Frog and Toad, the Beloved Children's Book Characters, Had a Secret Gay Relatnship

Contents:

• ARE FROG AND TOAD GAY? AUTHOR'S DGHTER SPEAKS UP
• ARE FROG AND TOAD GAY? BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOKS WERE 'THE BEGNG OF COMG OUT' FOR AUTHOR ARNOLD LOBEL, DGHTER SAYS
• THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS
• FROG AND TOAD WERE JT IENDS, NOT GAY LOVERS
• APPLE TV+ SAYS GAY RIGHTS, MAK FROG AND TOAD SHOW
• FROG AND TOAD, THE BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOK CHARACTERS, HAD A SECRET GAY RELATNSHIP
• FROG AND TOAD, THE BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOK CHARACTERS, HAD A SECRET GAY RELATNSHIP
• FROG AND TOAD ARE STILL GAY IN APPLE’S NEW KIDS’ SHOW—IF YOU WANT THEM TO BEBEST BUDSTHE CREATOR OF APPLE TV+’S NEW “FROG AND TOAD” SERI TALKS THROUGH BRGG THE CHILDREN’S BOOK CHARACTERS TO LIFE—AND NOT BEG AAID OF THE QUEER SUBTEXT SO MANY FANS CHERISH.FLETCHER PETERSENTERTAMENT REPORTERPUBLISHED APR. 26, 2023 7:02PM EDT PHOTO ILLTRATN BY THE DAILY BEAST / GETTYLIFE MIGHT BE A LTLE EASIER IF WE ULD ALL PACK UP OUR THGS AND MOVE TO THE WORLD OF FROG AND TOAD. WHAT IF LIFE’S BIGGT ISSU WERE LACKG THE WILLPOWER TO STOP EATG OKI, GOOFY BATHG SUS, AND CIDG ON A FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM?WE N’T ALL SHRK DOWN TO THE SIZE OF THE TY AMPHIBIANS—BUT WE N NOW LIVE VIRLY THROUGH THE BELOVED CHARACTERS, THANKS TO A NEW KIDS SHOW HEADG TO APPLE TV+ ON APRIL 28. THE SERI FEATUR ART THAT FEELS DRAWN STRAIGHT OUT OM THE HAND OF LATE WRER AND ILLTRATOR ARNOLD LOBEL, WH STORI OM ALL FOUR FROG AND TOAD BOOKS: FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS, FROG AND TOAD TOGETHER, FROG AND TOAD ALL YEAR, AND DAYS WH FROG AND TOAD.THOUGH THE FROG AND TOAD BOOKS WERE WRTEN FOR CHILDREN THE 1970S, THEY’VE STOOD THE TT OF TIME—TWO BT BUDDI WHO HAVE BEE A IENDLY NUGGET OF NOSTALGIA FOR MULTIPLE GENERATNS. ROB HOEGEE, THE SHOWNNER FOR THE NEW ADAPTATN OF THE PICTURE BOOKS, SCRIB THE SERI A WAY THAT MAK YOU YEARN FOR THE PAST, AND FOR THE TIME WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG. AS YOU WATCH THE SHOW, YOU FEEL SMALL LIKE FROG AND TOAD, RECLED ON THE LAWN ON A WARM SUMMER’S DAY.“IT’S ALMOST AS IF YOU’RE LYG ON YOUR TUMMY YOUR BACKYARD, PEERG THROUGH SOME BLAS OF GRASS AND LOOKG TO A WORLD THAT’S AT GROUND LEVEL,” HOEGEE TELLS THE DAILY BEAST’S OBSSED, SPEAKG OVER ZOOM. “IT’S LIKE A DRAMA YOU’D MAKE GRA SCHOOL, WHERE YOU’D TAKE A SHOEBOX AND CUT A HOLE TO MAKE A SCENE SI. YOU PEER TO , AND YOU SEE THE STACKED FOREGROUND, MIDGROUND, BACKGROUND WH A RICHER SCENIC ENVIRONMENT WH SELECTIVE FOC, SHADOW, AND LIGHT.” APPLE TV+ SPEAKG ABOUT EVERYTHG OM THE LOR PALETTE ED TO BRG LOBEL’S ILLTRATNS TO TV TO THE QUEER SUBTEXT THAT HAS BEE SUCH A CHERISHED PART OF FANS’ RELATNSHIP TO THE CHARACTERS, HOEGEE MAK CLEAR JT HOW MUCH PRSURE THERE IS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE TO A PROPERTY SO NEAR AND AR TO SO MANY PEOPLE. EVEN CLEARER, HOWEVER, WAS HOW MUCH HE RELISHED . THE NEW SERI FOLLOWS THE TULAR PALS THROUGH THE EVENTS OF THOSE CLASSIC SHORT STORI: CRANKY TOAD REF TO GET OUT OF BED THE MORNG, BUT AN ENERGETIC FROG BOTHERS HIM UNTIL HE RO. A WISTFUL TOAD YEARNS TO RECEIVE A LETTER HIS MAILBOX, SO FROG WR HIM ONE BUT REVEALS WHAT THE LETTER SAYS BEFORE N ARRIVE AT TOAD’S STOOP. LTLE TAL OF SMALL GTUR GUI CHILDREN (AND OLR FOLKS!) THROUGH THE MMENT OF IENDSHIP; JT BEE FROG AND TOAD ARE VERY DIFFERENT CREATUR DON’T MEAN THEY’LL NEVER SEE EYE-TO-EYE.IN THE 1980S, A STOP-MOTN-ANIMATN ADAPTATN OF THE SERI BROUGHT FROG AND TOAD