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Amphibians In Movies

Frogs in Movies

Salamanders in Movies

This is a list of some movies I've seen that had frogs or salamanders in them that I found interesting for some reason. It's rare that a frog or salamander is important to a plot. They are generally just used as background. Salamanders are almost as non-existent in movies as they are in life, which is fitting for such silent and secretive animals. Often they are mistaken for lizards.

Most of these are live-action feature films or TV movies, with some exceptions.

Links lead to pictures and information about the movies.

Spoiler Alert !

Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching a film.

Shortcut to Movie Title
("A", "An" and "The" at the start of the title can be ignored.)

Apocalypto (2006)

An unarmed man chased by warriors improvises a blow gun using darts tipped with poison from a toad.

April Fools (1969)

A man feels like an enchanted frog until a woman kisses him and tells him he's a Prince. When he sees a real frog in a city park he decides to run away with her.

Bad Company (1972)

The leader of a band of desperado boys during the Civil War plays a prank on the new boy by putting a frog down his shirt.

The Ballad of Narayama (1988)

Frogs are shown as part of the natural world.

The Big Parade (1925)

An American soldier in WWI tries to impress a French girl with a frog he caught.

Big Trouble (2002)

A large frog invades a Miami home where it squirts hallucinogenic chemicals into the face of anyone it thinks is trying to stop it from eating the dog's food.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Japanese schoolgirls exorcise a ghost, turning her into a frog.

Cannery Row (1982)

On an epic hunt a group of hobos capture a thousand frogs to sell, but end up bartering them for groceries.

Chandu the Magician (1932)

Chandu pays a slave trader with a bag full of coins that turn into toads when he pours them out.

Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)

A family trying to catch an escaped pet frog ruins breakfast and trashes the kitchen.

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

A man swallows several live frogs to entertain a crowd on a sidwalk in Paris.

Color Out of Space (2019)

A meteor crashes next to a well and starts to color plants and animals around the well an unusual magenta color, including a salamander that we see sitting on top of the well.

Cross Country Detours (1940)

We see a close-up of an animated frog "croaking."

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

We see an African Clawed Frog in a strip club aquarium for no particular reason.

The Defiant Ones (1958)

Two escaped convicts find a bullfrog calling at night, kill it with sticks, and eat it for dinner.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

A pile of frogs sits with other raw foods ready to be killed and cooked.

Ender's Game (2013)

Ender's team in battle school is called Salamander Army.

E. T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)

Elementary school children set free all the frogs they are supposed to dissect.

Exodus: Gods & Kings (2014)

A plague of frogs invades Egypt and the Pharaoh's bedroom. Then they all die, bringing on a plague of flies.

First Cow (2019)

A man foraging for food in the woods encounters an overturned newt, which he turns over and lets continue on its way.

Foolish Wives (1922)

Bullfrogs are shown at a cabin in a swamp.

Frogs (1972)

Nature runs amok, with frogs and other animals killing the humans who are polluting their habitat.

Frozen II (2019)

A flaming purple fire salamander lives in an enchanted forest.

Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)

A frog croaks from the fountain in the lobby of a fancy resort hotel.

Golden Salamander (1950)

The Greek inscription on an ancient statue of a salamander inspires a man to do the right thing, even though the statue is really a depiction of a lizard.

Gravity (2013)

A space capsule lands in a lake populated by large frogs.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

Live snakes, frogs, and dried fingers are tossed into a witch's potion.

The Hellbenders (The Cruel Ones) (1967)

A Confederate regiment called The Hellbenders uses Hellbender insignia and symbols.

Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988)

Wrestler Roddy Piper is a post-apocalyptic government sex machine with an exploding chastity belt who fights chainsaw-wielding three-penised bipedal frog mutant militants. What more could you want!

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Cane Toad conquistadores fight horned lizards dressed as Aztecs in the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

House (1977)

A newt is impaled by a crystal that falls from a chandelier in a haunted house.

Impromptu (1991)

Children play a game where they are part of the French Revolution executing the royalty. They call a frog a "Viscount" then blow it up with explosives.

Invaders From Mars (1986)

A young boy fights aliens who make his teacher swallow frogs.

The Isle (2000)

A woman kills a frog with a stick then rips it apart with her bare hands.

Jules and Jim (1962)

Jules is a naturalist who keeps newts in a wash basin in his house in France.

Jungle Run (2021)

An army of poisonous dart frogs threatens people in the jungle.

