John Lasseter’s groundbreaking short film Tin Toy and Warner Brothers’ One Froggy Evening, the short that gave birth to Michigan J. Frog, have been added to the National Film Registry according to the head of Library of Congress, James Billington. Each year the Librarian of Congress, advised by the National Film Preservation Board, selects up to 25 films that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant to be added to the Registry. For each title named to the Registry, the Library of Congress works to ensure that the film is preserved for all time.

According to Pixar, Tin Toy “marked the first time a character with life-like bendable arms and knees, surfaces, and facial components, was animated digitally”. Written and directed by John Lasseter, it premiered at Siggraph in 1988 and went on to win the Academy Award for Animated Short Film. (You can watch the entire short on Pixar’s website.)

According to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia, “not many characters achieve lasting fame just from having appeared in a single six-minute cartoon. In fact, Michigan J. Frog may be the only one”. The short, written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, premiered on December 31, 1955. It is expected to surface again on the next DVD collection of WB shorts, later in 2004.