Rupert and the Frog Song

 Rupert Bear is a British icon, a character who first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1920.  So why am I talking about Rupert and the Frog Song (1984) in the middle of my Beatles binge?

 

That's why.  Paul McCartney acquired the film rights to the character the day after he announced he was leaving the Beatles, and he wrote, produced and starred in Rupert and the Frog Song.  The short was released in theaters to accompany Give My Regards to Broad Street, and unlike the feature film it was actually well received.

 The plot is not only there to string the songs together, mostly because there's only one song. It's a beautiful day, and Rupert (McCartney) decides to go for a walk.  He chats with his friends Bill and Edward, stands under a tree covered with butterflies, and finally discovers frogs in a pond.

Rupert walks some more, and discovers a secret cave with a sign warning "Frogs Only Beyond This Point."   That does not deter him, and nor do the frog guards stationed in the cave.  Rupert sneaks in and discovers the frogs preparing for a special ceremony that happens every couple of hundred years, so it's good timing.  But what Rupert doesn't know is that he's been followed by an owl and a pair of black cats.

 

 Rupert watches as the frogs sing "We All Stand Together," a psychedelic Busby Berkely dance routine breaks out, the Kinga nd Queen of Frogs make a brief appearance, and the owl and cats interrupt the ceremony, though thankls to a quick warning from Rupert no harm is done to the frogs.  Then Rupert goes home and tells his mother about what he's seen.

 

 I've seen Give My Regards to Broad Street, so I know that Paul McCartney was in a nostalgic mood in 1984.  On the other hand, there's a strand of nostalgia running through all his work, showing up in Beatles songs like "Penny Lane" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."  But I think there's more to it than that - this short film isn't just celebrating a beloved character from Paul's childhood, it's creating wonder.  The key scene for me comes before the frog song, when Rupert discovers that the tree he's standing under isn't covered in leaves, it's covered in butterflies.

 It's a moment devoted entirely to wonder, the kind of scene you see in My Neighbor Totoro or 1982's The Snowman.  (And given the timing,  I suspect The Snowman was a direct influence.)  It's a very short film, and it's not deep, but it is lovely.