TO LIFE WH CLAY, AND 2003, THE BUDS SANG AND DANCE A BROADWAY MIL LLED A YEAR WH FROG AND TOAD. BUT THIS FEELS LIKE THE MOST FAHFUL ADAPTATN, WHERE FROG AND TOAD LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK. THE SHOW EVEN HAD A SPECIFIC FROG AND TOAD FONT CREATED TO MATCH THE SIGNATURE SWOOPS OF THE ORIGAL VERS.CREATG A LANDSPE THAT WAS F FOR HIGH QUALY TELEVISN—BUT ALSO EVOKED THE ORIGAL ILLTRATNS—WAS SOMETHG HOEGEE AND HIS TEAM STGGLED TO BLUEPRT. IF YOU STUDY THE BOOKS, YOU’LL NOTICE THE ONLY LORS ED ARE BLACK, BROWN, GREEN, AND WHE; THAT WASN’T GOG TO LEND THE SERI THE VIBRANCY THAT THE TEAM SIRED. APPLE TV+ “WHILE WE WANTED TO KEEP THE LOR PALETTE OF THE SHOW WH THE WORLD OF WHAT WE THK OF FROG AND TOAD, WE DID WANT TO EXPAND ,” HOEGEE SAYS. “WHAT I LEARNED WAS THAT ARNOLD LOBEL LIVERED DRAWGS JT AS PEN AND K DRAWGS AND THE PUBLISHER LORED. THAT MA ME FEEL A LTLE B MORE WILLG TO PH THE LOR PALETTE A LTLE MORE, KNOWG THAT WAS MORE OF A PRTG CISN RATHER THAN AN ENTIRELY CREATIVE ONE.”THAT TAIL ABOUT LOBEL’S ORIGAL WORKFLOW ME OM HIS CHILDREN, ADRIANNE AND ADAM LOBEL, WHO SERVED AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ON THE SERI AND HAVE BEE “THE CHAMPNS, GATEKEEPERS, AND GUARDIANS OF THEIR FATHER’S WORK AND LEGACY,” HOEGEE SAYS. “I SHARED WH THEM HOW I FELT A SHOW WOULD BE, AND THANKFULLY, WE WERE ALIGNMENT OF WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE.”HOEGEE CERTALY HAS HIS OWN MEMORI OF THE CHARACTERS OM HIS CHILDHOOD. “BUT THEY REALLY ME HOME WHEN I HAD MY OWN KIDS,” HE SAYS. “THEY’VE ALWAYS RONATED WH ME. YOU TALK TO ADULTS—THE ARE BOOKS AND CHARACTERS THAT DON’T LEAVE YOU. SO MANY CHILDRENS’ BOOKS, THEY STAY THE PAST, YOU AGE PAST THEM. BUT THERE’S SOMETHG ABOUT FROG AND TOAD THAT STICKS WH YOU.”READG THE BOOKS TO HIS CHILDREN, WHO ARE NOW 12 AND 16, HOEGEE REGNIZED THEM AS TIMELS TAL OF IENDSHIP, LOVE, AND PASSN. SIGNG ONTO THE APPLE TV+ PRODUCTN MEANT HE GOT TO FULLY REALIZE THOSE STORI TO A SERI, BUT ALSO MEANT HE HAD TO RELEASE SOME OF THOSE MEMORI. HE HAD TO LOOK PAST ALL OF THE VOIC HE GAVE FROG AND TOAD WHILE READG THE BOOKS ALOUD TO HIS CHILDREN, FOR EXAMPLE, AND ASSIGN ACTORS TO PLAY THE PART. “I HAD, MY HEAD, A VERY CLEAR VOICE FOR BOTH THE CHARACTERS,” HOEGEE SAYS WH A CHUCKLE. “I’D ALREADY BEE JAD BY MY OWN PRENCEIVED UNRSTANDG OF WHAT THE CHARACTERS SOUND LIKE. A BIG PART OF FOR ME WAS UNLEARNG WHAT THE GUYS SOUND LIKE SO THAT I ULD BE OPEN TO OTHER TERPRETATNS.”NAT FAXON AND KEV MICHAEL RICHARDSON WERE ST AS FROG AND TOAD, RPECTIVELY. FAXON READ THE BOOKS TO HIS KIDS, TOO—AS DID MUCH OF THE VOICE ST, WHICH CLUS YVETTE NILE BROWN, MARGARET CHO, COLE ESLA, APARNA NANCHERLA, FORTUNE FEIMSTER, AND TOM KENNY. JOHN HODGMAN, WHO VOIC ONE OF THE CHARACTERS ON THE SHOW, HAD A DRASTILLY DIFFERENT VOICE FOR TOAD THAN THE RT OF THE ST: “AN ODD EASTERN EUROPEAN” ACCENT, HOEGEE SAYS. “EVERYONE THAT HAS A LOVE FOR THIS SHOW TO WH THEIR OWN TAKE ON .”THAT CLUS THE BEHD-THE-SCEN CREATIVE TEAM. THEY HAD TO SELECT WHICH FROG AND TOAD WERE THE “ULTIMATE FROG AND TOAD,” SCE THE CHARACTERS' STYLE CHANG OVER TIME LOBEL’S BOOKS. THEY ALSO HAD TO DRAFT NEW, ORIGAL STORI THAT WOULD BE PAIRED WH THE STORI OM THE BOOKS. APPLE TV+ “EVERY SGLE PERSON ON OUR CREW THAT HAD A HAND THE SHOW—AS AN ARTIST, AS A WRER, AS A VOICE ACTOR—THEY ALL BROUGHT THEIR OWN VERSN OF FROG AND TOAD TO WHAT THEY DID,” HOEGEE SAYS. “IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME THAT I ALLOW AS MUCH OF THAT ON THE SCREEN AS POSSIBLE.”THAT’S WHY HOEGEE FOUND IMPORTANT TO NSIR THE QUEER SUBTEXT OF THE FROG AND TOAD BOOKS. A “SIGNIFINT NUMBER” OF HIS ST AND CREW INTIFY AS LGBTQ+, HOEGEE SAYS, AND HE ASPIRED “TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE FELT THAT THEY WERE BEG HEARD AND THEIR NTRIBUTN—THEIR FROG AND TOAD—LIVED ON WHATEVER SHAPE THAT WAS.”