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Hollywood Hop Pop
After showing something as incredibly dark as possession in the previous outing, going into this cartoon will probably not be so easy for most audience members. It returns to Earth for even more antics from Anne taking care of the Plantars, and the human world customs the talking frogs are introduced to. Even as these factors can’t help but hold this cartoon back, it’s not without merit in terms of premise.
For one thing it does play to an established aspect of one of the major characters. In this case, it’s Hop Pop who’s always aspired to be an actor, and since he’s with Anne, who lives in California, that means being near Hollywood where opportunities for that persist. Much like the last starring role for Anne and the Plantars, Anne is very responsible for how they go about this lavish tourist site by making sure of keeping low profiles. She even directly references the FBI agent currently after them, Mr. X, bringing specific things they’re dealing with to light.
Despite her warnings, Hop Pop’s desires eventually lead him to an audition which he ultimately lands not by his acting skills but by being his genuine self. He reacts to how the judges rate his acting by simply exclaiming “Say what?” and that instantly lands him the part. In the process, he meets a short man named Humphrey who looks a lot like him and has similar acting desires, hoping this audition would be his big break. It’s very remarkable that he takes losing it to Hop Pop very well.
Now, the thing Hop Pop auditioned for was a commercial for elbow cream, which means that it airs on TV very frequently, making it easy for people to see. Anne is understandably outraged by this, knowing this goes against the plan of keeping a low profile, and insists that they get the commercial pulled. If that’s not enough, in spite of claims that Mr. X is a man too busy to watch TV, he does happen to catch Hop Pop’s commercial and sets off after the frog aliens again.
At this point, while Hop Pop’s acting desires have been clear for a while throughout the show, it’s kind of concerning that he’d bring all this on himself and jarring for a character known to be so protective. Plus, it’s hard to believe that something as minor as elbow cream would get so much inescapable publicity that also lands Hop Pop the possibility of an even bigger acting deal. As Hop Pop contemplates accepting the deal, Mr. X soon catches them, leading to a chase through studio lots marked by humorous runs through various sets.
Eventually, he ends up in the director’s office where he’s to accept the offer which is only going to further jeopardize his and his grandkids’ safety. However, he does find a way to solve the problem at hand after learning Humphrey’s in a lower position than him stuck as a common custodian. As he bears a strong resemblance to him, Hop Pop decides to let Humphrey take his place. When Mr. X intervenes, he’s once again humiliated for supposedly mistaking someone else for talking frogs. What’s more, it’s nice for him to give up his acting aspiration for someone else, especially for someone as likable as Humphrey.
With this, it’s clear this cartoon has good heart despite any flaws. It’s still held back for the fact that for how much this show references Hop Pop wanting to be an actor, it doesn’t lead to anything big to the story, and there are bigger priorities as it is. This means this final product is far from the show’s most memorable and impactful, but nonetheless fine and commendable for what it is.
B
If You Give a Frog a Cookie
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One of the best things about this season so far have been the many new human characters. The ones that stand out the most are those that play an active role in assisting in the goals of the main protagonists. This cartoon follows up on that promise with one of the characters it introduces while also allowing Anne to learn a valuable lesson.
Having grown and matured a lot at this point in the series, Anne has developed a strong sense of care in looking after the Plantars as they did for her. In fact, her major priorities here are doing whatever she can to cheer them up while they’re homesick from their world from making her yard feel like a swamp to making them cookies. Her mom, however, warns her of overindulging the Plantars’ sadness as that could lead to problems that can be too inconveniencing for others. Anne actually does understand this and tries to implement this lesson right away.
Then things get complicated when she gets a call from Dr. Jan who’s heard of a scientist who specializes in portals which can help the Plantars return to Amphibia. The only catch is that the background of this scientist is questionable and needs to be investigated. Although Anne intends to do the patient thing, seeing the Plantars get their hopes up pushes her to see the scientist right now anyway.
This leads the group to a local science center laden with fun interactive exhibits and hyperactive little kids craving snacks. Before long, they find the scientist in question, Dr. Frakes, as well as her assistant, a more responsible and rational girl named Terri.
