Another Froggy Evening

In the mid-to-late 90s, Jones released four theatrical shorts, each providing an opportunity for him to work his magic on his most beloved characters. The prior year’s “Chariots of Fur” reunited Wil E. Coyote and the Road Runner in a lovably familiar tale, and 1995’s “Another Froggy Evening” finds Jones resurrecting Michigan J. Frog, his creation from 1955’s “One Froggy Evening.”

Whereas the original followed Michigan J. Frog and the lone sucker who found him, this one travels through time. Michigan continually gets dug up and reburied by the descendants of the same man (picture the original sad sack as a cavemen, Roman citizen, American revolutionary and you’ve got the idea), still refusing to entertain for anyone but him. It moves at an amusing clip, but feels somehow missing a certain spark that radiates from “One Froggy Evening.”

Not to say “Another Froggy Evening” is bad, far from it, it’s absolutely charming and silly. There’s a series of amusing cameos (look for Looney Tunes alumni Pussyfoot and Marvin the Martian, along with Jones himself, Gene Siskel, and Roger Ebert), the animation is fluid, dynamic and strong, and the jokes are solid. Perhaps it’s the sweaty desperation of the original that’s missing, this one feels more eager to smack your funny bone and leave you elation than the earlier one.

And here’s an odd bit of trivia for you. This premiered before City of Angels, how’s that for tonal contrast?