Exec Producer Rob Hoegee Talks Apple TV+’s New ‘Frog And Toad’ Series

Apple TV+’s new show, Frog and Toad, premiers on April 28. The series is based on the beloved Caldecott and Newbery Award-winning four-book series by Arnold Lobel, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.

The show stars Nat Faxon and Kevin Michael Richardson as the titular Frog and Toad. Emmy Award winner Rob Hoegee serves as showrunner for the series, and Emmy Award-winning studio Titmouse produces the animation. Hoegee executive produces alongside Adrianne Lobel, Adam Lobel and Titmouse’s Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina.

For Hoegee, Frog and Toad was a labor of love. “The inspiration, of course, comes from the books themselves, and they’re so wonderful in so many ways,” Hoegee explains. “We really endeavored to create an adaptation that was as faithful to the books as possible. They really are timeless.”

While books have long been children’s classics, adapting them to the screen has unique challenges. Hoegee and his team needed to be mindful not only of the story but also of the look and feel of the show.

“There were some technical aspects to it that required a bit of thinking. The books have beautiful illustrations, but they’re not easy to animate.” He continues, “Frog and Toad, in a way, are synonymous with the avocado-color kitchens of the seventies… What we did was we chose a color palette that brought a sense of vibrancy and color to [the animation] but still, in a way, had a lot of harmonious colors that were similar to the book’s work. We really did feel like we needed to brighten it up, but we’re hopeful that the style is still respectful of the feel of the books. It’s not going to be crazy with the colors like you would see in many shows for kids today.”

Outside the animation, they also had to consider the stories. Frog and Toad has four books with five short stories in each. To complicate matters, many of these stories were not easy to adapt. “Some of the stories are very simple, so the team had to work to dig deeper into the world. Much of what [we] decided to do came down to expanding the characters,” Hoegee explains. “We have a larger supporting cast in this show which builds out the world.”

The series features voice appearances from Ron Funches, Fortune Feimster, Cole Escola, Aparna Nancherla, John Hodgman, Yvette Nicole Brown, Stephen Tobolowsky, Tom Kenny, Selene Luna, Margaret Cho and Betsy Sodaro.

Finding the right cast was important for Hoegee. “We take a lot of pride in the diversity of our cast and our crew. A lot of that simply came down to just choosing the right people for the roles,” he says. “It also helps that pretty much everyone involved with the show loves these books, and that was really a great selling point for people.”

The show does not only retell the stories from the books. The show features new Frog and Toad adventures that Hoegee hopes fit well into the established canon. “There were only 20 stories,” he says. “So we had to come up with some original ones as well, and that was really fun. The challenge is to come up with ideas that were going sound like Arnold Lobel himself conceived them.”

Frog and Toad are not only popular children’s characters but have also found a resurgence of popularity online with an older audience on social media sites like TikTok. Hoegee himself is a lover of the books and hopes that others who still love Frog and Toad feel the same about the new series.

“It is a job first and foremost, but when you can have such a deep connection with the material you’re creating, it shows on the screen.” He continues, “There are so many choices today for animated content, kids’ content… I think the fact that so many millions and millions of people are familiar with these books is going to give us a great advantage. I can’t wait for kids to see it, but I also feel that anyone of a certain age [can enjoy it.] These books came out in the 1970s, so if you’re 50 or below, these were very likely a part of your childhood. I would encourage anyone that loved these characters to come have a look. It’s a show for kids, but I think that if you love Frog and Toad, you’ll love this show too.”

Frog and Toad will premiere on April 28 alongside all-ages offerings now streaming globally on Apple TV+.