Down The Rabbit Hole:
Flip The Frog
Part 1 of 5
Down The Rabbit Hole merely places a spotlight on something slightly unusual that's caught my interest. With the help of Wikipedia, YouTube, and other sites, I gather information and learn something new.
Today, we take a look at the Depression era cartoon, Flip the Frog.
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Flip the Frog is an animated cartoon character created by American animator Ub Iwerks. He starred in a series of cartoons (38 total) produced by Celebrity Pictures and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1930 to 1933.
Ub Iwerks was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios and a personal friend of Walt Disney. In 1930, after a series of disputes between the two, Iwerks left Disney and went on to accept an offer from Pat Powers to open a cartoon studio of his own, Iwerks Studio Iwerks was to produce new cartoons under Powers' Celebrity Pictures auspices and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The first series he was to produce was to feature a character called Tony the Frog, but Iwerks disliked the name and was subsequently changed to Flip.
Ub Iwerks planned to release the series in both color and black and white versions through Celebrity Productions, Inc. The series attracted public attention in England by being the first color sound cartoon series. After four shorts had been produced MGM picked up the series. MGM decided to produce the series entirely in black and white, releasing the ones produced in color in black and white versions only.
After the first two cartoons, the appearance of Flip the Frog gradually became less froglike. This was done with the encouragement of MGM, who thought that the series would sell better if the character were more humanized. Flip's major redesign is attributed to Grim Natwick, who made a name for himself at the Fleischer Studios with the creation of Betty Boop. Natwick also had a hand in changing Flip's girlfriend. In earlier films, she was consistently a cat, but Natwick made Flip's new girlfriend, Fifi, a human who shared distinct similarities with Betty Boop. The series had a number of recurring characters, including Flip's dog, the mule Orace, and a dizzy neighborhood spinster.
The frog's personality also began to develop. As the series progressed, Flip became more of a down-and-out, Chaplin-esque character dealing with everyday conflicts in poverty-stricken atmosphere of the Great Depression. The shorts also became increasingly risqué due to an influx of animators from New York City.
Here are the first seven cartoons.
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Fiddlesticks
(1930)
Flying Fists
(1930)
Little Orphan Willie
(1930)
Puddle Pranks
(1930)
The Village Barber
(1930)
The Cuckoo Murder Case
(1930)
The Village Smithy
(1931)
Next time: More fun with Flip the Frog!
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