Michigan J. Frog
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Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character who debuted in the Looney Tunes cartoon One Froggy Evening (December 31, 1955), written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. In this cartoon Michigan is a male frog who occasionally wears a top hat, carries a cane, sings pop music, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley hits, and other songs from the late 19th and early 20th century while dancing and performing acrobatics in the style of early 20th century vaudeville. The character appeared in a later cartoon entitled Another Froggy Evening which was released on October 6, 1995.
His name comes from the song "The Michigan Rag" (an original song written by Jones, Maltese, and musical director Milt Franklyn), which he sings in the cartoon. In a clip from a DVD special, Jones stated that he had come up with the name "Michigan Frog" during the 1970s and was inspired to add the "J." as a middle initial while being interviewed by a writer named Jay Cox.
The gag in both cartoons is that Michigan's undeniable talent is discovered by some hapless (and greedy) person, who has visions of making a fortune by finding this great entertainer an audience and profiting from it. He invests all his time, money and eventually his sanity in that cause. He catches on too late that the frog will perform for him and him alone; in front of anyone else, Michigan will turn back into a normal frog and thwart the man's dreams of wealth. The man in the original cartoon, who discovered the frog in the cornerstone of an 1892 building being demolished, tosses Michigan and the suitcase in which he came into the time capsule for a soon-to-be dedicated skyscraper. In 2056, a century later, when a construction company consisting of men in spacesuits razes the decrepit building with ray guns, another person discovers the suitcase, with Michigan still alive inside, and the process apparently repeats.
Michigan has also made cameos in episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Animaniacs, and, most recently, as a talent show emcee in an episode of Duck Dodgers. The character can also be seen in Space Jam, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
The identity of the singer who voiced Michigan Frog's original story was unclear and has been shrouded in some degree of mystery. He was definitely not done by Warner's primary voice artist, Mel Blanc. Some identified him as Terrence Monck. The 1998 Rhino compilation Warner Bros. 75 Years of Film Music identified him as Richard Beavers. However, the Looney Tunes Golden Collection unequivocally credits the vocals to Bill Roberts, a nightclub entertainer in Los Angeles in the 1950s who had done voice work for an MGM cartoon earlier. Information in the Internet Movie Database restates what the DVD covered and adds some details.[1]
In Another Froggy Evening, his voice was provided by Jeff McCarthy.
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[edit] As WB mascot
Michigan J. Frog, again voiced by McCarthy, was the official mascot of The WB Television Network from its inception in 1995 until 2005. The network's first night of programming on January 11, 1995 began with a debate between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck over who the network should select as a mascot. The camera then panned over to Chuck Jones drawing Michigan on an easel. When Jones finished, Michigan leapt from the drawing to formally launch the WB.
On July 22, 2005, Michigan's "death" was announced by WB Network Chairman Garth Ancier at a fall season preview with the terse statement "The frog is dead and buried." The head of programming for the WB Network, David Janollari, stated that "[Michigan] was a symbol that perpetuated the young teen feel of the network. That's not the image we [now] want to put out to our audience."
Various humorous obituaries for the mascot were published with details on Michigan's life and death. His dates were given as December 31, 1955 - July 22, 2005. Despite the announcement by Ancier, Michigan still appeared in some WB affiliate logos and in TV spots, such as KWBF in Little Rock, Arkansas (whose early slogan was "The Frog"; the "F" in KWBF is supposedly for "frog"), during 2006, and WBRL in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Also, WMJF, a small student-run television station at Towson University just outside Baltimore, Maryland, still uses the same call letters (WMJF -Michigan J. Frog) from when the station was a WB affiliate.
When the WB signed off the air for the final time on September 17, 2006, the shadow of the mascot appeared at the end of a montage of stars that appeared on the network during its 11-year history. When the montage ended with "Thank You", Michigan's shadow is shown removing his top hat and bowing to the viewer.
[edit] Other references to Michigan
- In The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Sax", Bart is watching The WB, and Michigan J. Frog is on screen singing "We're proud to present on the WB, another bad show that no one will see! [Disgustedly walking off] Ah, I need a drink."
