Shout Out / Amphibia

References to other works in Amphibia.

---

• The opening sequence has Sprig roaming at an ancient temple, when Anne catches him while running away from a large boulder.
• The moon in Amphibia is an almost-perpetual red crescent, similarly to the Blood Moon in Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
• Hop Pop's shoes are similar to Scrooge McDuck's spats.
• When Sprig bribes Polly with candy in "Anne or Beast?", Polly devours it in a similar manner to Pac-Man.
• At one point, we see a book that looks suspiciously like Journal #3.
• Hop Pop's "Teakettle Beam" from "Stakeout" is a dead ringer for the Kamehameha from Dragon Ball.
• Anne quotes Ferris Bueller's "Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter!" taunt in "The Domino Effect".
• In "The Domino Effect", Domino II's cocoon opens into four petals, like a Xenomorph egg.
• In "Prison Break", Percy rallies the toads to chase off the herons by saying "Come on, you toads! No-one wants to live forever!" This is a common misquote of the line "Come on, you apes! You wanna live forever?" from Starship Troopers.
• In the episode "Breakout Star," Hop Pop uses Gandalf's line "Fly, you fools!" when he has to distract the crowd to help Anne escape.
• In "Croak and Punishment," when Sprig says Ivy’s name, he looks a little like Kermit the Frog.
• In "Children of the Spore", when the mushroom-infected Polly spots Hop Pop trying to escape, she points and lets out an ear-splitting screech in reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
• In "Snow Day", Polly is abducted by a giant albino weasel and hung in an icy cave in reference to Luke Skywalker's encounter with a Wampa in The Empire Strikes Back.
• In “A Night at the Inn” you can see a doll who resembles Cricket from Big City Greens .
• In "Bizarre Bazaar", after Anne and Sprig pass him in the cockroach race, the Wrecker pulls out a beetle with a blue spiny shell — which flies after them, loops over them, and then crashes into them with an explosion. Sprig even quips that it didn't feel balanced.
• In "Bizarre Bazaar", the Infinity Gauntlet is hanging on the prize wall.
• During the beginning flashback in "Reunion," Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo are shown attending Anne's school.
• The mutant eggplant in "Handy Anne" strongly resembles a Xenomorph from the Alien series.
• The scorpaleo in "Anne Hunter" has thermal vision, hears speech in a somewhat garbled manner, has Monstrous Mandibles, is first shown stalking its prey from the treetops, and uses bones as decorations — like a Predator.
• During "Truck Stop Polly," after Hop Pop drinks some (surprisingly strong) coffee, he performs a very familiar uppercut.
• The complicated jigsaw puzzle Anne plans on spending the day putting together in "A Caravan Called Desire" shows two koalas re-enacting the "I'm king of the world!" scene from Titanic (1997).
• In "Toadcatcher", Yunan, in one of her many attempts at introducing herself, strikes the poses of Josuke Higashikata and Jonathan Joestar.
• In "Swamp and Sensibility", the announcer, "Crumpet", is literally a blue Kermit, even sharing Kermit's voice actor.
• In "The Plantars Check In", one of the haircuts Sprig receives is the Super Saiyan Blue hair style from Dragon Ball.
• Jonah has a Saw Cleaver and what looks to be a Threaded Cane in his coat.
• Combat Camp features a variety of famous weapons in the background, including a nail, the Master Sword, and a Hylian Shield.
• In Snow Day, when Anne declares herself the town's protector, she strikes the same pose◊ that Space Sheriff Gavan does during his transformation◊.^note Gavan is incredibly popular in Thailand, where both Anne’s family and the show's creator are from, so the similarities are likely not just a coincidence.
• In "A Night at the Inn," one of the creepy dolls in Polly’s room is Cricket Green.
• The olms in "Quarrelers Pass" bear a strong, striking resemblance to the Giant Worm, one-off villains from Samurai Jack, right down to tricking travelers with a fake test of character in order to eat them and having the same high-pitched, gravelly voices.
• "Wax Museum" is a Whole-Plot Reference to Gravity Falls. Frog Soos even speculates to Stan Ponds that they have counterparts in parallel universes.
• The shopping cart derby in "Hopping Mall" has a few obvious references to Super Smash Bros.. Two of the combatants strongly resemble Yoshi and the blue Ice Climber (complete with hammer), and Sprig and Anne manage to launch an enemy cart out using a perfect shield and critical hit combo complete with a launch KO with visual effects identical to the ones in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Each of the stories in "The Shut-In" is a reference to a well-known ghost story plot: Anne's is a play on the "Cell Phone Game" creepypasta, Hop-Pop's is a play on the "Phantom Hitchhiker", and Sprig's is any number of stories about a ball going into a creepy neighbor's yard.
