A Little Rascals Color Special was the title given to a series of clay animated remakes of films from the original Our Gang series. Little information is available on these shorts. Each short reuses the full audio from a Hal Roach entry, with the action performed by clay puppets. Oftentimes, content considered politically incorrect was reworked. Little information is available on the series. The shorts were never commercially sold. It is unknown how many clay remakes were produced, but five have survived. King World Productions founder Charles King is credited as presenter. It is believed that the animation was produced by British stop-motion animators Bob Bura and John Hardwick.
Shorts[]
Differences Between Original Shorts and Clay Remakes[]
| Original Short | Clay Remake | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| The main group of Rascals consists of six kids, in addition to Pete, Marmalade, and two unnamed boys. | The main group consists of only five kids. | ||
| The kids run away after they first spot Miss Crabtree, leaving Captain Gilbert to finish his story to Marmalade. | Marmalade runs with the other kids, leaving Captain Gilbert to finish the story to himself. | ||
| Stymie mentions his father in jail. | Another kid mentions his father in jail. | ||
| After being scolded by Miss Crabtree, the following exchange occurs between the kids: Spud: "Boy, will my pop swipe my pants when he finds this out." Wheezer: "Yeah. I wish I was a pirate. Pirates never have to go to school." Jerry: "Yeah, what good is school, anyhow?" |
The three lines are respectively spoken by Stymie, Spud, and Wheezer. | ||
| The kids dress as pirates throughout the nighttime sequence. | The kids where their usual clothes, but do wear pirate hats. | ||
| When Dorothy scares the boys, the following dialogue occurs: Wheezer: "Gee whiz, you girls make me sick." Jerry: "That's what I say." |
Both lines are spoken by Wheezer. | ||
| Shortly after getting on the boat, unsuccessfully Stymie attempts to run away. | Jerry is the one that tries to leave. | ||
| When the kids discuss the mistake they made, Jerry suggests that if "we hadn't played hooky, we wouldn't be in this mess". After Dorothy states that she would rather go to school then be a pirate, Georgie replies, "Me too!". | Jerry's line is given to Spud. As a clay model of Georgie was not used, his line is given to Jerry. | ||
| After Captain Gilbert suggests cooking a Rascal with "lots of dark meat on it", the kids all look at Stymie, thinking Gilbert is referring to him. Stymie then says, "Dark meat? Uh, oh". | After Captain Gilbert's suggestion, the kids all look at Pete, thinking Gilbert is referring to him. Jerry then says Stymie's line. | ||
| During the Chinese typhoon sequence, Wheezer and Dorothy take refuge in one crate, while Spud, Jerry, and Georgie take refuge in another crate. | Spud and Dorothy share a crate, while Wheezer shares one with Jerry. | ||
| When talking to Miss Crabtree about going back to school, Spud says that the kids will never play hooky again. | Jerry is given Spud's line. | ||
| A crew member with false eyes (Charles Oelze) chases Stymie around the ship, while another crew member (Harry Bernard) pretends to be the ship's cook. | One crew member is used for both roles. | ||
| During the finale, as the crew members are chasing the kids, two of the men says, "We'll take him!", before chasing Spud. | One crew member says the line, before chasing Dorothy. | ||
| At the end of the film, Wheezer hits Harry Bernard on the head. | Wheezer hits another crew member. | ||
| Original Short | Clay Remake | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| The audience is more racially diverse. | |||
| Woim is a member of the Rascals. | Woim is an audience member.. | ||
| During the first song, Jerry asks Spanky, "How do I know if it's worth the dough?". | This line is sung by Woim. | ||
| Rex asks for a ticket, before sneaking into the basement with two other kids hiding under his coat. | Rex asks for one ticket, and another kid merely walks in with him. | ||
| A girl shows Leonard to his seat. | A boy shows Woim to his seat. | ||
| Much of the material given to Dickie Jones and Woim in the original short is given to one kid in the remake. | |||
| After the lights are dimmed, a group of black boys in the audience slowly disappear until only their eyes are visible. | The light merely dims on a group of kids in the audience. | ||
| The female chorus line is more racially diverse. | |||
| During the "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm" song, Buckwheat is chased offstage by a monkey. The monkey continues to pick on him throughout much of the film. | Midway through the song, another boy joins Buckwheat on stage. The unnamed kid is the one bothered by the monkey. | ||
| During the "The Ghost Frolic" dance, the black boys' eyes slowly disappear. At the end of the dance, the same boys are seen hiding in a pile of rocks. | The gag involving the eyes is not used. At the end of the dance, several audience members are seen hiding in a pile of rocks. | ||
| When Spanky suggests that the boys stand in for the "Flory-Dory Girls", Dickie Jones insists that they are unfamiliar with the girl's dance. | Scotty is given Dickie's line. | ||
| Dickie reminds Woim to "do everything that Spanky does". | Scotty reminds all of the boys to copy Spanky. | ||
| Buckwheat joins the other boys for the "Flory-Dory Girls" number. | Buckwheat is absent from the final number. | ||
| Original Short | Clay Remake |
|---|---|
| During the climax, Spanky, Alfalfa, and Darla ride on top of a cart, while Buckwheat and Porky ride on the bottom. | Only Spanky and Alfalfa ride on top of the cart, while only Porky rides on the bottom. |