Release Date:

December 31, 1955

Main Character(s):

Michigan J. Frog

Summary:

A construction worker finds a box containing Michigan J. Frog, a frog who can sing and dance. Believing he can make a fortune with this, the man only succeeds in driving himself to poverty due to Michigan only performing in front of one person and acting like an ordinary, unremarkable frog if more than one person is present.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1335 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

This is easily the most famous out of any one-shot to come from the studio as the cartoon has been a tremendous success ever since it was first released (it was also released on New Year’s Eve of 1955 so Warner literally ended the year with a bang).

Michigan J. Frog was not named until the 1970’s when this cartoon was part of a rerun on “The Bugs Bunny Show” in that decade. Speaking of which, the show originally named Michigan “Enrico” in the 1960’s. Michigan’s current name comes from the original tune “The Michigan Rag”, while the “J.” initial comes from critic Jay Cocks who was interviewing Jones about this cartoon.

The cartoon was ranked number 5 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons and is also in the 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons book.

The cartoon was added to the National Film Registry in 2003 (a whole year before it was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 DVD set in 2004).

The cartoon was included in the 1982 compilation movie, “Bugs Bunny’s 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales”.

The cartoon’s sole original tune, “The Michigan Rag” was written by Michael Maltese for this cartoon specifically, with it being based off of “The Varsity Drag”, a song from the 1927 musical, “Good News”. Its lyrics are as follows, “Everybody do the Michigan Rag; Everybody likes the Michigan Rag; Every Mame and Jane and Ruth; From Weehawken to Duluth; Slide, ride, glide the Michigan; Stomp, romp, pomp the Michigan; Jump, clump, bump the Michigan Rag!; That lovin’ rag!”

Had the cartoon been made in the 2000’s, the man could’ve easily used a phone to record a video of Michigan singing to reveal he was telling the truth about him (that is, if Michigan doesn’t understand the concept of it).

The “Tregoweth Brown 40-Story Building” is obviously named after Treg Brown (“Tregoweth” was in fact his real name).

A business next to the ACME Theatrical Agency is called “Gribbroek Theatrical Shoes”, which is a reference to Robert Gribbroek, who does the layouts for this one.

This is the penultimate cartoon where Jones is credited as “Charles M. Jones” as well as the last time he is regularly credited as that.

There is no dialogue in this cartoon apart from Michigan’s singing (provided by a singer named Bill Roberts- not to be confused with the Disney animator of the same name).

The title is a pun for “one foggy evening”.

The cartoon was originally titled “It Hopped One Night”, a pun for “It Happened One Night”. The title would get usage in a Behind the Tunes featurette made specifically for this cartoon on the aforementioned Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2, “It Hopped One Night: A Look at ‘One Froggy Evening’”.

40 years later, Jones made a prequel to this cartoon, “Another Froggy Evening” (1995) which shows people through various time periods failing to get Michigan to perform in front of people. Along with the ending of this cartoon, that one also proves that Michigan is practically immortal, and also doesn’t need oxygen considering he’s been able to live in the shut box for a long period of time.

Favorite Scene:

Having used his life savings to rent a theater, the man has Michigan perform on the stage before he shuts the curtain and gets in an audience with the promise of free beer. The curtain jams and by the time he’s able to un-jam it, Michigan finishes his song and appears on the stage in his ordinary state, much to the anger of the booing crowd.

“The Michigan Rag” is also the catchiest of the songs Michigan sings (another reason why Maltese is one of the undeniable greats in terms of writing).

What Happens in This One:

The “ACME Building and Wrecking Co.” is in the process of demolishing the old “J.C. Wilber Building” from 1892 while the man is seen moving a large cube-shaped stone off of a cornerstone with a crowbar. He looks inside the cornerstone and finds a box that he takes out and blows the dust off of. Some papers are inside which read, “Know all ye present: That this building was dedicated on April 16, 1892 and that these papers were sealed into this cornerstone on this date”. Michigan then comes out on all four’s and croaks like an ordinary frog much to the man’s confusion. Suddenly, Michigan dons a top hat and cane and sings, “Hello, My Baby” before reverting back into his ordinary persona. Imaging himself making a fortune as the rich agent of this singing frog in front of a palace advertising him as, “Singing Frog. He Talks, Sings, Dances”, the man puts Michigan back in the box and sneaks away with him inside (animated by Abe Levitow).

