Amphibia (Season 1): A Review

  Thanks to current streaming services, there is a never ending amount of content permeating throughout the internet.  Often, many people will use this as an opportunity to indulge in nostalgia by finding films or shows they loved when they were younger and rewatching them now.  However, these services also offer the opportunity to see recent content that is not garnering as big of a buzz.  So Disney+ has given interested viewers an opportunity to see recent content that may be coming out of the House of Mouse, such as the 2019 show Amphibia.

The show Amphibia follows the adventures of Anne, a girl who is transported to a world of anthropomorphic frogs.  During this time, she is taken in by the Plantar family, led by Hopadiah and his two grandchildren, Sprig and Polly, as she tries to get used to her new surroundings while trying to find a way home.  Season 1 mostly follows her misadventures in the town the Plantars live in, Wartwood, while they wait for a frozen mountain pass to thaw before they can traverse Amphibia to find a way to get home.

The goal of the first season is largely to set up the stakes, present the motivations of our protagonists, and introduce us to the world around it.  A lot of the first season is dedicated to living life in the town of Wartwood and the regions around it.  Season 1 effectively gives the audience a feeling of the differences of Amphibia while making us wonder what might be waiting outside of Wartwood.

Right off the bat, the show tends to feel similar to gravity falls.  A main protagonist is sent to a rural area they are not familiar with, there are boy and girl who serve as the main leads and are in the care of an older family member, the region is loaded with all sorts of rare and interesting new creatures and concepts that are foreign to both the main protagonist, and there is an undercurrent of more going on than meets the eye that will be explained later.  However, it never fully repeats the formula as the characters, setting, and goals are different from the show.  So it is clear that show creator Matt Braly did take inspiration from Gravity Falls (he did direct episodes on season 2 of that show after all and it is made by the same company), but it would be thoroughly incorrect to call it a rip-off.  It is more that if you like Gravity Falls, you will like Amphibia.

Moving on to characters, the Plantar family is thoroughly delightful.  Grandpa Hopediah "Hop Pop" Plantar is an overly traditional and conservative man who is a firm believer in the old ways, young Sprig is a boy who is dedicated to adventure and going his own way, and Polly is the young tomboy that tends to overestimate her capabilities.  Each one comes with their own strengths and weaknesses that tend to get them into trouble or the others out of trouble as they try to maintain their farm and be involved in the community.

The main protagonist, though, is Anne who brings her own flaws and strengths to the frog family as well.  After all, she is an average girl with the expected insecurities and goals of a 13 year-old who has been stranded in a world that she knows little about, but she also can be incredibly selfish.  It is often in a way though that people can relate to such as faking being sick to get out of work or demanding people follow her even when she has no idea what she is doing.  Inevitably, this is what gets her into trouble and tends to have consequences for those around her.

Unsurprisingly, this leads to her having the strongest character arc out of all the protagonists and makes her journey that more impressive.  While selfish, she is still at heart a good person and always goes above and beyond to make up for any mistake she makes.  She also has to work overtime to win the affection of the town as she is a freaky creature to the world of frogs who are naturally hesitant.  This makes her an extremely compelling character as she goes about developing until she ends in a significantly  different place than where she started.

The characters interact with each other extremely well, each having a natural chemistry that brings them together, but can also cause friction.  Anne and Sprig are the best of friends who are always ready to go out on a new adventure even if it gets them into trouble or puts them at odds with each other, Polly can be the fun younger sister though at times naive about the impact her actions will, and Hop Pop keeps them all together and out of danger as best he can even when he loses sight of what he is trying to accomplish.  Each brings out the best in the others and always manages to overcome their differences.

