One Froggy Evening (1955) User Reviews

Delightful cartoon highlights a singing frog...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 25 March 2009]

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.

The Frog From Hell

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 22 April 2007]

The J.C. Wilbur building is being demolished by the Acme Building and Wrecking company. When they are down to just the cornerstone, a foreman discovers a proclamation, so to speak, about the building being erected in 1892. Suddenly, a frog climbs out of the cornerstone, slowly stretches and then dons top hat and cane and starts belting out a stage tune! The foreman raises an eyebrow and pictures himself a rich man by exhibiting a singing frog.

The rest is pure hell for the foreman. He goes to the Acme Theatrical Agency (everything was "Acme" back in these '50s LT; just ask Wile E. Coyote). Of course, the frog does nothing now, just gives a huge belching noise and lies limp. The foreman is booted out, and instantly the frog comes back to life again!

The gag continues, and could get tiresome and frustrating but the frog is so darned funny I didn't mind how many times I kept seeing the same schtick. In fact, the frigging frog wouldn't shut up....until other people showed up. I actually felt sorry for the poor foreman. The frog ruined his life.....and will keep doing it to others years from now, as we see at the end of the cartoon when the little monster is re-discovered in the middle of this century!

This is a very sadistic story. How nasty can you be? That foreman should have had frog legs for dinner early on and saved himself a lot of grief.

"......Hello ma baby!!!"

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 9/10 · 17 August 2015]

What a wonderful and infectiously joyous piece of work this cartoon is. It's so sunny and uplifting, despite I guess, technically having some inherent downer elements in its scant story. I rank it among a mere handful of the exceptionally appealing gems of animation from a long time ago that are generally loved by all who see them, despite one or two rotten apples.. I think it deserves all of the acclaim that it's gathered over the decades, it's that darn frog, he's just too precious! It's his voice that makes the whole short work. It's a simple one, but what a perfectly hilarious gag of him singing the songs, or singing *that* song to be exact! It's a joke that I simply can't help but smile at, the dead-pan expression of the amphibian in the split-second before he practically explodes into old-timey swinging song is just brilliant! That silly little man, why couldn't he just be a normal person and learn to appreciate the frog for himself without trying to exploit him for profit, then he might've been happy and not left a broke man in more ways than one, and the poor frog's gift wouldn't get treated like a curse and he wouldn't have to be tossed into oblivion forever until the next greedy sap with stars in his eyes woke him up and started of the hilariously sad cycle all over again! ~Forever!~ This is an exuberantly entertaining exercise in animated song and style in which the animators clearly had a great time taking to its limit. It's colourful and unique, it has tons of charm and personality, and most importantly - it's really fun! 9 solid gold frogs out of 10!!

Perfection

[phantom_tollbooth · 10/10 · 1 October 2008]

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.

My kind of frog!

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 27 February 2010]

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

Von Stroheim Can Kiss My Singing Green ***

[DButcher · 10/10 · 24 July 1999]

"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.

One Froggy Evening has been censored

[Zailig · 10/10 · 4 February 2006]

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?

Must watch.

[Rex_Stephens · 10/10 · 26 May 2005]

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.

The definitive Chuck Jones cartoon.

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 26 October 2003]

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!!!!

A cartoon that hums with elegance

[slymusic · 21 February 2008]

"One Froggy Evening" is a classic Warner Bros. cartoon written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. The star of this cartoon is what you might call a one-hit wonder: the singing & dancing Michigan J. Frog! The only catch is that this frog will only do his shtick for a certain construction worker and NOBODY ELSE! Hence the film becomes a wonderful story of greed & frustration as the poor construction worker tries to convince others that this frog that he found can indeed sing and dance. But everyone else reacts negatively to an otherwise very ordinary-looking, lifeless frog devoid of any personality.

