Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 27, 2021

ClassicFlix is continuing its travels through the often sweet and charming world of The Little Rascals, having already offered fans both The Little Rascals Volume 1 and The Little Rascals Volume 2. This volume continues ClassicFlix's chronological approach to releasing these beloved shorts, this time offering eleven offerings from 1932 and 1933. Probably of more interest than production years, though, is the fact that this volume also introduces one of the most fondly remembered characters in the annals of The Little Rascals, George "Spanky" McFarland.

Details about the eleven shorts in this collection are below, which include some information from ClassicFlix as well as some thoughts of my own.

Readin' and Writin' (Released January 2, 1932). It's kind of funny to see how many of these Little Rascals shorts tended to revolve around some kind of truancy, and that's once again the case here with regard to Breezy. Maybe because she was such an utter failure at keeping the kids in school, this was the last appearance of June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree.

Free Eats (Released February 13, 1932) features the first appearance of three year old George McFarland as Spanky, which he would continue playing for more than a decade subsequent to this film. This has a rather interesting socioeconomic subtext which places it firmly in the throes of the Depression.

Spanky (Released March 26, 1932) offers a title which may indicate as well as anything how quickly McFarland's character caught on with the film going public. Spanky is something of an explorer in this one, uncovering a stash that belongs to his father.

Choo-Choo! (Released May 7, 1932) might be seen as a fun companion piece to Railroadin', which was one of the shorts included on The Little Rascals Volume 1, with the kids desperate to take a train ride, come heck or high water.

The Pooch (Released June 11, 1932) offers the other cute tot who gives Spanky a run for his screentime money in this volume, namely Stymie, here trying to rescue sweet doggie Pete from the clutches of the dog catcher.

Hook and Ladder (Released August 7, 1932) introduces Dickie Moore in a short focusing on the kids as firefighters.

Free Wheeling (Released October 1, 1932) offers Dickie again, here trying to find some adventures away from the 1932 version of a helicopter parent.

Birthday Blues (Released November 12, 1932) continues the Dickie emphasis, which sees him now trying to buy a birthday present for the 1932 version of a helicopter parent.

A Lad an' a Lamp (Released December 17, 1932) is a sweet riff on Aladdin (i.e., the underlying story, not necessarily this film version), with the kids setting out to find that fabled magic lamp.

Fish Hooky (Released January 28, 1933) continues the aformentioned emphasis of many of these shorts on playing hooky, as the title of this particular short clearly indicates. However, plans change when it turns out Miss Kornman may have actual fun plans for the ostensible "school day".

Forgotten Babies (Released March 11, 1933) offers a recipe for disaster when the bulk of the kids want to frolic and leave Spanky in charge of their younger siblings.

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Little Rascals, The ClassicFlix Restorations Volume 3 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of ClassicFlix with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.38:1. The restoration comparison featurette on this disc, while different from the one included on , does offer the same background information on the transfers and restorations:

Original nitrate film elements for the iconic Hal Roach "Our Gang" film series, later to be known as "The Little Rascals", have languished in studio vaults for decades without any urgency or desire to preserve, restore and release these beloved short subjects with presentations worthy of their status in popular culture.

ClassicFlix has endeavored to right this wrong by seeking out and finding the best available film elements for each short in this collection.

I'd rate this Volume 3 a general if slight step up from Volume 2, though there are still some "baked in" issues that the restoration hasn't been able to completely eliminate. There is some really appealing fine detail on display throughout many of these shorts, with things like patterns on clothing or textures of fabrics being rendered with appealing precision. As with the two other volumes in this set, clarity and general detail levels can ebb and flow between shorts, and frankly at times even within any given short. ClassicFlix tends to do an excellent job balancing the needs for cleaning up badly damaged source elements with attempts at preserving a natural, organically filmic appearance, and if things can look just slightly soft and even filtered on occasion, there is certainly a grain field in evidence and all in all, my hunch is fans of The Little Rascals will be generally well pleased with the results.

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Little Rascals, The ClassicFlix Restorations Volume 3 offers another round of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks that are very much in keeping with what was heard on the first two volumes. As I mentioned in our The Little Rascals Volume 2 Blu-ray review, the sound restoration here, while perhaps not as immediately visceral as the video presentation, is remarkable in its own right, and things like large pops and cracks have been dutifully dealt with. The tracks are still very much of their time period, when sound technology was still in its infancy, which can lead to thinness in music and an overall pretty shallow sound. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Restoration Comparison (HD; 4:59)


• The Little Rascals, Volume 1 Trailer (HD; 2:45)


• The Little Rascals, Volume 2 Trailer - Lovesick (HD; 2:33)


• The Little Rascals, Volume 2 Trailer - Stymie Shines (HD; 2:04)

Additionally, a Trailer (HD; 3:52) for ClassicFlix's release of Zenobia is included. The inner print of the keepcase insert offers brief synopses and various trivia datapoints for each of the shorts included on the disc.

The Little Rascals Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Between Spanky, Stymie and Dickie (and, for dog lovers, Pete), the "cuteness quotient" of this set of shorts is almost incalculable. ClassicFlix is continuing its commendable offering to fans of a nice chronological tour of the Little Rascals shorts in versions that, while perhaps not practically perfect in every way, are generally much nicer looking and sounding than any previous versions I've personally seen. Recommended.