  • The imagery in Anne's story, and the idea of "disappearing" in seven days after watching a video, borrows heavily from The Ring.
  • The Frog Reaper is dressed identically to Mr Dark, the villain in the Disney kiddie horror flick, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
  • The ending of Hop-Pop's story bears a resemblance to W. Somerset Maugham's short story Appointment in Samarra.
  • The Seamstress was likely inspired by Ed Gein-inspired fictional serial killers like Leatherface and Buffalo Bill.
• Season Two opens with a Getter Robo reference, as some vegetables get charged with green energy and transform into a red-horned 'Veggie Robo' that roars and poses to dramatic lightning effects, just like one of the classic Getter One's transformations in Armageddon.
• In "Ivy on the Run", when Ivy jumps up to grab her hat at the beginning, of the episode the jump sound-effect from the Super Mario Bros. series plays, and when her mother performs a Flash Step, the Instant Transmission sound effect from Dragon Ball Z plays.
• In "After the Rain" and "Friend or Frobo", Polly performs a spin-dash right out of Sonic the Hedgehog.
• "After the Rain" makes a quick reference to "Gravity Falls." Just after Hop Pop pulls Anne to a safe perch in the muddy whirlpool, Dipper's pine-tree hat can be glimpsed floating past as Anne lends Polly a hand.
• The necromancy spell's illustration in Maddie's spellbook from "Maddie & Marcy" — a dancing undead frog wearing a top hat and waving a cane — is a shout-out to Michigan J. Frog from One Froggy Evening and other assorted Looney Tunes skits. Her little sisters mix a growth spell in a ceramic pot with "HUNNY" written on the side. When using the resurrection potion, Marcy can't help but shout "It's alive, IT'S ALIVE!" as dramatic lightning flashes in the background.
• The skull topping Anne's "Sorceress Supreme" staff in "Bessie & Microangelo" is identical to King's head from The Owl House.
• The entrance to the third temple is a hidden door in the side of a mountain that's only visible when certain light shines on it, like the entrance to Moria from The Lord of the Rings.
• Season 2's final episode: "True Colors", has Anne essentially go Super Saiyan Blue as her Super Mode. The way she gets this form is brought on by feelings of pure intense rage brought on by the loss of a close friend. Just like how Goku and Gohan first entered the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 2 state, respectively.
  • The burst movements, Flash Step, trails of electricity, kicking off the ceiling, and redirecting herself in the air to dodge are all very reminiscent of Midoriya's full cowling technique. Anne concentrating a bit of her powers into her hand for a single punch in "The New Normal" also resembles Midoriya's early technique.
  • The overall design of the ancient tech is quite reminiscent of the Laputa - from droves of long-armed robots that can fly and possess fearsome weaponry, to a floating castle that has the ability to nuke targets with a Wave-Motion Gun. And a villain that wants to use it to conquer the world(s) to bring glory back to an ancient empire.
• Several references to The Legend of Zelda:
  • The three gems of the Calamity Box (blue, green, and pink) correspond to each of the three girls (Anne, Marcy, and Sasha) respectively each due to the girls' strongest traits (Anne is assigned the blue gem of heart for her willingness to care for others; Marcy has the green gem of wit for her high intellect and cleverness; and Sasha has the pink gem of strength for her commanding bossy attitude and need for control.) This is similar to the Triforce, a legendary artifact which comprises three parts: Courage, Wisdom, and Power, which are assigned to Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf respectively
  • The glowing ancient machinery from the abandoned factories in the Ruins of Despair and the reveal that they were originally used for building war machine robots evoke the Guardians in Breath of the Wild.
  • The barbarian armor Anne wears in the episode "Bessie & Microangelo" is a near copy of the Barbarian Set in Breath of the Wild.
  • In "True Colors", Marcy jumps out the window of a flying castle and whistles mid-fall to be caught by her extremely loyal giant bird, just like Link in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
  • Amphibia's ultimate fate should the Calamity Box gems continue to be misused is highly reminiscent of the apocalypse Link has to avert in Majora's Mask.
• Several to Neon Genesis Evangelion:
  • Danny Ducker, a crew member of the show, drew some art referencing this◊ specific poster, with Sasha as Asuka, Anne as Shinji, and Marcy as Rei.
