The Little Rascals
| The Little Rascals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Network | ABC |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera King World Productions |
| Original release | September 25, 1982—December 2, 1983 |
| Starring | Scott Menville Julie McWhirter Patty Maloney Shavar Ross B.J. Ward Peter Cullen |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
| Director(s) | George Gordon Bob Hathcock Carl Urbano Rudy Zamora Gordon Hunt (voices) |
The Little Rascals is an American animated comedy television series produced Hanna-Barbera, in association with King World Productions, for ABC's Saturday morning children's programming, and ran from 1982 to 1983, airing 22 episodes in total that spanned two seasons. Before being its own independent series, its first and second seasons were shown as part of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show and The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show, respectively. It was based on the Our Gang live-action theatrical short films of the 1920s and 1940s.
In March of 1984, original Our Gang actor, Eugene Lee, who played the character Porky, sued Hanna-Barbera, in which he claimed that the animated character was in violation of his likeness rights, he was also joined by other original actors, George McFarland, Tommy Bond and Sidney Kibrick, who had played Spanky, Butch, and the Woim respectively. Upon further inspection, it was found that King World's license to Hanna-Barbera did not include the likeness rights of the former actors, and the case was settled out of court. Following the lawsuit, the series was never really aired in the United States after it's premiere, and was very rarely aired afterward making the episodes quite harder to come by.
On April 23, 2016, Warner Archive announced on Facebook in a now deleted post that the series will not receive a DVD release due to reasons beyond their control. The series will likely never see a home media release due to the previously mentioned lawsuit, and rights issues.
Production
Development
Concept art for The Little Rascals is believed to have been created as early as 1970. Children resembling Darla and Buckwheat appear in Harlem Globetrotters episode "The Great Ouch Doors."
Casting
- Julie McWhirter was cast as Alfalfa due to her similar voice characterization as Casper the Friendly Ghost on Casper and the Angels.
- Patty Maloney was cast as Darla due to her voice sounding very close to the real life child actress from the original theatrical shorts in 1936 through 1941.
Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin.
Episodes
| Title | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | September 25, 1982 |
| 1x02 | October 2, 1982 |
| 1x03 | October 9, 1982 |
| 1x04 | October 16, 1982 |
| 1x05 | October 23, 1982 |
| 1x06 | October 30, 1982 |
| 1x07 | November 6, 1982 |
| 1x08 | November 13, 1982 |
| 1x09 | November 20, 1982 |
| 1x10 | November 27, 1982 |
| 1x11 | December 4, 1982 |
| 1x12 | December 11, 1982 |
| 1x13 | December 18, 1982 |
| 2x01 | September 10, 1983 |
| 2x02 | September 17, 1983 |
| 2x03 | September 24, 1983 |
| 2x04 | October 1, 1983 |
| 2x05 | October 15, 1983 |
| 2x06 | October 29, 1983 |
| 2x07 | November 12, 1983 |
| 2x08 | November 19, 1983 |
| 2x09 | December 3, 1983 |
Cast
- Scott Menville as Spanky
- Julie McWhirter as Alfalfa, Porky, and The Woim
- Patty Maloney as Darla Hood
- Shavar Ross as Buckwheat
- B.J. Ward as Butch and Waldo
- Peter Cullen as Pete the Pup and Officer Ed