“YOU N’T NY ,” HOEGEE SAYS. “IT IS PART OF THE BOOKS, ’S PART OF THE LEGACY.”THOUGH FROG AND TOAD ARE SIMPLY LLED “IENDS” THE SERI AND THE BOOKS, ARNOLD LOBEL ME OUT TO HIS FAY AS GAY 1974, AFTER THE BOOKS HAD BEEN PUBLISHED. IN A 2016 TERVIEW WH THE NEW YORKER, ADRIANNE LOBEL LLED THE BOOKS “THE BEGNG OF HIM G OUT.” OVER THE YEARS, FROG AND TOAD HAVE BEE GAY INS. THERE ARE SHIRTS THAT READ “FROG AND TOAD ARE GAY.” EVEN WHEN THIS SERI WAS ANNOUNCED, THEM WROTE AN ARTICLE HEADLED “EVERYONE’S FAVORE QUEER COUPLE, ‘FROG AND TOAD,’ ARE COMG TO TV.” “WHAT WE WANTED TO DO HERE IS CREATE A FAHFUL ADAPTATN OF THE BOOKS,” HOEGEE SAYS. “FOR PEOPLE, A LOT OF REARS OF A CERTA AGE, FROG AND TOAD AS CHARACTERS SEEN THROUGH A QUEER LENS IS HUGELY IMPORTANT TO THEM. WE N’T NY ANYONE THAT MEANG TO THEM, AS FAR AS THE CHARACTERS GO. IF THAT’S HOW YOU SEE THE CHARACTERS THE BOOK, ’S FAIR TO SAY THAT YOU WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNY TO SEE A SIAR VIEWPOT THE SHOW AS WELL.”PERCEIVE FROG AND TOAD HOWEVER YOU WANT, BUT HOEGEE SAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT THG IS THAT YOU UNRSTAND HOW MUCH THEY EPLY RE FOR ONE ANOTHER. IT DON’T MATTER IF THAT PASSN IS PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC, THE FACT THAT THEY’RE NEARLY SEPARABLE SHOULD TEACH ALL A B ABOUT PANNSHIP.“WHAT FROG AND TOAD SHOWS IS THAT THERE IS STILL THE ABILY TO HAVE A EP AND MEANGFUL AND LOVG IENDSHIP THAT TRANSCENDS EVERYTHG,” HOEGEE SAYS. “THIS IS A SHOW THAT CELEBRAT HOW TWO VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS N STILL FD A MON GROUND AND A RPECT AND APPRECIATN AND LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, THAT STILL ALLOWS THEM TO HAVE FUN TOGETHER AND BE SEPARABLE. OUR DIFFERENC SHOULDN’T DIVI , OUR DIFFERENC SHOULD BE THE THG THAT BRGS TOGETHER.” APPLE TV+ IT’S AN IMPORTANT LSON FOR KIDS TO LEARN, BUT ’S EQUALLY FLUENTIAL FOR ADULTS, TOO. AS HOEGEE SAID, FROG AND TOAD DON’T REALLY LEAVE YOU—THE WHOLE WORLD WAS ELATED AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FROG AND TOAD SERI, NOT JT THE PIPSQUEAKS. I, FOR ONE, STILL KEEP A PY OF FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS MY NIGHTSTAND. IN OUR TERVIEW, HOEGEE WHIPS OUT A RARE POP-UP PY OF SOME OF THE FROG AND TOAD STORI OM JT BEHD HIS SK. THE LTLE GUYS ARE ALWAYS NEARBY.“THERE’S AN ASSUMPTN THAT SHOWS MA AND WRTEN FOR KIDS HAVE TO BE SIMPLE THE SENSE THAT YOU’RE ALMOST CHANNELG YOUR NER FIVE-YEAR-OLD. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, THE ARE MA BY ADULTS. WE ARE STILL BRGG OUR OWN SENSIBILI AND OUR OWN BAGGAGE AND OUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND OUR OWN JOYS AND SADNS—ALL THOSE THGS GET POURED TO THE WORK WE DO,” HOEGEE SAYS.WHILE HOEGEE IS TALKG ABOUT HIMSELF AND HIS TEAM, ’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HEAR THIS QUOTE AND NOT THK ABOUT ARNOLD LOBEL, WHO WROTE THE STORI FOR CHILDREN WH TENR THEM OF LOVE, TST, AND BOUNDARI THAT—AS HIS CHILDREN HAVE NFIRMED—RELATED BACK TO HIS OWN LIFE. NOW, DOZENS OF OTHER ARTISTS GET TO SEE THOSE STORI RETOLD THROUGH THE LENS OF THEIR OWN LIV, TOO.KEEP OBSSG! SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BEAST’S OBSSED NEWSLETTER AND FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK, TWTER, INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK. FLETCHER PETERS