Some of the more interesting interactions are often between Hop Pop and Anne as the two come with very different philosophies.  Hop Pop is always a believer in the old ways and Anne always has new from her world that she is always trying to introduce.  In a way, this is similar to the battle of conservatives and liberals as the former tries to maintain their livelihoods and the joys they know while the latter tries to implement different approaches to improve the world around them.  What is great about the show then is that though there is a lean towards the new ideas, often the two benefit from each other as Hop Pop’s wisdom and commitment keeps the family from terrible decisions while Anne’s newer ideas offer a glimpse of ways to life they would not have experienced otherwise.  In a way, the two represent the best of different philosophies and bring those ideas together.

In addition, the voice acting in this show is quite enjoyable.  Anne is voiced by Brenda Song, returning from Suite Life of Zack and Cody so it is nice to hear her again.  In addition, Hop Pop is voiced by Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy, and he turns in a great performance as a somewhat insane old guy.  Though not as well known, the voices of Sprig and Polly are also pretty enjoyable as well and bring a lot out of the characters.  Everyone turns in a good performance here.

Beyond that, there are a number of side characters that are likable, fun, and interesting to watch during the show.  The world itself meanwhile is always fun to explore as the audience sees the differences and similarities between amphibia and our own world which creates great opportunities for conflict.  The show is quite creative in its approach and animation use which makes every episode a good time.

One more wonderful thing though is the constant progression of the show’s arcs and its use of continuity.  From long term arcs like Anne emotionally maturing to constant use of Chekhov’s Gun (if it was mentioned early on, it will be important later), the show thoroughly uses what it sets up and always makes the audience feel like it is going places.  This is an excellent method of storytelling that is always good to see in children’s animation.

So in conclusion, the show is a lot of fun and gets a definite recommendation.  If you have Disney+, give it a watch, especially since quarantine guarantees you have that time on your hands.  After all, there is so much more to see that was not included here so you could find even more to like.

Profiles in Heroism: St. Kateri Tekakwitha

  The United States has produced a number of prominent saints that went on to do the will of God.  However, there was one that was born on American soil before the concept of becoming an independent nation was even a possibility.  That would be Catholicism’s first native American saint from the US region, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, patron saint of environment and ecology.

At a young age, Tekakwitha’s village was ravaged with smallpox which took her parents and her brother.  She was also afflicted with it and though she survived, she was given terrible facial scars that left her partially blind which resulted in her having to touch around to understand surroundings.  That is why she was given a name which means “She Moves Things.”

After losing everything, she was raised by her uncle who was a chief in the tribe.  She was horribly embarrassed by her facial scar and took to covering her face with a blanket.  In spite of that though, she still stayed involved in her village, diligently working where she “helped with the meals, collected berries from the woods, made baskets, did beadwork and strung the wampums.”

Since her uncle was a chief, this put her in contact with three Jesuit missionaries who stayed with him when she was 11.  Listening to them, she found comfort in the words of Christ and became interested in Christianity.  It was not until she was around twenty though that she was baptized and then at 21 she took her first communion.  She then took on the name Kateri, which was the Mohawk version of the name Catherine as she took inspiration from St. Catherine of Siena.

From a young age, she had taken a disinterest in marriage and at the age of 19 had pledged herself to Christ and taken a vow of chastity.  This put her at odds with her family which put her decision at odds with her community.  As a result, she traveled to a different village with a larger Christian population.

Kateri was known for being particularly pious, dedicating herself to penance, fasting, and prayer.  As her life continued though, she became particularly ill and eventually died at the age of 24.  However, upon her death, witnesses say her scars disappeared and her face showed radiant beauty.

After her death, various visions of her appeared to different people.  Often these included healing after prayers dedicated to her.  As a result, she was eventually declared a saint by the Catholic church.

Kateri is a hero because she persevered despite the massive pain she faced.  Despite losing her family, she remained dedicated to doing good for those around her and helping those in need.  Her conversion is a reminder that in great pain, we often find comfort in the love of Christ.  So it is important that we remember her as a role model for overcoming our own pain and what truly doing good looks like.

Profiles in Heroism: St. Damien of Molokai

In the US Capitol Building, every state is allowed to send two statues to depict people of significant relevance to the state.  One of Hawaii’s statues is King Kamehameha, who united the Hawaiian Islands and became the first King of Hawaii.  The other is St. Damien, patron saint of people with leprosy.