- Near the end of the 1987 science fiction parody film Spaceballs, there is a scene which parodies both One Froggy Evening and the movie Alien. When Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and Barf (John Candy) stop at a diner, one of the other patrons collapses and a creature which looks like a Xenomorph from Alien bursts out of his chest, exactly as in that movie. (John Hurt plays the character as this happens to him in both Alien and Spaceballs.) It then hops onto the counter, produces a straw boater hat and bamboo cane, in the manner of Michigan J's top hat and cane, and sings an excerpt from "Hello! Ma Baby" while dancing exactly like him.
- Michigan appeared in two 1990 episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures. In "Class Cut-up" he plays the frog that Hamton J. Pig has to dissect for biology class. Every time teacher Foghorn Leghorn turns his back, Hamton's frog gets up singing and dancing, then flops over dead when he tries to bring it to Foghorn's attention. In the second episode, "Turtle Hurdle", he taunts a baby turtle trying to cross the road by hopping back and forth with ease while singing and dancing, but is captured by Elmyra Duff by the end. In both episodes he was voiced by John Hillner.
- The character appears in the 1998 live-action film City of Angels, starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.
- In an episode of South Park called "Cancelled", a shapeshifting alien in the form of Saddam Hussein imitates Michigan's "Hello! Ma Baby" routine.
- In the 2005 movie, Son of the Mask, the baby mimics Michigan after seeing him on television.
- On an episode of Chappelle's Show, after a segment supposedly previewing Dave's new prank show on the WB, a crudely animated version of the frog (complete with exaggerated lips ala Sambo)appears next to Dave, singing a stylized "Mammy". When the show reverts to the studio, Dave imitates the frog and accuses the WB of minstrelsy and racism. This incident was not a joke or part of the act. Chappelle has said publicly that the frog is a racist depiction. Dave's comments may be referring to the depiction of black people in old cartoons. For example, a 1936 cartoon called The Old Mill Pond is about frog jazz musicians which exert the characteristics of blackface and other black racial stereotypes.[2]
- Michigan's "Hello! Ma Baby" routine was imitated by Damon Wayans on an episode of My Wife and Kids.
- In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, a limited-edition pet given to the attendees of BlizzCon is Murky the Murloc, a fish/froglike creature that on occasion bursts into dance in the style of Michigan. A second limited-edition pet murloc also dances in the same style.
- In the 1993 episode of Animaniacs called "Moon Over Minerva", various male forest creatures react to the ultra sexy Minerva Mink. When the frog reacts, he imitates Michigan J. Frog's dancing with a cane as an instrumental version of "Hello! Ma Baby" plays in the background.
- In the video game of Looney Tunes: Back in Action, there is a collectible known as a 'Michigan J. Frog Oscar'. At the end of the game, the monkey with the top hat turns back into Michigan and then he sings and dances away. It is a gold statue of him with a leg in the air. In the movie of the same name, Michigan dances and sings in his post-recorded voice.
[edit] Trivia
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
- Chuck Jones stated that Michigan J. Frog was his favorite creation.[citation needed]
- Michigan J. Frog makes a cameo appearance in episode "Flush, Flush, Sweet Helga" of the The Oblongs, when Helga gets trapped in a sewer, he can be seen trapped in a spider web.
- Barbershop quartet Michigan Jake based their name on that of Michigan J. Frog when they formed in 1995. They went on to win the international championship of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 2001.[3]
- Appears on the cover of Leon Redbone's 1975 debut On the Track.[4]
- Bill Roberts, the Warner Brothers contract singer who provided the original voice of Michigan J. Frog, can be seen as the singing trapeze artist in the short film "Let's Sing An Old Time Song." link
- the Michigan J. Frog story is based on Ol' Rip the Horned Toad[5]
[edit] See related
[edit] References
- ^ Bill Roberts (VIII)
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezf-Eo0bzJc
- ^ AIC 2001 Champions
- ^ On The Track
- ^ Texas Twisted | Old Rip
[edit] External links
- "Frog Croaks; WB Suits Squeal" - Washington Post "obituary"
- Images of Michigan J. Frog
- WB mascot Michigan J. Frog croaks
- Michigan J. Frog and The Songs of One Froggy Evening
- Quotes to One Froggy Evening
[edit] Other sources
Comics Buyer's Guide #1614 (March 2006; Page 38)
