS important to me and I'd be willing to pay more for it.
Old 06-07-04, 07:08 PM
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That Cabin Fever box looks great -- I'd never seen it before.

I own the two Hallmark releases, and since it could be a while before there are any more, I may sell them and pick up the Cabin Fever set from e-bay.

Can someone confirm that the Cabin Fever set includes the same (pretty good, I think) transfers as the Hallmarks?

(BTW, I love showing people "The First Roundup" to prove that Buckwheat did, in fact, start out as a girl...)
Old 06-07-04, 08:42 PM
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don't know about the Hallmarks, but they are all derived from the LD Cabin Fever/Image sets with the Maltin intros, which are beginning to show their age as far as the latest transfer techniques go, but are from primo print materials, and most important, are uncut versions of the films. The contents of discs 1 and 2 are the same as the Hallmark discs that are out there in the US.
Old 06-08-04, 09:55 AM
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Can't help with comparing DVD editions/transfers, but I can help provide a bit of perspective. Our Gang and The Little Rascals are in fact the same series with two different titles.

The series of short films was begun in the silent period by Hal Roach Studios and continued to be produced with a revolving cast of characters (until the early forties I believe). The characters which have endured the longest (Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, etc.) were featured during the mid thirties.

Throughout the theatrical run of the series the short were known as Our Gang. When the show moved into television syndication later it was retitled The Little Rascals and new title sequences were cut and the shorts were edited for time and content. In Leonard Maltin's definitive book on the series (the name escape me now) he posits that the original title sequences were and edits were way better. Further confusing things is that, if memory serves, there were numerous dustups over who owns the rights to these films. The rights changed hands several times and at times different companies owned syndication rights, than theatrical, and video/dvd rights. So beware that there is a wide variety of product likely to be out there on all the different DVD versions.
Old 06-08-04, 11:57 AM
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Originally posted by JONA99
That Cabin Fever box looks great -- I'd never seen it before.

Can someone confirm that the Cabin Fever set includes the same (pretty good, I think) transfers as the Hallmarks?

Yes they are. I had the Hallmark disc for a while but gave it away it when I bought the Cabin Fever box a few years back. The transfers are pretty good. My family watched several episode this past weekend and it holds up just fine. I highly recommend seeking this set out.
Old 09-09-04, 11:53 PM
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This set is available at Overstock, but in very limited quantities.

I don't know anything about the quality, but it's only $18.49!

I'd suggest anyone who wants it to jump on it right away!

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2....PROD_ID=725901

Originally posted by JuryDuty

Last edited by rich-y; 09-10-04 at 12:01 AM.
Old 09-10-04, 09:46 AM
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That set contains a few shorts that have fallen into the public domain, including several from the silent era.

The Cabin Fever set contains exactly half of the material that was released on VHS and Laser; it's the one to track down.
Old 09-10-04, 03:44 PM
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I wish they would just release the whole series on one or two sets already. How long are each of these shorts? How many discs would it take to get them all out?
Old 09-10-04, 03:51 PM
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What I don't understand is, if Artisan (Hallmark) was able to release volumes 1-2 and 3-4, what's the hold-up on the rest of the volumes?

There are 21 volumes that Cabin Fever released on VHS, and 12 of those volumes made it to DVD before they went under - Artisan comes along and remasters first volumes 1-2, then a few years later, 3-4. But what is stopping them from just going bull goosey and releasing them all??
Old 09-10-04, 04:47 PM
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Most of the shorts were 2 reelers running just under 20 minutes; around 1936 they switched to shorter one reel shorts running about 10. They did at least one three reeler in the early talkie era too, and one full length feature, GENERAL SPANKY.

Leonard Maltin's book is well worth picking up!
Old 09-10-04, 10:47 PM
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You know, I purchased the Cabin Fever version of the DVDs from graveyardmall.com when they were getting rid of them at something like $5 each.

A lot of people said they would probably be bootlegs, but they turned out to be the real thing. The only thing missing was the slipcase that could hold all 6 DVDs (and graveyardmall was straightforward in describing them as individually packaged).

What's strange is that I NEVER saw the Cabin Fever DVDs in ANY store (but perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough!).

-- And --

Here's a little something I didn't know: The Hallmark/Artisian DVDs are simply copies of the Cabin Fever DVDs (minus parts of the Leonard Maltin introductions).

Here's what I read on www.dvdverdict.com


This collection of eight short films, along with an introduction from Rascals scholar Leonard Maltin, is actually a repackaging of the Cabin Fever remastered VHS series released during the early to mid '90s. While the Cabin Fever videos provided more in-depth background on the series and its stars, Artisan has compiled a nice complement of shorts to serve as both a sampler for the uninitiated and a fond remembrance for longtime fans.
Edited to remove link to picture on DVDVerdit's Website. Don't know why they're so picky since I gave them a link above. Free plug, right?

Last edited by rich-y; 09-11-04 at 11:28 AM.
Old 09-11-04, 10:04 AM
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LOL - I found the 12 volumes by Cabin Fever in, of all places, a porno store. I went there as a deviant, and left there an innocent. My mother would have been proud.
Old 09-11-04, 07:19 PM
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The reason the Cabin Fever discs are not seen in stores here is that they are Canadian releases -- Artisan has only seen fit to issue the first 2 discs out of the 6 issued in Canada, and considering their crappy treatment of Laurel & Hardy (one lousy disc -- go for one of the R2 collections: Dutch, German or Brit.), I wouldn't hold my breath. Why they don't sell their holdings to someone actually interested in the material is a mystery to me.

The Koch collection shown above looks like the same old PD crap, nothing unusual at all. I saw it in B & N the other day, and most discs only have 3 shorts! I'm sure they will look like crap too, if they are anything like their awful Chaplin releases. Save your money, and find the other set on Ebay.
Old 09-11-04, 08:18 PM
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I also have the Cabin Fever discs from the graveyardmall sale - it was a really nice bargain - and these look decent - especially given what I paid for them!
Old 03-05-07, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by rich-y
This set is available at Overstock, but in very limited quantities.

I don't know anything about the quality, but it's only $18.49!

I'd suggest anyone who wants it to jump on it right away!

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2....PROD_ID=725901
anyone have this set. dvd empire list a short called the pirates? is it the buccaneers?
Old 03-06-07, 08:52 AM
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Originally Posted by Buttmunker
LOL - I found the 12 volumes by Cabin Fever in, of all places, a porno store. I went there as a deviant, and left there an innocent. My mother would have been proud.
That has got to be the last place I would think to look. I can only imagine how that played out...

Buttmunker (walking into porno store): Umm, do you have anything with actors and actresses who are a little bit...uh...younger."

Clerk (handing Buttmunker the Little Rascals DVDs hidden behind the counter): "Try these. They haven't been selling too well for some reason. Not enough nudity. Maybe you're into this sort of thing."


Anyway, just kidding. Good find Buttmunker. Actually, you just gave me a brilliant excuse for visiting porno stores with my wife - "But honey, it's not what you think. I'm trying to find those Little Rascals DVDs - I think I might be able to find them here. I read it on the Internet."

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