  • King Andrias at one point creates an energy shield while trying to stop Anne in their fight, which resembles an Absolute Terror Field.
  • The preview to season 3 shows that Marcy isn't actually dead, and is on life support in a People Jar, which resembles the tank used to keep all the Rei clones in Terminal Dogma, furthering the comparisons between Marcy and Rei.
• One of the outfits Anne wears in "Bessie and Micro-Angelo" closely resembles the one worn by Char Aznable.
  • Another Gundam reference is in the way Marcy calls Joe Sparrow in The New Wartwood, clearly invoking the way Domon calls the titular mecha from Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
• In "The First Temple", there's a "one hour later" time card that looks very similar to one you would see watching an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
• In "Toad to Redemption", a brief glimpse of Anne's abandoned third idea to deal with Jacinda shows that it involves a dragon that looks suspiciously like Trogdor the Burninator from Homestar Runner. Strong Bad's Twitter account acknowledged this with a reply to a (now deleted) tweet.
• In "True Colors", illustrations of Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls and Goliath from Gargoyles appear in a book of the supernatual that Marcy comes across.
• Frobo bears a strong resemblance to Robo from Chrono Trigger.
• In "Dating Season", a page in Anne's magazine reads "Kiss Kiss, fall in love"
• "Fight at the Museum":
  • While Anne is doing research on interdimensional travel, one of her false leads is a Youtube video on isekai fiction featuring a parody of Inuyasha.
  • A wanted poster for Feathers McGraw is hanging on a pillar outside the museum entrance.
• "Temple Frogs": One of the classrooms has a poser for Khan Kluay, a Thai animated children's movie.
• "Hop 'til You Drop": One of the pieces of art on display at the mall is an almost-identical representation of a Cactuar from the Final Fantasy series.
• At multiple points during season 3, what appears to be a Sega Saturn, alongside a copy of NiGHTS into Dreams…, can be seen beneath the Boonchuys' television.
• "Adventures in Catsitting": upon successfully reaching the veterinarian's office, the Plantars do a dance very similar to that of Kirby at the end of a level, complete with similar music.
• In "Froggy Little Christmas", the Wandering Minstrel's song talks about a reindeer getting promoted and an old man confronting his fear of karma and mortality.
• Crew member Alexa Swanson made this◊ Revolutionary Girl Utena crossover art with Anne as Utena, Marcy as Anthy, and Sasha as Juri.
• There are several in Marcy at the Gates, when Marcy talks about her favorite video game, Vagabondia Chronicles. The name is a reference to Valkyria Chronicles, and the main character has a strong resemblance to Crono.
• In 'The New Wartwood', Marcy tells Joe Sparrow, "That'll do, Joe Sparrow. That'll do."
• There are several references to the 'Live, Laugh, Love' cliche slogan:
  • The Curator has a poster that says "Live, Laugh, Lie."
  • Mayor Toadstool has one that says "Live, Laugh, Acquire Wealth."
• One of the old men in line for the audition in Hollwood Hop Pop is a dead ringer for Master Roshi.
• In "If You Give a Frog a Cookie", one of the kids at the museum bears a striking resemblance to Madotsuki.
• In "Mr. X", one of the upcoming movies is a horror film called Trains With Faces, a parody of Thomas & Friends.
• In "Spider-Sprig", we begin with the Boonchuys and Plantars watching a movie superhero called Tarantulad, who is a dead ringer for Kamen Rider, down to the bug-eyed helmet and red scarf. Said character combines the looks and abilities of both Riderman and Skyrider.
• Inside of her bedroom, Anne owns a poster of a tiny house with a blue rooftop on an island, floating in the middle of space. Overall, the aesthetic and landscape seems to be directly inspired by Super Mario Galaxy.
• In "Escape to Amphibia", Anne's fight with FBI agents is goes beat for beat to the famous scene between Vader and the rebellion mooks from the Rogue One, down to the last scared mook beating desperately into a closed door.
• In Commander Anne, the Buster Sword can be seen in the weapons' cache. Anne also mentions having watched "a movie about mice sneaking into a kitchen to get oregano".
• The residents of Gardenton in "The Root of Evil" bear many visual and characterization similarities to the Hårga from Midsommar.
• In "Flight or Fight", two of Domino 2's babies resemble Beerus and Catra.
• "The Three Armies" references the Confused Math Lady meme, which originates from the Brazilian telenovela Senhora do Destino, when Sasha is confused by Anne claiming she's great at diplomacy.
