Hop Luck

"Hop Luck" is the first segment of the third episode of the first season of Amphibia, and the fifth episode overall.

It premiered on June 19, 2019, alongside "Stakeout".

Synopsis
To win a village cooking contest, Anne leads the family on a quest to make pizza.

Plot
While showing pictures of her cat, Domino, to Sprig and Polly, Anne picks up an unusual smell in the air. Sprig claims he unfortunately knows what the smell is and reveals that Hop Pop is trying to cook for the pot luck competition the town hosts every year. Hop Pop's cooking is considered the worst, and the losers of the competition, which are usually the Plantars, have to spend a night in the Shame Cage. Not wanting to see her frog family suffer, Anne suggests that they make something new, after determining that Hop Pop's cookbook is "old and dumb". She settles on making a pizza, something which is foreign to Amphibians. Sprig and Polly agree immediatly, while Hop Pop reluctantly goes along with it.

They head to the bakery to get dough which they can only get from the owner if Sprig agrees to marry his daughter Maddie, a socially awkward and creepy child. Anne agrees, much to Sprig and Hop Pop's displeasure. They then wrangle cow-a-pillars for Mrs. Croaker to get cheese and, while not shown, apparently fight off aphids to get basil. Hop Pop continuously suggests they make something simple that does not require drastic measures, but Anne will not have any of it. They next go get tomatoes which are revealed to be part of a giant Venus flytrap like creature, the carnivorous tomato plant. Anne once again tries convincing the Plantars to help her get the tomatoes, but they get eaten by the creature during her speech, and all of their ingredients get destroyed the stomach acid while they're inside the plant.

Anne apologizes for getting them into danger with Hop Pop admitting that he liked the fact that at least Anne had tried to help the family and that was "worth something in his books". Anne remembers about the traditional book recipe and asks Hop Pop if there is anything else in the book about the tomato plants and he finds out that the neck is the most delicious part eaten raw. They escape and take a tomato with them to cook into an old recipe of Hop Pop's instead. At the pot luck, Mayor Toadstool begins testing all the delicacies, arriving last at the Plantars. He commences to eat Hop Pop's latest dish, complimenting the tomato, and tells them that while it is the best dish they have made, it's still the worst in show and the family once again sits in the cage of shame. Anne asks if she can also join them in the cage, stating if they couldn't share pizza at least they could share this. Anne finds out too late that the losers are also pelted with "shame nuggets" as the family are pelted with rotten fruit while Hop Pop sighs and declares tradition was such a beautiful thing.

Cast

 * Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
 * Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
 * Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
 * Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
 * Jill Bartlett as Maddie Flour
 * Stephen Root as Mayor Toadstool, Thin Blue Frog (credited as additional voices)
 * Laila Berzins as Sadie Croaker
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Flour (credited as additional voices), Elder Frog (credited as additional voices)

Additional voices

 * Dee Bradley Baker as Brutus, Carnivorous Tomato Plant
 * Brian Maillard as Carl, Small Pink Frog
 * James Patrick Stuart as Frog Carried by Dragonfly, Small Blue Frog

Non-speaking cameo

 * Toadie

Trivia

 * This is the first time that the fourth wall is broken.
 * The working title for this episode was "Passing the Ladle".

Revelations and significant events

 * Anne has a cat named Domino back on Earth.
 * The frogs of Wartwood compete each year in the annual village potluck competition.
 * The Plantars lose this game every year and so have to spend a night in the Shame Cage.
 * The frogs are not familiar with pizza.
 * Anne doesn't like pineapple on her pizza as she attacks Sprig when he suggests this.
 * Maddie is revealed to participate in VooDoo.

Continuity

 * Sprig still doesn't understand what a mobile phone is, like in "Best Fronds".
 * The fact that Hop-Pop is bad at cooking is mentioned again.

Production notes

 * This is the first episode to not to be animated by Rough Draft Korea.

Allusions

 * "Pot Luck" - The title of the episode, "Hop Luck", is a reference to "Pot Luck", the annual Wartwood cooking event.
 * "Pineapple on pizza" - After Anne shows the Plantars what they need to make the pizza with, Sprig suggests putting pineapple on it, to which Anne harshly declines, which is in a reference to the longstanding debate as to whether or not pineapple is an acceptable topping for pizza.

Errors

 * When Hop Pop shows Anne his traditional family cook book, there is nothing behind him. However, in the previous scene, the kitchen table with Polly on it and Sprig next to it were there.
 * When Maddie talks to Sprig, the sharpened stick is in the head of the Sprig voodoo doll. However, in the previous shot, she poked it into the belly.
 * When Sprig leaves the bakery, the stick is in the voodoo doll's head again.

Edits

 * In the Southeast Asia broadcast, the part where Maddie pokes through Sprig voodoo doll with a sharpened stick was cut. Also, Anne's line "Hey, what the heck? What was that?" was shortened to "Hey, what was that?"