The Kid from Borneo

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially the kitchen-refrigerator scene where the "Wildman" eats the eggs & everything else. Spanky is in high form. Hal Roach was a real genius. The ending could have been a little better, though. Would have liked to seen it run a little longer, as well. Although a little short thats what these were designed at. Personally do not see anything "Politically incorrect" about it. Folks are just too sensitive now days. See something wrong where nothing is. Movie is an accurate depiction of those times. Totally innocent & very entertaining fare. Especially interesting is the historical perspective - carnival sideshows & living conditions during that time.

This one is as un-PC as they come, but it is quite possibly the funniest Little Rascals short ever made. The kids mistake "the Wild Man from Borneo" for "Uncle George" and some of the lines and actions that follow are priceless. Spanky is the main Rascal in this one, but Stymie has the funniest bits. This would never be made today and I am surprised that it was made back then. A black man chasing white kids with a large knife seems odd for the time even though it was a comedy setting and we are told up front that the wild man wouldn't hurt a fly. What is so refreshing about this and other Little Rascal shorts is how innocent the kids seem. A far cry from the wise cracking kids today who always outsmart the adults. Do not miss this one.

This Hal Roach comedy short, The Kid from Borneo, is the one hundred twenty-second in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the thirty-fourth talkie. In this one, the uncle of Spanky, Dickie, and Dorothy is supposed to come to town with a traveling sideshow. The mother is anxious to see him again but the father, not so much. The gang ends up going to the place the show's at but they miss him and sees this child-like man who loves candy but is mistaken for Spanky's uncle and also a cannibal...Okay, the fact that the "uncle" is black and primitive in characterization may give one pause watching today but otherwise, this was one of the most hilarious shorts in the series yet especially when Spanky and Stymie are involved! So on that note, I highly recommend The Kid from Borneo. P.S. This was Tommy Bond's second appearance in the series but the first in which he has lines.

Millions of children howled with delight when they saw this film on television in the 50's, and its just as funny today! Although there is arguably a subtle anti-miscegenation message here-what would happen if white children actually had a black uncle?-you must understand that sex, not race, was the taboo topic then, and 1930's audiences would have thought this perfectly appropriate comic fare, but would have been shocked and offended by what we would regard as the mildest of sexual innuendo found in current comedies! Children, however, are impressed by the madcap frenetic pace of the film, and the musical score that matches the action so perfectly-it is a work of true artistry in this regard. Most of the best Our Gang comedies have a racial theme-check out "Little Sinner" or"A Lad and a Lamp", for example. The comedy is nonetheless excellent-it's a marvel that they did so well on such a small budget. Anyone who can't appreciate these films is wound a little too tightly.

If given the difficult task of choosing the very best of the Our Gang comedies "The Kid from Borneo" would certainly be in the running. In this short, Dickie, Dorothy, and Spanky mistake a wild-man from Borneo for their uncle George. This wild-man has a taste for candy, so when he sees Stymie snacking on candy he pursues the gang, shouting "Yum yum, eat 'em up" the whole way. Of course the gang thinks he wants to eat them. The highlight of this film has to be Spanky's kitchen encounter with the wild-man. The scene is proof that Spanky was a child actor of amazing comic ability. Some of his reactions are so subtle yet hilarious you would think he had spent years studying the great comic actors of the time.