My favorite moments from "One Froggy Evening" include the following. Aided by Milt Franklyn's music score to "Hello, Ma Baby," the construction worker inaudibly tries to impress upon a stuffy, humorless theatrical agent the special talents of the frog. A "Free Beer!" sign attracts the barhopping crowd to a local theater where the frog is singing & dancing on a tightrope; the crowd boos when the curtain goes up to reveal a lonely, lifeless, croaking frog on stage. The construction worker, now a hobo, is hilarious by simply pointing downward toward the frog when a policeman approaches him for supposedly disturbing the peace with singing; this lands the poor guy in a psychopathic hospital, where the frog sings "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" outside of the frustrated gentleman's padded cell.

"Subtlety" is a good word to describe "One Froggy Evening"; this cartoon makes excellent use of subtle facial expressions to convey meaning - without the necessity of any words! This is a major factor that made this cartoon well worth the amount of effort. Not to mention all the wonderful songs the frog sings: "Hello, Ma Baby," "Michigan Rag," "I'm Just Wild About Harry," "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville," and several other songs.

The darker side of Chuck Jones

[mickeythechamp · 7/10 · 26 March 2023]

Such a different short from Chuck Jones still maintaining his overall style and humor. One Froggy Evening delivers a tone shift from Jones to a more serious and maybe even rooted in something deeper short. It still looks great, and the amazing expressiveness of Jones style is not lost here.

A construction worker finds a frog in a box. The frog can sing and dance to the surprise of the construction worker. He sees an opportunity to make the frog famous and make money, but there is one problem, the frog only sings for him.

The amazing singing performance by William Roberts is great and iconic today. The combination of dancing frog and "hello my baby" is instantly recognizable and all the different songs used sound lovely.

This is a classic "false alarm" plot where someone has to convince other that something is actually happening. It´s a classic gag and done really well here. It also feels like this short has influenced so many other gags and animations throughout history. The humor is great and done well in this more serious story.

The animation is very good here. Seeing the frog dance is a delight and there are so many different colorful locations throughout. As always, Jones signature expressions are also great here. The expressions of the frog when it stops sitting and it´s sounds that follow, the expressions of the construction worker, they are so well done and say so much without using dialogue.

It´s a more serious story that in my opinion could have been taken to the next level in it´s moral. It´s a story about greed and no appreciating talent right in front of you. This short becomes darker and darker in tone really hammering home that the main character is missing the point of luck he had, having a personal singing frog.

This is a classic and so well done. I love the humor, the music, the expressive animation and the darker tone.

Chuck's masterpiece

[movieman_kev · 10/10 · 31 October 2005]

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 same joke for seven minutes

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 8 July 2015]

This is a cartoon from 60 years ago that deals with a guy finding a frog. The frog is really talented at singing, but sadly every time his owner wants to put him on display, the frog refuses to show everybody his great voice and instead he makes usual frog noise. No Mel Blanc in here, but Oscar winner Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese came up with it as always. I have to say I am very much surprised that this is one of Chuck Jones' famous cartoons today as I have seen many many which are far superior. As I wrote in the description, this is basically the same joke for 7 minutes and even at this low runtime, it gets repetitive at some point. And what's even worse, they realized it and included a totally random future reference with the very same joke. Not a great short film at all and it annoys me to see that there even is a sequel out there, even if it's not famous at all. I have no idea, but I would not be surprise if it relies on the same repetitive story. In any case, I do not recommend "One Froggy Evening".

No More Shorts for the Frog

[bwake · 10/10 · 7 November 2006]

This is the single greatest animated short ever made. The uncut version is perfect. The songs are great, the art direction is terrific, and above all the story is priceless.

Spoiler: A construction worker demolishing a building finds a frog in a box in the cornerstone. The frog sings and dances. The man tries to cash in on the miraculous frog, but it will only sing for him. After wasting his life's savings and even spending time in an insane asylum, he hides the frog in the corner stone of a new building...

I don't know why anyone would possibly another film with the frog character. It would be a travesty to use him in another flick. Besides, he's still in the box, waiting for the next poor schmuck to find him.

If you have a frog in your throat...