ARE FROG AND TOAD GAY? AUTHOR'S DGHTER SPEAKS UP

More than 45 years after we first learned that Frog and Toad Are Friends, Arnold Lobel's dghter, Adrianne, has suggted that Frog and Toad are gay.

Are Frog and Toad Gay? Lobel's dghter Adrianne – who illtrated two of the late thor's books after his ath – suggted to The New Yorker that the pair may have been gay.

Rowlg Has Perfect Rponse to Cric of Gay Dumbledore. ” It’s about a t who liv wh two gay men; you n tell by the book, then jt published, was evintly meant to help normalize already borgly normal fai like ours by g the tradnal substutn of animals for people orr to illtrate how much fun havg gay dads n be.

ARE FROG AND TOAD GAY? BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOKS WERE 'THE BEGNG OF COMG OUT' FOR AUTHOR ARNOLD LOBEL, DGHTER SAYS

) And if you stopped to thk about , “Lucy” seemed to argue that the gay dads, however full of fun, were aquate: When the pa chips were down, they need rcug, too.

Among gay-themed children’s stori, they preferred “Frog and Toad. ” No, I know: “Frog and Toad” — a seri of four picture books by Arnold Lobel, origally published between 1970 and 1979 — is not gay-themed. But ’s not not gay-themed eher.

THE GAY HISTORY OF AMERI’S CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS

They get to scrap separately but get out of them together, which is not a bad fn of left: Jam Marshall, “Gee and Martha, ” urty of Houghton Miffl Harurt; Arnold Lobel, “Frog and Toad are Friends” © 1970 Arnold Lobel, ed by permissn of HarperColls Publishers; Jam Marshall, “Miss Nelson is Missg!, ” urty of Houghton Miffl HarurtOur boys loved the stori, as did we — but not bee Lobel was gay. They ntued to make books together for years: a Frog and Toad tale if ever there was, Lobel’s gayns, when I learned of much later, seemed like somethg I should have known all along; lurked everywhere his words and pictur. Which is not to say Frog and Toad uld turn you gay.

FROG AND TOAD WERE JT IENDS, NOT GAY LOVERS

They suggted, no ls to as gay parents than to our sons wh their polar personali, how separatens uld bee solidary and oddns acmodatn. However d the books’ gay ntent, was no surprise once d.

It’s also that all of their thors were gay. As if that weren’t enough, he referred to the gay muny, who took him as one of their own whether he liked or not, as “l boys. Sss and Shel Silverste were prumably heterosexual, no matter that Silverste glowered om the photos on his book jackets like a hot Scff by permissn of HarperColls, urty of Children’s Lerature Collectn, UMNBut remas the se that the thors of many of the most succsful and fluential works of children’s lerature the middle years of the last century — works that were formative for baby boomers, Gen-Xers, lennials and beyond — were gay.

