Things You Never Knew About The Little Rascals

#1 From Our Gang To The Little Rascals

After making over 170 short films for MGM studios from 1926 to 1938, Hal Roach was not finished with the gang. He went to MGM and bought the rights to his shorts, then called 'Our Gang'. But MGM wanted to maintain the title, Our Gang, so Roach renamed every one of his films "The Little Rascals" and began producing even more of them with the new title, and of course a new batch of rascals. In the 1950s, Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, and the gang were the hit of weekend morning TV.

#2 There Were 220 Short Films Produced With 44 Different Child Actors

Though most of us remember Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat and Darla as the most familiar faces, they did not join Our Gang until its second decade. Roach rebundled 78 of the original shorts with sound and music to create the TV series The Little Rascals. The original cast was seen in the first run of the series on television, and the 80 plus silent episodes have rarely been shown on TV. The most popular cast began on TV in the newer versions.

#3 Mickey Rooney & Shirley Temple Failed Auditions For Our Gang

As hard as it is to believe, two of the most iconic Hollywood child actors, Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney, auditioned to be gang members and did not make the cut. The two's careers turned out just fine, often starring in films showcasing their comedy, singing and dancing skills.

#4 Chubby, Stymie, And Buckwheat Won Competitions To Appear In The Cast

The producers conducted national talent searches to fill vacancies in the Our Gang cast. Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Matthew "Stymie" Beard (pictured) and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas won contests to join the gang. Buckwheat would go on to become one of the most popular kids from the productions.

#5 Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison Was The First African American To Sign A Long-Term Hollywood Contract

Morrison inked a deal with Roach in 1919, three years before Our Gang began. He often starred in MGM films in cameos and was a semi-regular in the films featuring The Bowery Boys.

#6 Makeup Legend Max Factor Added The Ring To Petey's Eye

Max Factor & Company in Los Angeles quickly got into the movie business doing makeup and effects for many actors. According to the book Circus Tricks for Your Dog: 25 Crowd-Pleasers That Will Make Your Dog a Star, he drew the circle around the eye of Pal the Wonder Dog, the original canine star of Our Gang.

#7 Pete's Ring Moved From The Right Eye To The Left When Pal Passed Away

In 1930, Pal the Wonder Dog was sadly poisoned and died. Roach adopted on of his offspring, Petey, to replace him in the series. His eye circle mysteriously moved to the other side in honor of Pal. That dog's final appearance came in 1932's 'The Pooch', after which a whole string of dogs filled the role of Petey until the series ended.

#8 Rockers The Young Rascals Got Their Name From The Show

In the 1960s the rock ban The Rascals, or Young Rascals, had hits like 'Groovin' and 'Good Lovin'. Member Dino Danelli recalled, "We came up with the name Rascals at the Choo Choo Club. One night we were playing there and someone said, 'You ought to call the band the Little Rascals.' We said, 'Rascals, yeah.. well, why don't we dress up like rascals?' They used Young Rascals at first then dropped the 'Young' to become The Rascals.

#9 The Theme Song Was Not Introduced Until The 101st Our Gang Short

Everyone can recall the Little Rascals theme song, but did you know the title is "The Good Ole Days?" The song was not used until 1930's Teacher's Pet, the 101st Our Gang short, which also marked the first appearance of June Marlowe's Miss Crabtree character. "Hey Crabby!"

#10 George "Spanky" McFarland's Final Role Was A Cameo On NBCs 'Cheers'

At the beginning of the episode "Woody Gets an Election," Cliff and Norm spot McFarland drinking alone at the bar. McFarland would die months later in the summer of 1993. He is just one of two Rascals to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with Jackie Cooper, who went on to play Perry White in 1978's Superman.

#11 Pogo Creator Walt Kelly Created Our Gang Comic Books

Legendary cartoonist and animator, Wal Kelly, was hired by MGM to crank out monthly comic books based on the Our Gang short films. In the 1940s, he drew Our Gang comic books for Dell Comics. Some of the comics were scripts from the short films and some were originals. Kelly worked on Disneys Fantasia and created several comic book characters including Pogo.

#12 There Was Only One Feature Film Made With The Kids Set In The Civil War

The Gang ruled the cinema with their short films but had less success with feature films. Nevertheless, the studio gave them a shot with a major motion picture in 19369s, "General Spanky" where Spanky, Alfalfa, and Buckwheat went back to the Civil War. The film was misguided and has rarely been seen after its initial release.

#13 Gary Coleman Starred In Two Pilots For Norman Lear's Our Gang Reboot

Norman Lear grew up loving the Our Gang and Little Rascals shorts. In 1977 he attempted to produce two different reboots of the iconic show in the form of "Rascal" and "Souper Nuts." Both starred Gary Coleman. Neither show was picked up by a network even though Lear was the most popular producer in TV at the time. However, NBC fell in love with Coleman, and "Diff'rent Strokes" was born.

#14 Five Rascals Are Still Living

After the passing of Dick Moore and Jean Darling in September of 2015, only five original Our Gang actors were left living. One of them is former Baretta star Robert Blake, who worked on Our Gang under his original name, Mickey Gubitosi. The other living Rascals are Sidney Kibrick, Jerry Tucker, Mildred Kornman and Leonard Landy.

#15 Froggy Died Tragically At An Early Age

After the show ended, Froggy, Billy Laughlin, took a job delivering newspapers. He was hit by a truck while delivering the newspapers at the age of 16. He lived the shortest life of any of the Little Rascals.

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