Michigan Jackson Frog is an animated cartoon character from the Warner Bros.’ Merrie Melodies film series. Originally a one-shot character, his only appearance during the original run of the Merrie Melodies series was as the star of the One Froggy Evening short film (December 31, 1955), written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones.
The Washington Post ran an obituary for Michigan J. Frog. The obituary lampooned the greedy corporate decision to pull the plug on MJF.
BULLETIN: Michigan J. Frog, the 1950s Warner Bros. contract player best known for his top hat, cane and ragtime songs, is dead, killed by the WB network for whom he had been working as a mascot, The TV Column has learned.
In the biggest news yet to come out of the action-packed Summer TV Press Tour 2005, WB suits, after being grilled during a midday news conference with the Reporters Who Cover Television, confessed yesterday to killing off their beloved mascot, Michigan J. Frog.
Mr. Frog would have turned 50 in December.
“Services will be held,” Janollari said apologetically.
“The frog was on life support for a long time, and then we got permission from a federal court to disconnect the feeding tube,” Ancier said. He has been with the network since its launch in ’95 and has always had it in for Mr. Frog, according to well-placed sources who wished to remain anonymous because it’s a short hop from killing a frog to knocking off a snitch.
WLBOTT proposes that Warner Brothers create a Ms. Frog who solves crimes in classic film-noir style.
Leon Redbone and “On The Tracks”
Michigan J. Frog made it onto the cover of Leon Redbone‘s album “On The Tracks”. MTJ was drawn by none other than Chuck Jones.
“There’s a grasshopper sittin’ on a railroad track / Pickin’ his teeth with a carpet tack.” – Polly Wolly Doodle All Day
Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, he was born in Cyprus of Armenian ancestry and first appeared on stage in Toronto, Canada, in the early 1970s. He also appeared on film and television in acting and voice-over roles.
Early life Redbone was elusive about his origins, and never explained the origin of his stage name. According to a Toronto Star report in the 1980s, he came to Canada in the mid-1960s, and changed his name via the Ontario Change of Name Act. Biographical research published in 2019 corroborated his birth name, and confirmed that his family was of Armenian origin. His parents lived in Jerusalem, but fled in 1948 for Nicosia, Cyprus, where Redbone was born. By 1961, the family had moved to London, England, and by 1965 to Toronto.[
The [Rolling Stone] article described his performances as “so authentic you can hear the surface noise of an old 78 rpm.
He was introduced to a larger public as a semi-regular musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, appearing twice in the first season.
Death On May 19, 2015 on his website, his publicist referred to concerns about his health and announced his retirement from performing and recording.
Redbone died on May 30, 2019, from the effects of dementia. At the time he was living in New Hope, Pennsylvania, in hospice care. He was survived by his wife Beryl Handler, daughters Blake and Ashley, and three grandchildren.
A statement on Redbone’s website noted his death with cheeky humor: “It is with heavy hearts we announce that early this morning, May 30, 2019, Leon Redbone crossed the delta for that beautiful shore at the age of 127. He departed our world with his guitar, his trusty companion Rover, and a simple tip of his hat.” His longtime publicist Jim Della Croce confirmed that Redbone was actually 69.
When you’ve made it into a Far Side cartoon, dude, you’ve made it!
Throat Tromnet
Leon Redbone popularized the “throat tromnet”, which I obsessively copied during my youth. One day, UC#3 and UC#3-SU, in obvious appreciation of my musical skills, said, “The only other person we’ve ever seen doing that lip trumpet thing was a highly intoxicated man on the MTBA subway.”