At a time when those wrers wouldn’t dare (as Paola recently told me) walk hand hand wh a lover, when only a straight children’s thor like Silverste uld get away wh publishg a story Playboy about life the homophile En that is Fire Island P, they won Caltt and Newbery Medals for books that, whout ever directly speakg their tth, sent out a secret language that was somehow accsible to those who need to receive . The works forted the proto-gay but also tenrized the proto-straight a way no other lerature ABOUT WHAT was happeng unr the ver of children’s lerature. The msage: Leave me alone wh my imagatn and I’ll be mt have lighted Sendak to know that, spe the ocsnal censorship kerfuffle, an Ameri terrified of gay fluence on children was vourg his ovre as fast as he uld whip up.

APPLE TV+ SAYS GAY RIGHTS, MAK FROG AND TOAD SHOW

) While the Save Our Children csar Ana Bryant and the Foc on the Fay attack dog Jam Dobson were huntg down homosexual propaganda schools and stateho, Sendak and the others were hidg the one place no one bothered to look: on their children’s night this wasn’t a liberate strategy of subversn, wasn’t a cince eher.

FROG AND TOAD, THE BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOK CHARACTERS, HAD A SECRET GAY RELATNSHIP

Photos by Joshua Stt; Tomie Paola, “Oliver Button is a Sissy, ” urty of Houghton Miffl Harurt But wrg om a gay perspective for the unr-12 set was tricky. The first young adult novel to pict a homosexual enunter — John Donovan’s “I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip” — did not e out until 1969; the first picture book to get near the word “gay” was Paola’s “Oliver Button Is a Sissy, ” 1979.

Roughly enpassg the first 10 years of the morn gay rights movement, the books (and their thors) uld only dream of a world which “Lucy Go to the Country, ” by a male uple who announce themselv as such on the flap, would seem monplace, or which a picture book lled “Stonewall: A Buildg. (“If beme known you were gay, you’d have a big red ‘G’ on your cht, ” Paola rells, “and schools wouldn’t buy your books anymore. Happier variatns on the theme of nnectn and alienatn (wh s unrcurrent of life and ath) rm much of the work by the gay thors.

”Not many scriptns of gay “passg” get eper than that: There’s the lic victory and, unspoken, the realizatn that matag the victory means matag the se. For her favored gay children, she was a shelterg mother, and also, as a lbian, a ra. Apple TV+ Says Gay Rights, Mak Frog and Toad Show.

FROG AND TOAD, THE BELOVED CHILDREN'S BOOK CHARACTERS, HAD A SECRET GAY RELATNSHIP

" Arnold Lobel me out to his fay as gay four years after the first Frog and Toad book the popular Mic/YouTubeIn Lobel's stori, Frog and Toad would perform niceti for each other, like rakg each other's yards wh no expectatn of regnn, all the while teachg kids a thg or two about what 's like to hold someone ar — regardls of genr.

" Arnold Lobel me out to his fay as gay four years after the first Frog and Toad book the popular Lobel's stori, Frog and Toad would perform niceti for each other, like rakg each other's yards wh no expectatn of regnn, all the while teachg kids a thg or two about what 's like to hold someone ar — regardls of genr. But Adrianne Lobel and The New Yorker are happy to go much further and imply that Frog and Toad are gay-d characters, even intifyg the early stori as the begng of her father's g out.

