Profile[]
Name: Dorothy (DeBorba) (Cooper}
Nick Name: Echo
Played By: Dorothy DeBorba
Born: 1925
Relatives: Mother, Jackie Cooper (brother), Wheezer (possible step-brother), Mary Ann (possible step-sister)
Clubs: None
First Short: Pups Is Pups
Last Short: Mush And Milk
Character[]
Bio: Echo got her name because she often repeated what she heard from the bigger kids as she heard them. However, what she heard was often similar to but not exactly like she heard. Despite this nickname, the Rascals never refer to her as Echo, but rather simply as 'Dorothy.' When first seen, she is seen as the little sister of Jackie Cooper and possibly at least a step-sister to Wheezer, who she joins with Stymie in following the kids to school. However, by Teacher's Pet and probably School's Out and Love Business, Dorothy turns out to be the younger sister of Chubby Chaney in another example of the skewered Our Gang continuity. It is hard to tell which of her appearances belong to which character.
Echo starts out as friends with Wheezer and Stymie. In School's Out, the three of them tie their wagon to the back bumper of Miss Crabtree's car to follow along when they don't fit in the teacher's crowded roadster, but it rips the front part of the wagon off when Miss Crabtree drives ahead. When they do get to school, Miss Crabtree gives them apples to eat, and when that isn't enough, the three resort to stealing the desserts from the lunch boxes of the bigger kids. When they're still hungry, Stymie knows how to get bacon and eggs to "talk" for free breakfast. He pulls this trick on Spud Bailey in Dogs Is Dogs.
Despite that adorable little girl façade, Echo is a tom-boy who enjoys playing in the mud in Pups Is Pups, and Jackie is forever trying to keep her clean. She runs with Dickie Moore's fire-fighting team in Hook And Ladder, rides Stymie's donkey-powered taxi in Free Wheeling, heads to the docks to listen to the tales of the old sea captain in Shiver My Timbers and discovers midget thieves at a garden party in Free Eats. She also helps out Grandma Mack at the general store in Helping Grandma.
When she grows up, Echo eventually starts attending Adams Street Grammar School just as her brother did, but Breezy Brisbane gives her a few dumb phrases to say in order to get himself expelled. Echo later attends Bleak Hill Boarding School in Mush And Milk, but things aren't as good there. There's no heat and all they have to eat is mush, but Old Cap promises better when his pension comes in.
As Dorothy, Echo pops up again as a older sister to Dickie Moore and Spanky in The Kid From Borneo and confuses Bumbo The Wild Man as their Uncle George. This is the third variation of the character. There is a fourth variation where Dorothy isn't a member of the gang, traveling on the train with her mother and encountering Wheezer and Spanky in Choo-Choo. She eventually gets in a fight with Sherwood and subsequently trades clothes with him.
Quotes:
- "Oh my darling, I hear the fleas in your whiskers!" - Echo repeating Chubby in Love Business
- "My heart is filled with joy, I want to rip my pants!" - Echo repeating Chubby in Love Business
Notes/Trivia[]
- The description above belongs to Echo as she was in her first appearance as the sister of Jackie Cooper's character, but technically, she made more possible appearances as Chubby Chaney's sister.
- The character was never referred to as "Echo" in any of the films; she was addressed dozens of times in her 24 films, but always as "Dorothy." "Echo" was a studio nickname.
- Through the series, Dorothy variously plays sisters to Jackie, Chubby, Wheezer and Spanky in different families. She is originally seen as Chubby's sister a few times and later as sisters of Wheezer and Spanky, respectively in Dogs Is Dogs and The Kid From Borneo. This situation abstractly makes Jackie, Chubby, Wheezer and Spanky brothers, but in all likelihood, each version is likely meant to be a separate character.
- Echo also appears in the Oliver and Hardy short, The Stolen Jools alongside Pete, Wheezer, Farina, Stymie, Chubby, Mary Ann and Shirley Jean.
- Echo (along with Alfalfa, Mickey, Chubby, Stymie, Dickie, Ernie, Froggy and Joe) is one of the few Rascals to not miss any shorts during their run in Our Gang.