The Flip the Frog Cartoons Ranked
Ub Iwerks is one of the most important people in animation history. One of Walt Disney’s earliest collaborators and co-creator of Mickey Mouse, Iwerks also had a major hand in the Newman Laugh-O-Grams, the Alice Comedies, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and more at Disney. Iwerks left the company in 1930 to form his own studio, contracting with MGM and leading series like Willie Whopper, ComiColor Cartoons, and first of all, Flip the Frog. These efforts didn’t totally pan out, however, and after a few contract jobs at the end of the ’30s, Iwerks returned to Disney, where he worked on SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946), theme park projects, and more.
Iwerks was the more technical mind in the early Disney partnership and that showed in his hands-on approach for his later leadership and various patents filed during the latter Disney period. When the Iwerks Studio first embarked with its own series in the form of Flip the Frog, he had high hopes for all the cartoons to be released in both color and black-and-white, which wasn’t maintained across the 38 shorts released in the more than three years from 1930 to 1933. By the end of that time, the animated amphibian was seen as a lost cause, leading to the end of the run, and to this day, a relatively obscure place in animation history. But Iwerks and his collaborators, who included current and future animation luminaries such as Grim Natwick and Chuck Jones, were essentially consistently able to make entertaining cartoons. Flip the Frog, like many cartoon series of the Pre-Code era, underwent many design and tone iterations in short order, ranging from Silly Symphony-esque woodland antics to a more Fleischer-like urban chaos vein. In this piece, I’ll trace all the Flip the Frog series’ successes and failures.
All films directed by Ub Iwerks.
#38 — AFRICA SQUEAKS (1931)
If you watch enough early sound cartoons (hell, if you watch just a bit), you’ll come across gross racist caricatures. AFRICA SQUEAKS was one of the first shorts after Flip was redesigned to look more humanoid and less frog-like, a change that I both appreciate and lament. In terms of the content of this short, however, it’s entirely lamentable. The very premise of AFRICA SQUEAKS is a non-starter.
#37 — PALE-FACE (1933)
You might notice a trend at the bottom of this list. The penultimate cartoon in the entire series is Western-themed and therefore trades in terrible Native American stereotypes. That PALE-FACE is “better” than AFRICA SQUEAKS is not because there is less offensiveness in the group being targeted, but because the Iwerks Studio’s animation fluidity had become a technical achievement to some extent.
#36 — CHINAMAN’S CHANCE (1933)
Flip the Frog really made the rounds of minority groups to caricature, huh? Well, the series certainly wasn’t alone in doing that at the time, and in fact, in spite of Iwerks’ innovative ideas, it also wasn’t alone in aping innocuous gags. CHINAMAN’S CHANCE only pulls ahead in this absolute low-bar area of the list because of some additional helpful animated fluidity this late in the game (it was the third-to-last cartoon).
#35 — THE VILLAGE SPECIALIST (1931)
Finally, we come to a Flip the Frog cartoon that is not racist. THE VILLAGE SPECIALIST is instead, however, somewhat boring. None of the gags particularly stand out to me, although coinciding with the title character’s redesign, a clear modernization of the surroundings and movement is appreciated. THE VILLAGE SPECIALIST is so low on this list for being forgettable, not offensive.
#34 — BULLONEY (1933)
The last year of Flip the Frog wasn’t too great. BULLONEY appropriately concerns bullfighting gags, which had been somewhat done to death in peer animated series already (I’m thinking of Terrytoons and Talkartoons examples). They are rendered without note, making the short, again, more forgettable than outright bad. That may speak to the general quality of Flip Frog that, barring the totally racist ones, the worst entries are “simply” unimpressive, and BULLONEY is a great example of that.
#33 — COO COO THE MAGICIAN (1933)
It was almost like Iwerks was trying to salvage Flip’s popularity in the series’ last year by using the absolute lowest common denominator stereotypes. COO COO THE MAGICIAN uses “far east” imagery and enslaved African caricatures to propel a story of mysticism and is only placed as high as it is for a bizarre drag/belly dancing routine performed by the amphibian.
