One Froggy Evening

What is there to say about Chuck Jones's 'One Froggy Evening' that hasn't been said already, not just one of the greatest cartoons ever made but one of the best things to ever happen anywhere ever! The story of a demolition worker who discovers a singing frog in the cornerstone of a building and attempts to exploit the creatures talents for profit, 'One Froggy Evening' is often called "the 'Citizen Kane' of animated shorts". That level of artistic worth is not an exaggeration. Everything, absolutely everything, is perfect about 'One Froggy Evening'. For one, the timing is astonishing. Jones tells the story (from a uniquely brilliant script by Michael Maltese, the author of many of the greatest cartoon scripts of all time) completely silent apart from the singing of the frog, who bursts into song at precisely the most hilarious moments possible.

Aside from being side-splittingly funny, 'One Froggy Evening' also works on a deeper level as a profound parable about greed. Presented with this wondrous of a singing frog, the demolition worker's immediate and only impulse is to use it to make money. To his ever-growing frustration, the frog will only sing in his presence. Despite his obsession with money, the demolition worker is extremely sympathetic and the audience shares in his pain even as they howl with laughter at his misfortune. The cartoon ends with another poor sap about to make the same mistakes, showing that no matter how much we progress as a society, greed is a constant in human beings. One element that is not often mentioned is the haunting quality of 'One Froggy Evening'. There's a sense of the supernatural in both a singing frog and a frog that can last for years sealed inside the cornerstone of a building, which always leads me to think of the frog in slightly more sinister terms, as a karmic lesson enforcer! The final image of 'One Froggy Evening' coupled with the distant echo of the frog's song always sends a shiver down my spine.

Aside from all this, there's the wonderful animation and the glorious soundtrack. From the moment the frog leaps out of the box, his back foot slipping a couple of times, he is one of the great animated creations. His ability to snap from spellbindingly charismatic showman to the most uninspiring and ordinary croaker you've ever seen is both hilarious and impeccably achieved. The demolition worker, meanwhile, goes through a wonderful range of Chuck Jones's trademark expressions. The music is great throughout, with a virtuoso performance from singer Bill Roberts who sings a range of classic Tin Pan Alley songs, a snatch of opera and, best of all, a cracking original composition by Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese themselves. Called 'The Michigan Rag', the song is not only the best and catchiest in the whole cartoon, it also provided a name for the frog character when, overwhelmed by the popularity of the film and inundated with requests for the character's name, Jones dubbed him Michigan J. Frog. Despite this popularity, Jones wisely refused to use Michigan in any other cartoons, ensuring 'One Froggy Evening' remains a true one-off and one of the greatest strokes of genius animation has ever seen.

In the interests of keeping it brief, I'll leave it there but I could gush about 'One Froggy Evening' for pages and pages. It really is a landmark piece of film history and more than justifies its appearance on every single list of greatest animated cartoons that's worth a damn.

You know, I would virtually tell everyone to watch EVERY short that Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese collaborated on. They are icons in creating some of the best storytelling animation in our time. EVERYONE looking to get into screen writing or story board writing should study their storytelling. But the two most important ones, the first ones that everyone should watch when beginning their curiosity should be Feed the Kitty, which inspired Joe Dante and Chris Columbus, and this short, One Froggy Evening, which influenced Steven Spielberg.

A laborer at a demolition site discovers a frog that can sing and dance. Seeing a world of opportunity, he leaves, and gets more than he ever bargained for.

There are too many elements in this short to count. But it's great. The frog doesn't even need to sing for you to appreciate the hilarity of it all. But if you do listen to the frog, I guarantee you at one point in your life you will sing that song in your head. When people at my work ask me to try to tune out some song in their head, I pop out, "Hello My Baby," or, "Michigan Rag." They end up having one of those songs permanently stuck in their head. Try it! You'll go through work faster and have a good memory stuck in your head. And if you haven't watched this cartoon, I suggest you find it. Now.

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."

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!!!!

"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.