"Anne or Beast?" is the first segment of the first episode of Amphibia. It premiered on June 17, 2019.
Synopsis[]
Sprig tries to capture a mysterious beast to prove that he’s responsible.
Plot[]
The world of Amphibia is one giant marshland where talking humanoid frogs exist and live in a medieval style society. Outside the town of Wartwood, loony native One-Eyed Wally leaves the pub and is "attacked" by a strange creature. In town the next day, the Plantars, grandfather Hop Pop 10 year old Sprig and tadpole baby sister Polly come to town to go shopping. Hop Pop puts Polly in charge of watching the wagon over the older Sprig due to "yesterday being a bad day". An unharmed Wally runs into town raving and ranting about a creature with unusual features that supposedly was trying to eat him. As Mayor Toadstool promises that something will be done about it, Sprig decides that he will be the one to capture the creature so that he can earn Hop Pop's trust back. He bribes Polly with candy who accepts and Sprig hops away into the woods.
Sprig begins his search only to be immediately caught by Thai-American human Anne Boonchuy who has been out in the woods for a week, She rescues Sprig from a giant red praying mantis (which was chasing her earlier) and he realizes that Anne wasn't a monster, but a hero. After introducing each other, Sprig sympathizes with Anne and wants to help her, starting with finding her non-bug food after proving she can trust him. Meanwhile back in town, Mayor Toadstool turns the townsfolk into a mob to hunt Anne, Hop Pop learns that Sprig is missing and takes Polly into the woods to "rescue" him with the mob following. Back in the woods, Sprig found plenty of mushrooms for Anne to eat and they begin to learn from one another. Anne explained that she was a human who came from her world and found herself in Amphibia through unknown means without any know way to get back. Sprig told her that he was in the woods to prove he's responsible, but before he could tell an how, everyone else catches up and ties Anne down despite Sprig's protests. Hop Pop expressed his impression of Sprig for catching the "monster", who thought Sprig set her up. Sprig tried to explain everything when a green praying mantis showed up. The frogs formed a mantis formation to scare it off, which seemingly worked only to reveal that it backed off due to the arrival of the bigger red one, which broke up the formation and attacks the frogs. Sprig and Anne team up and defeat the mantis. Sprig then tells everyone that Anne is just trying to get home and that they should help her. While there is apprehension, Hop Pop agrees to take her in.
Anne wants to leave immediately, but Hop Pop informs her that she will be unable to due to the surrounding area being covered in mountains that are frozen over for the season and that she will have to wait a couple of months. In the meantime, she will have to bunk with the Plantars in their basement. After Sprig says goodnight to Anne, she takes out a music box and opens it, only for nothing to happen. Anne solemnly sighs to herself "Looks like I'm gonna be here for a while".
Cast[]
- Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
- Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
- Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
- Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
- James Patrick Stuart as One-Eyed Wally
- Stephen Root as Mayor Toadstool
- Dee Bradley Baker as Green Praying Mantis & Red Praying Mantis
- Liam O'Brien as Top Blue Frog & Villagers
- Eden Riegel as Female Villager
- Jack McBrayer as Toadie (uncredited)
Additional voices[]
- Jason Marsden
- Rachael Lillis
- Stephanie Sheh
- Tara Strong
- Kate Higgins
- Laura Bailey
- Yuri Lowenthal
Full episode[]
Trivia[]
- While the episode is canonical, as it features the basic set up, there are a few inconsistencies that fail to match with the rest of the series:
- The Plantars are shown driving a typical horse and buggy (or rather a snail and buggy) instead of driving Bessie, the single snail. Additionally the snail, which might be a slug, is yellow instead of purple.
- Hop Pop, while still considering Sprig to be immature, puts a lot of trust in Polly over him. Throughout the rest of the series he is shown to equally not trust either child with important matters.
- One-Eyed Wally is actually listened to by the townspeople who do not seem to question his rants with even Mayor Toadstool taking his words to heart.
- Mayor Toadstool is shown to be well respected by the people of Wartwood, but in later episodes, it is no secret among everyone that they hold some disdain for him.
- The Plantars' basement has a slightly different design. Instead of stone steps that lead in from the living room, it is a wooden ladder that leads from the side of the house.
- This entrance is occasionally seen in the show, but is hardly ever used.
- When Polly begins eating the bribe candy that Sprig gives her, she makes a computerized blip sound as she ate them in a line. This is an obvious reference to Pac-Man.
- Felicia Sundew, Mr. Flour, Leopold Loggle, and Sadie Croaker all make their debut in this episode, but do not get any speaking lines.
- While Anne is holding back the mantis and yells, "Do something!" her eyes flash blue for a moment, the same color as the blue gem on the Calamity Box.
International premieres[]
- June 22, 2019 (Canada)
- August 2, 2019 (Japan)
- August 3, 2019 (Latin America)
- September 2, 2019 (Netherlands)
- September 9, 2019 (Southeast Asia)
- September 14, 2020 (Portugal)
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Anne or Beast? at the Amphibia Wiki
