Battle of the Bands

**"Battle of the Bands"** is the second segment of the nineteenth episode of the second season of *Amphibia*, and the seventy-fourth overall.

It premiered on April 24, 2021, alongside "The Dinner".

## Synopsis

*Anne and her friends team up to enter Wartwood's Battle of the Bands contest.*

## Plot

Wartwood has been on edge since Sasha and Grime returned, due to their last visit. So Mayor Toadstool consults the Wheel of Fun, to come up with an activity that will relieve some tension. The result is a Battle of the Bands! Immediately, Anne, Marcy, and Sasha decide to reunite their former garage band, Sasha and the Sharps. Sprig and Hop Pop join a jug band being formed, and Sasha makes sure that Grime will be okay on his own, where he issues a sinister sounding promise that all will tremble at his performance. Toadie approaches Mayor Toadstool about their act, and is rebuffed with the mayor saying that he just bought himself a 12 hour nap, leaving Toadie to have some time for himself.

Back at the Plantars', the girls are trying to figure out what to play for the contest, with Sasha suggesting her song “Heartstomper,” while Anne suggests a new song she wrote about her experience in Amphibia, “No Big Deal,” which even has a guitar solo for Sasha. Anne shows them the song and a concept for dresses that they will bring, but Sasha has a few notes and changes the entire song, even giving critiques to Frobo and Polly who are there mostly to provide stage effects for their performance. When Anne says that she is taking over the whole thing, Sasha leaves the group but promises to still root for them as they try and get her to stay.

Sasha goes to find Grime and discovers him locked alone in a dark room and invites him to play with her. Grime insists that he is a solo act, and despite it not being a “real” battle, he's in it to win it and slams the door in Sasha’s face. Out in the town, Sasha is trying to find someone to join her act and comes across a dejected Toadie, who is looking for someone to play music with that will also boss him around. Sasha immediately jumps on the opportunity. After their performance however, Sasha realizes that Toadie has no opinions for himself, but he points out that sometimes it's more fun to support someone who you really care about than to take control.

We then head over to the Wartwood Battle of the Bands, where Anne and Marcy are ready to take the stage. Sasha wishes them well, while Toadie asks if they should be worried that they’ll win. She says it's okay, but would have been better if they listened to her, and that she only wants them to succeed. Toadie, still full of wisdom, says that sometimes being a good friend just means being there when they need it the most.

The duo hits the stage and performs their song, and Sasha watches from backstage. Mayor Toadstool, who is acting as judge for the contest, says that the song is very charming, “but there had better be a very cool guitar solo about to drop.” On cue, Sasha comes out from backstage to perform the guitar solo that Anne put in the song for her, reuniting Sasha and the Sharps. The song builds into a final verse and Anne and Marcy are glad Sasha finally came around, while Sasha apologizes for it taking so long. There is still one more contestant.

Grime takes the stage with a maniacal laugh and what appears to be some kind of military ploy, but is just a big case for his instrument, an elegant harp. He calmly introduces his piece that he says is dedicated to the serenity of nature, and plays a calm, tranquil tune that lasts three hours and leaves the audience in tears, winning the Wartwood Battle of the Bands. Sasha admits that as painful as losing is, it was worth it to have enjoyed the experience with her friends. The episode ends with Anne telling the inhabitants of Wartwood that she, Marcy and Sasha are going back home soon. As a final goodbye, they take a group photo.

## Cast

* Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
* Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
* Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
* Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
* Haley Tju as Marcy Wu
* Anna Akana as Sasha Waybright
* Troy Baker as Captain Grime
* Stephen Root as Mayor Toadstool
* Jack McBrayer as Toadie
* Kevin McDonald as Albus Duckweed
* James Patrick Stuart as Wally Ribbiton
* Brian Maillard as Leopold Loggle & Excited Orange Frog (credited as additional voices)
* Laila Berzins as Sadie Croaker
* Fred Tatasciore as Soggy Joe
* Matt Braly as Chuck (credited as additional voices)

### Non-speaking cameo

* Ivy Sundew
* Maddie Flour
* Stumpy
* Felicia Sundew
* Sylvia Sundew
* Mr. Flour
* Rosemary, Lavender & Ginger Flour
* Sheriff Buck Leatherleaf
* Tuti
* Gunther