#32 — THE SOUP SONG (1931)
This may be a good time to address Flip’s personality, or lack thereof. Unlike the early Mickey Mouse, Flip wasn’t quite a mischievous trickster. In fact, at first, he was essentially a happy-go-lucky, quaint woodland sprite. After his humanoid redesign, he was essentially transitioned into a perennially unlucky figure, reflecting the change in his urban settings and Depression-era visuals and themes. THE SOUP SONG predates that change but gives a glimpse of what was to come. Featuring Flip in his original, thicker design, the short follows him running into some trouble as a cook/server in a working class eating establishment. The animation is somewhat stiff and doesn’t quite deliver the style of somewhat cynical humor that would come from the series, and it also doesn’t carry the simple charm of the earliest Flip shorts. THE SOUP SONG is caught between two eras of the series, making it one of the lesser installments.
#31 — THE VILLAGE BARBER (1930)
Iwerks Studio actually made a couple of Flip the Frog cartoons before being fully picked up by MGM for distribution, and THE VILLAGE BARBER was the first short made under the new arrangement. That doesn’t really make a mark on the series’ approach, especially since it was only the third entry overall, but it’s a footnote I suppose. I pull it out, though, because this is certainly not an electrifying watch. The hairdressing gags had already been done in the silent days in some form or another, and especially as compared to later shorts in the series, the primitive nature of the character designs in THE VILLAGE BARBER doesn’t make a huge impression.
#30 — PHONEY EXPRESS (1932)
There’s some rollicking humor to be found in the Western aesthetic of PHONEY EXPRESS, but on the whole, it’s tedious, with an added dose of racial insensitivity.
#29 — THE NEW CAR (1931)
THE NEW CAR was the first cartoon in the series to feature the redesigned Flip, who I should mention gets tweaked just a bit here and there beyond. In any event, the occasion is also marked by a change in tone, with the hapless Flip running into the kind of trouble faced in urban settings; you know, sentient cars and policemen and the like. THE NEW CAR is an OK short, but for being the first entry of a new era, it isn’t very remarkable.
#28 — THE VILLAGE SMITTY (1931)
THE VILLAGE SMITTY is a solid chunky Flip cartoon. The chaos of the short foreshadows the anarchy of future installments in the series, even as the supporting animal cast is still very much rooted in the look of Disney’s characters in the late 1920s and early ‘30s…which, duh, Iwerks was responsible for! Nevertheless, THE VILLAGE SMITTY feels a little bit old-fashioned by the fast-paced standard of the day.
#27 — FLIP’S LUNCH ROOM (1933)
Besides diving into racialized jokes more and more in the series’ last year, Iwerks and Co. brought back other old gag premises with minor twists. With FLIP’S LUNCH ROOM, the studio essentially does an updated version of THE SOUP SONG, and a better one to be clear. Something I haven’t acknowledged yet is that when Flip was redesigned to be more humanoid, he was also dropped into a world full of actual humans; previously, his companions were other anthropomorphic animals. So there’s that dynamic at play here, including the recurring character of what can only be described as a “spinster” stereotype, but it all ultimately makes FLIP’S LUNCH ROOM a stale watch.
#26 — THE MILKMAN (1932)
When Flip was redesigned, the Iwerks Studio also leaned into more risque material a la other Pre-Code animators. THE MILKMAN is one such example of that trend, although it never matches Fleischer levels of surrealism and horniness. But there is something off about a cow getting dolled up to get milked, that’s for sure. The back half of the cartoon relies on the “babysitting a brat” trope many other studios were using at the time, which gets a little tired. But overall, THE MILKMAN is bizarre fun.
#25 — PUPPY LOVE (1932)
Just as Mickey had Pluto and Bosko (Looney Tunes’ first mascot) had Bruno, Flip had a period where he had his own dog. The back half of PUPPY LOVE, which involves breaking into a pound and a sinister dog catcher, is great fun.
