The Frogs Who Wanted a King (1922)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

After Władysław Starewicz fled revolutionary Russia, he moved to France, where he continued to make cartoons. One was "Les grenouilles qui demandent un roi" ("The Frogs Who Wanted a King" in English). This one features frogs who have a democracy but want a king. Jupiter first sends them a tree, but later sends the poor suckers a stork! Oh, the humanity! One of the things that these sorts of cartoons make clear is that cartoons don't have to be "cute" stories for children. Lots of the early cartoons were downright bizarre (it was Walt Disney who decided that cartoons should be for the tykes). In the meantime, this is a pretty fun cartoon. Check it out.

One of Starevich's earliest films made in France is possibly his only political satire. The story of The Frogs Who Wanted A King mirrors its title as a group of high "croakers" feel that democracy has gone flat so they demand a king from Jupiter to rule their land. When he sends down a stump, the frogs ask for another king, saying the stump is but "political timber." Jupiter sends down a hungry stork this time whose frog lusty eyes devour the town's residents. As the original "croaker" is about to slide down the stork's beak, he speaks his moral: "let well enough alone." This film features a few beautiful crowd scenes of dozens of puppet frogs. Starewicz tricks the audience into believing they are all moving at once by keeping the background in constant motion and animating only about six frogs or so at one time. The slightly corny dialogue and problems with lighting in a few places diminish the quality of repeat viewings, however its historical significance in Starewicz's life make it of importance to watch. His feelings towards government immediately following his flee from Russia are likely expressed in this film. In addition, the technical accomplishments of animating so many characters at once in a stop-motion film is astounding.

This very amusing short feature combines Starewicz's trademark animal puppets with a funny fable about government. The animation is not as stunning as it is in his finest pictures, but it is very good, and many of the frog puppets are quite amusing.The story has the 'Frogland Commonwealth' seeking new leadership, and while the plot is deliberately silly, it is entertaining and it creates some good opportunities to use the animated frogs and other creatures. The English translations of the title cards have numerous puns, and some of these are real groaners, but others are at least mildly amusing."Frogland" does not have quite the masterful complexity of "The Cameraman's Revenge" or "The Mascot", but it is an entertaining, well-crafted movie that is well worth seeing.

A great piece of pioneering stop motion animation. Taxidermied frogs make up the cast here. A group of smark-aleck reptiles ask the Gods for a suitable President. What the Gods send down are not suitable even for bathroom monitor. The gods send down one last "candidate" and all heck lets loose amongst the frightened frogs. No, I am not tripping on airplane glue, I am describing exactly what I saw here. Great little film for adventuresome movie goers!