Culver City Township and Homes

Our Gang was the name of a popular and successful American film series of comedy shorts centered around a group of child actors known collectively as "The Little Rascals". Between 1922 and 1944, there were over two hundred and twenty shorts, more than any other film series for a comedy team, using a revolving stable of over two hundred child actors. Several of the kids lasted for as long as fifteen to twenty short films while others only appeared in five or less. Of these, only about thirty to thirty-five stood out with as many as twenty films to their credit. The series had started out in the Pathe silent film series and later graduated to "talkies," many of which became famous on television throughout the Fifties and Sixties as "The Little Rascals" TV Series. Our Gang was created by Hal Roach, one of Hollywood's top producers, responsible for launching the careers of Laurel and Hardy, James Finlayson, Harold Lloyd, Fatty Arbuckle, Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Theda Bara, several of whom even appeared in Our Gang shorts. After leaving Our Gang, several of the Little Rascals went on to work with Groucho Marx, Abbott and Costello, Buster Keaton, Bob Hope and John Wayne. Today, the Our Gang legacy of equality, perseverance and determination is still felt today in modern movies such as The Goonies and The Sandlot.

    Alfalfa Age 13


Bio: Well-recognized by that trademark cowlick and freckles, Alfalfa Switzer is full on pride, self-assurance and self-esteem with quite a little eye for the ladies; the only thing that can knock him back to reality is Butch, who often makes him the victim of many cruel pranks and threats. Some of these embarrassments though are the results of efforts from his friends trying to do what's right for him or just trying to knock his ego down to level. Possibly the most dimensional character in the series, he is the best friend of Spanky, a leader and role model for Porky and Buckwheat and the number one pursuer of love from Darla. It is for all these reasons that he possibly stands out as the most famous "Little Rascal" of them all, second only to Spanky himself.



Buckwheat Thomas  (age 5)

Bio: There can only be one Buckwheat, but there have been a few Buckwheats. Stymie's sister, Marmalade, was nicknamed Buckwheat in The First Round-Up and Honky Donkey, and it is possibly because of this that poor Billie was thought to be the daughter of the housekeeper at Spanky's house.
Buckwheat's mom works as a housekeeper for Spanky's parents in Anniversary Trouble (Spanky even impersonates him once after their club dues go missing), but he becomes close friends with Spanky's little brother, Porky. Buckwheat seems to be well liked and popular among the neighborhood kids. In fact, when Buckwheat goes to light the stage lights in one of Spanky's shows in Our Gang Follies Of 1936, everyone in the audience says hi to him.
Truthfully, Buckwheat and Porky are often forced to be little more than sidekicks and messengers for the bigger kids, even playing caddy to them at the golf course in Divot Diggers. When they're not delivering messages or saving the day, they are playing marbles or lighting firecrackers, once getting the fun activity confiscated by Spanky and Alfalfa disguised as a G-Man in Two Too Young.
Buckwheat often follows Porky's lead as they follow the bigger boys, though he never knows what is going to happen. When they break into the school after dark to retrieve a phony excuse note, he gets scared as he is left alone as lookout even as Porky delights in scaring the others in Spooky Hooky. Buckwheat is scared of the dark and believes in ghosts. (Spooky Hooky) He gets terrified after playing detective with Alfalfa and Porky and getting deposited from a crate in the haunted house attraction at Seaside Amusement Park in Hide And Shriek. In Don't Lie it is revealed that Buckwheat has been known to be somewhat of a liar. When he reports seeing something weird at a local haunted house, everyone thinks it's another lie, but in the end, when things are explained in the daylight, everything turns out all right.

Darla

Age 10

One of the most instantaneously recognized Rascals, cute and adorable Darla Hood is first introduced in Our Gang Follies Of 1936, a singing revue which Spanky throws for the other kids to earn spending money. Darla apparently loves to sing. She sings the song, "I'll Never Say Never Again." In her first appearances, she has blonde hair, harkening back to Mary Kornman and Jean Darling; but she later reverts back to the familiar brunette locks for which she is best known.
Darla's character is the daughter of James B. Hood, the local dentist, who is also revealed to be the owner of a circus (Bear Facts, in which his last name is said to be 'King') and seems well-to-do, but not as wealthy as the family of Waldo. He refers to his wife as "Mother," and later remarries after Darla's mother has passed on (Wedding Worries), and he is often very exasperated by Darla's friends, especially when they stay the night (Night 'N' Gales). Interestingly enough, in Night 'N' Gales, her father's name is Arthur Hood, while in Feed 'Em And Weep, his name is John Hood. Darla also has a little brother Junior seen in that short.
Darla is a gifted little singer, appearing in several of Spanky's shows and once nearly on the radio if not for Alfalfa Switzer. Alfalfa considers Darla his girlfriend, and she very much enjoys the attention, but when the gang is taking his attention and he neglects her, she is not hesitant to use Waldo or even Butch to make Alfalfa jealous.