Fish Hooky

Production Notes[]

Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography: Art Lloyd
Editor: Richard Currier
Titles:
Writer: Hal Roach
Released: January 28, 1933
Studio: M-G-M

Main Cast[]

Supporting Cast[]

Baldwin Cooke - Amusement Park Barker
Doris Oelze
Henry Hanna
Robert De War

The Short[]

Plot: Dickie Moore, Stymie Beard, Wheezer Hutchins and Uh-Huh Collum would much rather skip school to go fishing with Joe Cobb and Farina Hoskins. Joe offers to write them fake excuse notes, but the new teacher turns out to be Mary Kornman. She's back as their new teacher and has planned a day at Seaside Amusement Park for a first day, but the boys don't realize this until it is too late. Meanwhile, Mickey Daniels is back as the new truant officer and warns the kids how truancy can lead to reform school without revealing who he is, but once the kids see his badge, they make a run for it, leading to a chase that ends up at the beach. Mary gets the boys to promise to never again play hooky and they promise for the moment. Afterward, Mickey back with Mary reminds her of her childhood promise in Circus Fever to marry him since he's always been in love with her. Nearby, Spanky is trying to sleep as Mary coyly resists Mickey until Spanky intercedes and plays Cupid for them both.
Quotes:

"We used to pull that on Miss Crabtree" - Farina
"Here's some phony notes from the gang." - Spanky
"For the love of Pete, kiss him so I can go to sleep!" - Spanky

Notes/Trivia:

The short reveals that Mickey has become a Truant Officers. These officers were men assigned to stop kids from skipping school from the 1900s to the 1930s. The position features in several Our Gang shorts, most notably "Fish Hooky," as well as the 1940 Disney cartoon "Truant Officer Donald." They had the authority to suspend kids from school for playing hooky and even send them to reform school, as Mickey confesses. Today, though, the post of truant officer has been phased out in most states as a holdover from the Victorian era. and some schools handle matters of truancy internally.
This was the first short to mix "early Rascals" in the same storyline with "recent Rascals." Timeline-wise, this short would occur after Mickey and Mary's years in The Boy Friends. It would be their first time to speak as their characters since Talkies replaced Silent Film.
The opening shots were filmed on and near the Higueroa Street Bridge.
The fishing spot scenes were filmed at Bellona Creek, which has since been converted into a canal.
The schoolhouse was once located at 9109 David Street, but it has since been demolished.
In the short, Joe Cobb claims he used to play tricks on Miss Crabtree, but he must have been attending school behind the scenes because he had already "departed" in Bouncing Babies, eight shorts before Miss Crabtree first appeared in Teacher's Pet.
In 1972, Matthew Beard was living at Synanon over-looking the Old Venice Amusement Park near Santa Monica where the park scenes in this short was filmed, but by then, it had been condemned and was in the process of being torn down.
Blooper: When Wheezer and Uh-Huh are walking on their knees, one can see John Collum tripping and Bobby Hutchins trying not to laugh. Something like this happens again in the short, Men In Fright, when Eugene Lee (Porky) tries to hold in his laughter after adults fall victim to a bottle of laughing gas.
A YouTube video reveals the modern day locations of the scenes in this short.
This marks Joe's first appearance since Bouncing Babies. He'll make two more appearances in Pay As You Exit and Reunion In Rhythm.
This marks Farina's firs appearance since Fly My Kite and his last appearance in the series.
This marks Mickey and Mary's first appearance since The Fourth Alarm!. They'll make one more appearance in Reunion In Rhythm.
This is the only time Farina is in the same episode as Mickey and Mary.
This is the only time Mickey and Mary are seen with Speck, Echo, Cotton, Dickie Moore, Wheezer, Huh-Uh and Dickie Jackson.

Sequence[]

Previous Short: A Lad An' A Lamp
Next Short: Forgotten Babies