Line #41 WesternAnimation/FaceLikeAFrog


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/face_like_a_frog.png]]
2	''Face Like a Frog'' is a '''''very''''' surreal animated short made in 1987 by Sally Cruikshank (the same animator behind ''WesternAnimation/QuasiAtTheQuackadero''). It's about a frog named Max who is enticed by a female frog named Gluey into entering a haunted house. [[MindScrew Or something.]]
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4	It has a score by Music/DannyElfman and Music/OingoBoingo. It can be seen in its entirety [[https://youtu.be/E4unyZNh84M here]].
5	----
6	!!This short contains examples of:
7	* AfterlifeExpress: The basement contains [[spoiler:a train to Hell... [[SubvertedTrope but it makes a stop at Miami Beach]].]]
8	* AmbiguouslyEvil: The lizard who sings "Don't Go in the Basement." He does a lot of evil-looking grins and other behaviors suggesting that he's up to something, and the song has all the creepy flair of a typical VillainSong... but he doesn't seem to do anything other than tell Max to stay out of the basement, and then [[spoiler:say uh-uh at the end, when Max and Gluey go into the basement and take the train to Miami Beach]].
9	* BanisterSlide:
10	** Max and Gluey start doing this at one point, though the stairs disappear and the banister very quickly just becomes a squiggle in space...
11	** Later on, the lizard sings about this in "Don't Go in the Basement":
12	--->''Oh, you might think''\
13	''That it's real cool''\
14	''To ride down the banister like some darned fool''
15	* TheCameo: As mentioned below, Anita and Snozzi from the Quasi shorts are also passengers on the subway.
16	* ContinuityNod: Anita from Cruikshank's previous shorts ''Quasi at the Quackadero'' and ''Make Me Psychic'' makes a cameo at the end of the film.
17	* ChekhovsGunman: It's easy to miss, but in the shot after the one where Max opens the "Family Tree" book, there is a painting on the wall depicting the singing lizard, a full minute before the lizard makes his official appearance to sing the musical number.
18	* CreepyBasement: An entire song is dedicated to how you must never go into it, but we never really find out why. The fact that it apparently has a subway that goes to Hell may have something to do with it, though.
19	* CreepyJazzMusic: The soundtrack was done by Music/OingoBoingo, and it adds to the surreal imagery throughout the short. The music is especially jazzy in the number "Don't Go in the Basement", which is sung by a creepy lizard-like creature who seems to be wearing a suit.
20	* '''DerangedAnimation''': Holy '''balls'''.
21	* EldritchLocation: The whole world Max occupies seems to be one.
22	* TheFashionista: Gluey likes to change her clothes, a lot.
23	** "I have to change" "Don't change"
24	* {{Fingore}}: During "Don't Go in the Basement", when the lizard tries to press the elevator button for the basement, a bird bites his finger off.
25	* FoeRomanceSubtext: Creator/DannyElfman's character is the closest thing the short has to an actual antagonist, and he gets quite intimate with Gluey. For that matter, Gluey isn't exactly opposed to his advances.
26	* FurryConfusion: Gluey, an anthropomorphic frog, has a small, non-sentient alligator for a pet.
27	* GainaxEnding: And beginning, and middle.
28	* GoingCommando: "And I'm not wearing underwear!"
29	* HauntedHouse: The central location of the short.
30	* InkSuitActor: The lizard who sings "Don't Go in the Basement" sports fiery red "hair" like Creator/DannyElfman.
31	* LizardFolk: A chameleon-like one sings a song instructing Max to avoid the basement.
32	* MindScrew: '''Duh.'''
33	* MsFanservice: Gluey parodies this.
34	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Gluey keeps one as a pet.
35	* NothingIsScarier: The lizard never explains why you shouldn't go into the basement.
36	* OnlyInFlorida: Apparently, Miami Beach is [[spoiler:on the same subway line as Hell]].
37	* OnlySaneMan: Max... [[ViolationOfCommonSense to a point]].
38	* PunnyName: Played with when it comes to Gluey. After introducing herself to Max, he says "I'll stick with you."
39	* VisualPun: The word "HEX" is written atop Gluey's house. ''A hex on our house'', indeed.
40	* ViolationOfCommonSense: The short ends with Max being convinced to board a subway with Gluey that is going [[spoiler:''to Hell''... solely because it has a stop at Miami Beach.]]
41	* WarningSong: When Max tries to go into the HauntedHouse's basement (because the door says there's a phone down there, and he wants to call someone), a lizard man comes out of nowhere and sings the number "Don't Go in the Basement", which is all about the lizard ordering Max to stay out of the basement for vague reasons. At the end, we learn that the basement contains [[spoiler:a train to Hell]].
42	* WitchClassic: One of the house's residents is a short frog in a dark purple dress and witch hat.
43	* JustForFun/XMeetsY: Can be summed up quite simply as ''WesternAnimation/MinnieTheMoocher'' meets ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''.

Context WesternAnimation / FaceLikeAFrog