FROG AND TOAD ARE STILL GAY IN APPLE’S NEW KIDS’ SHOW—IF YOU WANT THEM TO BEBEST BUDSTHE CREATOR OF APPLE TV+’S NEW “FROG AND TOAD” SERI TALKS THROUGH BRGG THE CHILDREN’S BOOK CHARACTERS TO LIFE—AND NOT BEG AAID OF THE QUEER SUBTEXT SO MANY FANS CHERISH.FLETCHER PETERSENTERTAMENT REPORTERPUBLISHED APR. 26, 2023 7:02PM EDT PHOTO ILLTRATN BY THE DAILY BEAST / GETTYLIFE MIGHT BE A LTLE EASIER IF WE ULD ALL PACK UP OUR THGS AND MOVE TO THE WORLD OF FROG AND TOAD. WHAT IF LIFE’S BIGGT ISSU WERE LACKG THE WILLPOWER TO STOP EATG OKI, GOOFY BATHG SUS, AND CIDG ON A FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM?WE N’T ALL SHRK DOWN TO THE SIZE OF THE TY AMPHIBIANS—BUT WE N NOW LIVE VIRLY THROUGH THE BELOVED CHARACTERS, THANKS TO A NEW KIDS SHOW HEADG TO APPLE TV+ ON APRIL 28. THE SERI FEATUR ART THAT FEELS DRAWN STRAIGHT OUT OM THE HAND OF LATE WRER AND ILLTRATOR ARNOLD LOBEL, WH STORI OM ALL FOUR FROG AND TOAD BOOKS: FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS, FROG AND TOAD TOGETHER, FROG AND TOAD ALL YEAR, AND DAYS WH FROG AND TOAD.THOUGH THE FROG AND TOAD BOOKS WERE WRTEN FOR CHILDREN THE 1970S, THEY’VE STOOD THE TT OF TIME—TWO BT BUDDI WHO HAVE BEE A IENDLY NUGGET OF NOSTALGIA FOR MULTIPLE GENERATNS. ROB HOEGEE, THE SHOWNNER FOR THE NEW ADAPTATN OF THE PICTURE BOOKS, SCRIB THE SERI A WAY THAT MAK YOU YEARN FOR THE PAST, AND FOR THE TIME WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG. AS YOU WATCH THE SHOW, YOU FEEL SMALL LIKE FROG AND TOAD, RECLED ON THE LAWN ON A WARM SUMMER’S DAY.“IT’S ALMOST AS IF YOU’RE LYG ON YOUR TUMMY YOUR BACKYARD, PEERG THROUGH SOME BLAS OF GRASS AND LOOKG TO A WORLD THAT’S AT GROUND LEVEL,” HOEGEE TELLS THE DAILY BEAST’S OBSSED, SPEAKG OVER ZOOM. “IT’S LIKE A DRAMA YOU’D MAKE GRA SCHOOL, WHERE YOU’D TAKE A SHOEBOX AND CUT A HOLE TO MAKE A SCENE SI. YOU PEER TO , AND YOU SEE THE STACKED FOREGROUND, MIDGROUND, BACKGROUND WH A RICHER SCENIC ENVIRONMENT WH SELECTIVE FOC, SHADOW, AND LIGHT.” APPLE TV+ SPEAKG ABOUT EVERYTHG OM THE LOR PALETTE ED TO BRG LOBEL’S ILLTRATNS TO TV TO THE QUEER SUBTEXT THAT HAS BEE SUCH A CHERISHED PART OF FANS’ RELATNSHIP TO THE CHARACTERS, HOEGEE MAK CLEAR JT HOW MUCH PRSURE THERE IS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE TO A PROPERTY SO NEAR AND AR TO SO MANY PEOPLE. EVEN CLEARER, HOWEVER, WAS HOW MUCH HE RELISHED . THE NEW SERI FOLLOWS THE TULAR PALS THROUGH THE EVENTS OF THOSE CLASSIC SHORT STORI: CRANKY TOAD REF TO GET OUT OF BED THE MORNG, BUT AN ENERGETIC FROG BOTHERS HIM UNTIL HE RO. A WISTFUL TOAD YEARNS TO RECEIVE A LETTER HIS MAILBOX, SO FROG WR HIM ONE BUT REVEALS WHAT THE LETTER SAYS BEFORE N ARRIVE AT TOAD’S STOOP. LTLE TAL OF SMALL GTUR GUI CHILDREN (AND OLR FOLKS!) THROUGH THE MMENT OF IENDSHIP; JT BEE FROG AND TOAD ARE VERY DIFFERENT CREATUR DON’T MEAN THEY’LL NEVER SEE EYE-TO-EYE.IN THE 1980S, A STOP-MOTN-ANIMATN ADAPTATN OF THE SERI BROUGHT FROG AND TOAD TO LIFE WH CLAY, AND 2003, THE BUDS SANG AND DANCE A BROADWAY MIL LLED A YEAR WH FROG AND TOAD. BUT THIS FEELS LIKE THE MOST FAHFUL ADAPTATN, WHERE FROG AND TOAD LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK. THE SHOW EVEN HAD A SPECIFIC FROG AND TOAD FONT CREATED TO MATCH THE SIGNATURE SWOOPS OF THE ORIGAL VERS.CREATG A LANDSPE THAT WAS F FOR HIGH QUALY TELEVISN—BUT ALSO EVOKED THE ORIGAL ILLTRATNS—WAS SOMETHG HOEGEE AND HIS TEAM STGGLED TO