Bio[]
Our Gang's Xtra Big Circus is a multiple-act performance created by Spanky McFarland to raise money for Porky's parents to pay the rent. The circus-style show features a number of acts and animal attractions. First there is a "freak show" including Buckwheat Thomas as Oogie-Boogie, the Wildman from Borneo (possibly based on Spanky's memories of Bumbo), Darla Hood as a rattlesnake charmer, Junior as The World's Smallest Man, Corky as The World's Tallest Man, Porky as The Head Without A Body, and Malcolm and George Crosby as the "Sime And Neez Twins." The main event includes Jimmy Brown and Junior as clowns, Spanky and Leonard as acrobats, Darla in a lion-taming act with pets disguised as lions, and finally Alfalfa Switzer on a swing connected to a pulley singing "The Man On The Flying Trapeze," but not as well as The International Silver String Submarine Band in Mike Fright.
Notes: For this short, the Hal Roach writers seem to have forgotten that Porky has been Spanky's brother in the past. Therefore, it seems odd that Spanky is not concerned about the situation. Additionally, it seems odd that their parents who have seem to have been an upper middle class family with a housekeeper before (in Anniversary Trouble) would now have problems with rent instead of making payments on the house. It leaves one to speculate that their father must be having either money or employment problems.