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 8 May 2006]

Chuck Jones and company created another masterpiece with "One Froggy Evening", about a man finding a singing frog who only sings for him, leading to many unpleasant situations. These cartoons were so simple, yet so clever. I think that there's absolutely no doubt that this and many other cartoons from that era will stay firmly ingrained as part of our national heritage forever.

One thing I notice is that Mel Blanc didn't do Michigan J. Frog's voice. But that's no problem. This cartoon is still great. How they came up with these things is beyond me; it just shows that they were geniuses. A great cartoon. These are the sorts of cartoons that we need to show our children.

Ultimate Frog Entertainment

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 23 December 2015]

We are so fortunate. We get to see the frog sing and dance. This is the remarkable tale of a man who finds a box. In the box is a frog who is an accomplished song and dance man. He performs at a high level but only when his owner is around. This cartoon takes us on an uncomfortable ride as the poor man who has been victimized by the frog embarrasses himself over and over, trying to get people to see his amphibian act. Unfortunately, those who get to see the little guy only get a croaking piece of sludge with almost no personality. The way this is put together is wonderful. Once again, Chuck Jones couldn't be matched for creativity. I first saw this at a movie theater in 1956 and it has stayed with me for all time.

hilarious--one of Warner Brothers best cartoons

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 14 June 2006]

This is simply hilarious! A poor shmoe is helping demolish an old building. When he gets to the cornerstone, a live frog is miraculously living inside. But this is no ordinary frog, but one that sings and dances! The guy runs out to find an agent, but the frog won't sing for him. So, he uses all his money and rents out a hall. When the people come, the frog stops singing. It seems that the frog will only sing to this guy and this guy alone. Eventually, the guy is left penniless and quite irked at the dumb frog. In the end, he, too, sticks this frog in the cornerstone of a building under construction. Later, in the distant future, another poor shmoe is seen finding the frog and assuming he, too, will become a rich man!

A Classic of Frustration To The Brink

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 10 July 2006]

During the early 18th Century there was an incident in which an enterprising impresario rented a theater in London, and then publicized a notice that on a specific day he would present a man of only eighteen inches in height, who would be perfectly formed, but living underwater in a bottle, and who would sing for two hours, and dance for two hours, for the audience. The theater was packed when a troubled looking theater owner came out to explain that everyone had been fooled and the impresario was a liar who had fled with the box office. There was no little entertainer in a bottle, and there was no way to reimburse the swindled audience. The audience started hooting and throwing things, and finally wrecked the theater.

I don't know if that incident influenced the creation of ONE FROGGY EVENING, but it sounds like it could have. As for movies the closest that I can think of to this cartoon gem of Chuck Jones is a Cary Grant film ONCE UPON A TIME, wherein an opportunistic producer seizes upon a dancing caterpillar. But Grant finds humility in that film. That is not the case in ONE FROGGY EVENING. The protagonist, a construction worker who thinks he hit the mother load, never realizes that the "asset" he has acquired is no asset at all but a piece of living hell.

Michigan J. Frog was the star of only this cartoon, but he has since reappeared as "spokes - frog" for Channel 11, and even in one of the Tiny - Tunes that were made in the 1990s, trying to encourage another character to sing. But for his one starring role, Michigan did splendidly. He comes across as a lively singer, dancer, juggler, and acrobat. One appreciates his warbling of "My Ragtime Gal", "The Great McCloskey Fight" (it is while performing this that his juggling and acrobatics are demonstrated - behind a stuck curtain), and the specially written, bouncy "Michigan Rag". The movie audience fully appreciates that Michigan would be the world's greatest performer, but for one habit (one can't call it a failing): he only entertains his owner.

It is the owner's descent into despair, poverty, even madness that occupies the bulk of the action. He knows that Michigan is the world's greatest performer...but he can't prove it to anyone. In the course of the cartoon only one other person hears Michigan (prior to the ironic conclusion): a police officer passing behind a fence hears Michigan's excellent, but loud voice, and arrests the surprised owner whom he believes was disturbing the peace! It is like the fates are totally against the construction worker. He has only two moments of genius in the cartoon: when he finds Michigan and runs off with him, and when he finally gets rid of Michigan. One hopes his later life was more stable and pleasant. And one hopes his futuristic replacement comes to his senses in the end too.

