Steven Spielberg called this cartoon short “the Citizen Kane of animated shorts.” It was written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones.
This is my favorite cartoon short. The short story is told without dialog…just singing in parts.
If you want to teach someone about Greed… watch this short. Instead of appreciating what he had…he wasn’t happy unless he could make money off of the frog.
The story is great. A 1955 construction worker is on a demolition site and pries open a box from 1892 found in the cornerstone of the building. Out of the box comes an old frog that climbs to the lid. The frog looks up at the construction worker and suddenly pulls up a top hat and coattails and starts singing “Hello my Honey, Hello my Baby…” and continues with the song.
The worker then starts dreaming of a theater marque with the picture of the frog…”He Sings”, “Talks”, and “Dances” with a picture of the frog.
He rents a theater and presents his frog to the audience. Right before the crowd settles in with the curtain down…the Frog starts singing and dancing away but stops the instant the curtain rises. The audience boos and throws vegetables.
That is his dilemma. The frog will only sing for this one guy. Not for 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? Our friend the singing frog. The space suited construction worker from 2056 starts dreaming of the money he can make from the frog… And so the cycle continues.
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The frog is named Michigan J. Frog and I love all these old songs that he sings.
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!
Yea Chuck Jones named him that in the seventies so he would have a name…a classic
Will give this a look tomorrow. Not sure if I’ve seen it before or not…
You won’t regret it.
Ah yes, I have seen this. People never change eh….but shouldn’t that frog be dead lol
I guess he sneaks out of the box and learns new songs.
Hmmm yes….that’s no mean feat, cement foundations take a bit of getting out of…but credit where it’s due…that frog managed it!
truly a classic. Never knew it had a name… can’t even remember what show I used to see it on but I remembered it right away as soon as I saw the picture.
It’s an unforgettable cartoon and I likewise didn’t know the frog had a name. Another one of my favorites is Pete Puma and the how many lumps with Bugs Bunny. It cracks me up every time.
They gave him a name in the seventies years after the short because Chuck Jones heard people say The Frog so much… he wanted a name.
Great lesson in it though.
uh huh, great lesson.
I LOVE that song also… Hello My….
I hated that cartoon. I felt so sorry for that poor guy. Especially when he spent all his money to rent the hall and the damn thing wouldn’t sing. Then of course I wondered how the hell that frog was still alive that far in the future!
LOL… yea he put the “Free Beer” sign up and in comes all the men…then booing.
I would have been so drunk I wouldn’t have given a shit about the frog!
LOL… I’m with you dude!
Heh. I remember this. It showed up on Saturday Looney Tunes cartoons. I remember thinking “That frog just won’t cooperate.” LOL! It’s like seeing a unicorn no one else can see. Stupid me, I never saw it as a lesson for greed. I saw it as a magic that couldn’t be shared and, in attempting, misery ensues.
I guess my brain is wired differently. 🤔🤨🙄😳
Ha ha, I remember this so clearly! I love when he just slumped over and …ribbit while the worker freaks out. It’s a classic. 🐸
LOL… .I just watched it again when I wrote that…it was better than I remembered.
A classic that I neglected to mention in my blog about Toon Tunes! I forgot this one and “Uncle Pecos” from Tom & Jerry (Froggy went a courtin’…)