### Other characters

* Frobo
* Bessie
* MicroAngelo
* Archie
* Fleafy
* Zechariah Nettles

## Songs

* *Battle of the Bands*
	+ "Heartstomper"
	+ "No Big Deal"

## Trivia

* **Viewership:** This episode was watched by 0.37 million viewers on its premiere.
* On the Wheel of Fun, on one of the slots it said Pot Luck Dinner, referencing the episode "Hop Luck".
* This episode (along with "The Dinner") was later uploaded to YouTube on September 6, 2021, making these the second episodes (following "Anne or Beast?"/"Best Fronds") to later be uploaded in full to YouTube.
	+ However, the video has since been made private.
* This, "New Wartwood" and "The Dinner" are the only episodes in which Marcy enters the Plantar Farm.

### Revelations and significant events

* Grime is revealed to play the harp.
* It's revealed that Toadie stopped having opinions years ago.
* Sasha, Anne, and Marcy had a garage band, called "Sasha and the Sharps".
* Marcy is revealed to have brown eyes.

### Continuity

* Anne makes drafts of outfits based on bugs, like she did for Sprig in "Fiddle Me This".
* Upon closer inspection, Marcy never looks at the crowd during the Sharps' performance of "No Big Deal" and can also be seen looking at Anne and Sasha with a neutral facial expression when Anne thanks Wartwood at the end of the episode. These possibly hint at her true intentions with the Calamity Box that would be exposed in the following episode.
	+ These also imply that Marcy is happy because she, Anne and Sasha are together, not because she would soon leave Amphibia.
* When the town takes the group photo, Zechariah Nettles from the episode "Night Drivers" can be seen in the background behind the trophy.

### Production notes

* In a storyboard for the episode, Anne's band clothes are purple.
* This is the last episode to credit Haley Tju in a standard credits sequence.

## Memorable quotes

“
Come on, massage train. (Wheel of Fun lands on Battle of the Bands) Aw.
”

—Soggy Joe

“
Why is everything you say so aggro?
”

—Hop Pop to Sasha

## Errors

* While Anne and her friends are singing the lyric "I feel at home in a place that shouldn't be real," all three of the girls' voices can be heard despite the fact that only Anne's lips are moving.
	+ The Hebrew dub fixed this error by having only Anne sing the lyric.
* "No Big Deal" features piano, yet no one is seen playing one.

## Allusions

* **The Beatles** - In the scene where Sasha Waybright sees Anne's concept art for the group bug outfits, Marcy the drummer of the band, is doing the peace sign. This could somewhat be a reference to Ringo Starr, the drummer of The Beatles, who also does the peace sign.
* ***Scott Pilgrim vs. the World*** - The promotional poster for this episode is based on the promotional poster of that film.

## Videos

It's No Big Deal - Amphibia - Disney Channel AnimationNo Big Deal Lyric Video - Amphibia - Disney Channel AnimationBrenda Song, Haley Tju, Anna Akana - No Big Deal (From "Amphibia")Anna Akana - Heartstomper (From "Amphibia")
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Metcalf, Mitch (April 27, 2021). Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.24.2021. *Showbuzz Daily*. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27.
2. ↑ Disney Channel JP (January 25, 2022). 特別編成「新作 #アンフィビア 家にカエル？サタデー」
1月29日(土)昼2時🐸放送します！
アンの旅はいよいよフィナーレへ😲まずはオルゴールの謎に迫るエピソードのおさらいから📚そしてサーシャたちとの衝撃の新エピソードを2話連続でお届け🏷果たしてアンの運命は…⁉ (Tweet). *Twitter*. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12.
3. ↑ Braly, Matt (December 24, 2020). ✨🎄Happy holidays #amphibia fans. You've helped me so much to get through this year and I hope you enjoy your gift. See you in 2021 and thank you so much for the constant support. Music by @tjhill and ending illustration by @wolfhard 🎄✨ (Tweet). *Twitter*. Archived from the original on 2020-12-24.
5. ↑ Disney Animation Promos [@DisneyAPromos] (September 6, 2021). "The 'AMPHIBIA' episode "The Dinner/ Battle of the Bands" is now available on YouTube for free.

Watch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ExAKiS4t3Kc" (Tweet). *Twitter*. Archived from the original on 2021-09-06. Retrieved on 2022-05-04.