Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

How to 
Eat Fried Worms
gives viewers the satisfaction of seeing the bully deposed. At the 
film’s end, because of his eagerness to be fair, Billy joins Joe in doing what the bet 
requires: going to school wearing pants filled with worms.
Gangs and Clubs
Films about children’s self-organized groups, sometimes called gangs, usually 
include a good deal of material from the childhood underground. In 1922, a 
series of short films titled 
Our Gang
began a long, successful run. Produced by Hal 
Roach, this series featured a diverse group of child actors. 
Our Gang
’s humorous, 
realistic approach set a new standard for children’s films. After the short film series 
ended in 1944, the films became part of a television series, 
Th
e Little Rascals.
Some 
Little Rascals
episodes focus on children’s folklore. In “A Quiet Street” 
(1922), a new boy bullies little Jackie ( Jackie Cooper); gang members beat up the 
new boy and then discover that the boy’s father is a policeman. In “Lodge Night” 
(1923), the gang initiates a new boy into a secret club called the Cluck Cluck 
Klams (a parody of the name Ku Klux Klan). Other episodes show gang members 
starting a barbershop, a circus, a fair, and a racetrack of their own. “Shivering 
Spooks” (1926) portrays a séance. Several episodes demonstrate the delight of 
evading teachers and playing hooky. The Little Rascals Web page on TV.com 
(http://www.tv.com/little-rascals/show/10343/summary.html) provides detailed 
information on all of these early episodes.
In 1994, the feature film 
Th
e Little Rascals
introduced “Our Gang” characters 
to a new generation of children. The film mainly focuses on the boys’ club-
house, where no girls are allowed. Alfalfa (Bug Hall), who has fallen in love with 
Darla (Brittany Ashton Holmes), breaks the club’s rules by inviting Darla inside 
for a special dinner. Besides boy/girl interaction, go-kart racing gives the film 

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Contexts 137
dramatic tension. The gang’s go-kart, “The Blur,” seems inferior to a rich boy’s 
more expensive vehicle, but against all odds, it wins a race.
Since the late 1980s, films about skateboard gangs have reflected the popular-
ity of skateboarding as a neighborhood pastime. In 
Th
 rashin
(1987), members of 
a good skateboard gang, the Ramp Locals, feud with members of a bad gang, the 
Daggers. The film’s climax comes when the two gangs compete in a deserted river 
bed; of course the “good guys” win. In contrast to this entertaining but clichéd 
film, 
Dogtown and Z Boys
(2001) explores the history of skateboarding in Venice 
and Santa Monica, California. This documentary film, narrated by Sean Penn 
and directed by Stacy Peralta, explains how teenaged surfers helped to launch 
skateboarding as a sport. A feature film on the same subject, 
Lords of Dogtown,
appeared in 2005.
Camp
Many films about residential camps emphasize folk traditions, which draw 
campers together. Camp movies run the gamut from comedy to horror. In one 
of the first comedies, 
Th
 e Parent Trap
(1961), two girls get acquainted at Camp 
Inch. Identical 13-year-olds Susan and Sharon (both played by Hayley Mills) 
come from different parts of the United States; Susan’s home is a ranch in Cali-
fornia, while Sharon’s is a palatial house with a butler in Boston. The two girls 
immediately dislike each other. One night Susan and some of her friends sneak 
into Sharon’s cabin to wind string around the beds and make a mess with shaving 
cream and honey. After the cabin fails inspection, Sharon plans her revenge. Dur-
ing a dance to which boys are invited, Sharon creeps up behind Susan and cuts 
off the back of her dress. After this prank succeeds, the camp’s director places the 
two girls together in a separate cabin for the last four weeks of camp. During this 
period of isolation, they discover that they are twin sisters, separated because of 
their parents’ divorce.
Eager to meet the parent they have never had the chance to know, Susan 
and Sharon work out an elaborate plan to change places and bring their parents 
back together. Once they have taken on their new identities, the girls discover 
an obstacle: their father Mitch (Brian Keith) wants to marry an attractive young 
woman named Vicky ( Joanna Barnes) who dislikes children. Horrified by this 
threat of an evil stepmother, the twins reveal their identities. Their mother (Mau-
reen O’Hara) travels to California with Susan. During a camping trip, Susan and 
Sharon play a series of pranks on Vicky that culminate in her awakening to find a 
bear cub licking honey off her toes. Vicky calls the wedding off, leaving the twins’ 
parents free to remarry. In the 1998 remake of