A Day at the Aquarium

**"A Day at the Aquarium"** is the second segment of the tenth episode of the second season of *Amphibia* and the mid-season finale.

It premiered on September 19, 2020, alongside "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers".

## Synopsis

*Anne and the Plantars look to spend what could be their last day together at the Newtopia Aquarium.*

## Plot

Following the events of the previous episode, Anne, Marcy and the Plantars meet with King Andrias who reveals that he has deciphered the clues surrounding the music box. It turns out that it was used by his ancestors to travel to distant worlds and that the three gems on the box must be charged. In order to do that, one must go to three separate temples to have each gem charged up, but the book only gives information on one of them. Hop Pop wants to get back to Wartwood as soon as possible so as not to miss the annual harvest. Anne suggests going back to pick up the music box and and meet back up with Marcy at the first temple. However, Marcy points out that Anne needs to stay with her in Newtopia as them separating is the last thing they should do. Anne and the Plantars are visibly saddened by this logic and Marcy suggests that they spend the day to themselves before they leave.

Anne and the Plantars agree to have one final outing and Anne becomes intrigued with going to the aquarium, as she would often go back home when she was feeling sad. The group have fun looking at the exhibits until Hop Pop spots an eel that looks like the time the basement flooded, which causes them to become distraught. They head into a different area to avoid the nostalgia, but spot a kraken which reminds Polly of when Anne tried to cook one at Stumpy's. They leave and head into the coral exhibit, but all the coral is shaped into various reminders of all their previous adventures, causing them to bawl into depression. A security guard suggests that they head to the stingray show and they all agree since they don't recall an adventure with a stingray.

The show turns out to be fun and Sprig is chosen by the exhibitioner to feed one of the creatures; which just so happens to be a water snake, reminding them of the time Sprig and Anne snuck out to swim. The snake becomes frightened when Sprig cries and destroys the landing he is on. The exhibitioner reveals that the snake is harmless, but that the stingrays might harm Sprig, forcing Anne, Hop Pop and Polly to come to his rescue and kick the stingrays out into the wild. Anne and the Plantars are kicked out, but glad that they had a fun day.

The next morning, Anne says goodbye to the Plantars and they start heading back to Wartwood. Seeing how sad Anne is, Marcy admits that sending a servant to retrieve the music box might not be a good idea, and that someone trusted should go. Anne races after the Plantars and they happily reunite. King Andrias ominously approaches Marcy afterwards and offers a proposition to her.

## Cast

* Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
* Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
* Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar, Crying Kid (credited as additional voices), Cheering Blue Newt Spectator (credited as additional voices), and Angry Driver (credited as additional voices)
* Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
* Haley Tju as Marcy Wu
* Keith David as King Andrias
* Tress MacNeille as Doris & Stuffy Mother (credited as additional voices)
* Nicole Byer as Gertie

### Additional voices

* Jim Cummings as Security guard, Alligator
* Kaitlyn Robrock as Aquarium host

### Non-speaking cameos

* Lady Olivia
* Priscilla
* Pearl

### Mentioned

* Domino 2
* Martha and Teddy
* Mudmen
* Grubhog
* Stumpy
* Zapapede
* Veggierobo

### Other Characters

* Bessie
* River Lamprey
* Kraken
* Wanda the Water Snake
* Stingrays

## Trivia

* **Viewership:** This episode was watched by 0.45 million viewers on its premiere.
* The stingrays are named Sugar Ray and Billy Ray, a reference to boxer Sugar Ray Leonard (or possibly the band Sugar Ray) and Billy Ray Cyrus, respectively.
* This is the final episode to premiere before all of Disney's kids television networks in the United Kingdom and Ireland and Fox Life in Africa shut down on September 30, 2020, due to a failed agreement with Sky UK and Virgin Media, with their content moving to Disney+.
* This episode reunites Bill Farmer, Kaitlyn Robrock, Tress MacNeille, and Jim Cummings who previously worked together in voicing the classic Disney characters Goofy/Pluto, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck/Chip, and Pete respectively in projects like the later episodes of *Mickey Mouse Mixed Up Adventures* and *The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse*.
* Anne reveals that a trip to an aquarium would always lift her spirits if she ever felt gloomy on Earth.
	+ Fittingly enough, she would go on to work at the Aquarium of the Pacific as a herpetologist by the end of "The Hardest Thing."

