The Little Rascals (animated TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Little Rascals was a 1982-1984 Saturday morning cartoon
series produced jointly by Hanna-Barbera Productions
and King World, and broadcast on ABC
. Based upon the classic Our Gang
comedy
short films, it was part of a 90-minute package program, The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
, with Pac-Man
and Richie Rich
in 1982–1983, and part of the 30-minute The Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show in 1983 - 1984.
, using soundtracks from the original Our Gang films. In 1979, Fred Wolf
produced an animated The Little Rascals Christmas Special for NBC
. That company's version was further used in animated public service announcement
s.
s and television
, which could be assumed that these were the descendants of the original Little Rascals. Buckwheat is now a clever inventor, always creating new devices for the gang, and Darla's eyes were changed from hazel to blue (although this detail was trivial given that most of the Our Gang shorts were in black-and-white). Also in the animated series, the Rascals met in a treehouse and drove around the town of Greenpoint in a dog-drawn vehicle. Also, the popular theme music
was completely different.
Saturday morning cartoon
A Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
series produced jointly by Hanna-Barbera Productions
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
and King World, and broadcast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Based upon the classic Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
short films, it was part of a 90-minute package program, The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show was a package show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1982 for ABC Saturday mornings. In 1983, Pac-Man was given its own half-hour, and the program was retitled The Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show...
, with Pac-Man
Pac-Man (TV series)
Pac-Man is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera based on the video game Pac-Man by Namco, which premiered on ABC and ran from 1982 to 1983. During the first airing of the show, the large number of advertisers sponsoring it caused commercial breaks to be double their normal length...
and Richie Rich
Richie Rich (1980 TV series)
Richie Rich is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on ABC from 1980 to 1984. Based upon Harvey Comics' popular Richie Rich comic book characters, shared time slots with Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Little Rascals, and Pac-Man over its original broadcast...
in 1982–1983, and part of the 30-minute The Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show in 1983 - 1984.
Previous Little Rascals/Our Gang animated television programs
The Little Rascals had been animated for television twice before. In the 1960s a series of clay-animated Little Rascals Color Specials were produced for syndication, presumably by Art ClokeyArt Clokey
Arthur "Art" Clokey was a pioneer in the popularization of stop motion clay animation, beginning in 1955 with a film experiment called Gumbasia, influenced by his professor, Slavko Vorkapich, at the University of Southern California.After the Gumbasia project, Art Clokey and his wife Ruth came up...
, using soundtracks from the original Our Gang films. In 1979, Fred Wolf
Fred Wolf
Fred Wolf is an American animator. His works include the 1967 short subject The Box, for which he won an Academy Award; television specials such as The Point! and Free to Be... You and Me, and television series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, James Bond Jr., and Sarah Ferguson's Budgie the...
produced an animated The Little Rascals Christmas Special for NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. That company's version was further used in animated public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
s.
Differences between the animated series and the live-action Our Gang films
The animated series and the original live-action Our Gang films differ in a number of ways. The gang now lives in a contemporary 1980s setting, with computerComputer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, which could be assumed that these were the descendants of the original Little Rascals. Buckwheat is now a clever inventor, always creating new devices for the gang, and Darla's eyes were changed from hazel to blue (although this detail was trivial given that most of the Our Gang shorts were in black-and-white). Also in the animated series, the Rascals met in a treehouse and drove around the town of Greenpoint in a dog-drawn vehicle. Also, the popular theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
was completely different.
Voice actors
Hanna-Barbera's Little Rascals animated series had six voice actors:- Peter CullenPeter CullenPeter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
as Pete the PupPete the PupPete the Pup was a Pit Bull character in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies during the 1920s and 1930s...
and Officer Ed - Patty MaloneyPatty MaloneyPatricia Anne "Patty" Maloney is an American actress with dwarfism.-Biography:She was born in Perkinsville, New York. She stands 3 feet 11 inches and weighs 60 pounds...
as Darla HoodDarla HoodDarla Jean Hood was an American child actress, best known as the leading lady in the Our Gang series from 1935 to 1941. She was born in Leedey, Oklahoma, the only child of James Claude Hood and Elizabeth Davner... - Julie McWhirter DeesJulie McWhirterJulie McWhirter is an Indiana-born voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Kanga in "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore". Her voice acting also includes numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoons, such as Jeannie, Jabberjaw, Casper and the Angels, Drak Pack and The Smurfs...
as Alfalfa, Porky and Woim - Scott MenvilleScott MenvilleScott David Menville is primarily an American voice actor, actor, musician, and comedian.-Early life and career:The son of Chuck Menville, he was bassist for the Southern California rock band Boy Hits Car, which released three albums until he left the band in 2006. He was with the group since...
as Spanky - Shavar RossShavar RossShavar Malik Ross is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, editor, photographer, author, and entrepreneur. He is known for his recurring television roles as Dudley Ramsey on the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and as Weasel on the ABC sitcom Family Matters.-Biography:Ross...
as Buckwheat - B.J. Ward as Butch and Waldo.