They Really Don't Make 'Em Like This Anymore

I was recently thinking about the Looney Tunes cartoon that I always refer to as "The Singing Frog" (actual title: "One Froggy Evening"), and how it's stuck with me for all these years. Although I hadn't seen it in at least a couple of decades, I could remember almost every aspect of it; in fact, when I found a copy on YouTube (with Arabic subtitles, yet!), I hadn't gotten much wrong in my mental conjuring of it!

For those who've never experienced it (and are too lazy to click on the link above), it's the tale of a construction worker who finds a box while demolishing a building's foundation, inside of which is a frog - complete with top hat and cane - who performs show tunes like nobody's business. The man immediately has visions of striking it rich with this amazing creature, but keeps running into the problem that the amphibian tends to wrap up his latest number just before any prospective audience member arrives. Nothing the man can do prevents this from happening, and he loses his shirt and is actually institutionalized for a time, as a result. Eventually he spots a new building going up and drops the box, frog and all, into its foundation.

Cut to 2056, and the Acme Disintegration Company employee who similarly finds the box, along with the singing frog, and heads off into the distance in pursuit of what he woefully believes will be fame and fortune.

I love a lot of things about this 6-minute gem, including the fact that there's no dialogue in it other than the singing, and that it's circular (ending pretty much as it started). It also imparts the message that greed isn't good, as both men are shown to be sneaking the box away in the mistaken belief that they'll benefit from their deceit. That's a terrific sentiment to imprint upon young minds, if you ask me. Not like the crap we get today.