### Revelations and significant events

* King Andrias reveals that in order for Anne, Sasha, and Marcy to get back home they need to power up the gems on the Calamity Box by taking them to three certain temples.
	+ While most of the text inside the book is illegible, some passages are and have been translated from their coded form. These are:
		- Under each illustration of the colored gems, which translate to "Wit" under the green gem, "Heart" under the blue one, and "Strength" under the purple one.
		- On the same page with the cosmic map of the various dimensions, a framed prophecy, titled "Stars" reads as follows: "Three stars burning bright / Come from beyond to expel the night / Should they fight or embrace the fall / Their choice will determine all".
			* This would be the same prophecy that would be introduced in "Mother of Olms".
* Hop Pop learns about the adventure that Anne and Sprig had in "Best Fronds".
* Anne and the Plantars go back to Wartwood, while Marcy stays with King Andrias to find one of the temples.

### Continuity

* The episode immediately takes place after the previous one, "The Sleepover to End All Sleepovers".
* One world in the cosmic map shares its colors with those of the Demon Realm from *The Owl House*. This would later be followed up in *The Owl House*'s series finale "Watching and Dreaming" which represents the realm with the same shape in a constellation.
* Andrias looks away while claiming that he descended from "peaceful explorers" and "scientists," foreshadowing the true revelations about his ancestry that would be exposed at the end of the season.
* Some events that have occurred in the first and second season are mentioned:
	+ The Lamprey from "Flood, Sweat & Tears".
	+ The Kraken from "Lily Pad Thai".
	+ Hop Pop's cane from "Cane Crazy".
	+ Domino 2 from "The Domino Effect".
	+ The Cannibal Couple, Martha and Teddy from "A Night at the Inn".
	+ The Mudmen from "Anne Vs. Wild".
	+ The Grubhog from "Grubhog Day".
	+ The Zapapedes from "Taking Charge".
	+ Veggierobo from "Handy Anne".
	+ The Water Snake from "Best Fronds".

## Allusions

* ***The Owl House*** - One of the worlds on the cosmic map has the characteristic colors of the Demon Realm.
* ***Pokémon*** - Polly pulled the water gun, which is the iconic combat skill of Squirtle to expel the stingrays.
	+ A skill similar to this one can also be seen in the episode "Girl Time", in which Polly is able to spit a far distance.
* ***Pokémon*** - The statue outside of the Aquarium bears a striking resemblance to the Pokémon Magikarp
* ***Sydney Opera House*** - The architecture of the Newtopian Opera House is patterned after the famous Australian landmark.
* ***Free Willy*** - The stingrays' escape is similar to the titular orca's in the film. When they swim away, music sounding similar to Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There", which plays during the end credits of the film, is heard.

## Errors

* When Marcy is thinking about how getting a servant to get the music box might be a bad idea, her mouth disappears for a single frame.
* For a few frames Polly has double eyes.

## Memorable quotes

“
You folks want a giant tissue? Seriously, you would not believe the size of these issues. [chuckles] I'll get you one.
”

—King Andrias

“
Yeah! Let's go have fun and not think about our crippling sadness.
”

—Sprig

“
That was the day I realized you weren't going to eat us!
”

—Polly

“
Always sad to see someone go, isn't it? I have a proposition for you, Marcy, and I think you'll find it *very interesting*.
”

—King Andrias

## References

1. ↑ Sparrow, Joe [@torpordust] (September 20, 2020). "Episode sheet" (Tweet). *Twitter*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Metcalf, Mitch (September 22, 2020). Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.19.2020. *Showbuzz Daily*. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25.
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/DisneyGrillasLA/status/1425272002370224130?s=20
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/DisneyTVA/status/1285709040891449344
5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CFVMEVGDW8e/