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The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
This cartoon is another fun escapade-driven story, but at the same time, it kind of says some interesting things about one of the main character dynamics of the series.
On the night before the long-awaited audience with King Andrias, Anne, Sprig, and Polly decide to have a sleepover with Marcy at the Newtopia castle. While Sprig and Polly are in it for the fun of the event, there’s something especially notable about Anne and Marcy’s approach to the affair.
It’s the first sleepover they’re having without Sasha, who always took charge of what they did and influenced how everything would go. Taking on this sleepover by themselves is a solid way for Anne and Marcy to follow up on an earlier claim that they should be making decisions for themselves. However, in a realistic approach, Sasha’s influence is still very prevalent in what they set out to do, and knowing how toxic Sasha can be, there are legit areas of concern. That said, most of the sleepover is just harmless if noticeably disruptive tomfoolery with everyone attempting to stay up all night. Antics include jumping on beds, using mattresses to sled down stairs, going through the king’s giant clothes, sneaking pastries, and messing with royal advisor, Lady Olivia. These might not be the most ethical behaviors, but they are instances of free-spirited fun that doesn’t present anything too bad; they’re kids just being kids.
As for their goal of staying up all night, despite how much they put in, everything only lasts a montage which in universe equates to a few hours, meaning they still have a long night ahead. It’s here where Sasha’s most toxic influence when it comes to sleepovers. Anne and Marcy bring up a challenge known as a Scare Dare where someone has to comply with a dark and scary challenge to prove bravery. If they can’t go through with it, their name ends up in the dreaded Book of Losers, which is really just your average marble notebook. As the mindsets of youth would typically dictate, ending up in such a book is unthinkable, so everyone goes forward with the darkest dare they can think of.
Relating to an earlier rule from Lady Olivia about staying away from the castle basement, it’s not too surprising that the group heads down there to fulfill the dare. All throughout, it’s interesting to see that for the most part, Sprig and Polly, the most pressured, feel brave enough to do the dare while Anne, the instigator, talks of turning back. It’s a solid play on expectations that also makes for some humanity. Then there’s the scariest part of the Scare Dare when they find a room full of coffins floating in a sea of goo. They’re surrounded by jellyfish like creatures who dissolve anything that passes through their bodies. They try taking a selfie by one of the coffins, the pressure of the Book of Losers driving everything, but then their presence disturbs the creatures. This results in a frantic search around the castle with a lot to take in. Running from the creatures leads to interesting locations like a garden of strange creatures like moss men, and a peculiar torn up portrait leaving much to ponder.
More to the point, there’s a good demonstration of wit to beat the creatures as mirrors nullify their deadly qualities and drive away all signs of death.
Still, the group manages to stay awake all night after all, but mostly due to shock and fear from the experience. Still, there is comfort knowing that despite the experience, there is no shame in going in the Book of Losers like Sasha says, especially since it only consists of Anne and Marcy’s names. Perhaps this is the show’s way of pointing out that doing dangerous things for the sake of it is more foolish than brave. Anyhow, this is a solid fun sleepover story with good character moments and antics, as well as a calm moment before a big show of emotion coming next.
A-
A Day at the Aquarium
Throughout the time spent in Newtopia, it’s frequently felt like major lore updates set to have a strong effect on the underlying story have taken a backseat for fun adventures in the city. For the last cartoon spent there for a while, this is more of the same, but at the same time, it does something interesting with the fact that much of this show is fun wacky adventures.
The major lore elements are dealt with swiftly at the start when Anne and the Plantars learn from King Andrias about the research uncovered about the music box. It brings to mind something much of the audience probably picked up on, but has not been overtly acknowledged in the series proper until now. When the music box was first taken, it had three multi-colored stones, but ever since the three girls were transported to Amphibia, the color was lost. To get the music box working again and ultimately get Anne and her friends home, they must visit three different temples to get each of the stones recolored and recharged. In addition to interesting development on one of the principle areas of the series, this gives the audience something exciting to look forward to for the rest of the season.
Once all of this is explained though, focus shifts to something lighter by comparison, but still significantly impactful. When hearing how long preparations for the temple are going to take, Hop Pop reveals that he and the kids have to return to Wartwood soon for important farm business. Anne plans on going with them, especially since she needs to pick up the actual music box there, but Marcy insists that it’s better a Newtopian servant get it instead. She claims this is the more logical approach, but from what will be revealed later in the season including one scene at the end, there’s a bigger reason for this mindset.