#24 — THE MUSIC LESSON (1932)
Besides changing design and tone, Flip the Frog, like other cartoon heroes of the time, also found himself representing different ages and circumstances in whiplash fashion. THE MUSIC LESSON features the amphibian as a boyish figure, a student who needs permission to leave the house, when a few cartoons earlier he was a “working man” getting up to some adult hijinks. Indeed, Flip was mostly not coded as a juvenile, so this short feels especially strange. Besides these inconsistencies, which one should never really take too seriously when talking this era of animation because it’s more like Flip is a cartoon star appearing in different “roles” as opposed to representing a general continuity like, say, SpongeBob, THE MUSIC LESSON is a good cartoon!
#23 — CIRCUS (1932)
The mayhem of the concluding chase is the reason to watch CIRCUS. My bias towards the circus aesthetic of yesteryear is palpable, but it’s tempered somewhat by some stereotyped gags. Nevertheless, CIRCUS impressively moves beyond its opening retread of old Mickey Mouse gags involving sentient hot dogs.
#22 — NURSE MAID (1932)
NURSE MAID is another one of those “taking care of a baby leads to disaster” cartoons, but as opposed to the execution in THE MILKMAN, the gags are able to sustain a whole short. Iwerks’ other character designs post-Flip-redesign had taken on a life of their own, often rounded and modern in a way thanks most likely to Betty Boop’s designer, Grim Natwick. That’s evident in NURSE MAID, making it one of the better middling cartoons in the series.
#21 — JAIL BIRDS (1931)
This action-packed Flip installment features the redesigned Flip interacting with a host of other humanoid animals; specifically, he’s hunting down an escaped criminal. The frog’s haplessness is funny in the face of a Pete (Mickey’s nemesis)-like character. JAIL BIRDS is a baseline of sorts on this list for the good-to-great cartoons to come.
#20 — LITTLE ORPHAN WILLIE (1930)
LITTLE ORPHAN WILLIE was at first rejected by and not released by MGM, for some reason. While this isn’t as advanced as a MICKEY’S ORPHANS (1931), Flip’s handling of a baby dropped off by a stork on accident is often cute. It’s fun to see the series still in its original woodlands setting. And LITTLE ORPHAN WILLIE, for all its simplicity compared to the fidelity the Iwerks Studio would soon be able to tout, retains a heartfelt charm.
#19 — MOVIE MAD (1931)
Getting a bit ahead of an animation trend for once in showcasing celebrity caricatures (a trope that would dominate cartoons just a couple years later), although specificity is relegated to Charlie Chaplin, Iwerks makes a little ode to/satire of show business with MOVIE MAD. The breakneck pace perfectly fits the subject matter and the squash and stretch of many gags is totally satisfying. MOVIE MAD is the perfect film to be at the halfway point of this list.
#18 — RAGTIME ROMEO (1931)
Although basically simple, something that stands out to me about RAGTIME ROMEO is the background work. Evoking a suburb at night, the lighting and shading indicate a growing sophistication for the Flip the Frog series. Although still featuring the chunky Flip, the setting is starting to evoke the “grittier” shorts to come, as is a particularly revealing shot. RAGTIME ROMEO is a decent cartoon from the series’ “bouncier” days.
#17 — FIRE! FIRE! (1932)
The squash and stretch of FIRE! FIRE! is particularly remarkable, as the series had totally moved past the look and feel of its earliest installments. Flip is firmly in his skinny legend era, and as he works as a firefighter, he comes into contact with some great manifestations of smoke and fire. Perhaps because of those character designs, FIRE! FIRE! stands out, but it also features entertaining executions of gags similar to those seen in other cartoon series’ firefighting-based shorts.
#16 — SCHOOL DAYS (1932)
Flip is back to being a child in SCHOOL DAYS. There’s a certain strange quality to the design of the human characters in this short that would come to define the series’ later days. And the loyalty of the frog’s dog is charming and leads to a whole bunch of antics. SCHOOL DAYS is slickly animated fun.
#15 — WHAT A LIFE (1932)
The seediness of WHAT A LIFE stands out to me. It follows Flip and the brat character from THE MILKMAN busking for money before a series of incidents lead to him in the same room with an elongated Betty Boop-esque character, who turns out to be the wife of a cop the pair keep running afoul of. The tone of the cartoon is certainly out of sync with a lot of what came before in the series, but that’s what makes WHAT A LIFE so interesting and entertaining.
