Little Rascals (Our Gang) DVD's... (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

I wish there was someone properly handling
the sound shorts.

Would love to see a "definitive collection" available.

 

[Tony S]

^I would love to have that as well.

 

[Jon Martin]

Does anyone remember RASCAL DAZZLE, a sort of compilation film narrated by Jerry Lewis?

It seemed to air daily in the early days of HBO. I saw it countless times and would love to see it again. I don't think it ever got a DVD release.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I remember it!

It was a rather well done documentary.

 

[Ruz-El]

I would buy these in a heart beat. I haven't seen any of these since I was a kid in the 80's. I've never seen the silents before, I guess it's as good a place as any to start.

 

[Tony S]

If I understand correctly Warner Bros. (via MGM) owns the ones from 1938-1944 (nearly 60 shorts). Have they been asked in a recent chat about releasing these?

 

[Brian Kidd]

They're pretty bad when compared to the Hal Roach shorts, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for poor Froggy.

 

[CameronMcC]

wondering if there had been any update on the above mentioned sets. I do have a bit of info that is far gone, but may help some of you track down a few more shorts. Warner Brothers released a disc last year at Suncoast with four shorts. You could only get it when you picked up a pre-ordered copy of King Kong.

It contains
Our Gang's Favorite Alfalfa
- Alfalfa'a Aunt (1939)
- Alfalfa's Double (1940)
- Cousin Wilbur (1939)
- Auto Antics (1939)

it has alfafa in the center of a pink cover. So keep your eyes peeled in the used bins. I can only hope this means Warner has been prepping for a set.

 

[Tony S]

Amazon has a listing for a new 3 disc set:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Rascals...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

It's from a company called Legend and it releases on March 27th. According to the box art it contains b&w and colorized versions.

 

[Eric Peterson]

That set looks a bit suspect to me. I'll bet that it's shorts that have slipped into the public domain as well as TV appearances, and other misc.. The box says "Tons of bonus features" and when it's a small unheard of company, this makes me nervous.

 

[Tory]

That above set contains three individual release available separately at amazon. Their individual listings say:

The Best of Our Gang 5 Rare & Uncut Episodes with "Kid From Borneo," "Hide & Shriek," and More! Plus Bonus Extras.

The Best of Spanky 5 Rare & Uncut Episodes with "Shrimps for a Day," "Choo Choo" and More! Plus Bonus Extras.

The Superstars of Our Gang 5 Rare & Uncut Episodes with "Free Wheeling," For Pete's Sake" and More! Plus Bonus Extras.

Looks kind of crummy to me, especially with the color.

 

[Jack Theakston]

That's funny, I was under the impression that Hallmark DIDN'T license out their material to other companies.

...I wonder how Legend got ahold of this deal?

 

[Brian-W]

I think I'm going to be sick.

(yes I know it also has the B&W versions)

Sad, very sad we can't get proper rascals treatment like the Cabin Fever discs (LD)

 

[Paul_Nyman]

Has anyone heard the current news:

http://www.thelittlerascals.net/laug..._DVD_news.html

It's a slow process,but I'm looking forward to getting this set!

 

[Neal K]

Hallmark doesn't own the silents, as is the case with the Laurel and Hardy silents, hence the "Lost" Laurel and Hardy series on Image.

 

[Jack Theakston]

KID FROM BORNEY, HIDE AND SHRIEK, etc. are all sound shorts-- all still owned by Hallmark.

So what gives? How did Legend get the deal no one else could get?

 

[Brian Kidd]

Well, several of the silents were later on remade as sound shorts. It's possible that these are silents with similar titles. I'll have to look at my Maltin book.

 

[Tory]

I thought it was still a little unclear as to who owns Little Rascals and the Hal Roach properties. Hallmark sold RHI back to RHI and where the Hal Roach material landed was uncertain yet it seems that Hal Roach material aside from the Little Rascals has been licensed to TCM for airing at least, it would be wonderful if that included DVDs but that has yet to happen. It could be that Hallmark or RHI still owns these and are now licensing them or Legend is a new imprint of their label or someone else entirely has bought the rights to these.

 

[Chuck Pennington]

Legend Films takes public domain films, restores, colorizes, and then copyrights them.

 

[Jack Theakston]

Hallmark still owns the Hal Roach sound shorts through the Halmi buyout. The price tag on them is way too high, and while it's not my business to say how much publicly, no one would buy them at the price asked. Equally high is the licensing rights.

KID FROM BORNEO and the other listed titles are NOT PD, as I know someone who licensed theatrical rights for the films shortly before Hallmark purchased them, and if they were in the public domain, I guarantee you that you'd see them out on every PD label out there.

So either Legend has made some sort of breakthrough deal, or they're distributing these shorts in an infringement of copyright.