Cartoon
The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show
The Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show

Animal
Reformed pickaninny

Outfit: jeans / orange blouse / delicious pancakes

Tagline: "Hi, Ah'm Buh-Weet. Amembah me?"

Plot summary: The "Our Gang" series of comedy shorts is notable for being one of the first times in movie history that African-Americans and Caucasians were portrayed as equals. Original "Our Gang" kid Ernie Morrison was, in fact, the first black actor signed to a long-term contract in Hollywood history, and was the first major black star in Hollywood history as well. When he left the cast, he was replaced by "Farina," who once tried to paint a black baby with white shoe polish so that he could sell the baby to a fat kid. These strange cirumstances seem alien to us today, where black stars such as Marlon Wayans get paid millions of dollars to bring to life roles of more social and artistic significance, such as that of a midget criminal who poses as a baby and shocks people when they find out he has a grown man's penis.

The most famous black Little Rascal is without a doubt Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, originally an androgynous character with a tangle of braids who evolved into a character so devestatingly racist that he was unable to hook both straps on his suspenders for fear of causing something on his person to work. Often paired with the clearly non-stereotypical "Porky," Buckwheat served as a kind of Greek chorus to the Gang violence, happily exclaiming probably-not-as-racist-as-they-seem-now exclamations and observations between the pretty much homosexual adults saying things like "why yoooou" at them and the marble in the exhaust pipe beatdowns.

Fun fact - "O-tay!" was not Buckwheat's catchphrase, it was Porky's. This is a common misconception. Interestingly enough, there is a sex comedy about teenagers trying to lose their virginity called "Buckwheat." (more)

User Comments: The Little Rascals were animated a few times, but only once by Hanna-Barbera, and hoo boy, Hanna-Barbera made it count. Our Gang (or, "Their Gang" I guess) were transported into the modern times of the 1980s, with its computers and its televisions. The Gang was given a treehouse for meetings and a dog-drawn carriage to help them get from place to place. Oh, and before it slips my mind, THEY MADE BUCKWHEAT INTO A GENIUS INVENTOR.

I'm not kidding. In an attempt to ease the racial strife of the past 40 years, Hanna-Barbera turned the step-and-fetch kid into Data from The Goonies. He played the important cartoon role of "character who closes his eyes, sticks up his index finger, and suggests something intelligent/technological to advance the plot." Buckwheat was inventing shit off the top of his head (why do you think they had a dog car), and where was Froggy? Getting HIT by the dog car? Where was Stymie? Off somewhere pissing off a fatso? Nuts to that.

Look at him up there. He went from looking like Mrs. Butterworth to looking like young Michael Jackson.

User Rating: 7.7/10 (84,747 votes)