The Big
Bugball Game
To have a show appeal to the masses, you often expect it to have at least one work about sports, and this cartoon allows this show to fit that criteria. The overall content is honestly pretty basic in terms of storytelling, but it stands out enough thanks to its cast, especially what it says about Anne.
It’s Harvest Day in Wartwood with Anne giving a good description of the affair as Frog Thanksgiving. There’s a lot of food gathered, a giant turkey, and for entertainment, a big sports game, in this case bugball, the frog equivalent of basketball. As for the conflict that comes with the sport, as you’d expect, one team is the big shot and the other is the underdog. The former, known as the townies, is run by Mayor Toadstool, and given his general persona, it’s no surprise he looks down upon the underdog, the farmers. Because of apparent skill in shooting things as well as being taller and more ambidextrous though, the farmers believe Anne could help them win for once.
At the same time, Anne believes that she has what it takes too, only there’s a major catch. Her sports experience from back home consists of solo sports like tennis, and for that, she thinks that to help her team win, she’s the only one who should get the ball. It’s at this moment where the message of the story becomes obvious, and it’s that of the importance of teamwork, selling the basic feel of the setup. Almost instantly the flaws in Anne’s game plan are known when Mayor Toadstool calls for a scrimmage, and Anne’s lack of teamwork gets her team beaten badly.
Through all this, it would be easy to pit Anne as unlikable and stubborn. While she is at least stubborn here, the fact that there is background to her refusal of teamwork and her upbringing is known to be flawed has her feel more complex than otherwise. That’s when her being in this strange new world showcases its benefits in understanding better ways to operate in life. Since her solo sports had her play harder due to being all alone, being with other players who are there for her makes it necessary to adjust her practices. Though clearly reluctant, she relies on the rest of her team to score goals, and in a pleasing move, her learning teamwork isn’t dragged out to the very end. She latches on to the better way to go in a reasonably swift manner, making the audience believe she’s ready for the final game.
Sure enough, for working as a team, the farmers manage to intimidate the formerly overly confident townies. The extent of the teamwork ultimately proves itself when they obstruct Anne’s view with pollen, calling for the extremely difficult trust play. Anne follows steps to the goal while blinded, and just when it looks like it’s not going to work, there’s a surprise move by Sprig helping to make the shot. That’s good to see considering he never got the chance to try before. The game ends as well as you’d expect without much alterations to average underdog story structures or its messages; it’s straightforward and to the point.
Still, it’s plenty enjoyable from how the main
character’s background influences the events and a few good laughs.
B+
Combat Camp
This cartoon is one with a simple setup with a noticeable edge, and those are the kinds that I find to be among the most intriguing of the series. It helps that it offers a chance for some of our main protagonists to prepare themselves for bigger conflicts later on.
Anne, Sprig, and Polly are dropped off at a daycare center for the weekend while Hop Pop goes out of town. It should be noted that he does this out of exhaustion of having at least two wacky adventures a week. That’s a clever fourth wall jab at how the show was meant to premiere its first season episodes once a week, but it didn’t work since Disney instead aired several episodes a week. At least this feel has since been better realized in Season 2.
Anyway, the twist to this daycare center is that it’s actually a combat school run by a dashing newt called Tritonio. Though this makes the kids’ stay exciting, Anne is still not thrilled about the prospect of spending her weekend with a teacher. This is another thing relating to her home life where she was constantly at odds with teachers, proven with a funny flashback of one catching her not paying attention in class. On one hand, she’s clearly ignorant to her own faults, but on the other, she’s established to not have the best influences in her life, so this isn’t that surprising.
In Tritonio’s case, Anne appears to go through the same hardships when it comes to teachers. He has a lot of interesting combat practices to teach the kids, but while he praises all of Sprig and Polly’s skills, he always has a problem with Anne’s. However, after a montage of Anne having a hard time in combat, she actively opens up about her frustrations, and Tritonio is actually sympathetic. He gives warm genuine reassurance that he’s hard on her because he wants her to be the best combat person she can be, which is a good basis for any teaching. Anne easily sees his points, and in the next training sessions, there’s clear innovative improvement in her strategy.
With the new praise, Anne expresses newfound respect for Tritonio, though it does come with a few concerns. Throughout the training sessions, he constantly mentions being on a speeding train and dealing with train guards. Then for their last day, he arranges a stunt to retrieve a treasure from a train trying hard to emphasize that the guards the Plantar kids will face are actors. Sprig and Polly come to the smart conclusion that Tritonio is having them rob a real train, but Anne refuses to believe it. It’s at that instance where even though it’s great she has a good connection with a teacher, it’s concerning that she’s trusting someone she just met over her fully trustworthy adoptive family.
So they go through with the plan, and it’s
entreatingly staged, but it really stings when it turns out that Sprig and
Polly were right and Anne’s newfound judgement was wrong. Tritonio tricked them into robbing the train
so he’d get the treasure and they’d go to jail instead of him. Though Anne looks boneheaded from this, her
growth from Trionio’s teachings are what get her Sprig, and Polly out of this
mess. They get creative with their
combat weapons, with Anne especially impressing with the sword, and the true
culprit is the one who’s arrested. Yes,
even if her first trusted teacher was a fraud, something meaningful was gained
for Anne. That’s a big thing to make
this cartoon interesting where its simple setup is highlighted not just by
action set pieces, but meaningful character development in unlikely places.
A
The Ranking
1. Toad Tax
2. Anne vs
Wild
3. The Domino
Effect
4. Prison
Break
5. Contagi-Anne
6. Best Fronds
7. Family
Shrub
8. Hop-Popular
9. Wally and
Anne
10. A Night at
the Inn
11. Lily Pad
Thai
12. Dating
Season
13. Anne or
Beast?
14. Combat Camp
15. Cursed!
16. Snow Day
17. Civil Wart
18. Stakeout
19. Croak and
Punishment
20. Taking
Charge
21. Flood,
Sweat, and Tears
22. Bizarre
Bazaar
23. Trip to the
Archives
24. Anne Theft
Auto
25. Hop Luck
26. Hop Pop and
Lock
27. Plantar’s
Last Stand
28. The Big
Bugball Game
29. Fiddle Me
This
30. Family
Fishing Trip
31. Girl Time
32. Breakout
Star
33. Grubhog Day
34. Cane Crazy
35. Sprig vs
Hop Pop
36. Cracking
Mrs. Croaker