#14 — SODA SQUIRT (1933)
In spite of my general disdain for the final year of the Flip the Frog series, it was fortunately ended on a relatively high note. The last cartoon in the run, SODA SQUIRT is full of celebrity caricatures, many of which could be seen in shorts from other animation studios in the very same year. The appearances, which in terms of quantity does seem to outstrip any competitors, are given unique life. The way they factor into the cartoon’s story also seems to celebrate the series’ end. Celebrities churn out in droves to visit Flip’s new drug store, which is an ironic twist considering that kind of fame was not destined for the frog. A queer-coded “pansy” character who hulks out into a Mr. Hyde-like character isn’t the greatest example of representation, but it is indicative of what could be shown on screen in the Pre-Code era. Overall, SODA SQUIRT is a chaotic, meta conclusion to a series not without its ups and downs.
#13 — TECHNO-CRACKED (1933)
The only other good short from Flip’s final year is TECHNO-CRACKED. The amphibian constructs a robot to do his chores for him and this pumpkin-headed AI moves with such anarchic grace that the character animation alone makes the cartoon a joy to watch. Thankfully, there are also cleverly designed gags that said animation complements, and the resolution of TECHNO-CRACKED’s story is joyfully over-the-top.
#12 — FUNNY FACE (1932)
Full of uncanny valley looks, FUNNY FACE’s essentially very creepy premise is that Flip gets a human mask that molds to his head in order to impress a Betty Boop-esque flapper girl. The fully human Flip is a surreal sight after seeing numerous cartoons of him in his hybrid redesigned form and the various facial hijinks’ involved make FUNNY FACE a perhaps unintentionally existential cartoon.
#11 — THE OFFICE BOY (1932)
In the middle of 1932, the Flip the Frog cartoons were fulfilling the promise of Natwick’s contributions to the Iwerks Studio. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his arrival coincided with the appearance of psychosexual innuendo and darker gags in what used to be a quaint woodland critter series. In THE OFFICE BOY, this is taken to a workplace with a crooked boss and an elongated Betty Boop who moves as if she’s animated in a wholly different world than the rest of the characters. It’s a treat to watch.
#10 — LAUGHING GAS (1931)
Although I think the general quality of the Flip the Frog series improved when the character was redesigned, some of the chunky shorts make their way into the top ten for their quaint charm. But LAUGHING GAS is one that earns its spot with more directly identifiable, laugh-out-loud gags and visuals. As one might expect from its title, some of this cartoon gets trippy, and a supporting walrus character is rendered with delightful movement and design.
#9 — FIDDLESTICKS (1930)
As mentioned, in spite of their relative lack of sophistication, I hold the earliest Flip cartoons close to my heart. Perhaps it’s because I discovered them at a time when I was expanding my animated palette. Or perhaps it’s because they do somehow distill a very small window of time where the early Silly Symphony formula could be translated to other studios and characters (although of course Iwerks had a hand in that Disney series too). In any event, FIDDLESTICKS was the first Flip the Frog cartoon and was released by Celebrity Productions before MGM took over distribution duties. It was one of three Flip shorts made in color and black and white, and thankfully, the color version survives unlike with the other two. Although it was not made with Technicolor, FIDDLESTICKS’ red-and-green shading approximates the famous process’ two-strip method, and it’s a look long lost to time that carries with it a certain kind of universal nostalgia. The cartoon essentially follows Flip dancing around to music, again, in that Silly Symphony vein. But there’s something so pure about its look and feel that it stands the test of the time as a window into another world. FIDDLESTICKS is clearly not the best Flip the Frog cartoon, but as the one that started the whole series, it stands as one of its best entries.