At the ACME Theatrical Agency, the man is shown inaudibly explaining to the talent agent about Michigan and imitating his “Hello, My Baby” dance. He takes Michigan out of the box, putting the top hat on his head, and moving his mouth to make him smile. The man then makes Michigan move with his hands in tune to “Hello, My Baby”. Michigan only croaks again, so the man sheepishly does the dance (animated by Ben Washam) before he is promptly pushed out of the office along with the box. Michigan suddenly jumps out to sing “The Michigan Rag”, causing the man to run back into the office, explain to the agent about this, and take him with him to prove it. Michigan continues the song, only to finish and revert back to a regular frog before the man can present him to the agent. The agent only sees Michigan letting out another croak and gives the nervous sweating man a “Seriously?” look before kicking him and the box out of the agency. The box lands near the sidewalk on the other side where Michigan opens it while singing, “Come Back to Erin”. The man finds a Hippodrome theater for rent and gets an idea (animated by Ken Harris).

From the outside of the man’s home, Michigan is heard singing, “I’m Just Wild About Harry” before we cut to the interior where it’s shown that Michigan is doing so while dancing across the box back and forth, with the man counting up his life savings (animated by Richard Thompson).

Later, the man has used his entire life savings to rent the theater advertising the “Singing Frog” with numerous signs, “Here!”; “Now”; “Frantic”; “Tonite”; “It’s Wonderful”; “Opening Tonite”; “It Acts Human”; “It Sings! Dances”; and “The Wonder of the World”. Inside the theater, Michigan is balancing across a tightrope wire on stage while holding an umbrella and singing, “Throw ‘Em Down, McCloskey”. The man closes the curtain after he finishes and also applauds. As Michigan sings a reprise of “The Michigan Rag”, the man opens the door to the theater, only to find no one entering the theater, so he paints a sign reading, “Free Admission!” No response for this either. Michigan then sings, “Won’t You Come Over to My House” while the man finally gets an excited audience into the theater with another painted sign, “Free Beer!” While Michigan is balancing the umbrella atop his nose in the middle of his song, the man attempts to raise the curtain only for the rope to snap, so he goes all the way to the top platform to un-jam it. Michigan jumps off the tightrope with the umbrella just as the man jumps off the platform and raises up an extra rope to get the curtain to rise. Unfortunately for him, the curtain rises up just as Michigan lands on the ground, leaving the audience to just see an unremarkable frog. Angry at being deceived, the crowd begins booing and the man lets go of the rope, causing the curtain to fall atop him. The still-booing crowd then pelts the man’s head sticking out of the curtain with produce (animated by Thompson).

That winter, following the disastrous theater performance, the man is now homeless and living on a park bench, with Michigan on the bench with him and singing, “Largo El Factotum” from “The Barber of Seville”. A cop walking past hears the singing and goes to investigate just as Michigan finishes. The cop comes up and makes a stern expression indicating that he wants to know who this singing came from. The man, with an irritated expression, points to Michigan, who only gives the cop a croak when the latter looks at him. Thinking the man has lost his sanity for trying to make him believe a frog was singing, the cop takes him and the box away (animated by Harris).

The following spring at the “Psychopathic Hospital”, the man is put behind bars while Michigan leans against said bars and singing, “Please Don’t Talk About Me While I’m Gone”. A while later, the now-destitute man has been released from the hospital and walks very slowly while carrying the box. He is delighted to see an advertisement ahead in the same spot at the building wrecked at the start of the cartoon, “Tomorrow Grand Dedication! This New 40 Story Bldg.” Startled by Michigan suddenly singing a reprise of “Please Don’t Talk About Me While I’m Gone” while inside the box, the man hurries away as to not attract attention, dumps the box into the cornerstone of the Tregoweth Brown Building of 1955, before sneaking away. A while later, the building has been fully constructed (animated by Washam).

A whole century later in 2056 A.D.- which obviously hasn’t happened yet-, this same building is being torn down by “ACME Building Disintegrators”. A man using a disintegration ray gets rid of the extra concrete on the cornerstone before coming across the box. Michigan comes out of it with his top hat and sings “Hello, My Baby”, causing this man to also believe he can make a fortune with him. He begins to sneak away with the box containing the still-singing Michigan as the cartoon irises out on him sneaking off into the distance, about to start the whole thing over again (animated by Levitow).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