The Frogs Who Wanted a King

One of Starevich's earliest films made in France is possibly his only political satire. The story of The Frogs Who Wanted A King mirrors its title as a group of high "croakers" feel that democracy has gone flat so they demand a king from Jupiter to rule their land. When he sends down a stump, the frogs ask for another king, saying the stump is but "political timber." Jupiter sends down a hungry stork this time whose frog lusty eyes devour the town's residents. As the original "croaker" is about to slide down the stork's beak, he speaks his moral: "let well enough alone." This film features a few beautiful crowd scenes of dozens of puppet frogs. Starewicz tricks the audience into believing they are all moving at once by keeping the background in constant motion and animating only about six frogs or so at one time. The slightly corny dialogue and problems with lighting in a few places diminish the quality of repeat viewings, however its historical significance in Starewicz's life make it of importance to watch. His feelings towards government immediately following his flee from Russia are likely expressed in this film. In addition, the technical accomplishments of animating so many characters at once in a stop-motion film is astounding.

This very amusing short feature combines Starewicz's trademark animal puppets with a funny fable about government. The animation is not as stunning as it is in his finest pictures, but it is very good, and many of the frog puppets are quite amusing.

The story has the 'Frogland Commonwealth' seeking new leadership, and while the plot is deliberately silly, it is entertaining and it creates some good opportunities to use the animated frogs and other creatures. The English translations of the title cards have numerous puns, and some of these are real groaners, but others are at least mildly amusing.

"Frogland" does not have quite the masterful complexity of "The Cameraman's Revenge" or "The Mascot", but it is an entertaining, well-crafted movie that is well worth seeing.

Watching this film multiple times helped me pick up on so many of the film's finer details. The simplicity of the characters plays into the idea of how lost and without identity that this colony truly is. Meanwhile, many of the actions taken by Jupiter showcase a sign of indifference, trying to communicate his greater purpose isn't to provide requests. Even with the shorter runtime, there's plenty of desperation being communicated throughout a sound sense of escalation in how highly severe each situation becomes. The stop motion also does a solid job at communicating the mindset of various different characters. There are so many different ways that show how the frogs act or plenty of annoyance given to Jupiter as the desire to mess with the colony grows stronger. Wasn't entirely sure how to feel on a first viewing, but can definitely recommend this one. It fully understands the format it's put in, and uses everything in it as a solid to great strength.

Frogs Who Wanted a King, The (1923)

*** (out of 4)

aka Grenouilles qui demandent un roi, Les

French puppet/animated short has a group of frogs asking for a King so that they can live better. God sends something down but the frogs begin to ask questions so God seeks revenge. This was a rather interesting little film as it certainly isn't for kids and it does fit the "weird" label where you can find it on countless compilations. This was originally meant as an anti-government thing where the director, having been kicked out of his own country, asks the viewer why would they want their government to step in when you can handle things on your own. The story is told is a rather dark and bleak manor with only light touches of comedy thrown in. I doubt kids of today would enjoy a silent, animated film but if they were to watch this then I'm sure they'd break down into tears.

A great piece of pioneering stop motion animation. Taxidermied frogs make up the cast here. A group of smark-aleck reptiles ask the Gods for a suitable President. What the Gods send down are not suitable even for bathroom monitor. The gods send down one last "candidate" and all heck lets loose amongst the frightened frogs. No, I am not tripping on airplane glue, I am describing exactly what I saw here. Great little film for adventuresome movie goers!