#Tgamm brunson

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm S1 Ep 16-A ¨Citizen Mcgee¨ Episode Analysis

Molly gets elected to be Brighton’s mayor for a day while the actual mayor Brunson takes the day away. At first Molly believes that running the city shouldn’t be a problem until she starts to realize that it isn’t as easy as it looks...

Episode writer: Peter Limm

Sometimes passion alone isn’t enough, it takes a lot of time and patience to master a certain subject. A person is going to make a lot of mistakes along the way until they are able to get things right. This is something that Molly learns the hard way when she has to be Brighton’s mayor for a day.

The thing is that Molly is a clever enthusiastic girl with tons of ideas and she really wants to help her community, but, she is still a teen, and because of that she doesn’t have the enough experience to make the most appropriate decisions. There is a point in the episode she changes her clothers to a blazer, giving her a more ¨mature serious¨ presentation. She believes that she needs to look like a grown up to act like one despite not knowing how to handle political issues.

What it is kind of refreshing is that Molly doesn’t abuse her temporal position to get what she wants. Since she is someone who wants to help others, she takes the day as an opportunity to ¨enhappify¨ the city, which it does gets positive results... at first.

The other part of story involves Stewey Brunson, who feels like he can’t handle the pressure of being a mayor and that he can’t measure up to his ancenstors who were Brighton mayors too. He expresses having lost his passion to run the town and the reason he is making a ¨mayor for a day¨ event to take a day off from his duties. There is a memorable shot when Stewey is talking about his family and the camera focus on the photos from past mayors hanging on the wall, like they are always watching him. He says that every time he looks at those photos, he feels all this high expectations to be like them.

In a way, it’s hard to not sympathize with Stewey’s situation. After all, he only was taking a day off, it’s not like he was planning on making Molly a mayor forever. It’s understandable that a person would loose their passion on their work after working for so many years in the same job.

While the conflict isn’t centered around them, Scratch and Darryl provide some funny moments in this episode, such as Darryl stealing the things he finds in the mayor´s office. They complement well with Molly, giving her bad advice or helping her dealing with the crisis later in the story.

When the protagonists find out that the slide covered with syrup ends up attracting many horseflies and causes an invasion in the city, Molly and Scratch decide to look for Mr.Brunson to help them. It doesn’t take long before they find him in the park, hiding behind his cotton candy stand. To persuade him into returning to his mayor position, the duo calls for the previous Brunsons (who are ghosts) to help him.

The song sequence that plays next is one of the most beautiful songs of the season. The Brunson family tells Stewey how proud they are of his work and carrying the legacy of his family. The music clearly takes inspiration from old movies such as ¨Grease¨. It’s a very nice sequence that shows how much the Brunsons care about Stew.

With his confidence back, Stewey (thinking it was all a dream) helps with getting rid of the horseflies decides to go back to his place as a mayor. Molly apologizes for the mess she caused but before she leaves, Stew has a short talk with Molly about how he is the last of the Brunson family and he suggests that Molly could be his successor when she gains more experience as an adult. It’s a nice scene since Stew knows Molly has the passion and personality to be a leader.

In all, ¨Citizen Mcgee¨ is a great episode which teaches a good lesson that is a bit rare to see. A person who is new in leadership isn’t going to have all the answers right away, it takes years to become a good leader. I appreciate this episode developing Stewey’s character and his family and introduccing a bit of a role model for Molly if she wants to become a mayor when she grows up.

[jackie-gremlin-ghost]

So we have Patton Oswalt to thank for Todd's first name.

Good to know.

[jackson4571]

Just gonna leave these images here for guys night story if I get the courage to make one. One more thing if anyone have another guy for a suggestion let me know.

[bennydwight]

MAYOR BRUNSEN IS ACE-CODED???? I HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS DEVELOPMENT! WHERE WAS THIS THEORIZED, WHAT EPISODE????

I may have just painted myself into a corner here, because I absolutely 100% could have sworn that Bill Motz tweeted about the intentional ambiguity of Mayor Brunson's sexuality (when asked about the line "I'm the last in the Brunson line" from Citizen McGee, and if he was considered by the showrunners to be asexual), but I've now scrolled through his twitter for. Hours. And I can't find the tweet for the life of me.

So I'll admit to being wrong on this point, there's no canon evidence that Mayor Brunson is ace, just the fickle mind of the confused/deranged tumblr artist

[jackson4571]

THICC GUYS

can't believe todd lost his soul AND his ass

tragic

[candyheartedchy]

Hey Chyenne, in your TGAMM Cinderella AU, I love that Molly portrays the fairy godmother, Scratch portrays Cinderella, and you portray the Prince. I gotta ask though, who takes on the roles of the rest of the cast?

Hello! Well I was thinking that the four Ghost Council members are the ugly step sisters, The Chairman is the step mother, Libby and Geoff are Jaq and Gus! Mayor Brunson is the King, and Pete would probably be the Grand Duke.

Also here’s a doodle from the AU I never shared:

[tgamm-side-blog]

.

.

.

.

[greatsweet98]

TGAMM alignment chart memes I made (2):

[faithful-grigori]

“#there's an interesting realistic obstacle regarding that theory, #especially given what scratch is like, #and yeah I think i'll need to keep an eye out for anyone who interacts with todd if the theory is correct”

Getting caught up and rewatching the Ghost and Molly McGee made me think of that ‘Scratch is a Wraith’ theory.