#8 — FLYING FISTS (1930)
And yet, the second Flip cartoon is even better. Unfortunately, FLYING FISTS no longer survives in color. Fortunately, it is still quite entertaining in black and white. As with FIDDLESTICKS, there’s a sense that I should enjoy more some of the higher fidelity stuff to come, but also as with FIDDLESTICKS, I can’t deny that I am charmed by the simplicity of FLYING FISTS. It’s not pure patronizing either, as the short does carry its fair share of solid gags. Ultimately, though, FLYING FISTS succeeds as an exercise in creating a new character, one who, while not carrying a ton of personality at this stage, looks intriguing as an early sound cartoon persona.
#7 — THE GOAL RUSH (1932)
One of the out-and-out funniest Flip the Frog cartoons bests any other execution of the football game gags and tropes that were popular in animation that particular year. THE GOAL RUSH is one of the first Flip cartoons that really made me sit up and notice Iwerks’ increasing animation fidelity and distinguished human character designs (especially since I didn’t end up watching the whole series in release order). There is something about watching Flip interact with other characters in THE GOAL RUSH that really scratches my brain, almost in an uncanny valley way.
#6 — THE BULLY (1932)
Iwerks had certainly taken note of the boxing sequence in Chaplin’s CITY LIGHTS (1931). THE BULLY features a send-up of that balletic bout with an animation fluidity that had been steadily building for years. The framing of various shots is certainly cinematic and unique in the Flip the Frog filmography. Ultimately, THE BULLY moves with a freewheeling intensity that keeps me on the edge of my seat.
#5 — THE CUCKOO MURDER CASE (1930)
As with circus-set cartoons, I have a soft spot for old-school “spooky” ones. Even considering that bias, THE CUCKOO MURDER CASE is an exceptional entry in the Flip the Frog series. The array of anthropomorphic objects seems endless and a number of abstracted gags are really inventive. THE CUCKOO MURDER CASE actually succeeds at striking a tone that is both unsettling and wholly ridiculous.
#4 — PUDDLE PRANKS (1930)
PUDDLE PRANKS is pretty simple even by early Flip standards, as the frog gets his own Minnie with a character who is essentially Flip with eyelashes and feminine clothes. But what I like about the short is how it operates in such a different mode from later entries. The woodland setting is still very much in effect and it drives home the size difference between two frogs and a pelican (which is somehow in the forest, but whatever). PUDDLE PRANKS hearkens back to the Victorian-era illustrations and fairy tales that informed the Silly Symphonies and that really resonates with me.
#3 — STORMY SEAS (1932)
STORMY SEAS is one of the most chaotic Flip the Frog cartoons, and that’s saying something for the latter part of the series’ life. The speed at which incredible visuals race onto the screen is remarkable, and the visuals themselves are memorable and lively, like an anthropomorphic cloud and a lanky, leering King Neptune. STORMY SEAS, and its fellow best Flip the Frog shorts, are collectively the ideal of what this era of animation could deliver: just totally bonkers and creative interpretations of rote settings or premises.
#2 — SPOOKS (1931)
Another entry into the “spoopy” cartoon canon, SPOOKS is a phenomenal short and nearly the best in the Flip the Frog series. As with STORMY SEAS, this short just throws spectacular visual after spectacular visual at the viewer, and this viewer appreciates its haunted house setting more than the former’s nautical theme. The skeletal gags are unsettling in a way, but more than anything, the Expressionistic bent of the rooms featured in the cartoon warp perspective very effectively. SPOOKS is a macabre piece of raucous comedy and nearly the best Flip entry.
#1 — ROOM RUNNERS (1932)
It’s not a coincidence that the most “Pre-Code” Flip the Frog cartoon is my favorite. ROOM RUNNERS is strangely violent and sexual, full of innuendo that isn’t so much hinted at as barely obscured. The fidelity of the animation is laid onto great backgrounds that actually work to present a physically constructed space in the form of the short’s hotel setting. Flip’s hapless personality shines through here, as he blunders from one incident to another. And the way the animated short embodies Depression-era aesthetics and themes as they were rendered in live action films is truly palpable. ROOM RUNNERS is a wild cartoon and the greatest example of what Iwerks was able to accomplish with Flip the Frog, his first creation after leaving Disney.
