Fishy Tales (1937)

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

. . . for an arm, leg, or tail from time to time? If "anthropomorphism" is the art of attributing animal characteristics to criminals, certainly the term "Zoolaunderlimericks" can be used to denote "Alfalfa's" mistaking a fish for his shin (an anagram of "Nish," which brings to mind "knish," the more popular of which are filled with fish) during the "Our Gang" episode FISHY TALES. Noted Real Life shrink "Oliver Baggy" will tell you that Alfalfa's strange misperception during FISHY TALES is not as bad as mistaking your wife for a hatpin. At least you can eat a fish. (Purists might argue that this would constitute cannibalism, but who's counting?) Within a few years of FISHY TALES' release, "Dr. Seuss" would break into the entertainment industry by writing rhyming narrations for U.S. Army boot camp "training"\propaganda cartoons. This arrangement, funded by U.S. taxpayers and War Bonds (not to be confused with "Ward Bond") , was NOT a "match made in Heaven." Bradley, Patton, MacArthur & Co. would have been better off if "Spanky" heard a "Who," not Hitler. FISHY TALES may have inspired the Good Doctor's "Private Snafu," but "Run, Alfalfa, run!!" does not sound like a winning War Cry.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Fishy Tales, is the one hundred fifty-eighth entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the seventieth talkie. Buckwheat has just gone fishing when he arrives at the clubhouse in time to replace Porky (because of his eating the target) in the William Tell exhibition in which Alfalfa shoots a dart on the apple on Bucky's head. Unfortunately, one of those darts hits Butch who gets plenty angry especially when a second hits him courtesy of Junior but he doesn't know that as he still wants to beat Alf. Spanky has his pal pretend to have a broken leg with Bucky's fish in a stocking being that particular leg. When Butch comes to see it, he seems convinced until...This was quite a funny short what with what I just described as well as some cats and a few other creatures that I don't want to reveal here. So that's a high recommendation of Fishy Tales.

The show begins with something every kid does--shoots apples off their friend's head with a rubber dart gun. However, the Alfalfinator accidentally hits Butch and Butch isn't about to let it slide. Alfalfa pretends to faint and before Butch can pound him, his mother calls him home. Butch promises to beat up Alfalfa later. In the meantime, Spanky gets some ideas to try to save Alfalfa's life. They pretend that Alfalfa dislocated his leg and cannot fight! Butch has a hard time believing that. What will happen next? Well, it involves cats...other than that, you'll just have to see it for yourself.This is a decent episode simply because it has no singing nor dancing--severe problems with many of these later shorts. Instead, the focus is on comedy--and I must admit that I laughed a lot at this one! Cute and well done--and one of the better late Our Gang films.

During an exhibition of his shooting abilities, Alfalfa accidentally shoots Butch with a suction cup dart. Butch, of course, wants to fight, so to get out of it Alfalfa fakes a leg injury. A newly caught fish, courtesy of Buckwheat, is used to simulate the bum leg. 'Fishy Tales' has some good situations for comedy, but they are delivered too quickly. The humor never has much of a chance to develop. Alfalfa still provides a few good laughs during the scene in which Butch examines the bum leg, though.