Here’s the lead by Josef Adalian:
Michigan J. Frog has croaked — and with his passing, execs at the WB hope to finally shed the image as the Clearasil net.
WB topper Garth Ancier made it very clear that the Frog net would no longer be using the classic Warner Bros animated amphibian as a mascot.
“In my opinion, the frog is dead and buried,” Ancier told crix at the previously news-free summer edition of the semiannual TV Critics Assn press tour. “The frog was on life support for a long time and then we got permission from a federal court to remove the feeding tube.”
Later, in an interview with Daily Variety, the longtime WB exec made it clear he’s always wanted to muzzle Michigan.
“I’ve hated the frog since day one,” he said. “I think it’s a dumb logo.”
Basically, from the testing they’ve done, they think that the frog perpetuated the “young teen feel” of the network that they did not want to put out.
Later on in the article, it states that the WB execs (including Ancier) went out of their way to make it clear that nobody at the net had a personal grudge against Michigan J, an Oscar-winning toon titan of the Warner Bros corporate family. Ancier said he had no problem with Daily Variety and other news outlets continuing to refer to the WB at “the Frog,” and a network rep made sure to tell reporters that Warner Bros animation chief Sander Schwartz considers Michigan J to be “alive and well (and) living in Bolivia.”
So if you miss the frog, or if they come up with a logo that’s dumber than the frog, now you know who to blame.
But what’s the point of calling the network “the Frog” the frog has been killed?
Anyway, that’s one of the best headlines I’ve seen in a while.
I love the frog especailly the old cartoons when he sings, what was it…hello my baby hello my darlin hello my good time g-a-l? I even had the frog on my key ring until it broke.
Strictly speaking, that frog was kind of a dumb logo for them to adopt. I’ve never really cared for that frog. What was he in, like, one cartoon?
I really didn’t have any feelings one way or another about the frog. I guess being WB, it should be a cartoon of some sort.
I don’t get how a 1950’s-designed cartoon character in a top hat with a cane, dancing to RAGTIME music was supposed to be appealing to “young teens”… In my generally disregared opinion, TimeWarner should just move him over to Cartoon Network’s [adult swim].
Get it? Swim? (that’s why my opinions are genrally disregarded)