"The Big Bugball Game" is the first segment of the eighteenth episode of Amphibia. It premiered on July 16, 2019.
Synopsis
Anne must learn the value of teamwork to win the town's annual Bugball game.
Plot
The town of Wartwood is celebrating Harvest Day which Anne claims was just like Thanksgiving, even complete with their own version of a turkey. Anne is excited to be celebrating with the Plantars until she notices the locals putting up signs for "Farmers" and "Townies". Hop Pop explains that every year, they hold the annual Big Bugball Game which consists of the Farmers against the Townies competing in the sport "Bugball" which was similar to basketball. Polly grumpily complains that the Townies always win and the losers, which is usually the Farmers, have to wear a ridiculous itchy turkey costume for the day. Meanwhile Anne throws Hop Pop's vegetables in baskets surrounding the produce stand with extreme accuracy due to her long limbs and athletic abilities much to the other farmer's surprise. Sprig states that with Anne they might have a chance to win before the Townies arrive, leading the them is Mayor Toadstool who boasts an impressive line up of tough and athletic frogs including Frog Jordan who was bribed into joining. Wanting to support her family, Anne agrees to join the team so that they can finally put the Townies in their place and win the game.
Anne gets together with the Farmers to practice on the court while Hop Pop introduces their team including himself, Sprig, Mrs. Croaker and Chuck. Hop Pop tries to show Anne the rules but she is over confident, feeling that she already has a grasp on the game and knows all the rules before taking a shot which easily goes in. Toadstool and the Townies show up to practice, even though the Farmers have the field for the time being, instead the Townies challenge them to a practice match instead. To Anne's surprise, she seems incapable of landing a direct goal, despite earlier attempts, and the Farmers lose as Anne continually tries to solely score a goal without the help of her teammates. Hop Pop explains that that is why they need to practice because they need to work together as a team. Anne decides to train seriously with the group until she finally accepts the aid of her teammates through various trust exercises.
The day of the game arrives as the Farmers proceed to put up an impressive match against the Townies. During the first play the entire Townies team surrounds Anne, thinking she would never pass but to their shock she delivers the ball to Mrs. Croaker who easily scores. Both teams give the opposition difficult competition as the scores are tied for the final play. Toadstool decides to resort to drastic measures and has Toadie blind Anne with special powder during the first quarter of the last game. She insists they continue and tells the Farmers of how they taught her the skill of teamwork, promptly before wrapping a scarf over her eyes similar to the "trust exercise" they had done during their previous practice session. The townies mock Anne for her stupidity of blinding herself but nonetheless the whistle is blown and the game is continued with the rest of the Farmers guiding Anne by yelling out commands as she dribbles skillfully past all the players. She arrives at the goal and attempts to take a shot which bounces off the rim. Sprig appears and leaps into the air, grabbing the ball mid-air and slam dunking the ball into the goal breaking it and scoring the winning goal for the farmers for the first time. The Townies are forced to wear the turkey costumes as the Farmer's spectators cheer joyfully. Anne congratulates Sprig for his very first goal and compliments their teamwork before being dumped by Bug-A-Rade sports drink by her teammates. The drink contains live bugs which she yells to get off of her which they are contented to do by licking them off of her which she claims is much worse.
Cast
- Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
- Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
- Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar, additional voices
- Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
- Diedrich Bader as Frog Jordan
- Laila Berzins as Sadie Croaker
- James Patrick Stuart as One-Eyed Wally
- Stephen Root as Mayor Toadstool
- Eden Riegel as Lydia, additional voices
- Matt Braly as Chuck
- Jack McBrayer as Toadie
Quotes
- “I get it frog Thanksgiving, you even have a turkey. (Looks at hideous giant turkey/Insect hybrid creature and then shudders) Eh who am I kidding? I'll eat it. Harvest day I'm all in!”
- ―Anne during Harvest day
Trivia
- As pointed out by Anne in the episode, Harvest Day is the Amphibian equivalent to Thanksgiving, meaning that this episode was most likely intended to air around that time.
- Bugball is modeled after basketball. This is clearly a reference to how sports dominate Thanksgiving time, however in real life it is American football that is the preferred Thanksgiving sport.
- This episode is similar to the Apple & Onion episode "4 on 1".
- Sprig recreates Michael Jordan's famous slam dunk with his tongue hanging out.
- Frog Jordan is a reference to Michael Jordan.
- The team groups are as follows:
- Farmers: Anne, Sprig, Hop Pop, Sadie Croaker, Chuck
- Townies: Mayor Toadstool, Toadie, Lydia, Olaf, Frog Jordan
