The glory of victory: "FrogP" brings home the dough for the Gumz family

When 4-year-old Aiden Gumz of Evergreen put his parents in frog suits and set out to film a dance video, he had a vision: to make something awesome He succeeded. The result of his efforts, FrogP, was avant-garde and experimental like Stan Brakhage, but also unexpectedly poignant and sweet like...

By Jef Otte

April 5, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

When 4-year-old Aiden Gumz of Evergreen put his parents in frog suits and set out to film a dance video, he had a vision: to make something awesome He succeeded. The result of his efforts, FrogP, was avant-garde and experimental like Stan Brakhage, but also unexpectedly poignant and sweet like Michel Gondry. But Gumz also had a second goal, which was to compete in and win Primrose School's Family Dance-off, and obesity fundraiser with a prize of $5,000 for him and his family and $30,000 for the winner's local Children's Miracle Network Hospital, which in Gumz's case would be Children's Hospital at Anschutz Medical Campus. Last week, Gumz took home that prize.

FrogP did not actually garner the most votes -- in voting, it came in third, behind "We Are Family!" by the VanWey family of Iowa and "The Payne Gang," by the Payne family of Oklahoma -- but truly challenging work seldom wins the numbers of the lowest common denominator. The contest, however, was not judged on votes alone; in fact, it votes amounted to just 25 percent of the qualifying criteria. The other categories were "Creativity," "Originality" and "Humor." You hear that, Oklahoma and Iowa? You may have the quantity, but we've got the quality over here.

We also have the money, and that's what matters. Also, you know, the children and stuff.

Follow us on Twitter!

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.