The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

LETS SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT! A lot of people are posting false information about this set (The Little Rascals – The Complete Collection) and constantly raving about the ‘Cabin Fever’ Little Rascals release (that seems to be made up of fuzzy memories).
First – This set is pretty good. All of the shorts are presented in what appears to be the original production order. The picture is much better than the film prints that are used on a lot of the older VHS releases (cleaner, a lot less crud on the picture). They are never going to look perfect. They were made in the 30’s and didn’t get the care of the other ‘Our Gang’ (the original pre-TV title of the series) shorts that MGM retained the rights to. The sound is not really that bad for early sound films. I can understand everything clearly and my hearing isn’t perfect and I don’t have a $3000 TV. The picture DOES NOT have excessive cropping. I compared it to other releases. If your TV or DVD player tends to have a lot of overscanning, then it might appear that way to you. The contrast looks the same as the much talked about Cabin Fever set (unless your equipment is faulty) The prints (with the exception of the Blackhawk sourced prints – which I’ll get to in a minute) ARE the SAME RHI ENTERTAINMENT prints that were used in the old “Cabin Fever” set. When played side by side, you get all of the same ‘damage’ on the film… It is identical.
The Problems with this set: For some reason, 13 Blackhawk Films prints were used instead of the prints with the original theatrical titles. (Blackhawk Films is/was a company that sold 8MM & 16MM film prints to libraries and for home viewing). At least one of these Blackhawk prints (Hide and Shriek) is massively out of sync (the sound and picture do not match up). (Vivendi has reissued all of the discs from this set, except for the bonus features disc. They have replaced all of the Blackhawk prints with RHI ENTERTAINMENT prints. These discs are super inexpensive and the same quality as the discs in this box set, but with the 13 substandard prints replaced.)
ALSO, people have complained about 2 of the shorts being edited. “Washee Ironee” is not actually edited, but it appears that there was an error during the digital mastering that caused about a 4 second skip in the video. The scene where the skip occurs makes no sense now. It is irritating. When Vivendi reissued the discs, they were unaware of the problem, so the error is on the new discs too. People (who are probably just repeating things that they have read) keep saying that “Bear Shooters” is edited, but no one seems to know what is missing. I have compared various prints and cannot find anything missing! (If you know what it is and have actually seen this footage, please let me know.) The Cabin Fever version is identical to the version in this box set. The Blackhawk print has different repairs to the film from the RHI copy, so there may be 2 to 3 frames missing here and there (that’s a fraction of a second… no missing dialog).
NOW, to briefly mention the Cabin Fever release of the Little Rascals shorts. It is talked about as if it is the definitive copy of the series. Well, it’s not… There were 21 one volumes released on 21 VHS tapes -or- 4 Box sets of Laser Discs -or- 6 DVDs (the 6 DVDs only contain the first 12 volumes. The DVD release was never completed). The shorts are not in any kind of order. Each volume had a super brief intro from Leonard Maltin (a popular film critic and film historian) and (at least on the VHS tapes) an ad for the Little Rascals Book. I haven’t checked out the Laserdisc set, but the VHS set is mediocre quality (VHS doesn’t even support full standard definition resolution). The Cabin Fever DVD set is not as clean as this new box set. Maybe if you own an old style -or- small screen TV, it looks fine.
IF YOU WANT THE DEFINITIVE SET, well, there is never going to be a set that will satisfy everyone. WHAT YOU COULD DO is to buy this set, then buy Disc 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the reissue discs released on the Vivendi label and swap them out with the matching discs in this box set (same exact discs except for replacement of some of the lower quality prints). Then find a disc with “Washee Ironee” on it that wasn’t mastered from the RHI ENTERTAINMENT print. Then you’ll be fine….
Of course, if you are going to do all of that, don’t forget to get the rest of the Our Gang Sound shorts in the box set from MGM. …and hope for a good box set of all of the silent films/episodes.
—> EXCITING UPDATE!!!!
I just bought another copy of this box set from W–LM-RT (for less than $10 dollars) with the idea to swap out the old ‘Genius Entertainment’ DVDs (that contained some Blackhawk prints) with the updated/corrected versions of the discs released by Vivendi. WHEN I OPENED the brand new package, I found that the new lower price set (in IDENTICAL packaging) already contained all of the updated discs. The bonus disc still says Genius Entertainment, but the other 7 discs say Vivendi Entertainment and have the ‘Pete the Dog’ Artwork!! 😀
WHAT A DEAL THIS REALLY IS NOW!! As far as I can see, there is no way to tell if you have the updated box or the original box without opening it and looking at the disc art.

– Robert Marzano

This is the second collection of Our Gang that I have purchased, the first being “The Little Rascals Collected Edition: 88 Complete & Uncut Episodes” (see my previous review) which was very good. I’m ecstatic to report that this collection is superior in every way imaginable.

To begin, the episodes are complete and uncut. All of the edited material hacked out back in the early 70’s has been restored. Although this was true of the other set, each show was slightly cut trimming out the opening and ending credits. Not so with “The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection”; it may be a minor point to some, but I prefer having the shows as close to perfection as possible.

Secondly, the episodes are presented in chronological order. This is sadly lacking from many other sets which are thrown together haphazardly, or in a “best of” format. Being able to watch the children grow from toddlers of 3-4 to pre-teens of 11-12 is rewarding in itself, not to mention the added enjoyment of observing the differing Rascals groups form and develop. It’s quite noticeable in the Farina/Stymie/Buckwheat progression, as the outgoing Rascal tutors his new “replacement” coming in. Also, Spanky’s childhood is effectively captured on film, and we watch him mature from precocious infant to mischievous child to charismatic young actor within 10 years or so.

Finally, unlike other versions which are extremely bare bones and without extras, this collection is loaded with special features. The first seven discs contain the 80 “Our Gang” Roach Studios talkies, each disc with a brief introduction from someone involved with the series. Sometimes it’s an actual Little Rascal, other times a producer, writer, etc. Throughout these 80 shows, 3 feature full audio commentaries, which are quite interesting and informative. The final 8th disc contains many extras, all excellent. Mini documentaries on the Roach studio atmosphere and racial relations are two of the best included. But the greatest special bonus is the inclusion of 3 early silent films of the Rascals in action.

FINAL NOTE: read through these reviews and you’ll notice a LOT of complaints about this collection. Sadly, they are valid BUT only for the original offering from the company. The sets available now contain updated discs without flaws. If you decide to purchase a currently offered collection, you’ll be fine, no problems to be found.

– Joseph A. Ardine

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Little Rascals
Directors: Na
Format: Multiple Formats, Mono, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 8
Rated: NR Not Rated
Studio: Genius Entertainment
DVD Release Date: October 28, 2008
Run Time: 1372 minutes
ASIN: B001CDFY5U