Michigan J. Frog
Encyclopedia
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 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
. He appeared in a later cartoon titled Another Froggy Evening
which was released on October 6, 1995. He was also a former mascot of The WB Television Network
from that year until 2005, and after The Night of Favorites and Farewells
, he was shown as the final image of a ghost bowing down to viewers, bringing up The CW Television Network
.
), 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 Cocks
.
The running gag in the two-part series is that Michigan's undeniable talent is discovered by some hapless (and greedy) person who has visions of making a fortune by putting this great entertainer in front of 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 is just a normal frog and thwarts the man's dreams of wealth. The man in the original cartoon, who discovered the frog in the cornerstone of an 1892 building under demolition, tosses Michigan and the suitcase he came in into the time capsule
for the Tregoweth Brown
Building, a soon-to-be dedicated skyscraper. In 2056, when a construction company (consisting of men in spacesuits) razes the building with ray guns, another person (very similar to the first, but bald) discovers the suitcase, with Michigan still alive inside, and the process repeats.
Michigan has made cameos in episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Detention (as a newt that still has much of his original features, like the top hat & cane and green outside with yellow inside), more recently, as a talent show emcee in Duck Dodgers, Will and Dewitt, (almost identical to his original appearance, but pink instead of green and has a kind of knit-style hat instead of a top hat), and as a statue in Baby Looney Tunes. The character can be seen in 1996's Space Jam in the crowd, and 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action during the cafeteria scenes. In Tiny Toons (voiced by Jeff Bennett
), Michigan was a frequent "guest" at Elmyra Duff
's house. In addition, Michigan appears on the cover of Leon Redbone
's 1975 album, On the Track
. Michigan also made a cameo appearance in an episode of The Oblongs
.
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 the MGM cartoon Little 'Tinker
earlier. Information in the Internet Movie Database
restates what the DVD covered and adds some details.
In Another Froggy Evening, his voice was provided by Jeff McCarthy
.
Michigan J. Frog will appear in The Looney Tunes Show
voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
.
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 Bugs Bunny
and Daffy Duck
wondering over who (which one of them) would pull the switch to launch The WB.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.
Michigan also would usually appear before the opening of shows, informing the viewer of the TV rating. For example, before Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Angel
, the frog would sing a short monologue suggesting that kids should go to bed, meaning that the show coming on would be for mature audiences only.
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. To this day, a neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the facade of former WB affiliate WBNX-TV
's studio complex in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
.
When the WB signed off the air for the final time on September 17, 2006, a white silhouette 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 silhouette is shown removing his top hat and bowing to the viewer.
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
who debuted in the Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn.The short makes the debut of Michigan J...
(December 31, 1955), written by Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
and directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
. In this cartoon, Michigan is a male frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
who wears a top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
, carries a cane, sings pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
, Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
hits, and other songs from the late 19th and early 20th century while dancing and performing acrobatics
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
in the style of early 20th century vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
. He appeared in a later cartoon titled Another Froggy Evening
Another Froggy Evening
Another Froggy Evening is a 1995 cartoon by Chuck Jones and a sequel to his 1955 cartoon One Froggy Evening.The short features Michigan J. Frog and Marvin the Martian who reveals that Michigan's croaking noise is actually Martian for "Would you like to hear me sing?" This sequel is actually a...
which was released on October 6, 1995. He was also a former mascot of The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
from that year until 2005, and after The Night of Favorites and Farewells
The Night of Favorites and Farewells
The Night of Favorites and Farewells was a one-time special that aired on The WB on September 17, 2006. This special took a look back at the 11-year history of The WB and some of their biggest hits. The five-hour special was aired on all affiliates of The WB with the exception of those which had...
, he was shown as the final image of a ghost bowing down to viewers, bringing up The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
.
History
His name comes from the song "The Michigan Rag" (an original song written by Jones, Maltese, and musical director Milt FranklynMilt Franklyn
Milton J. Franklyn was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated cartoons....
), 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 Cocks
Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks is a film critic and motion picture screenwriter.He is a graduate of Kenyon College. He was a critic for Time, Newsweek, and Rolling Stone, among other magazines, before moving into film writing....
.
The running gag in the two-part series is that Michigan's undeniable talent is discovered by some hapless (and greedy) person who has visions of making a fortune by putting this great entertainer in front of 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 is just a normal frog and thwarts the man's dreams of wealth. The man in the original cartoon, who discovered the frog in the cornerstone of an 1892 building under demolition, tosses Michigan and the suitcase he came in into the time capsule
Time capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
for the Tregoweth Brown
Treg Brown
Tregoweth Edmond "Treg" Brown was a motion picture sound editor who was responsible for the sound effects in Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons starting in 1940. He also won the 1965 Academy Award for Sound Effects for his work on the film The Great Race.In the famous Warner...
Building, a soon-to-be dedicated skyscraper. In 2056, when a construction company (consisting of men in spacesuits) razes the building with ray guns, another person (very similar to the first, but bald) discovers the suitcase, with Michigan still alive inside, and the process repeats.