The cartoon has had influence beyond it's own seven minutes of running time. Mel Brooks used it's situation in a typical twist in SPACEBALLS, when John Hurt suffers a situation similar to what happened to him in ALIEN, when an alien space organism that got into his body burst out killing him. With Brooks' touch it turned comic. The alien jumps out of Hurt's chest (Hurt looks upset, and says, "Not again!") and proceeds to pull out a hat and cane and sing "My Ragtime Gal!" I think Chuck Jones would have been proud.

Some things are too good to be true.

[Son_of_Mansfield · 10/10 · 26 January 2005]

Intelligent, beautiful, and nice people. High paying, fun jobs. Singing and dancing frogs. Do they exist? No, but we can pretend. This cartoon takes an everyday daydream, a frog with great legs and a booming voice, and brings it to life. If I found something like that, dollar signs would come out of my head too. The cartoon is flawless to me. Every minute has some good jokes without sinking into the Looney Tunes tendency for destruction and quasi-death. I love the audition. The man who finds the frog takes him to be discovered. He hypes the frog and opens the box to have the frog croak. The man imitating the frog's dance is priceless, but he goes further by picking the frog up and making it dance. This is a keeper, just one of the many classics on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. They are not just for kids.

Great Cartoon, it's just a shame the frog got away with it.

[Scaramouche2004 · 10/10 · 19 December 2021]

Ask any serious Cartoon aficionado as to what were the top 10 greatest cartoons ever produced, you're likely to get a myriad of answers. I guarantee however, that one answer that will be feature highly on every single list will be the 1955 Chuck Jones 7 minute masterpiece, 'One Froggy Evening'

A demolition worker discovers a tin box buried in the cornerstone of an old building from 1892, inside which he finds a Frog, that is not only still alive after nearly 63 years with no air, no food and no water but is so healthy and vigorous that it immediately dons a top hat and belts out a vaudevillian show stopping song and dance.

The man sees dollar signs and he plans to make a fortune by launching the singing frogs career with the public, but it soon becomes apparent that every time he tries to get his frog to perform for anybody else, the frog just croaks, ribbits and does nothing out of the ordinary....only to immediately burst back in to song the moment the man is alone with him again,

Nothing the man does seems to illicit, encourage or coax any entertainment worthy reaction from what was supposed to be his green goldmine.

The net result is that every scheme and plan the man puts into place to exploit his little musical amphibian fails abysmally and in the end his life is ruined and he's carted off to a mental hospital where Michigan J Frog (a name revealed by Chuck Jones many years later) annoyingly sings and dances between the bars of his padded cell (whilst no one else is looking of course)

Eventually the man is released from the hospital and he has grown to hate the Frog who had once promised to be the key to all his success but who in the end became nothing but the catalyst to all his ruin and he rather unceremoniously dumps the frog into the cornerstone of a new building where he is once again sealed up like before,

Fast forward 100yrs and the building the frog was placed in in 1955 is now also being demolished, and Michigan J Frog is rediscovered by a 21st Century worker who again witnesses the Frog in all his jazzy hands glory.

The Cartoon ends with history set to repeat itself, as the 21st century worker grabs the frog and leaves the building site with big but soon to be unfulfilled dreams of success on his mind.

Simple stuff I know, and as an other reviewer has already pointed out, it's just basically 7 minutes of the same gag, but believe me when I first saw this as a kid, I didn't mind that. It was guffaw funny every time.

You wish that just once the frog would repay the guy who rescued him from an eternity of concrete and give someone...anyone a quick rendition of 'Wild about Harry' just to vindicate the little guy, but it was not to be. Be warned..Michigan J Frog is NOT your friend regardless of how friendly and entertaining he may be.

