Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Frog And Toad’ On Apple TV+, An Animated Version Of The Classic Kids’ Books About Two Amphibian Buddies (2024)

How many children’s books that are over half a century old are really still popular? It’s very few, when you think about it. Goodnight, Moon, anything by Eric Carle, Where The Wild Things Are, Corduroy and the Frog And Toad series are the ones that immediately come to mind. All of them have the same thing in common: timeless themes and warm relationships. Over 40 years after the last Frog And Toad book was published, a new animated series tries to capture the gentle spirit of those books.

FROG AND TOAD: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Toad (Kevin Michael Richardson) is in his house making cookies. He’s being watched by two robins, one of who is wearing a hat.

The Gist: Toad tastes his cookies and feels they’re the best batch he’s ever made. He can’t wait to bring them to his best friend Frog (Nat Faxon). On the way to Frog’s house, Robin (Selene Luna) hints that she would like one, but Toad doesn’t take the hint.

At Frog’s house, Frog and Toad enjoy the cookies. And keep enjoying them, to the point where they worry they’ll eat the whole batch. Frog suggests they practice “Willpower!” and try to put the cookies where they can’t see them. But Toad continuously suggests ways to get around the restriction and get the cookies. Eventually, it spirals until they’re floating the cookies down the river on a small raft. The entire time, Robin is wondering why they don’t offer her and her bird buddies any cookies.

In a second story, Frog comes over to Toad’s house and sees that his friend is sad. It’s the saddest time of the day for Toad, as he waits for the mail to arrive. Why is it sad? Because he’s never gotten any mail before. So Frog writes him a letter and goes into town to mail it. On the way, he sees Robin, Mole (Rob Hoegee), Mink (Tom Kenny) and Gopher (Cole Escola) and they tell him about their first letters. He goes to the post office and gives the letter to snail (Aparla Nancherla), who sets off to deliver it right away. Of course, because Snail is a snail, it takes hours to get to Toad’s house.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Frog And Toad is based on Arnold Lobel’s series of children’s books that he wrote and illustrated during the 1970s. They’re still widely read today, because the books’ feelgood vibe is hard to replicate. The closest analogue we can think of is Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street.

Our Take: If you’re a longtime fan of the Frog And Toad book series, the new animated series will feel very comfortable to you. It helps that Lobel’s son and daughter, Adam and Adrianne, are involved as executive producers.

Showrunner Rob Hoegee (who also voices Mole) has ensured that the gentle friendship between the two amphibians translates to the screen. Despite their differences, the two of them enjoy spending time together, doing things as mundane as eating ice cream or watching the sun go down. Are they more than friends? Who knows? What we do know is that they are loyal to each other no matter what situation comes their way.

Hoegee and his staff do a good job of bringing in some gentle comedy into each story, with voices that both adults and kids might be familiar with. Among the voices are: Ron Funches as Raccoon, Yvette Nicole Brown as Rabbit, Fortune Feimster as Lizard, John Hodgman as Mouse, Margaret Cho as Turtle and Stephen Tobolowsky as Dragonfly. Most if not all of them have voiced other kids’ animated characters, but hearing these familiar voices coming from the cute animals in Frog and Toad’s world will be something parents will get a little kick out of.

What Age Group Is This For?: Frog And Toad is suitable for all ages.

Parting Shot: Turns out everyone in town sends Toad a letter after they hear from Frog about how he never got one before. “I like yours best,” he tells Frog. Then they find a BOGO coupon from Mink’s ice cream shop.

Sleeper Star: Did you read the list of all the voices above? That’s what makes the show fun. We loved when Nancherla as Snail exclaims, “I’m zooming today!”

Most Pilot-y Line: We can’t find anything.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you liked the Frog And Toad books as a child, and love reading them to your children, then you’ll definitely love watching the animated series together.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.