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Froggy Little Christmas
When it comes to episodic slice-of-life stories, some to look forward to the most are Christmas specials. This holiday lends itself to many wholesome feelings and virtues as well as endless ways to express them through unique traditions. In a show like this, such a special might not seem like a great idea with a lot of underlying plot that needs to be focused on. However, not only does this show have a reputation for making the episodic stuff work, but this special also allows for notable coverage of said plot as well as strong character development. This in turn makes for the show giving its own endearing Christmas experience.
Right away, a pleasing atmosphere that really feels like Christmas is made clear within Anne’s home, and no one enjoys it more than her mom, Mrs. Boonchuy. She really goes all out with decorating the house and planning family traditions, making her passion for the holiday incredibly clear. To really enhance this spirit, Mrs. Boonchuy gets an opportunity for something she always wanted to do for Christmas; get a spot in the annual Christmas parade for a float of the family restaurant. It’s certainly an honor to be represented along with other community businesses on such a huge holiday, and Anne and Mr. Boonchuy’s excitement shows care for what this means. Despite this great opportunity, Mrs. Boonchuy solemnly turns the parade spot down. It turns out to be for a mature reason, being a way to support her daughter by protecting her and the Plantars from harm. By avoiding parading around Las Angeles, they’ll be keeping a low profile and make sure everyone, especially the talking frogs from another dimension, are safe. However, Anne’s Christmas spirit is strong as well to the point where she secretly accepts a spot in the parade anyway. Even though Anne has also stressed the importance of keeping a low profile, there’s still apparent care in her actions. She can see how much her parents have sacrificed for her, and as being in this parade is something her mom always wanted, Anne would believably risk her safety to allow that. In fact, it’s a sound expression of the meaning of the holiday whose atmosphere continues persist throughout the special.
From here, Anne and the Plantars take action to set up the float as a gift for Mrs. Boonchuy. All the way, there are pleasing moments to enhance this task where not only does Anne get further in her goal, but the main setting is further immersed in Christmas. Some of these moments even tie into past events of the season, most notably when Anne gets help from some of the new characters introduced here. Ally and Jess, the IT Gals, provide her with technical support and transportation of the float, and at the museum, Dr. Jan lets her use leftover mannequins to decorate it. These new characters continue to be a joy through their charm, enthusiasm, and how well they apply their special interests to help others. In addition to helping Anne, they also provide the Plantars insight on the holiday going on. Being interdimensional creatures, the Plantars are a perfect group to comment on the excessive ways of celebrating the holiday and wondering the meaning for it is. In fact, that’s something people in the real world can’t help but ponder. Each character has their own different viewpoint on how Christmas works with some focus on traditions through how they’re celebrated and their historic context. These teachings are taken to heart by Sprig who goes on to spend much of the special trying to find the perfect gift for Anne who means the most to him.
As he and the rest of the Plantars continue to explore the Christmas traditions, the days leading up to it provide looks at them to really liven up the spirit. Through joining Anne’s parents in the holiday preparations, and a running gag of Mr. Boonchuy struggling to get the perfect Christmas photo, the mood is fittingly wholesome.
To seal the deal of this being a great capture of the holiday spirit, there are frequent cuts to a moving song written and performed by Steven Universe creator herself, Rebecca Sugar. It says a lot about how this time of year has many different ways of celebrating, and by extension, different ways of spreading happiness and showing care for others. If one is familiar with the musical style of Ms. Sugar, it should be unsurprising that this song has a pleasing poetic class to really set the mood and setting.
This special certainly works as something all its own, but it’s also helped by the notable ways it connects to the main plot at hand. In addition to the appearances of Season 3’s newly introduced characters, there’s also a presence of the most major threat to the peace.
Over in Amphibia, King Andrias is informed of it being Christmastime which he had learned from Marcy, and proceeds to use the holiday to his own advantage. His servants provide him with a special Christmas gift he can use to assist is his plan for conquest, a remote control drone he can send to Earth to track Anne down. As a result, there are stakes to the main plan of this special, exploring the risk of Anne going back on the plan of keeping a low profile. While she’s off preparing her float, Andrias fortunately doesn’t have luck getting to her, but his failed attempts ultimately make the special’s climax very impactful.
Christmas comes, and Anne surprises her parents with her gift of the parade float. As they later enter the parade, there’s a lot of endearment from the gratitude of finally being able to take part in this event. Mrs. Boonchuy especially shines as a character as she explains deeper reasons for wanting to take part. She and her husband are revealed to have moved to Las Angeles from Thailand, and for a while they struggled to adapt and fit in. Having a float for the Christmas parade is indicative of how far they’ve come in this community. What’s more, Anne can even relate to struggling to fit in from her time spent in Amphibia, which can be interpreted as kind of a Boonchuy family trait. It can even be relatable to any immigrants watching who likely also struggle to fit in, allowing this show to really resonate with many people.
This wholesome family moment ultimately allows what happens next to bring a very striking impact. Through his drone and a conveniently blatant statement from Anne, Andrias finally tracks his target down through the drone. He uses it to take control of an animatronic Santa Claus which attacks the parade and chases down the Boonchuys’ float. As one may expect, this robot battle is very thrilling with a lot of fast-paced action. Still, there’s a bittersweet feeling through everyone needing to dismantle the float to beat the robot back after all the hard work Anne put into it. While that feeling can’t be ignored, the final takedown with a firework is a grand finish to the battle, and everyone is more caught up in the excitement of what happened. There’s even something to resemble snow in Las Angeles with flakes of robotic ash, allowing the Christmas spirit to really shine through despite everything.
