"Spider-Sprig" is the first segment of the seventh episode of the third season of Amphibia, and the eighty-seventh episode overall.
It premiered on November 13, 2021, alongside "Olivia & Yunan".[1]
Synopsis
Determined to make his mark on Earth, Sprig becomes a superhero.[1]
Plot
Sprig at the lemonade stand calling himself Frog-Man.
Anne, her father, and the Plantars are watching a superhero movie, causing Sprig and Mr. Boonchuy to cry when they see the ending. Sprig says the movie is inspiring to him and wishes that he could be lovingly embraced by humanity, but Anne tells him that he still has to keep a low profile. Sprig protests back, saying that when Anne was in Amphibia, she didn't have to keep a low profile only for Anne to remind him the situation is far different from her experience.
As he is not listening to Polly point out all the flaws with the movie, Sprig decides to ignore Anne's warning and after doing a superhero monologue, he makes his own hero costume. He ventures into town, trying to become the hero that the city will cheer for called Frog-Man.
When some local youths are getting fined for running a lemonade stand without a permit, Sprig interferes with a community patrol officer named Robert Otto, who thinks he's a hero as well. When a bus without brakes speeds by, Sprig stops it and saves both Robert (who gets hit trying to do the same thing) and his granddaughter Molly Jo in the process.
As Sprig becomes more widely recognized as a hero throughout town, he overshadows Otto as the figure that everyone looks to for help, angering the community safety officer. Sprig's actions earn him the ire of the junkyard owner, but the admiration of the people of Los Angeles including Molly Jo. Robert then discovers Cloak-Bot's arm in his junkyard and becomes a villain to get revenge on Frog-Man.
His quest leads him to downtown Los Angeles, where he finds and challenges Sprig in a battle wherein copious amounts of property ends up destroyed and passers-by are put into danger just because the two are fighting. Molly Jo intervenes and points out they’re doing more harm than good, and in something new for this kind of scenario, we see the two team up to repair all the damage that they've caused. While Sprig takes off and returns home, Otto is arrested and held responsible for everything.
Anne, who saw Sprig in his Frog-Man persona on social media, is furious and confronts him but Sprig, having realized that he was simply seeking attention, gives up being a superhero. Anne cheers him up by complimenting his costume, but ends up furious again when he reveals he cut up some of her clothes to make it.
Cast
- Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
- Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
- Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
- Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
- Brad Garrett as Robert Otto
- Cassie Glow as Molly Jo
- Brian Sounalath as Mr. Boonchuy
Additional voices
- Eden Riegel as Female Movie Actor, Lemonade Boy, Panicking Driver
- Brian Sounalath as Male Movie Actor
- Cassie Glow as Female Child Actor, Lemonade Girl
- Matt Braly as Bus Driver, Pizza Owner, Police Officer
- Roger Craig Smith as Tarantulad, Blonde Man, News Anchor, Spanish News Anchor
- Jeff Bennett as Buffer Fish, Man With Cap
Other characters
- Cloak-Bot (arm only)
Songs
Title in other languages
| Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Latin American Spanish
|
Sprig Araña | Sprig Spider | |
 Bulgarian
|
Спайдър-Сприг | Spider-Sprig | |
 German
|
Spinnen-Sprig | Spider-Sprig | |
 European Spanish
|
Sprig-Araña | Sprig-Spider | |
 Japanese
|
フロッグマン参上 | Frogman is here | |
 Polish
|
Spider-Skrzek | Spider-Sprig | |
 Thai
|
สไปเดอร์-สปริ๊ก |
Transcript
| For a full transcript of "Spider-Sprig", click here. |
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 0.35 viewers on its premiere.[3]
- Lead character designer Andy Garner-Flexner can be seen in the crowd admiring Sprig.
- Although Molly Jo yells at Sprig for causing destruction to LA, he's not actually at fault as Robert Otto kept attacking him and all Sprig was doing was defending himself and not even causing any damage to any of the buildings.
- According to Marcy's Journal: A Guide to Amphibia, Mrs. Boonchuy helped Sprig make his costume by teaching him the basics for how to sew. While he was engaging in heroics, Anne read through Marcy's journal and found out about her adventures looking for clues to return to Amphibia. She even expresses how proud she was of her that Marcy was able to make new friends in Amphibia when she had a hard time making friends on Earth.
Continuity
- The junkyard Otto owns is the same one the Cloak-Bot pursued the Boonchuys and Plantars to from "Anne-sterminator". Its destroyed arm remained there since its destruction.
- The blond-haired man from "Thai Feud", "Mr. X", and "Sprig's Birthday" appears again.
- The tree that Sprig saves a cat from has "Ally wuz here" carved into it, possibly hinting to Ally.
- This is among several episodes in the series to have the words "wuz here" shown, the others being "Prison Break", "After the Rain", and "New Wartwood".
- Tyler's boyfriend/fiancé from "Sprig's Birthday" appears again.
- Molly Jo asking Sprig to see his face near the end of the episode foreshadows "Escape to Amphibia", when she does see his face.
Allusions
- Spider-Man - The title of the episode, as well as the entire episode, is a reference to the famous Marvel Comics hero.
- Sprig creating the slime to climb the wall, as well as his costume-making montage, is taken from the original Spider-Man movie.
- Doctor Octopus - Robert Otto is a reference to the famous villain: He has a similar name, a strong tentacle arm and similar clothes.
- Mary Jane Watson - Molly Jo is a reference to the famous character from the series.
- Kamen Rider - Tarantulad: The World I Call Home is an homage and a tribute to the tokusatsu series created by Shotaro Ishinomori . Tarantulad's design is based on Kamen Rider 1, Kamen Rider Kuuga, and Riderman.
- Nights: Journey of Dreams - The game's case can be seen in the shelf of the Boonchuy's television stand.
- Dragon Ball - One of the costume ideas Sprig drew is based on the outfit of Piccolo.
- BuzzFeed - DuzzFeed is a parody of this real-world website and its disputed status as a news outlet when it posts irrelevant topics and content having little to do with current events, which DuzzFeed' tagline, "it's news, maybe", lampoons.
- Imgur - Dimgur is a parody of the online image repository.
- Conan O'Brien - During the Spider-Sprig montage, a video titled "Frogman Save Entertainment" is seen, where Sprig is being interviewed by a talk show host who resembles Conan O'Brien.
- "Distracted Boyfriend" - One of the posts with Sprig and Robert's faces pasted onto a picture references the stock photo meme.
- Arby's - The sign "Eggs" mimics the logo of the sandwich deli chain.
- Nintendo GameCube - One of the gifts offered to Frog-man is a triangular version of the console
- Kiki's Delivery Service - The cat offered to Frog-man is similar to Jiji, Kiki's cat
- Super Mario Bros. - The pizza man has an appearance that resembles Mario, including a similar haircut, mustache, and cap with a letter on it.
- Green Lantern - Sprig's statement that evil won't escape his gaze references the oath of the Green Lantern Corps.
Errors
- Molly Jo wears black leggings throughout the episode. But she briefly doesn't have them when she first gets out of the bus Sprig stopped.
Videos
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "November 2021 Programming Highlights". Disney General Entertainment Content (October 22, 2021).
- ↑ Boyle, Caitlin Rose. "AMPHIBIA REVISIONS". Boyle's website. “S3E13, Spider Sprig - character C/U by me, boards by Joe Johnston & Alex Swanson”
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mitch Salem (November 16, 2021). "Saturday 11.13.2021 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". Showbuzz Daily.