Comprehensive information and links about Michigan J. Frog

Michigan J. Frog (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 (October 6, 1995). His name comes from the song "The Michigan Rag" (an original song written by Jones, Maltese, and musical director Milt Franklyn), which he sings in the cartoon.

The gag in both cartoons is that Michigan's talent is discovered by some hapless person who has visions of making a fortune exploiting the frog, but who soon discovers that Michigan will only perform for him.

He also appeared in an episode of , an episode of "Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries", and later as a talent show emcee in an episode of

As WB mascot

From 1995 until 2005, he was the official mascot of the WB Television Network.

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, announced services will be held for Mr. Frog, but failed to give details. Janollari stated that "[Michigan] was a symbol that prepetuated the young teen feel of the network. That's not the image we [now] want to put out to our audience."

Various humourous 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 this decision by Ancier, Michigan still appears in some WB affiliate logos and in TV spots, such as KWBF in Little Rock, Arkansas.

. When Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and Barf (John Candy) stop at a diner, one of the other patrons collapses and a creature which looks like the aliens from bursts out of his chest, exactly as in that movie. (John Hurt plays the character this happens to in both .) It then hops onto the counter, produces a top hat and cane, and sings an excerpt from "Hello, Ma Baby" while dancing exactly like Michigan.

In the 2005 movie, , after a segment supposedly previewing Dave's new prank show on the WB, a crudely animated version of the frog appears next to Dave, singing a stylized "Mammy". When the show reverts to the studio, Dave imitates the frog and accuses the WB of minstrelsy and racism.

In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, a limited-edition pet given to the attendees of BlizzCon is Murky the Murloc, a fish of Michigan.

On one episode of The Simpsons, Bart is watching The WB, and Michigan J. Froggie is on screen singing "We bring you tonight on the WB, another stupid show that no one should see!.... Oh I need a drink..."