For now, Anne and the Plantars are now faced with the idea that they’ll be separated, and that saddens them greatly. It really shows how close they’ve become during their time together to the point of not being able to imagine life without each other. To combat the lingering sadness, Anne decides that they should spend the day at Newtopia’s local aquarium since such a place always cheered her up back home. While the place is nice to look at and demonstrates the simple beauty of aquatics, it also brings up personal things for Anne and the Plantars. Every exhibit manages to remind them of their random fun adventures throughout the series, helping to give weight to what may have seemed like baseless fun. Such memories only remind everyone of their eventual separation and drive them to tears, though at times in an almost comical way. Even an elaborate water show with stingrays brings back tearful memories to one of the first adventures. However, it is impressive that they’re able to make new memories when they need to save Sprig from getting eaten by the stingrays. It’s just your average Plantar adventure there, and nothing can really kill their spirit.
After this, the story sets itself up to go through with Anne and the Plantars parting ways. Even if it feels like the emotional impact should have exhausted itself with all the over-the-top crying throughout the cartoon, it still feels like something will be lost. In an interesting turn of events, Marcy seems to feel this too as she sympathizes with Anne’s feelings over being away from the frogs she’s come to view as family. Then she decides that maybe Anne going to Wartwood to get the music box makes more sense than having a common servant do it, in turn considering what’s good for Anne. Grateful for her friend's change in mindset, Anne rushes off to join the Plantars in their trip home, the scene backed by grand staging in music and character cameos. So the main group is back together for their return to Wartwood and the usual character dynamic.
However, while Marcy was gracious enough to allow this arrangement, it’s hard to shake off a begrudging tone to her demeanor. The last scene has her look out to the distance, clearly dejected that she let one of her friends split up with her. Then she’s visited by King Andrias suddenly appearing, seeming to sympathize with her situation, and offering a proposition. It’s a good way to show the complexities of the king where in spite of appearing jovial and fun, there’s always an air of suspicion over whether he can be trusted. In addition, this is also a striking note to end on going into the second half of Season 2.
This cartoon successfully gives benefit and new meaning to the light-hearted escapade driven tone this show seems to follow when it’s not directly focused on major series goals. Everything they’ve done has been built to showcase the heart and power of major character dynamics, making for good engagement as certain decisions aim to tear them apart. This heartfelt element along with the lore and world-building that is present further help it to stand as an interestingly directed work of tone.
A+
Series Ranking
1.
Hopping
Mall
2.
Reunion
3.
Marcy at the Gates
4.
Toad Tax
5.
Anne vs Wild
6.
The Domino Effect
7.
Toadcatcher
8.
Prison Break
9.
A Day at the Aquarium
10.
Anne of the Year
11.
Contagi-Anne
12.
Best Fronds
13.
Family Shrub
14.
Hop-Popular
15.
Anne Hunter
16.
Wally and Anne
17.
Children of the Spore
18.
A Night at the Inn
19.
Handy Anne
20.
Scavenger Hunt
21.
Lily Pad Thai
22.
Dating Season
23.
Anne or Beast?
24.
Combat Camp
25.
Little Frogtown
26.
Cursed!
27.
Snow Day
28.
Civil Wart
29.
Stakeout
30.
Croak and Punishment
31.
Taking Charge
32.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
33.
Bizarre Bazaar
34.
The Plantars Check In
35. The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
36.
Wax Museum
37.
Sprig Gets Schooled
38.
Swamp and Sensibility
39.
Trip to the Archives
40.
Anne Theft Auto
41.
Hop Luck
42.
Quarreler’s
Pass
43.
Hop Pop and Lock
44.
Plantar’s Last Stand
45.
Fort in the Road
46.
A Caravan Named Desire
47.
The Big Bugball Game
48.
Fiddle Me This
49.
Truck Stop Polly
50.
Family Fishing Trip
51.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
52.
Girl Time
53.
Breakout Star
54.
Grubhog Day
55.
Cane Crazy
56.
Lost in Newtopia
57.
Sprig vs Hop Pop
58.
Cracking Mrs. Croaker
The next Amphibia review follows Anne and the Plantars back to Wartwood with Sprig and Polly taking the family for a night drive, and everyone coming home to realize they forgot to get everyone presents.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, The Owl House brings "Follies at the Coven Day Parade."
If you would like to check out other Amphibia reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
