About

Michigan J. Frog Dance refers to a dance originally performed by the Merry Melodies character Michigan J. Frog, which is often imitated by other characters. The dance typically consists of the character marching and kicking their legs while wearing a top hat and using a cane. As in the original cartoon, the dance is frequently paired with the line "Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal."

Origin

The dance originates from a scene in the 1955 Merry Melodies episode "One Froggy Evening",^[1] where the character Michigan J. Frog performs the dance throughout the episode while singing the song "Hello! Ma Baby," originally written in 1899 by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson. Throughout the history of television and film, the cartoon has been used as a parody, including notably in the 1987 Mel Brooks film Spaceballs.

WB Network Mascot

Michigan J. Frog served as the mascot for the WB television network between 1996 and 2005. The dance was performed in commercials and bumpers for the network during that time, causing it to be remembered as part of 90s Nostalgia.

Spread

On May 21st, 2014, a photograph of a real frog bearing a physical resemblance to Michigan J. Frog was posted to the subreddit /r/funny with the line as a caption, where it received 3,131 points (93% upvoted).^[6] On March 8th, 2015 the photograph and pose were re-submitted to /r/funny by a different user.^[2] The second post gained over 4,092 points (92% upvoted) as of February 27th, 2016.

On April 8th, 2015, user beniciodeltaco posted a Vine that combined the Michigan J. Frog dance with an image of Pepe the Frog, and changed the music to Hello Darkness, My Old Friend. The Vine has received over two million loops as of March 1st, 2016.

A video of the character Peridot from Steven Universe performing the dance was posted to Tumblr on January 23rd, 2016. The post has gained over 4,900 notes as of February 27th, 2016.^[3]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References