Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille is the second episode in Season Three of Smiling Friends.
Synopsis[]
Charlie and Pim help a previous client find a new lease on life after he achieved everything he could've wanted.
Adult Swim synopsis[]
In this highly acclaimed award-winning fan favorite episode of Smiling Friends, a walking talking frog will change your life and rewire your brain.
Plot[]
In the White House, Mr. Frog is shown causing havoc only to be approached by one of his military advisors. He tells Mr. Frog that the entire United Nations has surrendered to him and he’s now the Emperor of Earth. Realizing that he’s now accomplished everything there is to do as President, he resigns. The advisor asks who should take his place since he ate the VP, so Mr. Frog points to a random peanut to be the new President, causing the advisor and security to drop down and worship the peanut.
Charlie and Pim are shown to be doing their usual routine of making people smile (in this case, by helping a guy with hands over his eyes see again) when they get hungry. Charlie takes Pim to a seedy dive bar (as they make the best meatloaf) only to see Mr. Frog perform karaoke of the band Kansas. They assume Mr. Frog is doing this out of joy now that he no longer has the responsibility of being the President, but as soon as they witness him refuse to pummel a cuckold that propositioned him, they realize something’s wrong. The two approach and ask what’s wrong and come to the conclusion that now he’s done everything he could he feels like his life has no meaning. Mr. Frog removes Pim’s eye for a split second, only to admit he would actually appreciate the help.
Charlie signs Mr. Frog up to be the next fighter in the UFC, with his first fight being against their toughest opponent - the Insanely Crazy Lunatic. However, as soon as his foe runs into him, his adversary’s neck breaks and he dies. Stunned, the UFC announcer unleashes every fighter the organization has at their disposal but they all meet a similar fate. Later at a park, Charlie remarks how he’s surprised Mr. Frog was able to turn everyone into piles of flesh without even moving but the newly-crowned UFC champion throws all of his medals and trophies away, much to Charlie’s disappointment. Pim attempts to show Mr. Frog there’s more to life than achievements and sings a song about finding other people to share life with, like friends, lovers or even family. The last part rubs Mr. Frog the wrong way and he assaults Pim, causing him to collapse on the ground. He then tells Charlie that the family part sounds like a good idea and he runs off as Charlie attempts to help his friend up.
A montage of Mr. Frog traveling harsh environments is shown until he ends up in a mangrove wetland. He’s greeted by his father who begrudgingly invites him inside and makes him a cup of tea. It’s revealed that Mr. Frog hasn’t seen his family in ages, with his mother, Mr. Frog's mom passing away from cancer three months ago. His father rants at him, saying that people always say he must be proud to have the most powerful person in the world as his son when in reality he despises how chaotic he is and that he no longer considers him to be his son, especially when he didn’t appear at his mother’s deathbed. He then proceeds to kick Mr. Frog out, who proceeds to tear up half of the mangroves in a fit of rage.
Shortly after his outburst, he realizes that the environment around him is easing him into a state of peace. As he closes his eyes to meditate he encounters the Bug of Knowledge, who has the answer to every problem in life (except for what’s causing his PC to slow down - except it’s definitely not a virus). He tells Mr. Frog to eat him, and in doing so, he will find the answers he’s looking for. In doing so, a montage of all of Mr. Frog’s life moments flash before his eyes before he re-emerges as a realistic frog. He tells the audience “goodbye.”
In a post-credits scene, Charlie tells Allan and Glep to not say anything about Pim’s condition. Pim walks in with an incredibly swollen face and a walking stick, and the three try to play it off as if the damage isn’t too bad. Mr. Boss completely ruins the charade however by walking in and asking the others if they had seen Pim’s fucked up face yet, only to stop in embarrassment as soon as he notices him right there.
Characters[]
- Pim
- Charlie
- Mr. Frog
- Underpants guy (debut)
- Bar patron (debut)
- The Insanely Crazy Lunatic (debut)
- Mr. Frog Fanboy
- Father Frog (debut)
- Bug of Knowledge (debut)
- Rex (cameo)
- Bug (cameo)
- Jimble (cameo)
- William and Wendy Worm (cameo)
- Allan
- Glep
- Mr. Boss
Title in other languages[]
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | Neuvěřitelná cesta pana Žabáka | Mr. Frog's incredible journey |
| French | L'Incroyable voyage de Mr. Frog | The Incredible Journey of Mr. Frog |
| German | Mr. Frog und der Sinn des Lebens | Mr. Frog and the Meaning of Life |
| Polish | Niezwykła podróż Pana Żaby | The Extraordinary Journey of Mr. Frog |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | A Viagem Incrível | The Incredible Journey |
| Spanish (Latin America) | El viaje increíble |
Trivia[]
General[]
- This episode's title in English is The Incredible Journey of Mr. Frog.
