Filho de Peixe, Peixinho é

Especially interesting for the miniatures of STAN LAUREL and OLIVER HARDY, since they play dual roles of father and son. The "brats" in the title are the kids who distract their fathers from playing a game of chess and are told to quiet down.

All of the sight gags are fun to watch and the trick photography with the "kids" appearing to cope with over-sized furniture and props is another point of interest.

For the finale, the "kids" forget to turn the water in the tub off after Hardy gets cooled off by the ever thoughtful Stan. The cooling process backfires when the lads forget to turn the water off. The movie concludes with Oliver promising to get the kids a glass of water if they promise to go to sleep.

As Stan starts for the bathroom door, Oliver stops him. "I'll get the water. You might spill it." And then the avalanche of water for the final shot.

Good gags and plotting make this one of the duos more enjoyable shorts, all of it benefiting from the performances of Laurel and Hardy.

Whilst the quite well known 'Our Relations' is the main feature on DVD 5 in the Complete box set, I actually think that much shorter 'Brats' has more of the pair's classic slapstick than the others and is funnier.

'Brats' has Ollie & Stan creating havoc around and on a pool table, whilst the brats in question are two little boys (impish Stan & Ollie again) with everything, including the furniture made much bigger to make them appear small. At one point an animated mouse appears to have been drawn onto the film's negatives, the creature being on Ollie's back whilst Laurel gets a gun to shoot it off. The tiny pair then take a massive bath that overflows, disastrously (of course) then they undertake a boxing match - Stan flailing about with huge boxing gloves always looks funny. Adult Ollie then sings them a lullaby that goes on to sound more like an opera!

One of the better Laurel & Hardy comedy short movies I have seen, 'Brats' stars only Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. They play Stan and Ollie and their sons. Both wives are out and now they have to take care of the children. While the children play the two adults play a game of checkers, with Laurel easily winning. After the children fight over and over again the kids are send to bed, but there their arguments continue. The fathers play a game of pool in the meanwhile.

This is a very creative short, with lots of big laughs. The scenes with the children have some very large furniture so the actors look smaller. For that reason alone this short is recommended, but fortunately there are more reasons, including those big laughs I mentioned. A very good comedy short, highly recommended.

This is one of those Laurel and Hardy shorts that you've just got to admire for its novel plot and amazing sets as opposed to how funny it is. This isn't to say the film isn't funny, but the reason most will enjoy it has more to do with the odd plot and cool sets.

Stan and Ollie play dual roles--as themselves and as their young sons! And to do this, some amazing sets needed to be constructed. Identical rooms and props needed to be made--one in normal size and the other about triple normal size to make them look like little kids (probably about four or five years-old). And the film seamlessly switches back and forth! You've just got to admire all the work and final product here.

As far as the humor goes, the film is a bit thinner than the usual film for the duo. While there are gags, most of the time it just consists of the child versions slapping each other around, though occasionally the adult Stan and particular Ollie, get their lumps as well. The very end of the movie is a terrific gag where adult Ollie gets his! Overall, this is a very unique and watchable film that most should enjoy. While not my favorite short, it is still well worth seeing and packs a lot of entertainment.

PS--a continuity problem exists in the film. Stan turns on the water to the tub and the tub seems to fill itself in just a few seconds AND the water turns itself off! While hardly a major mistake, it is rather striking.

With their wives out for the night, Laurel and Hardy are left to look after their sons. However, not having enough trouble simply trying to enjoy their games of draughts and pool, the two children are just as much of a handful as their dads.

As with many of their best shorts, the plot here is simple and allows for several extended sequences around the same theme. Here we have several good sequences – none of which would make the short it itself but together they work. The gimmick (for that is what it is) of Laurel and Hardy also playing their sons works quite well – although in the scenes where the adults and children are separate it doesn't really matter who is who as it's very much a case of `like father like son'.

The sequences are nothing you haven't seen before but the delivery of them is good and the short doesn't really dip more than once. That `once' is where Hardy sings. I enjoy his voice and always liked the features where he got more of a chance to sing a proper song, however here it goes on for a little longer than it should. The punch line is good but I really had hoped for more. Because it had been built up for about 3 minutes before it actually arrives I had been pumped up and then was a bit deflated by the actual delivery – but this was a minor flaw as I found the majority to be of their usual standard.

As adults or kids Laurel and Hardy are great. In all honesty there is no significant difference between their delivery as kids or adults but this doesn't matter. This is a fine example of their abilities as the two of them are the only people in the film – they carry the film and hold 100% of screen time. I know this must sound easy in a 20 minutes short but I feel that it only appears easy because they make it all look so effortless.

Overall this may be a little gimmicky but it works very well. I am probably a little jaded seeing adults playing kids etc in one form or another in recent movies but here the film moves past the gimmick and delivers classic Laurel and Hardy – just in two separate strands which come together in a flood of chuckles by the end.