One Froggy Evening (1955)

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

Director:

Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Writer:

Michael Maltese (story)

Star:

William Roberts

1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
William Roberts	...	Michigan J. Frog (singing voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | warner bros. | frog | theater | talent agent | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 December 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der singende Frosch

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono DTS (1994 re-issue) Dolby Digital (1994 re-issue)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The building in the closing scenes is the Tregoweth Brown building, a reference to film editor Treg Brown.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Michigan J. Frog: [singing] Hello, my baby / hello, my honey / hello, my ragtime gal. / Send me a kiss by wire / baby, my hearts on fire / if you refuse me / honey, you'll lose me / then you'll be left alone / Oh baby, telephone and tell me I'm your own.

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Alternate Versions

In some TV airings, the scene in which the workman places the "Free Beer!" sign outside the theater to attract customers is deleted.

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Connections

Referenced in Anime Abandon: Love Hina Spring Movie (2014)

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Soundtracks

Come Back to Erin
(uncredited)
Written by Claribel

User Reviews

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.