Little Rascals Trivia
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60 free Little Rascals trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Hal Roach got the idea for Our Gang in 1921 while watching some kids argue over sticks of wood in a lumberyard, and the series he built from it ran for 220 shorts, two studios and 22 years before becoming The Little Rascals in TV syndication. This Little Rascals trivia quiz covers all of it: the silent-era gang of Sunshine Sammy and Farina, the sound-era stars Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla and Porky, Petey the Pup and his painted eye ring, and the 1994 Penelope Spheeris film with its go-kart called The Blur. Some questions are easy: what the little kids said instead of 'okay', which club Spanky ran, who played Alfalfa's date in It's a Wonderful Life. Others go deeper: which short won the series its only Oscar, what MGM paid for the whole franchise in 1938, which British comic ran a licensed strip, and how much the child stars were paid in residuals for decades of reruns (the answer is not a happy one). Every answer has been checked against a source and each question shows its citation and a short explanation once you answer. Otay?
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Under what name did the Little Rascals shorts play in cinemas from 1922 to 1944?
Our Gang
Our Gang stayed MGM's trademark when Hal Roach bought his old shorts back in 1949, so he had to reissue them under a new name, The Little Rascals.
Q 02Which Little Rascals short reached cinemas first, in 1922?
One Terrible Day
One Terrible Day was the fourth short filmed, yet it jumped the queue to open on 10 September, eight weeks before the pilot.
Q 03About how many Little Rascals shorts were made between 1922 and 1944?
220
220 shorts in 22 years meant constant recasting: as the children outgrew their parts, the studio replaced them with younger ones to keep the gang young.
Q 04Which company distributed the Little Rascals shorts before Hal Roach switched to MGM in 1927?
Pathé
Pathé was also releasing the comedies of Roach's chief rival, Mack Sennett, so each cut into the other's business; MGM wanted a line of short comedies and offered a way out.
Q 05For how much did Hal Roach sell the entire Little Rascals unit to MGM in 1938?
$25,000
$25,000 bought MGM the name and the cast and writer contracts; Roach was leaving short films behind, and MGM did not want the series to end.
Q 06Which former fireman directed most Little Rascals shorts until 1933 and encouraged the kids to improvise?
Robert F. McGowan
Robert F. McGowan knew some of the children were too young to read a script, so he explained each scene just before filming and coached them through a megaphone.
Q 07Which future film director wrote gags for the Little Rascals in 1924?
Frank Capra
Frank Capra lasted only a brief stint as a gag writer on the kids' shorts before moving on to write for Harry Langdon at Mack Sennett's studio.
Q 08Which future child megastar auditioned for the Little Rascals but was turned down by the casting director?
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple never got past her audition: the casting director saw nothing in her for the gang, and later joked, 'Who else but me would turn down Shirley Temple?'
Q 09Which original Little Rascal was billed as Sunshine Sammy?
Ernie Morrison
Ernie Morrison, reportedly Hollywood's first Black actor on a long-term contract, was already on Roach's payroll: his own solo series stopped after one short, and he became a star of the gang instead.
Q 10How did Norman 'Chubby' Chaney get his place in the Little Rascals in 1929?
He won a nationwide contest
He won a nationwide contest, reportedly ahead of some 20,000 hopefuls, to replace Joe Cobb, who at twelve had outgrown his part in the gang.
Q 11Pete the Pup, the Little Rascals' ring-eyed dog, was which breed?
A pit bull terrier
A pit bull terrier named Pal joined the series as Pete in 1927, and by 1930 the part had passed to his own son.
Q 12How was the partial ring round the eye of Pal, the first Pete, completed?
It was painted in
It was painted in: Pal was born with most of the ring and the gap was filled by hand, and when his son took over as Pete the ring turned up round the other eye.
Q 13Before playing Pete, the dog Pal the Wonder Dog played Tige in which rival kids' comedy series?
Buster Brown
Q 21In which state was Little Rascals star Spanky McFarland born?
Texas
Texas-born in Dallas, he reached Hollywood so young that, he later said, he was five or six before he realised not all kids were in the movies.
