Plot summary for
One Froggy Evening (1955) More at IMDbPro »

A workman finds a singing frog in the cornerstone of an old building being demolished. But when he tries to cash in on his discovery, he finds the frog will sing only for him, and just croak for the talent agent and the audience in the theater he's spent his life savings on. Written by Paul Penna {tterrace@wco.com}

"One Froggy Evening" is considered by many to be among animation history's greatest masterpieces. A construction worker is part of a demolition crew, tearing down an old city building to make way for new construction. In the cornerstone he discovers an old, tattered box. When opened, out jumps a sad- and unimpressive-looking bullfrog. Unimpressive, that is, until he reaches for his cane and top hat and belts out the tune, "Hello! Ma Baby." The construction worker instantly deduces that this frog is his way out of the blue-collared lifestyle and into fabulous wealth. The man tells a stern-looking talent agent about his "discovery," but the frog only croaks (literally); it seems as though the frog will only perform for the construction worker and only when it's a one-man audience. Undaunted and still not coming to this realization, the man squanders his life's savings on the purchase of a theater, where he tries to get the frog to sing again. The frog does perform ... behind the jammed curtain, that is. By the time the man gets the curtain unjammed, the frog reverts to his sad-looking, croaking self, leaving his master to deal with an angry audience. Several months pass, and the man is now reduced to sleeping on park benches. The frog's singing disturbs the peace, and a policeman takes the hapless gent into custody. He ends up in a mental institution, where (you guessed it) the frog sings. The man, later released from the hospital, ends up discarding the frog and his box into the cornerstone of a new skyscraper. Fast forward to 100 years later, where that building is now being torn down. A member of the crew disintegrating the building (by use of laser guns) finds the singing frog, who goes into the same old song and dance. The cycle continues! Written by Brian Rathjen {briguy_52732@yahoo.com}

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