The Last Wave 1977

Frogs appear to have fallen out of the sky during a heavy rainstorm in Australia.

Leolo (1993)

Leolo keeps Eastern Newts in jars in the basement.

Magnolia (1999)

Frogs rain down from the sky and cars crash into each other.

Mandy (2018)

A man determined to revenge his murdered wife has a dream about her then wakes up to see a salamander on a rock.

Monkey Business (1931)

Harpo finds a frog in a fountain on a passenger ship, trains it to hop up into his top hat, and then keeps it under his hat.

The Naked Prey (1965)

A jungle adventure movie filmed in Africa with lots of herps, including some frogs.

Night of the Hunter (1955) (IMDB)

A murdering con man and preacher is chasing two kids but they get away from him in a small rowboat. In deep focus we, a close-up of a large bullfrog sitting on a rock in the foreground and the kids floating in the boat which is moving to the right in the distance. We hear a bullfrog calling sound effect. We see other wildlife in the same way, a fox. a tortoise, and others.

Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1 (2014)

Two real frogs watch two young girls play "frogs" in a flooded bathroom.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Sirens turn Pete into a "toad" so Everett and Delmer put him in a box and take care of him.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

A young girl immersed in a fantasy world hunts a giant toad in its underground lair.

Practical Magic (1998)

A witch becomes posessed by the spirit of the abusive boyfriend she helped murder. The other witches say he is squatting inside her like a toad that needs to be removed. Then we see lots of frogs fall out of her.

Pretty Poison (1968)

A man sleeping in the woods is terrified when he wakes up and sees a newt on a branch above him.

Rango (2011)

Rango is a pet Chameleon who gets lost in the desert where he encounters desert animals including some toads.

The Return of the Frog (1938)

A criminal gang in London is called The Frogs. Its members receive their orders through a large frog radio, they sign their messages with a frog stamp, and they have frog tattoos. We even see a live frog in a man's hat after he jumps into a river.

The Rum Diary (2011)

A hermaphrodite witchdoctor coughs out a toad when casting some spells.

The Salamander (1981)

The mysterious "Salamander" leaves a picture of a salamander with his victims.

The Scent of Green Papaya (1993)

A servant girl sees several frogs around the house where she is employed.

Song of the South (1946)

Two boys play with a "bullfrog" (which is actually a toad) then they take it to a pond to release it.
The movie also contains some scenes with animated talking frogs.

The Sound of Music (1965)

Bratty children try to scare away their new governess by putting a toad in her pocket.

Spirited Away (2001)

A girl is bribed with a roasted newt to do something dangerous.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)

A boy tortures a frog and is himself tortured for the rest of his life.

Tales of Terror (1962)

A drunk hallucinates a bunch of creatures blocking his cellar stairs including an Amphiuma.

The Tempest (2010)

The King's Jester Trinculo falls into a pond full of frogs that turn into a magical spirit named Ariel.

Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)

A starving Samurai is thrown into a jail cell full of water where he finds a frog and eats it alive.

The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel) (1967)

A woman is tortured with spiders, scorpions, snakes, and - a newt?

The Tree of Life (2011)

Boys tie a toad to a fireworks rocket and light the fuse.

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

An old French woman uses dynamite to catch frogs for dinner.

A Trip to the Moon ("Le voyage dans la lune") (1902)

A space capsule lands in an ocean populated by newts.

Tropical Malady (2004)

Two farmers find rocks that turn into treasure but the treasure turns into toads when they get greedy.

True Blood (TV Series 2008...)

A salamander underwater begins the opening credits montage.

Venomous (2001) (IMDB)

During the invasion of a small town by deadly mutant rattlesnakes (oh yeah, the snakes in movies lists are so much more fun than the frogs list) we see a female American Bullfrog and hear a Pacific Treefrog calling (or "croaking.") Then, spoiler alert, one of the mutant killer rattlesnakes gets it.

The Virgin Spring (1960)

A pregnant woman makes a toad sandwich and causes a tragedy.

The Wicker Man (1973)

A pharmacist puts a small toad in a little girl's mouth to cure her sore throat.

Witch Hunt (1994)

A witch spits a salamander out of his mouth onto a Senator, who then spits out a huge frog and shows the his true evil character to the audience he is giving a speech to.

You Only Live Once (1937)

A couple on their honeymoon watch frogs and discuss frog fidelity.

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