Hot 888 Mama . . . budding mansion mogul "Wallace" invites the Unscrubbed Our Gang and their dirty mule into the innermost recesses of his palatial palace toward the beginning of HONKEY-DONKEY. The title animal, a vociferous Jackass named "Algebra," gets to take its first snooze between satin sheets, after tiring itself out running up and down grand staircases, kicking out walls, and engaging in other donkey hijinks. The socialist moles who had recently wrested control of Our Gang production during the depths of America's Great Depression take great pains to outline the sort of Reckoning Day on the horizon for U.S. fat cat One Per Centers with HONKEY-DONKEY. This impending Judgement Hour will see the unwashed masses surging like THE BLOB across the arrogant aristocrats' neatly manicured lawns, around their spacious verandahs, through their gaping picture windows, over their haughty carpets, and right into the treasure troves not-so-well concealed in their walk-in closets.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Honky Donkey" is a black-and-white sound film from 1934, so this one is already way over 80 years old and if you know a bit about American short films from the 1930s, then you won't be surprised that this is another Rascals/Our Gang episode directed by Gus Meins. It runs for almost 17 minutes and shows us what happens when the gang runs into a rich boy who takes them to his place where a donkey (as the title accurately describes) causes all kinds of mayhem to anybody. I must say I like donkey, but this one here left me fairly uninterested sadly, maybe because the longer the film goes the more does the entire thing turn into one scene of havoc after the next. There is no chronology in here, no plot really, no character development and this one is probably at its worst when they include random slapstick scenes of Spanky and Scotty. I just hope the ways in which you read about child abuse back in the early days of film wasn't a factor here. Or animal abuse. Animals sure played a bit of a role in many Rascals films, but here Meins certainly went a bit over the top. I did not find it funny or interesting and 4 stars out of 10 is still really on the generous side. Don't watch.

MartinHafer This has to be the most contrived Our Gang comedies. It makes for VERY tough viewing and is a short I would recommend skipping unless you are a person who MUST see every film they made. Yes, it's that bad...The film begins with a rich kid and his chauffeur downtown. They come upon the gang and the kids are having a lot of fun with their mule, 'Algebra'. So, the rich kid invites everyone to his place...and the place is turned upside down by this annoying mule with a VERY contrived gimmick. You see, every time someone sneezes, the mule goes crazy and begins chasing them and every time it hears a bell it sits down and refuses to do anything. Does this sound funny? No. And sadly the writers must have taken a vacation and just mailed in this sorry excuse for a plot. Unfunny and annoying--which isn't too surprising, as Hal Roach shorts with animals tend to be rather poor--such as Laurel & Hardy's "Angora Love" or "The Chimp". And, to make things worse, someone thought it was funny to give the mule Mickey Daniels' annoying laugh....uggh!By the way, this is the second film with Buckwheat. No, it's not THE Buckwheat but a girl who goes by that name. Later, the REAL Buckwheat would become a stat with Our Gang films.

Ron Oliver An OUR GANG Comedy Short.Pampered rich kid Wally is delighted to find Stymie, Spanky & the Gang playing in an alley with their donkey Algebra. Bringing them all back to his home, they engage in rambunctious play. But when Algebra gets into the mansion, everyone is soon involved in playing HONKY-DONKEY to get rid of the recalcitrant creature.A funny little film, with some good moments watching the Rascals at play. Willie Mae Taylor portrays the part of `Buckwheat'.