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>
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. See more »
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. See more »
A man futilely struggles to make his fortune with a frog that sings and dances, but only when it is alone with the owner.
The cartoon's premise closely follows that of the 1944 Columbia Pictures film "Once Upon a Time" starring Cary Grant in which a dancing caterpillar is kept in a shoebox. It was common for Warner Brothers to mine well-known live action films for its Merrie Melodies productions.
Whether it borrowed from another film or not, the funny thing is how they ended up "winning" in the memorable film category. Everyone has seen the frog sing and dance and can reference it. Few have seen the Cary Grant film.
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A man futilely struggles to make his fortune with a frog that sings and dances, but only when it is alone with the owner.
The cartoon's premise closely follows that of the 1944 Columbia Pictures film "Once Upon a Time" starring Cary Grant in which a dancing caterpillar is kept in a shoebox. It was common for Warner Brothers to mine well-known live action films for its Merrie Melodies productions.
Whether it borrowed from another film or not, the funny thing is how they ended up "winning" in the memorable film category. Everyone has seen the frog sing and dance and can reference it. Few have seen the Cary Grant film.