History Trivia / TheLittleRascals

* FormerChildStar : Many of the cast members lived sad lives (some rife with crime and addiction) and died young, giving rise to rumours of an "Our Gang" curse.

** The 1960s singing group Spanky and Our Gang, which derived its name from lead singer Elaine "Spanky" [=McFarlane=]'s facial resemblance to George "Spanky" [=McFarland=] (as well as their similar surnames).

** 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. 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.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Buckwheat is [[Series/DiffrentStrokes Arnold Jackson's buddy Dudley]].
** Spanky is Creator/ScottMenville ([[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Robin]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids young Fred Flintstone]], and [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Ma-Ti]]).
** Pete the Pup and Officer Ed are Creator/PeterCullen ([[Disney/WinnieThePooh Eeyore]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Optimus]] [[Film/{{Transformers}} Prime]]).
** Darla is Creator/PattyMaloney. Though she didn't speak on ''Series/FarOutSpaceNuts'', Patty was a recurring performer on the ''Donny & Marie'' variety show, and later voiced the mummy girl in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool''.

* HeyItsThatGuy[=/=]HeyItsThatVoice: Creator/MelBrooks as the ChildHater bank teller.
** Music/RebaMcEntire
** [[Creator/WhoopiGoldberg "Whoopi!"]]
** The [[Series/FullHouse Olsen Twins]]
** [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Lea Thompson]] as the ballet instructor.
** [[Film/KillBill Elle Driver]] is Miss Crabtree.
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Recess}} Menlo]] and [[Series/FullHouse Derek Boyd]] are the rich snob Waldo.
** [[Series/TheApprentice Donald Trump]] is Waldo's father.
** [[Series/{{Cheers}} Norm!]]
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Recess}} Gus Griswald]]
*** Don't forget Menlo.
** [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Nicky Banks]] is Buckwheat.
** [[Series/ThatsSoRaven Raven]]/[[Series/TheCosbyShow Olivia Kendall]] is Stymie's girlfriend.

* HeyItsThatGuy: The ice cream man is Alfalfa in the 1994 movie.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Waldo is [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Lincoln Loud]].

** Some Rascals departed from the series before their contracts expired. Therefore, a handful of the kids (Harry Spear, Mary Ann Jackson, Dorothy [=DeBorba=], Shirley Jean Rickert, Harold "Bouncy" Wertz, Dickie Moore, and Tommy Bond, among others). could have remained with the series much longer.

** [[Film/BackToTheFuture Lea Thompson]] as the ballet instructor.

* CrossDressingVoices: Billy Bletcher dubbed Margaret Bert (as Froggy's mother)'s voice in ''Robot Wrecks''.
* CrossOver: The Rascals appear alongside several other Hollywood stars in the [[Main/AllStarCast star-studded]] ''The Stolen Jools''.

* ThePeteBest: Following Ernie Morrison's departure from the series, a new character named "Powder-Puff" took his spot as the series' older black kid. However, Powder-Puff was only in two shorts, as the role was quickly given to Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson.

** Several on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Of particular note is a running gag in which the cast refers to inappropriately chosen music for series scenes/movies as "Little Rascals music."

** Promotional material for the [[AllStarCast all star]] film ''The Stolen Jools'' reveals that Jackie Cooper was supposed to have been featured alongside his fellow Little Rascals. Cooper had departed from the ''Our Gang'' series by the time production began.

** Promotion material for the [[AllStarCast all star]] film ''The Stolen Jools'' reveals that Jackie Cooper was supposed to have been featured alongside his fellow Little Rascals. Cooper had departed from the ''Our Gang'' series by the time production began.

* BannedEpisode: A handful of episodes (''Lazy Days'', ''Moan & Groan, Inc.'', ''A Tough Winter'', ''Little Daddy'', ''A Lad an' a Lamp'', and ''The Kid From Borneo'') were banned from TV beginning in the 1970's due to the fact that they featured quite a bit o racial humor (usually involving African-Americans). ''Big Ears'' was banned due to (a.) its plot, involving Wheezer's parents threatening to get a divorce, and (b.) a sequence in which the kids get into a medicine cabinet.

* IAmNotSpock: Carl Switzer was asked to reuse his [[HollywoodToneDeaf off-key singing]] shtick in several of his earliest post-Little Rascals films.
* MissingEpisode: A few of the earlier silent films (''Yale Vs. 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.

** Supporting player Marianne Edwards was slated to be the series' new leading lady during the mid-30s, but lost the role to Darla Hood.

