Flip the Frog | TRIUMPH OF SPIRIT OVER CIRCUMSTANCE | 1930-1932

Time forgot Flip the Frog. Time struggles to remember his creator, Ub Iwerks, the original artist of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks drew Flip to life during the depths of America’s Great Depression. Remembering Flip helps us remember the Great Depression and reminds us of the resilient nature of the human spirit in one of its darkest hours. Out of the darkness, Flip anthropomorphically and socially developed as he discovered his own power by ministering to a jobless and hopeless American public. He offered an honest reflection of circumstance, he served as a moral guide, he reminded his audience how to laugh and why to laugh at all. Perhaps Americans survived the Great Depression because of the changes brought by the New Deal. Perhaps Americans survived the Great Depression by rising in response to Flip's call to the human spirit out of its depths and over its circumstance.

WHY FLIP | SHOWTIME GALLERY