The First Round-Up

Stymie, Bubbles, Wally, Tommy, Scotty, Spanky, and Pete among others camping at Cherry Creek in The First Round-Up.

Produciton Notes

Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Gus Meins
Photography: Francis Corby
Editor: Ray Snyder
Titles:
Writer: Hal Roach
Released: May 5, 1934
Studio: M-G-M

Main Cast

• Cullen Johnson
• George McFarland
• Jackie Lynn Taylor
• Marvin Strin
• Matthew Beard
• Philbrook Lyons
• Scott Beckett
• Tommy Bond
• Wally Albright
• William Thomas Jr.
• William Wolfstone
• Willie Mae Taylor - Buckwheat

Supporting Cast

• Billy Bletcher - Wally's Father
• Zoila Conan - Wally's Mother

The Short

Plot: Wally Albright and the gang have planned for an elaborate camping trip for a week at Cherry Creek, but Wally's father is convinced his boy and the others will be back by nightfall. Meanwhile, Wally and Stymie try to shoo off Spanky and Scotty rather than to have to drag them along. Their reasoning is that the kids would never survive the trip, but upon arrival, Spanky and Scotty are already there after having hitchhiked their way to the site. This results in the theme of the trip with the younger boys reminding the older boys of their reluctance to have them around them. The little kids are also the only ones who planned far enough ahead to bring food, sharing it with the big kids in one big mob. As things get darker, the big kids get scared as the younger ones get excited, making shadows from their lamp which adds to the thunder and lighning passing over, inadvertently scaring off the older kids. Left alone, Scotty and Spanky are by themselves as their lamp is carried by a turtle under it into the creek, where it goes out. Spooked, they jump into their sleeping bags and stick their legs out to race after the big kids running home.
Quotes:

• "What took ya so long?" - Spanky
  
• "Aw, you don't want any little kids with you." - Scotty
  
• "Boy, this is great, ain't it fellows." - Wally Albright
  

Notes/Trivia:

• In this short, Buckwheat is a girl played by Willie Mae Taylor; the name would later be inherited by William Thomas, who appears in this short.
• The working title for this short was "Night Howls."
• The shadow animation was done by cartoonist Roy Seawright.
• The sign that says Cherry Creek 2 Miles was placed at the entrance to the Hal Roach Studios ranch which is today at the northwest corner of South Robertson Blvd and Hillsboro Avenue in Los Angeles.
  

Sequence

• Previous Short: For Pete's Sake!
• Next Short: Honky-Donkey

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