• The Beginning of the End:
  • At the start of the episode, Anne, Sasha and Marcy are watching a fantasy movie that has a lot of elements from The Return of the King, which is implicitly what their big flashy distraction battle tactic is being based on. The Lich King also bears more than a passing resemblance to Skeletor, having a Skull for a Head but muscular arms.
  • Anne and Sasha's synchronized Dance Battle against the mind-controlled Olivia and Yunan, ending in a dual jump-kick that shatters their collars, is a reference to Unit-01 and Unit-02's synchronized dance-battle against Israfel to the song "Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win!" in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
  • When Anne demands to know where Marcy was, Darcy answers she's that "in here with us".
• All In:
  • One of the onlookers reacting to Andrias' invasion bears a striking resemblance to Pepper Ann Pearson.
  • A note in the classroom where Anne and her friends plan their attack advertises "Moon Jiujitsu", a reference to a viral Twitter post about wanting to use "Moon Jujitsu" to kick the moon's ass.
  • Sasha's simulated fantasy attire is based on Edelgard's outfit from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, while Anne's is based on Link's outfit from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. One of the storyboard artists confirmed these on Twitter, along with Legolas as the inspiration for Marcy's outfit.
  • In Marcy’s puzzle room, there is an inverted pyramid-shaped puzzle resembling that of the Millennium Puzzle from Yu-Gi-Oh!
  • Also present in the puzzle room is a G1 Megatron Figure, alongside the Lament Configuration puzzle box from Hellraiser.
  • Frobo's new body is unveiled very similarly to Mettaton from Undertale.
  • The way Anne finally dispatches Andrias is evocative of how Goku brought down Demon King Piccolo in Dragon Ball.
  • Marcy's special attack is shaped like a d20, the twenty-sided die used in a lot of tabletop RPGs, but most notably Dungeons & Dragons. When the die lands on 20, she even shouts "Nat twenty, baby!"
• The Hardest Thing:
  • The Core, now inhabiting Darcy's helmet after having lost their human host, committing an act of massive destruction for petty reasons in smashing Amphibia's red moon into the planet to deny the heroes victory, is a situation exactly analogous to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, aided by the fact that the moon is revealed to be a massive machine covered in the Core's Hellish Pupils, just like the Moon of Termina has a humanoid face on it.
  • Anne's ascension to a higher plane of existence is an almost beat-for-beat reference to the end of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Domino even becomes an Expy of Kyubey, albeit less malicious.
  • Marcy has a chibi bag charm of Sakura Haruno, Chuntaro, and an expy of Cloud Strife or perhaps Bakugo.
    • Regarding Naruto, background painter Peggy Shi drew this promo of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy◊ which resembles the final shot◊ of the final Shippuden ending song, "Absolutely/ZetsuZetsu".
  • The scene of the frobots trying to help the girls push the moon away is similar to when the various Londo Bell and Neo-Zeon pilots try to help Amuro push Axis away from Earth in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack.
  • The entirety of the girls tapping into the full power of the stones to stop the moon from dropping down is similar to where Sonic and Shadow in their super forms try to stop the Space Colony ARK in Sonic Adventure 2. Anne even gives up her life to finish the job like how Shadow gives up his.
  • The powered Calamity Trio are similar to Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, as well as The Powerpuff Girls.
    • Speaking of CLAMP, Domino's true form looks exactly like Kero's true form on Cardcaptor Sakura.
  • Though likely a coincidence, Anne has an encounter with a Cat Beyond Time and Space.
    • The Amphibia Moon has very similar characteristics to the Breathen's Moon.
    • Ivy's time skip outfit is similar to that of Frodo Baggins.
  • When the girls pose in space, they strike poses identical to the Pillar Men, Anne as Esidisi, Marcy as Wamuu, and Sasha as Kars.
• The Calamity Box and the gems that power it have a startling number of similarities to the Chaos Emeralds from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. They are a set of multicolored Mineral MacGuffins of dubious origins that house mystic power, has connections to past, fallen civilizations and can be used for powering machinery, creates portals through space-time and grants the protagonists a Super Mode that makes them glow, grants them Super-Strength and Flight for a limited time. The Big Bad of the narrative (King Andreas) also intends to use their power to conquer worlds with their own robot armies, only to wind up being superseded as the main villain by a Dragon with an Agenda, something that happens to Dr. Eggman in the Sonic franchise on a regular basis.

---