Michigan has made cameos in episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Detention (as a newt that still has much of his original features, like the top hat & cane and green outside with yellow inside), more recently, as a talent show emcee in Duck Dodgers, Will and Dewitt, (almost identical to his original appearance, but pink instead of green and has a kind of knit-style hat instead of a top hat), and as a statue in Baby Looney Tunes. The character can be seen in 1996's Space Jam in the crowd, and 2003's Looney Tunes: Back in Action during the cafeteria scenes. In Tiny Toons (voiced by Jeff Bennett
Jeff Bennett
Jeffrey Glenn "Jeff" Bennett is an American voice actor and musician, listed "among the top names in the voice-over field", best known as the voice of Johnny Bravo in the series of the same name...
), Michigan was a frequent "guest" at Elmyra Duff
Elmyra Duff
Elmyra Jessica Duff is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. She is one of the main characters from the show. Elmyra is voiced by Cree Summer in all of her appearances...
's house. In addition, Michigan appears on the cover of Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone
Leon Redbone is a singer and guitarist specializing in interpretations of early 20th-century music, including jazz and blues standards and Tin Pan Alley classics....
's 1975 album, On the Track
On the Track
On the Track is Leon Redbone's debut album. It was released on Warner Bros. Records in 1975 and reissued on CD in 1988. It peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts.The collection of songs features cover art by Chuck Jones.- Track listing :...
. Michigan also made a cameo appearance in an episode of The Oblongs
The Oblongs
The Oblongs is an American animated television program aimed at teenagers and adults. It is loosely based on a series of characters introduced in creator Angus Oblong's picture book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children...
.
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
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
. 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 the MGM cartoon Little 'Tinker
Little 'Tinker
Little 'Tinker is a 1947 MGM cartoon directed by Tex Avery. It was produced by Fred Quimby and composed by Scott Bradley.-Plot:The story begins at the home of B.O. Skunk, which is propelled by many fans. B.O. washes under shower and dozes himself with perfume. Then, he goes out for a walk. The...
earlier. Information in the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
restates what the DVD covered and adds some details.
In Another Froggy Evening, his voice was provided by Jeff McCarthy
Jeff McCarthy
-Television:He made guest star appearances on television shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ed, Designing Women, Cheers, Freddy's Nightmares, Matlock, and In the Heat of the Night. McCarthy was the voice of the Chuck Jones' creation, Michigan J. Frog, for the WB television network...
.
Michigan J. Frog will appear in The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show is a packaged show, created for Cartoon Network, and broadcast from 2002 to 2005. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The show featured cartoon shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon series produced from 1930 to 1969.-External links:...
voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...
.
Years with The WB
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
from its inception in 1995 until 2005. The network's first night of programming on January 11, 1995 began with Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
and Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
wondering over who (which one of them) would pull the switch to launch The WB.The camera then panned over to Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
drawing Michigan on an easel. When Jones finished, Michigan leapt from the drawing to formally launch the WB.
Michigan also would usually appear before the opening of shows, informing the viewer of the TV rating. For example, before Buffy The Vampire Slayer or Angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
, the frog would sing a short monologue suggesting that kids should go to bed, meaning that the show coming on would be for mature audiences only.
On July 22, 2005, Michigan's "death" was announced by WB Network Chairman Garth Ancier
Garth Ancier
Garth Ancier is a media executive best known for being one of only two people to have programmed three of the five US broadcast television networks .He is the former President of BBC Worldwide America and...
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
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
(whose early slogan was "The Frog"; the "F" in KWBF is supposedly for "frog"), during 2006, and WBRL in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. Also, WMJF, a small student-run television station at Towson University
Towson University
Towson University, often referred to as TU or simply Towson for short, is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S...
just outside Baltimore, Maryland, still uses the same call letters (WMJF -Michigan J. Frog) from when the station was a WB affiliate. To this day, a neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the facade of former WB affiliate WBNX-TV
WBNX-TV
WBNX-TV, virtual channel 55 , is the CW television affiliate serving the Cleveland/Akron/Canton, Ohio television market; it brands itself as "WBNX, The CW". The studios are located in Cuyahoga Falls and the transmitter is in Parma, although it is licensed to Akron...
's studio complex in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...
.
When the WB signed off the air for the final time on September 17, 2006, a white silhouette 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 silhouette is shown removing his top hat and bowing to the viewer.
Songs performed
- I'm Just Wild About HarryI'm Just Wild About Harry"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. "I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first financially successful Broadway play to have...
- The Michigan Rag
- Hello! Ma BabyHello! Ma Baby"Hello! Ma Baby" is a Tin Pan Alley song written in 1899 by the team of Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson . Its subject is a man who has a girlfriend he knows only through the telephone...
- Come Back to Éireann
- Largo al factotumLargo al factotumLargo al factotum is an aria from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, sung at the first entrance of the title character; the repeated "Figaro"s before the final patter section are an icon in popular culture of operatic singing...
- Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm GonePlease Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone"Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" was written by Sam H. Stept with lyrics by Sidney Clare. Original publication also credited singer Bee Palmer as co-composer. The song was published in 1930...