Anyway, it seems that Dr. Frakes is a reliable cause for getting a working portal as she has clear resources for her studies. They came to her one night of a strange supernatural occurrence causing a slight disturbance in the atmosphere; that occurrence being the night Anne and her friends opened the music box that sent them to Amphibia in the first place; them and a portable CD player that randomly showed up there one time. Anyway, ever since then, Dr. Frakes has devoted months to her portal experiment, and is now ready to test it out. When that happens, the portal proves successful in opening the portal, albeit not to Amphibia.
Said portal also ends up blowing off the Plantars’ disguises, and Dr. Frakes soon discovers that they’re talking frogs from another world. It’s here where her true nature is revealed as an unhinged intellectual lunatic willing to hurt others to prove her knowledge. She catches the Plantars in a force field and takes them to be dissected.
Now understanding the lesson about the dangers of overindulging others, Anne has to dash to save the Plantars. However, she gets some welcome help from Terri who maturely explains that Dr. Frakes’ intellect doesn’t excuse her going this far. What’s more, she’s very formidable in getting around the science center to stop Dr. Frakes. She uses the little kids’ desires for snacks to clear the way. This is even passed on to Anne later on who puts her cookies to good use to help keep the kids back. Terri also shows no hesitation in throwing away her connection to a famous scientist to do what’s right; she manages to save the Plantars, but is fired from the center and apparently any other scientific institute as a result. Luckily, despite these consequences, she’s content and confident about the future, and agrees to keep helping Anne and the Plantars in a more patient process of building a portal. These are the makings of a likable character, enhancing the appeal of this area of the story.
As a result, this cartoon is a good fit for the main plot points and is great and endearing on its own.
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.
Turning Point
10.
Battle of the Bands
11.
Barrel’s
Warhammer
12.
Anne vs Wild
13.
The Domino Effect
14.
The Third Temple
15.
Toadcatcher
16.
Prison Break
17.
The Second Temple
18.
Temple Frogs
19.
A Day at the Aquarium
20.
Mr. X
21.
Anne of the Year
22.
Contagi-Anne
23.
The
Shut-In
24.
Best Fronds
25.
After
the Rain
26.
Family Shrub
27.
Fixing
Frobo
28. If You Give a Frog a Cookie
29.
The New Normal
30.
The Dinner
31.
Hop-Popular
32.
Anne Hunter
33.
Wally and Anne
34.
Children of the Spore
35.
Fight at the Museum
36.
Friend
or Frobo
37.
Sprig’s
Birthday
38.
A Night at the Inn
39.
Bessie
and MicroAngelo
40.
Handy Anne
41.
Scavenger Hunt
42.
Lily Pad Thai
43.
Dating Season
44.
Anne or Beast?
45.
Combat Camp
46.
Little Frogtown
47.
Cursed!
48.
Thai
Feud
49.
Snow Day
50.
Civil Wart
51.
Maddie and Marcy
52.
Stakeout
53.
Croak and Punishment
54.
Taking Charge
55.
Flood, Sweat, and Tears
56.
Bizarre Bazaar
57.
The Plantars Check In
58.
The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers
59.
Wax Museum
60.
Return
to Wartwood
61.
Sprig Gets Schooled
62.
Swamp and Sensibility
63.
Trip to the Archives
64.
Toad
to Redemption
65.
Anne Theft Auto
66.
Adventures in Catsitting
67.
Hop Luck
68.
New
Wartwood
69.
Ivy on the Run
70.
Night
Drivers
71.
Quarreler’s
Pass
72.
Hop Pop and Lock
73.
Plantar’s Last Stand
74.
Fort in the Road
75.
A Caravan Named Desire
76.
The Big Bugball Game
77.
Fiddle Me This
78. Hollywood Hop Pop
79.
Truck Stop Polly
80.
Family Fishing Trip
81.
Hop ‘Til You Drop
82.
Spider-Sprig
83.
The Ballad of Hoppediah Plantar
84.
Girl Time
85.
Breakout Star
86.
Grubhog Day
87.
Cane Crazy
88.
Lost in Newtopia
89.
Sprig vs Hop Pop
90.
Cracking Mrs. Croaker
The next review is a very timely look at the Christmas special of this show where Anne puts together the perfect gift for her mom, the Plantars try to understand the holiday, and there's still room for significant plot development.
Next time is "One Size Fits Ed" and "Pain in the Ed" from Ed Edd n Eddy, the last secular review for 2022.
If you would like to check out other Amphibia reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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