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Lost in Newtopia
With a lot of hype surrounding the city of Newtopia during the trip over, it would be appropriate to think that the show has opened up to bigger and grander stories. While the thought of more excitement exists, this cartoon is not only largely the antic-driven norm, but also backtracks on certain characterizations. It does feature a lot of intrigue and amusement in rarely seen dynamics though, so that’s a plus.
The main premise features Anne anxious to live it up in what’s easily Amphibia’s biggest metropolis and live like the city’s ‘locals.’ Unfortunately for her, most of the planned activities consist of boring tour buses and museums without a chance to truly take advantage of the exciting opportunity.
Out of this is a cute and amusing flashback to Anne’s youth where she would want to explore the amenities of Thailand, but her mom wouldn’t let her. This is accentuated by an overemotional response to being handed carrot sticks and trail mix instead of spicy Thai food years later in the present.
For now, when opportunity knocks, Anne escapes the tour to explore local life in Newtopia for herself, and Polly, intrigued by her ideas for fun, joins her in living it up. This in turn brings to light the strongest point of the cartoon, the featured character dynamic. Anne and Polly are not often seen sharing the spotlight together very often, but have good potential for a pleasing pair with good chemistry. Fortunately, that potential is recognized greatly in everything they get up to as they bond over a desire for fun and have each other’s back in everything they do. Certainly, they’ve come a long way from their last attempt at girl time.
However, what they actually do throughout Newtopia leaves mixed results, at least in terms of entertainment. Three attempts of becoming one with the locals are shown and lead to over-the-top, inconveniencing antics. Some of them have legitimately funny exaggerations like when Anne and Polly get a chance to try spicy food, and it’s so hot that they breathe fire that accidentally destroys the stand. Others don’t have the same pleasing effect, sadly. They try on the local fashion of artificial tails, even though they’re for newts who need them, and come off as destructive nuisances. Finally, they try partying with the locals with Anne being part of a parade float which she proceeds to innocently goof around with. This in turn ends up angering the crowds because apparently the float is honoring a great hero to Newtopia. This actually doesn’t seem fair because Anne clearly didn’t know this and meant no harm. Because of all the trouble they caused among the locals, Anne and Polly are mobbed by everyone they wronged and go back to where they started on the tour bus.
While their dynamic is still pleasing, a weak impression is made for the cartoon with it being central to destruction caused to Newtopia that’s never really owned up to. It stings even more when a lot of it comes from Anne who throughout the season has suggested to know better than this. There is an impression that something of substance is gained with the last scene of Marcy and King Andrias discovering a library wing to learn about the music box. However, it’s very short and unable to leave as big an impact as it can. You’re sure to have somewhat of a fun time with this cartoon with character dynamics and a few laughs, but with reckless antics at the forefront, this is not one of the stronger efforts.
C+
Sprig Gets Schooled
Some of the most universally appealing stories have characters think about what they’ll make of themselves for their future. With this show mostly maturing in tone this new season and the background of the series’ central family, a plot like this is a natural to come across at some point.
While the Plantars are continuing exploring the city and enjoying life, they happen across the campus of Newtopia University. Hop Pop marvels at the school and expresses desire for one of his grandkids to enroll there. This in turn evokes the mature side of this show’s storytelling with acknowledgement of how hard the Plantars have things, leaving them desperate for better opportunities. Then Sprig’s speed and agility in catching a bug disc is noticed by the university staff, and that among other skills impresses them enough to consider him eligible to be a student. Sprig, understanding how much Hop Pop wants this for him, obliges to the arrangements and agrees to take part in a trial period.
It’s a shock to everyone that Sprig is considered an eligible student on account that he’s very eccentric and doesn’t have the best attention span. Even as a trial student, this appears to be the case. Sprig is subjected to many strict rules of the university which he clearly doesn’t agree with. He also doesn’t seem to be looked upon favorably, for in a montage, he can’t stay focused and pull off classes properly, and the professors are left in disgust. Somehow, this turns out to mean that Sprig’s messing up was done in a special way that convinces the head professor to immediately make him a full on student. This in turn compromises the mature tone because it is not convincing that Sprig’s ways around the classes would lead to this.
As for Sprig himself, though he does still want to please Hop Pop, he soon acts honest with himself by saying he doesn’t want to be in the university student and opts to leave. This, apparently, is not possible when the school goes on lockdown and security increases. In the meantime, Hop Pop, while going through Sprig memorabilia, believably starts to miss his grandson. While there’s good emotion, there’s also humor in the conclusions he comes to from the university’s security measures. Also, Anne and Polly sneak into the campus believing college life is all about partying without any consequences, a mindset that’s obviously wrong. In other words, they’re still not over their less than mature tendencies expressed in the previous cartoon, which is really unfortunate for Anne.
Anyhow, all these perspectives come together for a fun climax when Sprig tries to escape, his family sneaks in, and all manner of alarms and security are unleashed. The final results though are somewhat mixed. When Sprig is caught and led to explain that he wants out of being a student, the head professor says he can leave whenever he wants, but the high security suggests otherwise. There is at least a believable reason for that to protect the students from the high crime rate. There’s also something sad about Hop Pop opting to keep Sprig homeschooled at the bottom of the social ladder just so he and his grandson can be together. Sprig is at least more reasonable and open minded, saying that while he may not be ready for the university now, this could change in later years. This in turn makes for a solid approach to the subject of facing future elements like education.
Contrivances hold it back, but for what it does well, the cartoon ends up being a commendable watch.
A-
Series Ranking
1.
Reunion
2.
Marcy at the Gates
3.
Toad Tax
4.
Anne vs Wild
5.
The Domino Effect
6.
Toadcatcher
7.
Prison Break
8.
Anne of the Year
9.
Contagi-Anne
10.
Best Fronds
11.
Family Shrub
12.
Hop-Popular
13.
Anne Hunter
14.
Wally and Anne
15.
Children of the Spore
16.
A Night at the Inn
17.
Handy Anne
18.
Scavenger Hunt
19.
Lily Pad Thai
20.
Dating Season
21.
Anne or Beast?
22.
Combat Camp
23.
Cursed!
24.
Snow Day
25.
Civil Wart
26.
Stakeout
27.
Croak and Punishment
28.
Taking Charge
29.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
30.
Bizarre Bazaar
31.
The Plantars Check In
32.
Wax Museum
33. Sprig Gets Schooled
34.
Swamp and Sensibility
35.
Trip to the Archives
36.
Anne Theft Auto
37.
Hop Luck
38.
Quarreler’s
Pass
39.
Hop Pop and Lock
40.
Plantar’s Last Stand
41.
Fort in the Road
42.
A Caravan Named Desire
43.
The Big Bugball Game
44.
Fiddle Me This
45.
Truck Stop Polly
46.
Family Fishing Trip
47.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
48.
Girl Time
49.
Breakout Star
50.
Grubhog Day
51.
Cane Crazy
52. Lost in Newtopia
53.
Sprig vs Hop Pop
54.
Cracking Mrs. Croaker
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