Family
Fishing Trip
Cartoons like this are in many ways as episodic as this show can get. It’s all about the core cast doing a familiar pastime and their approaches to everything that comes with it. As the title says, the featured pastime is going fishing, from my experience, a very common activity families in media tend to do.
The activity alone would typically not be enough to make the material fully engaging, but that’s when you become thankful for how great these characters are. They approach fishing in their own individual way and get up to some very memorable escapades. Anne uses it to try out parasailing, her interests in the sport stemming from a humorously staged flashback from home where her bilingual mother shot down her first attempt. This makes for a constant running gag where her overconfidence leads to mishaps of flying awkwardly while Polly revels in the featured foolishness. As for Hop Pop, the fishing trip gives him an opportunity to really connect with his newfound lover, Sylvia Sundew. Their chemistry is a strong continuation from Sylvia’s first appearance with charming playful banter and interactions all around. It’s no wonder Hop Pop spends much of the trip with her.
This in turn causes issues for the main focus of the fishing trip, Sprig. He constantly laments about wanting Hop Pop to himself which is pretty petty and doesn’t make him a very mature lead to follow, not unlike how he was in “Cracking Mrs. Croaker.” However, this cartoon has a major thing that the previous one lacked, and that’s legit background to Sprig’s behavior. The fishing trip is an annual tradition where he and Hop Pop spend special quality time together, and most people would not want that taken away. A series of cute flashbacks to his youth is also a telling sign of how important the fishing trip is to Sprig.
Of course, his idea of handling the situation is not one most mature people would get behind. Sprig pulls off several stunts to annoy Sylvia into leaving the fishing trip, each scheme getting more out of control than the last. However, keeping the enjoyment strong, Sprig’s stunts are humorously staged and balanced out by everyone convincing him to not worry about such a small matter. Even Sprig’s drama over the situation has a few laughs, mainly through an over-dramatic sad song. Then when he really goes too far by having Sylvia swim to an island to leave her behind, I find it funny that Sprig decides this is too much, only to immediately go through with it anyway.
Luckily, heart wins out when he hears that Sylvia arranged for Hop Pop to spend time with him after all, and Sprig knows they have to go back and rescue her. There’s a fun fight with a giant crab highlighted by individual reactions to the creature, parasailing playing a big role, and Sylvia managing to hold strong against it despite being in distress. As for the resolution, it’s as basic as a story of a simple pastime can get with expected apologies, but again, the characters themselves make it nice in its own way just the same.
While this isn’t the most
compelling or creative work of this series, it’s still a fun and even
relatable, time with the cast.
B+
Bizarre
Bazaar
You get the feeling that a cartoon is really going to stand out when it’s not only about a single fun adventure, but also gives insight into some of the show’s most major recurring topics. That’s the case here where the driving force of the plot is Anne’s biggest desire to learn more about the music box that sent her to this world of talking frogs.
While traveling, Sprig finds an offering that can be used to enter them into an event called the Bizarre Bazaar. It’s said to be full of dealers who specialize in the supernatural, and just may hold the answers Anne is looking for. Because it sounds so shady, Hop Pop advises them to forget the whole thing, though of course his words do no good to hold Anne and Sprig back. Late at night, they use their offering to find their way to the Bizarre Bazaar, and the results are in line with the mysterious shady suggestions that come from the sound of the affair.
There are a lot of eerie yet still imaginative designs to the stands, and several colorful personalities from the frogs running it. That said, while you’d think that Anne would go straight to learning about her music box, a lot of time is spent exploring the bazaar, mostly its games and food. It’s a fun collection of scenes for sure and it’s in line with the feel, but they go on longer than welcome when this is supposed to develop something important.
Eventually, Anne and Sprig are able to get their spot in potentially learning about the music box. There’s even potential for something bigger when the dealer suggests Anne, the holder of the box, may be a part of something bigger. Once again though, that isn’t followed up on as the backpack containing the music box is stolen by a figure the literal second Anne takes her eyes off it. Now, she and Sprig have to take part in the Bizarre Bazaar’s biggest challenges to get it back.
That challenge is a beetle drag race where anything goes and rules can be broken at any time, and their opponent is an infamous strong frog called the Wrecker. It seems like the surprise newcomers could beat him, but then the Wrecker takes a page out of Mario Kart and beats them with a blue shell, winning the backpack. This moment is set up for Anne to lose the best chance she had to get home, but there’s a twist. The Wrecker was actually Hop Pop in disguise. I know a lot of his past is a mystery, but Hop Pop donning this persona feels way too convenient. It just feels like there needed to be a reason for him to come and scold the kids for disobeying him, and berating them for getting into a pickle. Still he makes his point, and Anne matures from the experience by accepting that her way to answers are simply going to take longer than she’d like. Sealing the endearment of the gesture is entrusting Hop Pop to hold onto the music box for the time being.
Then comes the most satisfying plot-building
moment of the cartoon. In line with the
disturbing facts he read about the music box in “Anne vs Wild,” Hop Pop
buries it in fear that it will cause something terrible. As of now, the box remains buried and it’s
still largely unknown what it’s meant to do.
However, it’s beneficial because it keeps the audience engaged with a
mystery they just can’t help but wonder about.
It may be in a cartoon that meanders a lot despite its atmospheric
strengths, but everything it gets right should not be ignored.
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. Snow Day
15. Civil Wart
16. Stakeout
17. Croak and
Punishment
18. Taking
Charge
19. Flood,
Sweat, and Tears
20. Bizarre
Bazaar
21. Trip to the
Archives
22. Anne Theft
Auto
23. Hop Luck
24. Hop Pop and
Lock
25. Plantar’s
Last Stand
26. Family
Fishing Trip
27. Girl Time
28. Breakout
Star
29. Grubhog Day
30. Cane Crazy
31. Sprig vs
Hop Pop
32. Cracking
Mrs. Croaker
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