Amphibia is one of the crowning jewels of the Disney Cartoon TV renaissance. The series, which recently finished its third and final season, follows the journey of Anne Boonchuy through the perilous yet exciting world of Amphibia. As the name implies, Amphibia is a world where amphibious life has taken the place of mammalian life. Anthropomorphic frogs, toads, and newts are among the sapient people who populate the world. Anne lives with a frog family called the Plantars; she survives with their help and tries to find a way home.
Amphibia has been rightly praised for its story, world-building, and characters, with an emotional third season being an excellent capstone to the whole experience. Though the series is over, its creator Matt Braly has mentioned in an interview with The Wrap that there is room for more stories to be told in the universe. In addition, the show’s cousin-series The Owl House is also on Disney+, and will be wrapping up soon. Now is a perfect time to binge Amphibia and here are the reasons why you should.
4 Amphibia Has An Incredible World
One aspect of Amphibia that stands out is the amount of creativity it has when approaching creature design. Amphibia has taken advantage of the fact that it exists within a world where mammals aren't the dominant form of life in order to create some truly unique and terrifying beasts. Perhaps the most terrifying of these are the massive Heron creatures, who are long-legged birds with sharp beaks that tower above even the castles and fortresses of the world. Birds in general are often terrifying creatures in the series, which makes sense given that frogs, toads, and newts often have to fear being eaten by certain birds. There are also creatures used in everyday life, like the large snails the amphibious populace uses for locomotion.
Amphibia, as a world, has a big, untamed wildness to it that makes the series feel like an epic adventure. The creatures and monsters in the world make it feel like a dangerous and alien world, but at the same time one filled with possibility and excitement. The world also initially has lots of secrets in the show, like buried ruins filled with strange things, that are later expanded upon and revealed.
3 It Has Lovable Characters
Anne Boonchuy is a character you see grow throughout the course of the show. She begins as a person more likely to dodge responsibility, but then develops into someone who has to be responsible for protecting the frog family that helped her when she was thrown into the world of Amphibia. Amphibia is all about character growth and change, with each of the three human characters encountering their own journeys of growth and development as they work to survive in a new paradigm. Almost every character in the series experiences change and growth throughout the show. When the Plantars arrive on Earth for a time, they find themselves growing used to it, to the point that they miss the amenities of modern human society when they return to Amphibia.
These characters are also fun and enjoyable in their own right. The show has excellent comedic dialogue and timing, with each character having excellent chemistry with each other. Anne's relationship with the Plantars exemplifies this, with her eventually growing to be a part of the family to an extent. This happens with side characters too, with the irascible and stern Captain Grime eventually growing to become more relaxed and his relationship with Sasha becoming more friendly. These characters, also, are usually multifaceted rather than being one-dimensional. Amphibia is a road trip through a strange world, but it's done with understandable yet layered characters.
2 It Has Dramatic Moments
If the characters' stories are about dramatic change, then so, too, is the broader story of the show in general. Amphibia has some of the best twists and turns in animated television. In fact, it can be hard to talk about the series without talking about some of the more wild and intriguing twists. One, in particular, comes at the end of season 2 and reframes the entire show up until that point. These twists also often feel earned and don't come absolutely out of anywhere. Season 1 is, admittedly, more episodic and feels very 'monster of the week' at times, but the show eventually picks up a more serialized storyline at the end of the first season and into season 2. Season 1 is still excellent, though be warned that it may feel like nothing is happening for a while.
This also extends to some of the season finale battles and set-pieces. Seasons 2 and 3 both have excellent moments of tension at key elements. Season 3's finale in particular feels epic and bombastic, involving all the characters to that point, while still feeling tense and involving.
1 It Has Excellent Themes
This all comes together to make the series a well-told story of change and adaptation. Amphibia stays true to these themes until the very end, which is a very strong move that helps the series feel like it has forward momentum throughout season 2 and onward. Even season 1, which is more episodic, keeps to this theme as we see Anne learn lessons and become more responsible with time. Fittingly, the most dramatic beats of the story represent the biggest changes for our characters, and the best episodes come when the characters tackle the idea of change. Ultimately, the events of the story are kicked off because one of the characters is deathly afraid of change. The finale is so dramatic because the show itself presents the world and the characters with a hard change that can't be reversed.
Amphibia is one of those emotional journeys that doesn't pull its punches with drama or emotion, while also still being a fun journey through a strange and alien landscape. While this show and The Owl House ran concurrently for some time, Amphibia is now finished while The Owl House, another excellent show, is going to begin its final season soon. Now is the perfect time to watch both shows on Disney+.