The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar

"The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar" is the first segment of the twenty-second episode of Amphibia. It aired on July 18, 2020.
==Synopsis==
Hop Pop's efforts to be hailed as a hero amongst some small-town folks backfires when he stands up to the wrong family.
==Plot==
While traversing through the desert, Sprig begins playing his fiddle about Hop Pop, much to Hop Pop's enjoyment. However, when Sprig mentions that Hop Pop cowered in fear and hid when the Toads attacked, Hop Pop becomes angered as he felt that he left out how he was the inspiration for the rebellion to begin with. They eventually come across Bitty Town, named so because the residents are itty-bitty frogs whom Anne and the Plantars tower over. As they greet the residents, a toad their size named Judro Hassleback arrives demanding money from the residents. Hop Pop stands up to him and kicks him out of town; earning applause and praise from the Bitties.
Hop Pop uses the opportunity to regale on his exploits, hyperbolically of course, but when the Bitties mention that the Hasselback family will arrive for revenge, Hop Pop is frightened. The Hasslebacks arrive almost immediately and Mama Hassleback challenges Hop Pop to removing her, which he is incapable of doing due to her size. Hop Pop is humiliated and he, Anne, Polly and Sprig are forced out of town, much to the Bitties' disappointment. As they head off back into the desert, Hop Pop has an epiphany. What he wanted was a song about himself when he should have been thinking about helping the townsfolk, and he hatches a plan.
Hop Pop struts into town and proceeds to "attack" the Hasslebacks with his tongue (actually just Anne, Sprig and Polly firing rocks at them). Mama catches on and knocks Sprig out from the distance. In fright, Hop Pop tries to flee, but after seeing the Bitties looking in fear and remembering Anne's words of wisdom and hearing them echoing in his head, Hop Pop overcomes his fear and bravely stood his ground. However, the Hasslebacks promptly beat up Hop Pop. As he lies in defeat, the Bitties suddenly become furious; growing teeth with their eyes turning red and attack the Hasslebacks. A child native named Bailey informs Hop Pop that he inspired them to defend those who cannot defend themselves. Freaked out by the suddenly violent Bitties, Anne and the Plantars race off back into the desert.
Elsewhere, the robot from the previous episode treks through the desert.
==Cast==
*Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
*Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
*Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
*Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
*Jenifer Lewis as Mama Hassleback
*Keith Ferguson as Judro Hassleback
*Julian Edwards as Bailey
*Eden Riegel as Ruth Hasselback, Purple Dress Bittie, Braided Hair Bittie, Bitties
*Sam Riegel as Scared Hat Bittie, Neckerchief Bittie, Brown Slicked Hair Bittie
===Additional Voices===
* Chris Diamantopoulos
* Stephanie Sheh
* Feodor Chin
==Song==
*"The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar"
==Trivia==
*There does exist various genus of frogs who are tiny enough to stand on a dime. However, the episode depicts them as being capable of bearing teeth and attacking. While there are frogs with noticeable teeth, many of them use them more to clutch onto prey rather than actually attack.
*One of the Bitties bursts out of Mama Hassleback's stomach. This visual is most likely a reference to the famous chestburster scene from Alien.
*When Hop Pop explained all the important stuff that Sprig left out in his ballad, this can also allude to some Amphibia fans explaining to others that the "filler" episodes in this show are all connected to the overarching story of the show, with Sprig telling Hop Pop that audiences want clear stakes and action, also alluding to the other half of the fandom explaining that the high stakes and action, aka the serialized part of the show, are worth bringing up in conversation and worth talking about, arguing that the more episodic episodes are not worth their time to watch, hence why some of those people recommend newcomers to Amphibia to skip most of Season 1, and only watch Prison Break and Reunion, which would then led to confusion for some people in the third season as the second half of that season had many callbacks to the Season 1 filler episodes, meaning the audience who skipped the filler episodes and go straight to the plot driven episodes have missed all the context to the overarching story.
== International Premieres ==
*June 25, 2021 (Australia and New Zealand) (Premiere on Disney+)
*July 28, 2021 (United Kingdom & Italy) (Premieres on Disney+)
*October 5, 2021 (Portugal)
==Gallery==
The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar promo art.jpg|Promotional poster
The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar still 1.png
Hasselback Judro.png|Judro Hasselback
Hasselback Heathro.png|Heathro Hasselback
Hasselback Ruth.png|Ruth Hasselback
Hasselback Talbert.png|Talbert Hasselback
Hasselback Mama.png|Mama Hasselback
The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar (314).png
The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar (315).png
==External links==
*The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar at the Amphibia Wiki
Category:Amphibia episodes