Despite having been born more than 30 years after the release of their final short film, the names Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Spanky still conjure up images of kids playing in the neighborhood, soapbox racers and cartoon hair styles. Even today, Our Gang holds a place in popular culture that makes the stories and characters recognizable even today. Collecting all 52 of the short films produced by MGM between 1938 and 1944 for the first time, The Our Gang Collection presents a time capsule of sorts of the franchise during a decline in its popularity. They’re still fun at times and remain iconic but there’s something about these shorts where the cute factor wears thin and the stories seem to be calling it in.
The Our Gang franchise celebrates the purity, innocence and misunderstandings of childhood. Much like a neighbourhood where families are moving in and moving out, the cast is constantly changing. This collection marks the departure of one of the most popular characters, Alfalfa, and the introduction of another, Froggy. I’m not sure whether or not it was because the child actors were growing older, but the stories often show the kids mimicking adults and in turn making commentary on the world at large. For example, in The Little Ranger, Alfalfa finds himself in a love triangle of sorts at the movie theater. The action of the children matches that shown on the Western they’re watching. Sometimes it’s cute, but it’s a formula that does become a little tiresome, particularly watching several in a row.
Like the kids with the deep voices who come knocking on Halloween, Our Gang also stretches the duration of the childhood years. For example, Spanky became a character in the franchise in 1931 at the age of three. He was still going in 1944 when Tale of a Dog, the final short, was released. That puts him well into his teen years and beyond what’s believable as a child. By the end, most of the children are getting big and the clubhouse scenes, sign misspellings and annunciation issues are far from cute.
Even still, there is something fun about Our Gang. Perhaps it’s nostalgia for a different era, perhaps it’s the fact that although I’m familiar with the series I haven’t been overexposed to it through previous budget DVD releases from various companies. Whatever the case, there are many moments in this collection where I can look past the façade of childhood and see the purity that the franchise aims to represent. Comedy has evolved over the last 60 years but there is something timeless about friendship that can’t be denied.
The Warner Archive release of The Our Gang Collection is overall an uneven send-off to the classic series created by Hal Roach. This set is similar to the Disney Treasures series of Mickey Mouse cartoons where everything is included as a historical document rather than just putting together a smaller, cheaper “best of” collection. If you sift through it, there are moments of inspiration and great comedy. There’s also moments of boredom, bursting kid pants and an overreliance on musical numbers to fill time, but that’s what ‘fast forward’ and ‘skip’ were created for.
Our Gang Gallery
