Frog and Toad

My 2-year-old is obsessed with Frog and Toad, and so am I! It is such a nice reprieve from the usual children's programming. It's truly entertaining and adorable. The animation, writing, voice acting and music are all stellar. It's a fun and lived-in world that jumps from the page to the screen. Some of my son's early words were "toad" and "frog" - he loves the music and dances and laughs along, and I'm not sure what he would do without Frog and Toad. It's a show I'm sure your kids would love as well. Our only complaint is that there are too few episodes, we hope to see more Frog and Toad stories soon!

Growing up in the 2000s and being fascinated by children's stories, Frog and Toad was always one of my most memorable childhood classics. The series was simple in its dialog and narrative, but made up for it with wonderful illustrations and engaging characters. Naturally, a show based on this book series was inevitable and the trailer made it look so much fun. So you can only imagine how crushed I felt when I actually watched the show and was met with utter disappointment. From the terrible writing to the lackluster animation, this show felt more like an endurance test on my patience.

Based on the books by the late Arnold Lobel, the show was developed by Rob Hogee with Lobel's children, Adam and Adrianne, serving as executive producers. The show follows the daily lives of our titular amphibians as they enjoy each other's company in the woods. This show should've had no trouble making me fall in love with it. Not only does it have the original author's children involved in production, it's also a short form series with each episode being 11 minutes long. Unfortunately, the problems arise from the word go. To put it bluntly, these episodes are S-L-O-W! The stories of Frog waking Toad up for Spring, Toad planting a guarding and Toad and Frog climbing a mountain all feel needlessly stretched out to 11 minutes. Most of the runtime of these episodes is dedicated to the characters standing around and talking; or worst, saying a slight variation of the same line! In the first episode, they go on and on about how good the cookies taste and what they can do to hide them. Again, it's show, don't tell, not tell, don't show! The woods also doesn't feel lived in or anthropomorphic enough with some animals walking on 4s and others standing up right? Which is it?! Not helping is the show is criminally unfunny with weak slapstick, lousy puns, and eye roll worthy visual gags. I'm not asking for the Moon or anything like that, but having good pacing and solid humor should NOT be too much to ask.

This show doesn't do a good job making the characters likable, which is especially frustrating as these should be some of the easiest characters to write. Our titular duo, Frog and Toad, are nothing but incompetent and insipid ingrates that are so slow, they make snails look like roadrunners. Frog is more of an annoying pest that never thinks before he acts and Toad is a vacuous loser who's never heard of the word patience. These 2 feel like flanderizations of beloved characters who, despite their differences in personality, are very good friends who work off each other and have great chemistry. As is, these lily hoppers might as well get lost in the swamp. Nobody else leave a lasting impression. Not Robin, not Mink, not Gopher, not Snail, NOBODY!

The best I can say about this show is the voice acting is really good. Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson sound exactly how I imagined Frog and Toad would sound when reading the books. Faxon makes Frog sound like an eccentric, yet kind and understanding friend. Richardson's natural baratone voice perfectly suits Toad's laid back, soft spoken and generous voice. Selene Luna sounded pretty chipper as Robin. Tom Kenny did really solid work as Mink, even given him a nice singing voice. I also thought Cole Escola, Aparna Nancherla and Ron Funches did good work as Gopher, Snail and Racoon respectively. Despite the lackluster material, the actors certainly brought their A game to the project.

Visually, the show looks like the book illustrations come to life...until the characters start moving, then it just looks like awkward paper cut outs. Titmouse provided the animation and it's honestly not their best work. On one hand, the character designs look like they leaped (no pun intend) off the pages of the books. Frog and Toad maintain their anthropomorphic design with webbed feet, divided eyes and bumpy worts. The backgrounds are also beautifully crafted, having a storybook like feel to them, yet feeling so immersive. The actual animation, though, is really stiff. Like the characters have very restricted movements when they walk, talk, or make funny faces. It's as if they are forbidden from going off-model and take full advantage of being in animation in order to stay true to the original book illustrations. This is especially true when it comes to Toad making silly faces to make the seeds grow. It feels like they're holding back and it doesn't look nearly as silly. Design-wise, this show looks like the books come to life; but when the characters actually come to life, it doesn't look right.

BLAH! This cartoon was a snooze fest! Frog and Toad is an unremarkably boring cartoon with terrible writing, incompetent characters, non-existent humor, and weak animation. I'll give it credit that the voice acting is good and it's well designed, but that's nowhere near enough to give it a recommendation. If you grew up with the books like yours truly, spare yourself the disappointment and watch Winnie The Pooh or Little Bear instead. I never asked for the Moon, but a good cartoon should NOT be such a tall order -.-

I read these stories as a child in the 80s and I have read them to my five year old daughter for the past three years. This series really does honor the simplicity of the stories written decades ago, from the content to the simple language (they were written to be easy for new readers to read). The series also quite closely matches the original illustrations from the stories. It's really beautifully done. We just discovered the series yesterday and my daughter is going nuts about it. I can't stop watching myself. In order to make the stories long enough for the 15 minute slot, there are a few additional details added into each one, but nothing that makes a negative impact.

Awesome show! I had all of the Frog and Toad books in the early 80's. I remember they were part of my reading lessons and practice, but eventually I read them on my own because I came to love them.

It's wonderful to see it resurrected and brought to life in animation. Something that I never expected to happen in a million years. The series *feels* like the old books, and this is most important. Everything is retained. The look. The types of stories. The world that the characters exist in. It was exactly how my childhood mind imagined it to be.

I got a little emotional watching this series to tell you the truth, like I was reunited with old friends. The voice acting is right on point! They couldn't have picked better voices and the actors delivered a humorous, lovable performance.

Above all, within its most cherished qualities, the show held on to being wholesome and heartwarming. So pure and untainted. True to the source material. It's completely appropriate for children. I want to watch this show with my 5-year-old nephew. I think he might like it.

There is nothing to complain about here whatsoever. I absolutely love it. Thank you for making this. I am now a middle-aged man and a handful of years away from 50 but I will never be too old to spend time with my buddies, Frog and Toad.

I remember Frog and Toad stories with fondness. This Apple TV series directed by Sarah Johnson absolutely does them justice. The voice cast is the best part; the Frog and Toad voice actors Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson nail it. And everytime Ron Funches chimes in as Raccoon or Betsy Sodaro as Squirrel, they make me smile. The stories are the same with some improvements/adaptations from the book. The animation stays true to the original illustrations. My kids who are 5 years apart watch it together. When I watched it the first time, I thought it was too slow but that's because kids shows now are too fast and flashy. I also thought Toad seemed a bit special needs or like a version of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. But these stories are about friendship, accepting someone for who they are, working through expectations versus reality, going on adventures outside your comfort zone, and overcoming challenges together. My kids enjoy watching episodes again and again. I love the positive messages inherent in the stories, the characters, and colorful animation.