BLUEPRT. IF YOU STUDY THE BOOKS, YOU’LL NOTICE THE ONLY LORS ED ARE BLACK, BROWN, GREEN, AND WHE; THAT WASN’T GOG TO LEND THE SERI THE VIBRANCY THAT THE TEAM SIRED. APPLE TV+ “WHILE WE WANTED TO KEEP THE LOR PALETTE OF THE SHOW WH THE WORLD OF WHAT WE THK OF FROG AND TOAD, WE DID WANT TO EXPAND ,” HOEGEE SAYS. “WHAT I LEARNED WAS THAT ARNOLD LOBEL LIVERED DRAWGS JT AS PEN AND K DRAWGS AND THE PUBLISHER LORED. THAT MA ME FEEL A LTLE B MORE WILLG TO PH THE LOR PALETTE A LTLE MORE, KNOWG THAT WAS MORE OF A PRTG CISN RATHER THAN AN ENTIRELY CREATIVE ONE.”THAT TAIL ABOUT LOBEL’S ORIGAL WORKFLOW ME OM HIS CHILDREN, ADRIANNE AND ADAM LOBEL, WHO SERVED AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ON THE SERI AND HAVE BEE “THE CHAMPNS, GATEKEEPERS, AND GUARDIANS OF THEIR FATHER’S WORK AND LEGACY,” HOEGEE SAYS. “I SHARED WH THEM HOW I FELT A SHOW WOULD BE, AND THANKFULLY, WE WERE ALIGNMENT OF WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE.”HOEGEE CERTALY HAS HIS OWN MEMORI OF THE CHARACTERS OM HIS CHILDHOOD. “BUT THEY REALLY ME HOME WHEN I HAD MY OWN KIDS,” HE SAYS. “THEY’VE ALWAYS RONATED WH ME. YOU TALK TO ADULTS—THE ARE BOOKS AND CHARACTERS THAT DON’T LEAVE YOU. SO MANY CHILDRENS’ BOOKS, THEY STAY THE PAST, YOU AGE PAST THEM. BUT THERE’S SOMETHG ABOUT FROG AND TOAD THAT STICKS WH YOU.”READG THE BOOKS TO HIS CHILDREN, WHO ARE NOW 12 AND 16, HOEGEE REGNIZED THEM AS TIMELS TAL OF IENDSHIP, LOVE, AND PASSN. SIGNG ONTO THE APPLE TV+ PRODUCTN MEANT HE GOT TO FULLY REALIZE THOSE STORI TO A SERI, BUT ALSO MEANT HE HAD TO RELEASE SOME OF THOSE MEMORI. HE HAD TO LOOK PAST ALL OF THE VOIC HE GAVE FROG AND TOAD WHILE READG THE BOOKS ALOUD TO HIS CHILDREN, FOR EXAMPLE, AND ASSIGN ACTORS TO PLAY THE PART. “I HAD, MY HEAD, A VERY CLEAR VOICE FOR BOTH THE CHARACTERS,” HOEGEE SAYS WH A CHUCKLE. “I’D ALREADY BEE JAD BY MY OWN PRENCEIVED UNRSTANDG OF WHAT THE CHARACTERS SOUND LIKE. A BIG PART OF FOR ME WAS UNLEARNG WHAT THE GUYS SOUND LIKE SO THAT I ULD BE OPEN TO OTHER TERPRETATNS.”NAT FAXON AND KEV MICHAEL RICHARDSON WERE ST AS FROG AND TOAD, RPECTIVELY. FAXON READ THE BOOKS TO HIS KIDS, TOO—AS DID MUCH OF THE VOICE ST, WHICH CLUS YVETTE NILE BROWN, MARGARET CHO, COLE ESLA, APARNA NANCHERLA, FORTUNE FEIMSTER, AND TOM KENNY. JOHN HODGMAN, WHO VOIC ONE OF THE CHARACTERS ON THE SHOW, HAD A DRASTILLY DIFFERENT VOICE FOR TOAD THAN THE RT OF THE ST: “AN ODD EASTERN EUROPEAN” ACCENT, HOEGEE SAYS. “EVERYONE THAT HAS A LOVE FOR THIS SHOW TO WH THEIR OWN TAKE ON .”THAT CLUS THE BEHD-THE-SCEN CREATIVE TEAM. THEY HAD TO SELECT WHICH FROG AND TOAD WERE THE “ULTIMATE FROG AND TOAD,” SCE THE CHARACTERS' STYLE CHANG OVER TIME LOBEL’S BOOKS. THEY ALSO HAD TO DRAFT NEW, ORIGAL STORI THAT WOULD BE PAIRED WH THE STORI OM THE BOOKS. APPLE TV+ “EVERY SGLE PERSON ON OUR CREW THAT HAD A HAND THE SHOW—AS AN ARTIST, AS A WRER, AS A VOICE ACTOR—THEY ALL BROUGHT THEIR OWN VERSN OF FROG AND TOAD TO WHAT THEY DID,” HOEGEE SAYS. “IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME THAT I ALLOW AS MUCH OF THAT ON THE SCREEN AS POSSIBLE.”THAT’S WHY HOEGEE FOUND IMPORTANT TO NSIR THE QUEER SUBTEXT OF THE FROG AND TOAD BOOKS. A “SIGNIFINT NUMBER” OF HIS ST AND CREW INTIFY AS LGBTQ+, HOEGEE SAYS, AND HE ASPIRED “TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE FELT THAT THEY WERE BEG HEARD AND THEIR NTRIBUTN—THEIR FROG AND TOAD—LIVED ON WHATEVER SHAPE THAT WAS.”