Click on a picture to enlarge it




















Amphibians in Movies
 
Big Trouble (2002)
 
Spoiler Alert !

Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film.
 
Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot
This is a crime comedy set in Miami, Florida based on a book by Dave Barry. Early in the movie we see two high school boys sneaking into the backyard of the Herk family to prank the high school daughter. They encounter a dog named Roger. A voice-over tells us Roger hasn't eaten in 3 months after "...the most evil being in the universe entered his life." Then we see a large green frog sitting on top of a bowl of dry dog food. When the dog comes up to the bowl, the frog sprays liquid from its forehead in the dog's face. The voice-over tells us that the liquid contains hallucinogenic chemicals that cause the dog to hallucinate that he's a large steak.

Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot
Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot Amphibian Screenshot
Later we see the frog again after Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci) and a police officer have been handcuffed to a metal shelf unit in Herk's home. The cop topples the shelf unit and Arthur falls next to the frog which is again sitting in the dog food bowl. The frog sprays Arthur in the face. He immediately starts to hallucinate that Martha Stewart is out to get him and steal his soul. We see her face on the dog's body and she is barking his name "Herk, Herk Herk Herk." FBI Agent Alan Seitz (Omar Epps) says: "Bufotenine - hell of an hallucinogen. He's gone. He won't be coming back any time soon."

At the very end we see Herk and the dog in the middle of a road. Herk is still handcuffed to the shelf, crying and screaming "Make her stop!" and Roger is still barking like Martha Stewart.

It's true that some frogs excrete the hallucinogenic chemical bufotenine, though it isn't a liquid that is sprayed from the forehead. Most likely the frog in the movie was inspired by press reports of people licking the excretions of the Colorado River Toad to get high. Apparently, the secretions can be dried and smoked, which produces euphoria and hallucinations.

We don't see a real live frog, it's a practical effect. It doesn't move very much, mostly its tongue moves. It looks like it was modeled after an American Bullfrog and they did a good job making it look realistic, especially the color and texture of the skin.