- The cowboy at the bar gives Mr. Frog the keys to his hotel room, which is 302. This is a reference to the episode being season 3, episode 2.
- This episode continues the trend of having the second episode of the season be Mr. Frog-centric. The first two were "Mr. Frog" and "Mr. President."
- Mr. Frog officially resigns presidency due to not feeling happy or accomplished about taking over the world and being the supreme emperor of Earth.
- A gag that consisted of a female critter eating her partner during Pim's song was present in the official Season 3 trailer but is not in the final episode, as it was replaced with the couple making out grotesquely.
- According to co-creator Zach Hadel, this was cut from the episode as having "something go wrong/scary" undercut Pim getting kicked during his song.[1]
- This is the first, and so far only episode to not have Brown Smile (or any variation thereof) play during the credits. Instead, swamp ambiance plays with a black screen and white text with the same font used for the credits.
- This is the second episode where Allan and Glep appear exclusively in a post-credits scene. The first was "Who Violently Murdered Simon S. Salty?."
- Mr. Boss only has one line while Glep doesn't speak.
- This is the first episode where a client solves their own problem at the end, as Mr. Frog asked for help from the Smiling Friends in the beginning before abandoning their help once Pim brought up the matter of family during his song.
- Mr. Frog is the first reoccurring client, as the Smiling Friends helped him previously two seasons ago.
- This is the first episode to have Charlie and Pim helping a client at the beginning of the episode.
- This is the second episode with two separate clients with different issues.
- This is the first episode to have more then 1 smile sound effects in it. (Being Underpants Guy then later Mr. Frog)
- It is revealed that Mr. Frog's mother passed away three months before the events of this episode due to cancer. She is shown in Mr. Frog's life montage.
- This is the first Season 3 episode not to feature Allan or Glep in the main episode. The second was "Shmaloogles."
- If slowed down, you can see Pim's eye briefly pops out of it's socket when Mr. Frog kicks him
Episode connections[]
- The military general from "A Allan Adventure" reappears at the beginning of this episode.
- The bar that Mr. Frog sings at is the same bar Charlie and Tyler went to in the post credits scene of the episode "The Magical Red Jewel (aka Tyler Gets Fired)".
- Pim mentions how he and Charlie helped Mr. Frog "a while back". This is referring to "Mr. Frog", the character's debut episode.
- In Mr. Frog's life montage, several scenes from Mr. Frog's previous major roles are present including him hanging out with Pim and Charlie, becoming the richest man in the world, eating a baby, debating against Jimble, becoming the UFC Champion, and assaulting Pim.
Cultural References[]
- The title of this episode is a parody of The Simpsons episode "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" or "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer."
- In the beginning of the episode, there is a painting in Mr. Frog's imperial office that resembles "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" except with Mr. Frog riding the horse.
- Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" is also seen in the room, though tilted and splattered with a liquid.
- The Bug of Knowledge namedrops Geek Squad, a subsidiary of Best Buy which specializes in repairing computers and other electronics.
- In Mr. Frog’s life montage, several parodies of real-world and pop culture events are depicted containing Mr. Frog. These include:
- Watching the Challenger explosion as a tadpole.
- In the original storyboards, this was instead Mr. Frog watching Jerry Seinfeld on TV.
- Appearing as a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience.
- Walking with Kim Kardashian while portrayed as Kanye West.
- Doing the opening monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live.
- Going on a tirade at a comedy club à la Michael Richards' incident at the Laugh Factory.
- Having Joker-styled face paint while burning a giant pile of money in reference to The Dark Knight.
- Wearing matching shirts with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Posing with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
- Speaking at a United Nations conference.
- Playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on a gaming computer.
- Riding the atomic bomb à la Dr. Strangelove.
- Spreading his ass at the camera like the infamous Goatse.cx image.
- Watching the Challenger explosion as a tadpole.
Errors[]
- When the Underpants guy walks away, his animation gets cut off before he's fully off screen.