*** ''Wild Barts Can't Be Broken''' features a scene in which the kids take electronics through a fence. Milhouse dresses as Alfalfa. A dog that looks similar to Pete the Pup accompanies them.
*** ''Marge vs. the Monorail'' - Joe Quimby asks Leonard Nimoy if he was one of the Little Rascals.
*** ''Homer the Smithers'' -
---->'''Marge:''' Homie, it's 4:30 in the morning. Little Rascals isn't until 6.\\

** Spanky is Creator/ScottMenville ([[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Robin]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids young Fred Flintstone]], and [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Mai-Ti]]).
** Pete the Pup is Creator/PeterCullen ([[Disney/WinnieThePooh Eeyore]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Optimus]] [[Film/{{Transformers}} Prime]]).

* HeyItsThatGuy/HeyItsThatVoice: Creator/MelBrooks as the ChildHater bank teller.

** [[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}} Tommy Pickles]] dubbed Froggy's voice.

* CrossDressingVoices: {{Julie McWhirter}} and Creator/BJWard played boy characters.

** Spanky is [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Robin]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneKids young Fred Flintstone]], and [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Mai-Ti]].
** Pete the Pup is [[Creator/PeterCullen Eeyore and Optimus Prime]]

* HeyItsThatGuy: Creator/MelBrooks as the ChildHater bank teller.

** [[Film/KillBill Elle Driver]] is the gang's teacher!

** [[Series/ThatsSoRaven Raven]] is Stymie's girlfriend.

** [[Series/TheApprentice Donald Trump]] is Waldo's father!

** [[WesternAnimation/{{Recess}} Gus Griswald!]]
*** Don't forget Menlo!
** [[Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Nicky Banks]] is Buckwheat!
** [[Series/ThatsSoRaven Raven]] is Stymie's girlfriend!

* ReferencedBy:
** The 1960s singing group Spanky and Our Gang, which derived its name from lead singer Elaine "Spanky" [=McFarlane=]'s facial resemblance to George "Spanky" [=McFarland=] (as well as their similar surnames).
** The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Viewer Mail 1" features a story titled "Li'l Griffins", which depicts the main adult cast as children. Several references to the Rascals are made, including the "We Hate Broads Club," Quagmire's Alfalfa-like cowlick, Cleveland's Buckwheat-like hairstyle, and the circle around Brian's eye.
** Several on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Of particular note is a running gag in which the cast refers to inappropriately chosen music for series scenes/movies as "Little Rascals music."
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
*** The episode "Radioactive Man" features Moe reminiscing about his days as a Little Rascal. He played "Smelly" ("the tough kid"). During the filming of a scene, an angry Moe beat up and killed Alfalfa for stealing his line. "Luckily, Alfalfa was an orphan owned by the studio."
*** ''Wild Barts Can't Be Broken''' features a scene in which the kids take electronics through a fence. Milhouse dresses as Alfalfa. A dog that looks similar to Pete the Pup accompanies them.
*** ''Marge vs. the Monorail'' - Joe Quimby asks Leonard Nimoy if he was one of the Little Rascals.
*** ''Homer the Smithers'' -
---->'''Marge:''' Homie, it's 4:30 in the morning. Little Rascals isn't until 6.\\
'''Homer:''' I know, I'm taping it.

*** The episode "Radioactive Man" features Moe reminiscing about his days as a Little Rascal. He played "Smelly" ("the tough kid"). During the filming of a scene, an angry Moe beat up and killed Alfalfa. "Luckily, Alfalfa was an orphan owned by the studio."

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

** Roach also considered a series featuring [[Creator/LaurelAndHardy Oliver Hardy]] as the father of Spanky; presumably to involve family hijinks.

** Hal Roach submitted a script for a proposed Our Gang [[BigDamnMovie feature film]] in 1935. The movie, ''Crooks Incorporated'', was to have costarred Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, and Patsy Kelly.
** What would have been the 222th Our Gang film (''Home Front Commandos'') was in early development stages when the series was cancelled.

* DawsonCasting: Norman Chaney was 15 when he was hired to play grade school-aged Chubby in 1929. A glandular disorder had stunted his height and made him obese.

* CrossDressingVoices: In Creator/HannaBarbera's version, Creator/{{Julie McWhirter}} and Creator/BJWard played boy characters.

* CrossDressingVoices: In {{Hanna-Barbera}}'s version, Julie Dees and [[JanaOfTheJungle B.J. Ward]] played boy characters.

** RebaMcEntire
** [[SisterAct "Whoopi!"]]

** [[KillBill Elle Driver]] is the gang's teacher!
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Recess}} Menlo]] and [[FullHouse Derek Boyd]] are the rich snob Waldo.

** [[TheFreshPrinceofBelAir Nicky Banks]] is Buckwheat!
** [[ThatsSoRaven Raven]] is Stymie's girlfriend!

** Donald Trump is Waldo's father!