One Froggy Evening (1955)

Director:

Chuck Jones

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Release Date:

31 December 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Plot:

A man futilely struggles to make his fortune with a frog that sings and dances, but only when it is alone with the owner.

Plot Keywords:

Frog | Singing Frog | Talent Agent | Theater | Cane

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bill Roberts

...

Michigan J. Frog (singing voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Chuck Jones		(as Charles M. Jones)

Writing credits
Michael Maltese		(story)

Produced by
Edward Selzer	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Milt Franklyn		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Treg Brown		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Treg Brown	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Animation Department
Philip DeGuard	....	background artist
Robert Gribbroek	....	layout artist
Ken Harris	....	animator
Abe Levitow	....	animator
Richard Thompson	....	animator
Ben Washam	....	animator
Willie Ito	....	assistant animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Milt Franklyn	....	musical director
Milt Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros.

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16892)

Company:

Warner Bros.

Trivia:

There is no spoken dialogue in this cartoon, just Michigan J. Frog singing.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the owner of the frog gets thrown out of the talent agency, there's a hand-print on the wall to the side of the door he is thrown from. In the next shot it's gone.

Quotes:

Michigan J. Frog:[singing] Everybody do the Michigan Rag / everybody likes the Michigan Rag / every Mame and Jane and Ruth / from Weehawken to Duluth / slide, ride, glide the Michigan / stomp, romp, pomp the Michigan / jump, clump, pump the Michigan Rag / that lovin' rag.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Looney Tunes: Space Race (2000) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Throw Him Down, McCloskey

Von Stroheim Can Kiss My Singing Green ***

"Greed" is one of the great American classics, but so often we limit ourselves to thinking of a film as a multi-hour feature film with live actors. In "One Froggy Evening" Chuck Jones tells the story of a construction worker demolishing a building and discovers a frog in the cornerstone. A SINGING FROG. Naturally, the first impulse is to make money on the frog. The only problem, the frog will only sing for this one guy. Not paying crowds, not talent agents, ONLY HIM. Slowly he is driven mad, not so much by the frog but by his own failed plans with the frog. Failing to recognize the special gift he has, he sees the building going up and sticks the frog back into the cornerstone. Years pass, and when the laser demolition-man is vaporizing the building with his 21st century technology, what does he find? A SINGING FROG. "You know," he thinks, "I could make some money." And so the cycle continues. People of any time are the same, they never learn. There's your moral. Chuck Jones does in 7 minutes what Von Stroheim took 7 hours to do. A genuine masterpiece of animation.