Tadpoles
Cidu Bill on Oct 14th 2009
Just wondering here… Why would the kids be tadpoles, unless they were conceived after the divorce (and of course even then it would be problematic)?
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Mike Peters, Mother Goose, comic strips, comics, humor | 10 responses so far
Carl Oct 14th 2009 at 09:22 am 1
The kids are tadpoles because the witch/wife turned them into (baby) frogs, too, at least for weekends when the father has custody.
Oddly, this makes biological sense–in frogs it is actually not uncommon for child care to be the father’s role, not the mother’s.
mr obvious Oct 14th 2009 at 10:42 am 2
My take is that the prince was originally a frog. The princess kissed him and turned him into a prince. With her newfound power, the princess started doing more magic and eventually became an evil witch. Unfortunately her power was incomplete and poorly developed from lack of role models, and so when the prince and the witch had progeny, they (the progeny) were tadpoles. In her anger, the witch divorced the prince and reversed the spell so the price reverted back to his native frog-form.
DevilDan Oct 14th 2009 at 10:45 am 3
Running the risk of being called a heretic, I’m going to suggest that “cuteness” covers a multitude of sins, including any illogicalities in this strip.
Scott Oct 14th 2009 at 10:55 am 4
Perhaps they aren’t really tadpoles but the new frog, thinking from his froggish p.o.v., thinks of them as such?
Pirk Oct 14th 2009 at 11:04 am 5
I can dig it, Scott
BillClay Oct 14th 2009 at 11:07 am 6
Just wonder here.. Why would a dog be talking to a crown wearing frog in english about a witch that can turn people into frogs?
Any number of explanations fit the tadpole question. As a frog, he is naturally going to refer to his offspring as tadpoles. Whether the are literally tadpoles or not doesn’t matter. Many people refer to their kids as rug rats.
Perhaps, as Carl suggests, the witch turns the kids into tadpoles for the weekend so they can visit their father. She may be a witch but she isn’t heartless, I guess.
Perhaps the tadpoles are from his relationship with his new girlfriend.
Perhaps the tadpoles were the pets he and his witch wife shared and he gets possession of them on the weekend. It just happens to be coincidence that he is now a frog as well.
Slager Oct 14th 2009 at 02:37 pm 7
Oh, I wondered the same thing, too. Probably… because there would be no joke otherwise.
Fnord Oct 14th 2009 at 03:40 pm 8
They’re tadpoles because Peters thinks you can make a joke by swapping out one word from a common sentence. A divorced dad gets his kids on the weekend, so a divorced frog must get the tadpoles on the weekend. Note the bold face, for extra comedy laffs!
Mitch4 Oct 14th 2009 at 04:32 pm 9
I can go with the comments saying because he’s a frog he refers to his offspring as tadpoles, whatever their actual form. So if he were a dog he would call them pups, if he were a bear he would call them cubs, if he were a goat he would call them kids. Hey, waitaminute!
todd Oct 16th 2009 at 01:02 am 10
Most jokes don’t hold up if you over-examine them.