"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.
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.