“YOU N’T NY ,” HOEGEE SAYS. “IT IS PART OF THE BOOKS, ’S PART OF THE LEGACY.”THOUGH FROG AND TOAD ARE SIMPLY LLED “IENDS” THE SERI AND THE BOOKS, ARNOLD LOBEL ME OUT TO HIS FAY AS GAY 1974, AFTER THE BOOKS HAD BEEN PUBLISHED. IN A 2016 TERVIEW WH THE NEW YORKER, ADRIANNE LOBEL LLED THE BOOKS “THE BEGNG OF HIM G OUT.” OVER THE YEARS, FROG AND TOAD HAVE BEE GAY INS. THERE ARE SHIRTS THAT READ “FROG AND TOAD ARE GAY.” EVEN WHEN THIS SERI WAS ANNOUNCED, THEM WROTE AN ARTICLE HEADLED “EVERYONE’S FAVORE QUEER COUPLE, ‘FROG AND TOAD,’ ARE COMG TO TV.” “WHAT WE WANTED TO DO HERE IS CREATE A FAHFUL ADAPTATN OF THE BOOKS,” HOEGEE SAYS. “FOR PEOPLE, A LOT OF REARS OF A CERTA AGE, FROG AND TOAD AS CHARACTERS SEEN THROUGH A QUEER LENS IS HUGELY IMPORTANT TO THEM. WE N’T NY ANYONE THAT MEANG TO THEM, AS FAR AS THE CHARACTERS GO. IF THAT’S HOW YOU SEE THE CHARACTERS THE BOOK, ’S FAIR TO SAY THAT YOU WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNY TO SEE A SIAR VIEWPOT THE SHOW AS WELL.”PERCEIVE FROG AND TOAD HOWEVER YOU WANT, BUT HOEGEE SAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT THG IS THAT YOU UNRSTAND HOW MUCH THEY EPLY RE FOR ONE ANOTHER. IT DON’T MATTER IF THAT PASSN IS PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC, THE FACT THAT THEY’RE NEARLY SEPARABLE SHOULD TEACH ALL A B ABOUT PANNSHIP.“WHAT FROG AND TOAD SHOWS IS THAT THERE IS STILL THE ABILY TO HAVE A EP AND MEANGFUL AND LOVG IENDSHIP THAT TRANSCENDS EVERYTHG,” HOEGEE SAYS. “THIS IS A SHOW THAT CELEBRAT HOW TWO VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS N STILL FD A MON GROUND AND A RPECT AND APPRECIATN AND LOVE FOR EACH OTHER, THAT STILL ALLOWS THEM TO HAVE FUN TOGETHER AND BE SEPARABLE. OUR DIFFERENC SHOULDN’T DIVI , OUR DIFFERENC SHOULD BE THE THG THAT BRGS TOGETHER.” APPLE TV+ IT’S AN IMPORTANT LSON FOR KIDS TO LEARN, BUT ’S EQUALLY FLUENTIAL FOR ADULTS, TOO. AS HOEGEE SAID, FROG AND TOAD DON’T REALLY LEAVE YOU—THE WHOLE WORLD WAS ELATED AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A FROG AND TOAD SERI, NOT JT THE PIPSQUEAKS. I, FOR ONE, STILL KEEP A PY OF FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS MY NIGHTSTAND. IN OUR TERVIEW, HOEGEE WHIPS OUT A RARE POP-UP PY OF SOME OF THE FROG AND TOAD STORI OM JT BEHD HIS SK. THE LTLE GUYS ARE ALWAYS NEARBY.“THERE’S AN ASSUMPTN THAT SHOWS MA AND WRTEN FOR KIDS HAVE TO BE SIMPLE THE SENSE THAT YOU’RE ALMOST CHANNELG YOUR NER FIVE-YEAR-OLD. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, THE ARE MA BY ADULTS. WE ARE STILL BRGG OUR OWN SENSIBILI AND OUR OWN BAGGAGE AND OUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND OUR OWN JOYS AND SADNS—ALL THOSE THGS GET POURED TO THE WORK WE DO,” HOEGEE SAYS.WHILE HOEGEE IS TALKG ABOUT HIMSELF AND HIS TEAM, ’S IMPOSSIBLE TO HEAR THIS QUOTE AND NOT THK ABOUT ARNOLD LOBEL, WHO WROTE THE STORI FOR CHILDREN WH TENR THEM OF LOVE, TST, AND BOUNDARI THAT—AS HIS CHILDREN HAVE NFIRMED—RELATED BACK TO HIS OWN LIFE. NOW, DOZENS OF OTHER ARTISTS GET TO SEE THOSE STORI RETOLD THROUGH THE LENS OF THEIR OWN LIV, TOO.KEEP OBSSG! SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BEAST’S OBSSED NEWSLETTER AND FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK, TWTER, INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK. FLETCHER PETERS

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