While the conclusion of a big battle would be a good place to end everything, the end of the special brings a lot more to take in on various fronts. For one thing, there’s significant plot development through what’s coming next with a look at the possessed Marcy and how she berates Andrias’ failed attempts with Anne. Still, Andrias has a good mind for conquest as well as a huge robot invasion ready to go, allowing this holiday special solid foreshadowing for the show as a whole.
As for Anne and her family, the parade might not have gone as planned, but it’s rewarding that they’re satisfied with this Christmas. Their stance on things even help the Plantars finally understand the holiday where it’s all about showing how much you care for the people in your life; things like decorations and gifts are merely tools to help show that care. Sprig even gets a sense of that when Anne receives her gift from him, a small figurine of herself made from assorted small knick-knacks and is grateful for his consideration. Then there’s one more verse of that ongoing Christmas song which could be a good stopping point, but the special has one more thing to show.
In the final scene, Anne writes to someone about the sadness of not getting to spend the holidays with loved ones. As she continues, it becomes clearer that the people she’s writing to are Sasha and Marcy’s parents to whom she promises to bring their daughters back from another world. That’s another point in this holiday special’s favor in being a major acknowledgement of these figures in the lives of Anne’s friends. There are even some subtle details to their background with Sasha’s parents each getting separate letters while Marcy’s get one, implying that Sasha’s parents are divorced. Unfortunately, despite these details being brought up, neither of these two’s parents are ever shown after this, discrediting the scene’s value. Matt Braly has said that this was because there wasn’t enough time to fit every detail in, and Sasha and Marcy’s parents aren’t as integral to their arcs as Anne’s are to hers. He believes that fans would be satisfied with coming up with their own interpretations of them. While there is credit to this decision, the fact that the show itself brought them and their backgrounds up brings a sense of emptiness to this element. In other words, leaving Sasha and Marcy’s parents up to interpretation doesn’t really work, and that feeling is hard to shake. Still, the scene does fit the theme and message of Christmas that have been portrayed well here, so while this direction affects the season’s quality, this particular special remains great.
Christmas can bring out the best in anything if the right effort is put in, and Christmas specials of shows are no exception. For this show, it turns out a very endearing special that’s big on spirit and respect to what it’s really all about. In its favor, it adds unique touches through different characters’ points of view, little interesting quirks, and plot development to keep it from feeling out of place in the grand scheme. Basically, this show has turned out a very commendable Christmas special that’s great to view at “our special time of year.”
A+
Fan Art
Series Ranking
1.
True
Colors
2.
Hopping
Mall
3.
Reunion
4.
Marcy at the Gates
5.
Anne-sterminator
6.
Olivia
and Yunan
7.
Toad Tax
8.
The First Temple
9. Froggy Little Christmas
10.
Turning Point
11.
Battle of the Bands
12.
Barrel’s
Warhammer
13.
Anne vs Wild
14.
The Domino Effect
15.
The Third Temple
16.
Toadcatcher
17.
Prison Break
18.
The Second Temple
19.
Temple Frogs
20.
A Day at the Aquarium
21.
Mr. X
22.
Anne of the Year
23.
Contagi-Anne
24.
The
Shut-In
25.
Best Fronds
26.
After
the Rain
27.
Family Shrub
28.
Fixing
Frobo
29. If You Give a Frog a Cookie
30.
The New Normal
31.
The Dinner
32.
Hop-Popular
33.
Anne Hunter
34.
Wally and Anne
35.
Children of the Spore
36.
Fight at the Museum
37.
Friend
or Frobo
38.
Sprig’s
Birthday
39.
A Night at the Inn
40.
Bessie
and MicroAngelo
41.
Handy Anne
42.
Scavenger Hunt
43.
Lily Pad Thai
44.
Dating Season
45.
Anne or Beast?
46.
Combat Camp
47.
Little Frogtown
48.
Cursed!
49.
Thai
Feud
50.
Snow Day
51.
Civil Wart
52.
Maddie and Marcy
53.
Stakeout
54.
Croak and Punishment
55.
Taking Charge
56.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
57.
Bizarre Bazaar
58.
The Plantars Check In
59.
The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
60.
Wax Museum
61.
Return
to Wartwood
62.
Sprig Gets Schooled
63.
Swamp and Sensibility
64.
Trip to the Archives
65.
Toad
to Redemption
66.
Anne Theft Auto
67.
Adventures in Catsitting
68.
Hop Luck
69.
New
Wartwood
70.
Ivy on the Run
71.
Night
Drivers
72.
Quarreler’s
Pass
73.
Hop Pop and Lock
74.
Plantar’s Last Stand
75.
Fort in the Road
76.
A Caravan Named Desire
77.
The Big Bugball Game
78.
Fiddle Me This
79.
Hollywood Hop Pop
80.
Truck Stop Polly
81.
Family Fishing Trip
82.
Hop ‘Til You Drop
83.
Spider-Sprig
84.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
85.
Girl Time
86.
Breakout Star
87.
Grubhog Day
88.
Cane Crazy
89.
Lost in Newtopia
90.
Sprig vs Hop Pop
91.
Cracking Mrs. Croaker
The next review marks a huge turning point as Anne and her allies finally get their working portal to Amphibia.
Next time are more DuckTales reviews, but that won't be until the new year of 2023. For now, MC Toon Reviews is taking off for the holidays as well as more time to work on a special Christmas animation project, called Share the Joy.
If you would like to check out other Amphibia reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
