¡Ay, Qué Rana!

"Greed" is one of the great American classics, but so often we limit ourselves to thinking of a film as a multi-hour feature film with live actors. In "One Froggy Evening" Chuck Jones tells the story of a construction worker demolishing a building and discovers a frog in the cornerstone. A SINGING FROG. Naturally, the first impulse is to make money on the frog. The only problem, the frog will only sing for this one guy. Not 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? A SINGING FROG. "You know," he thinks, "I could make some money." And so the cycle continues. People of any time are the same, they never learn. There's your moral. Chuck Jones does in 7 minutes what Von Stroheim took 7 hours to do. A genuine masterpiece of animation.

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?

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!!!!

Oh what a wonderful surprise this cartoon was. It is just so irresistible and endearing, not to mention funny and charming, and is just a froggin' masterpiece. The song "Hello ma baby, hello ma honey" is not only catchy but also memorable, I am still humming now writing this review. The other songs go without fault and the dancing routines are slickly done with lots of pizazz. The animation is spot on, with beautiful backgrounds, sharp character features and lovely colours. Michigan is a great character. Sung marvellously by Bill Roberts, he is charming, likable and sweet for a frog. The story is simple and well told, and its simplicity added to the charm that this gem has. All in all, wonderful and a must see! 10/10 Bethany Cox

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."