Q 22In 1990, which TV newsmagazine was fooled by a man falsely claiming to have played Buckwheat in the Little Rascals?
20/20
20/20 presented an Arizona grocery bagger as the grown-up Buckwheat, until Spanky McFarland told reporters that the real actor had died ten years earlier.
Q 23In 1993, months before his death, Little Rascals star Spanky McFarland played himself in which sitcom?
Cheers
Cheers put him in the opening scene of 'Woody Gets an Election', filmed early in 1993; it proved the last television role of a man who had left acting as a teenager.
Roach later poached that series' director Gus Meins too; Pal also appeared in Harold Lloyd's The Freshman as a puppy.
Q 14What was the title of the first Little Rascals short made with sound?
Small Talk
Small Talk was shot in spring 1929, within days of sound equipment being installed at the Roach studio, and ran three reels instead of the usual two.
Q 15Which composer wrote the Little Rascals theme Good Old Days?
Leroy Shield
Leroy Shield's tune first opened a short in 1930; decades later a Dutch orchestra, the Beau Hunks, re-created his music by transcribing it from the films' soundtracks.
Q 16In the Little Rascals shorts Teacher's Pet and Love Business, Jackie Cooper has a crush on which teacher?
Miss Crabtree
Miss Crabtree upends Jackie's plans: expecting a dried-up old hag, he plots to wreck her first class, then finds the new teacher, played by June Marlowe, young and kind.
Q 17Little Rascals alumnus Jackie Cooper is best known to later audiences for playing which character in the Superman films?
Perry White
Perry White was a late break for Cooper: Keenan Wynn had been cast as the Daily Planet editor but fell ill before shooting his scenes, and Cooper stepped in at short notice.
Q 18Which Little Rascals bully later played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman serials?
Tommy Bond
Tommy Bond played the cub reporter opposite Kirk Alyn's Superman in 1948 and 1950, then quit acting for a long career in television production.
Q 19Where did Little Rascal Spanky McFarland's screen test end up?
In a short
In a short: the bug-hunting scene from the toddler's test was cut into the 1932 film named after him, Spanky, so audiences ended up watching his audition.
Q 20As a toddler, future Little Rascal Spanky McFarland modelled in advertisements for which product?
Wonder Bread
Wonder Bread gave him his break: an aunt sent his modelling pictures to Hal Roach's studio when it advertised for cute kids, and an invitation to audition followed.
Q 24In the Little Rascals short Hearts Are Thumps, what floats from Alfalfa's mouth as he sings after Spanky's prank?
Soap bubbles
Soap bubbles pour out because Spanky has slipped soap into his lunch, punishing him for deserting the boys to swap valentines with Darla.
Q 25Where were future Little Rascals Carl and Harold Switzer performing when Hal Roach discovered them?
In the studio's public cafeteria
In the studio's public cafeteria, after a tour, the sightseeing Illinois brothers burst into an impromptu act, and Roach signed them both.
Q 26Which hit does Alfalfa croon on the radio in the Little Rascals short The Pinch Singer?
I'm in the Mood for Love
I'm in the Mood for Love was meant for Darla, the club's chosen singer; when she fails to turn up at the station, Alfalfa takes her place at the microphone.
Q 27Which Little Rascal trailed the bully Butch as his sidekick?
Woim
Woim is at Butch's side in 1937's Glove Taps, the bully's first short; Butch himself was played by a returning actor who had earlier been one of the gang's ordinary kids.
Q 28In which Christmas classic does former Little Rascal Carl Switzer flirt with the heroine at a high-school dance?
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life casts him as Freddie, who tries his luck with Mary at the dance where the gym floor slides open to reveal a swimming pool.
Q 29Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of the Little Rascals was shot dead in 1959 on the same day which famous director died?
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille died after a heart attack that same 21 January; Switzer, only 31, was killed in a quarrel over a $50 debt connected with a lost hunting dog.
Q 30Which Little Rascals catchphrase, forever linked to Buckwheat, was first uttered by his sidekick Porky?
O-tay!
O-tay! began as Porky's line, but the two tag-alongs shared it as their rallying cry against the big kids, and it stuck to Buckwheat for good.