This Cartoon was once described by such an illustrious film maker as Steven Spielberg as 'the Citizen Kane of the animated Short" and that accolade comes from someone who knows what he's talking about and from someone who is an expert hand at bringing a good story to the screen so recommendations do not come any higher than that.

The moral of this story (if there is one) is that should you ever find yourself demolishing and old building and you discover a singing and dancing frog amongst the rubble...hit it with a brick and get back to work!

Michigan J. Frog as he was before the WB Network

[martin63 · 23 September 2001]

Some of the sparkle may have faded on this one since I'm sure that everyone who likes cartoons has seen it often enough to have every scene memorized. Still, it dazzles. Look at those expressions - face and body! No one can make non-speaking characters say more than Chuck Jones. My advice is for Jones fans to wait about ten years before seeing it again. You'll have a chance to forget a few details and then be dazzled again.

Disturbing

[fleming-fleming54 · 4/10 · 29 April 2024]

If The Twilight Zone had ever chosen to air a cartoon, this would have been the one. The concept is clear, the moral obvious. The 1890s music, while skillfully rendered ("The Michigan Rag" is not contemporary with the other songs the frog performs but an original composition created for the cartoon) suggests something strangely paranormal: The frog is a ghost or a demon! This is emphasized by its reemergence at the end, where a futuristic construction worker finds the eerie, cakewalking being still singing period music!

Certain elements in the production are racist, such as the cakewalk, and "Hello Mah Baby" which was a "blackface" song when first released (ca.1902) This dates the cartoon badly. All this wouldn't matter if it wasn't hailed as a timeless classic.

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal..."

[Plissken-6 · 10/10 · 12 May 1999]

This, in my opinion, is the greatest cartoon ever put out by Warner Bros. There is just something about this cartoon that makes you want to get up and sing. M.J. Frog is the most entertaining character in the Looney Tunes bunch, which is a mystery to me why they didn't feature more cartoons with him. He seems to be shadowed by Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the gang. You will want to watch this again and again.

(croak)

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 23 April 2006]

Among my favorites of the Warner Brothers Merry Melodies shorts is the one with Michigan J Frog (which, like "the Man with No Name" in Leone films, is a marketing gimmick). It's basically a silent film only with a singing, dancing frog, right from the swamp into vaudeville as it were (ho-ho). His owner decides to make it rich with what is, well, a singing and dancing frog in such a reality-driven world as a cartoon. No one notices the frog's talents as it stops just as people are put in front of it; this even extends to an audience promised free beer. In the end, it's fairly tragic, however just in the sense of a Merry Melodies cartoon. This is one of those shorts, like Duck Amuck (my favorite), that brilliantly winks to the audience 'hey, we know this is all so irreverent and absurd, we'll play with it till it drops to the floor'. This time instead of the characters actively talking to the audience, we get the interplay between reality and fantasy played out between a man and an animal. It's funny, of course, because of the owner's attempts to get it to dance in front of others. And its timeless because it has this message of not being able to cross fantasy into reality, which is why all the Merry Melodies shorts, even the lessor ones, have this cool little quality to them. In short, one of Jones/Matleses' triumphs.

The Citizen Kane of Animation!

[african_elephant_200-2 · 10/10 · 6 February 2007]

***SPOILER WARNING!!!*** "One Froggy Evening" was a cartoon made in 1955 by Chuck Jones of the Warner Bros. fame. It's about a poor man who's working in a construction lot one day and finds a box with a singing frog inside. The man decides to exploit the frog's talents for his own financial gain, but ends in failure because the frog only sings for its discoverer.

This short is very unique because the only dialogue coming out of this film is the frog's beautiful singing voice. It's very beautifully animated with a good story developed as well. Apparently, it's called the "Citizen Kane of Animated shorts" by Steven Spielberg because it was so funny and vivid, it clearly would deserve the title! Well worth tracking down. It's on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 2 DVD, so grab it and watch this cartoon! 5/5 stars.