One Froggy Evening

Everyone knows what happens in the excellent animated masterpiece. A guy finds a dancing, singing frog whom will only dance or sing for him and it drives him crazy. This is the best Chuck Jones short ever (no easy feat), and will be with else to entertain countless generations of the young and young at heart. Many attempts to duplicate this has but done throughout the intervening years, but accept no substitutes. This is fantastic stuff. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It features a commentary by Micheal Barrier, as well as an optional music only track.

My Grade:A+

The last two times I saw One Froggy Evening it was in a censored version. In the original, the guy rents a theatre to show the singing frog and peppers the building with posters but no-one comes. He puts out a "free admission" sign but still no-one comes. He then puts out a "free beer" sign and is trampled by the crowd that rushes in. In the censored version, the "free beer" sign is cut. This is not only a stupid thing to do in itself; it also makes no sense since there is no reason why crowds would rush in so enthusiastically to see the singing frog if the only attraction was free admission. The whole point is that no-one believes in the singing frog. Who has committed this stupid act of vandalism and why -- and can we do anything about it?

Anyone who's ever had a frog in his voice should enjoy this endearing cartoon from Chuck Jones. Not only is the frog beautifully animated when he goes into his song and dance routines, but the songs range from "Hello, Ma Baby" to an operatic aria from "The Barber of Seville." The simple story has an unusual premise. A man discovers a frog living inside the cornerstone of a building just demolished. The frog emerges in fine singing form, demonstrating that he's very much alive and can sing and dance. Immediately the man has dollar signs in his eyes and decides to make the rounds of agents willing to feature his singing frog as the main attraction.

Has to be one of the most original of all the Chuck Jones cartoons, fresh and funny as ever despite the crazy concept of a singing and dancing frog. (Or because of).

An absolute delight.

Although some consider What's Opera, Doc? the perfect Chuck Jones cartoon, I would argue that this is the best choice to represent Chuck Jones boiled down to one short. Jones did a great variety of work, but he was at his best with little or no dialog, a visual cartoon that wasn't just slapstick visuals. Put a character into a situation where they either see something they want and grab it (or try to), throw in the law of unintended consequences, stir in a little bad luck and stand back to catch the fireworks! A one-shot cartoon that made its lead character a star. Think about the impact a short like that as to have had over nearly 50 years to accomplish a feat like that! To top it off, it's a morality play in 7 minutes. The more things change, the more they stay the same! Great short, an essential work in the sub-genre of the animated short. Most highly recommended!!!!

I really enjoyed this cartoon. Interesting that Michigan J. would only sing in front of the man who found him and no one else. His songs were great too, especially "McClosky Fight" and "Michigan Rag." Overall, I really like that character. It is a shame that he wasn't in more cartoons, but it's fortunate that the WB kept him around as the network's mascot:

"Watch the frog."