St. Damien, born Jozef De Veuster, was born in rural Belgium to a farmer.  He had been sent to college, but during his time there believed God was calling him to be a priest.  So entered the priesthood, taking on the name Damien after a martyr, despite fear that he lacked the education for it.

During Damien’s time in the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, his brother had been selected to go to Hawaii, but was unable to make the journey.  As a result, Damien went instead and arrived there where he was ordained as a priest in 1864.  This would set him on a course that would change his life forever.

In 1873, he was chosen to serve as priest to the leper colony of Molokai by the Bishop of Honolulu.  The bishop had approved four priests to do missionary work there and three returned.  However, St. Damien volunteered to stay behind and provide services to those on the island.

Upon arrival, he started providing religious services toward the island.  As time progressed though, the services he offered increased to include direct acts of charity as he began treating the works of the ulcers of the afflicted, building homes for those living on the island, and providing education that would greatly improve the livelihood of those living there.  He became greatly respected by the people of Molokai as conditions and morale improved, resulting in him becoming greatly received by the people of the colony.

For his work, Fr. Damien received recognition from the Kingdom of Hawaii.  King Kalākaua presented him with the “Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalākaua,” which was given to him by Princess Liliʻuokalani.  He also received international support from supporters around the world which spread the importance of the work he was doing to non-Hawaiians.

Unfortunately, this could not last.  Despite care to avoid contracting the disease, Fr. Damien eventually caught leprosy after almost 12 years of service on the island.  He did not allow this to stop him though as he continued working on other projects.  He would eventually pass from the disease, but died happy that he did so with the people whom he was serving.  In a letter to his brother, he said “I am gently going to my grave. It is the will of God, and I thank Him very much for letting me die of the same disease and in the same way as my lepers. I am very satisfied and very happy."

St. Damien is a hero because of not only the work he was willing to do, but for what he gave up doing that.  In the process of providing well being to the people of Hawaii, he gave his life and brought greater attention to lepers and the needs of the region.  So to this day, he deserves to be honored and remembered for the work he has done and the importance one person can have on the lives of others.  So when one walks by the awesome statue of his in the capital building, let us never forget his work.

Profiles in Heroism: An Introduction

Recently there has been a rather strong negative push towards destroying figures whose values are at odds with the alleged values of modern society.  From historical figures that can no longer defend themselves to trying to ruin the lives of people based on lackluster evidence or mistakes that they have not done in years, there is a complete desire to bury anything that fails to appeal to modern sensibilities in a manner comparable to the Salem Witch trials.  Though there are MANY problems with this approach and mindset, one problem is that this mindset leaves behind a massive amount of destruction in its wake and creates nothing to replace it.

As is important to remember, evil is the absence of good while good itself is something to be actively pursued.  In order to do good, the focus must be on creating and doing things that are good, not merely destroying things that are bad.  The mindset of cancel culture is designed merely to destroy and not be something it hates, but it never actually creates anything.

For an example of this, look no further than the removal of Native American iconography from sports teams, marketing, etc.  Regardless of the appropriateness of these images and symbols, there have been no major plans to replace them with better representations of Native Americans.  As a result, there is even less presentation of Natives American in the public sphere than before people complained about the Washington Redskins or Leinenkugel's.  It has ironically whitewashed our culture more than that iconography ever did.

So in this case, I am going to try to remedy that.  I’m starting a new, irregular series on my blog where I will be discussing people I consider to be of prominence that our society should look up to and respect.  This will include historical figures, saints, and at times fictional characters that contain positive traits worth emulating.

It is my hope that by doing so, I can remind people the importance of history and what came before.  There are many great things in the past that deserve to be remembered and it can light the way towards how we should continue tomorrow.  In addition, this will actually create heroes as opposed to destroying them.  After all, what we create and leave behind can be enjoyed, but what we destroy merely ceases to exist.