There’s a lot of signs that point to this theory being true, and especially Todd being Scratch’s actual human body. (Not to mention little clues and interesting details regarding Todd upon rewatching certain episodes/bits.)

But there’s a part of me that’s wondering…. Would Scratch even WANT to get his human body back and live again if he had the chance?

At this point he has little to no memories of his past life, and there’s very few reasons to want to come back to life. He doesn’t need to worry about getting a job and supporting himself as a ghost, and he can eat whatever he wants without not worrying about getting sick. Plus there’s other obvious perks that he wouldn’t want to give up.

If he had that chance to be alive, it would probably be for a day just to experience what it was like. (And of course Molly would be delighted to see how he looked as a human).

If he IS a wraith, then it’s probably not worth it if he doesn’t remember anything. Not to mention that his human body would have aged for a certain amount of time, and thus he lost a certain amount of what could have been his time when he was alive. Also it’s obvious that Todd doesn’t have that great of a life, so Scratch DEFINITELY didn’t miss out on anything if the two are the same.

Though of course that goes back to the question of how Scratch died… or–if true–became a wraith and lost his memories. The memories thing is important for now since that’s a plot point for season 2.

The clues to his past so far are: 1. He was originally from Brighton 2. He once had a friend. 3. His fondness for a certain soda was from his time when he was alive 4. Adia (according to other viewers) lived in the house the McGees live in.

If the wraith theory is true, then there’s one character that needs some careful observance for season two, and that is the Mayor. In the Tugbottom episode, the Mayor apparently knew Todd as a child and wouldn’t let him at his birthday since he brought cups instead of food. If the theory is true, then the Mayor knew Scratch when they were kids (and creates a scenario where Scratch as a child had only one true friend).

[tgammincorrectquotes]

Molly: Here are your messages Mayor Brunson!

Molly: You have 30 minutes to move your car!

Molly: You have 10 minutes.

Molly: Your car has been impounded.

Molly: Your car has been crushed into a cube.

Molly: You have 30 minutes to move your cube.*grabs the phone* Hello! Mayor's office!

Mayor Brunson: Is it about my cube?

[tornrose24]

So when I rewatched TGAMM’s ‘The End’ and got to Scratch’s backstory, there was an interesting detail I missed regarding Todd that I took for granted that also explains some things.

The detail was that even before Scratch lost his soul, he always had that pale, tired-out look. That post-soul regained look was NOT his default look.

For comparison, here’s how he looked before he lost his soul (it’s not a super flattering image on him, but it’s one I tried to take with natural lighting that also shows off his appearance):

And here is after he regained his soul (not sure if the color of the image is the best, but there should still be a noticeable difference in his skin tone):

The only time in the flashback that he even comes close to a healthier skin tone is when he first wears the blue shirt, but you can see that he still has those dark eyelids. I’m not sure if it was intentional or a slip-up on the animator’s part.

My takeaway is that Scratch’s issues slowly and gradually effected his natural appearance, which we do see when he’s at work. He started to take on that tired look with the bags and dark eyes, and his body language gradually changed to reflect his gradual slipping into a numb state. And it appears that no one really noticed when he instantly lost his soul because in a way he was gradually losing it before it finally slipped away. It’s likely not even his co-workers noticed the change because it was gradually happening under their radar, and I suppose no one actually cared enough to check in with Todd to see if he was doing ok. He likely contributed to this himself as well if he didn’t want to take a risk on making any friends or find love with another.

I repeat–no one noticed Scratch’s physical state was changing to reflect the loss of his soul. I don’t know if Adia noticed, but it would partly explain why she tried so hard to get him to come join her besides fulfilling their shared childhood dreams. When he finally lost his soul, he just became this person who simply existed and nothing more–no one bothered reaching out to him besides him getting snapped at by Mayor Brunson. As for Molly, she just saw him as some random person who seemed naturally gloomy and who had no life in his eyes.

When I mentioned this visual difference to @jackie-sugarskull   she brought up that the physical change to Todd’s appearance–upon regaining his soul–was further proof of how much Molly changed him for the better. Molly didn’t just help Scratch change his outlook on life or encourage him to become human again–she indirectly and unknowingly helped transform the man’s physical appearance as well when it was time for body and soul to merge back as one. His new outlook on life only further helped complete the transformation.

[tornrose24]

I just had a realization about TGAMM’s ‘Citizen McGee’ and ‘The Internship’ which are both two parters within the same episode. I thought the artistic design of the ghosts was one of the reasons why Molly wasn’t able to make any connection between Todd and Scratch, and then I realized something.

In ‘Citizen McGee,’ Mayor Brunson was able to easily identify his Mom when she was a ghost. It’s unknown how long she has been dead, and he has a picture of her in his office, but he was able to tell it was her, despite some visual differences.

Then the next part of the episode is ‘The Internship’ which is the second time Molly is able to interact with Todd, but this time she had more than just a few seconds to get a good look at his face. She knows Scratch’s face so well by this point that she should have picked up the physical similarities, and there should have been a reversal of that identification…. And yet that didn’t happen.

I know it wouldn’t have worked for obvious reasons, and I know realistically she would not have immediately saw the connection, but it’s still a bit laughable that she wasn’t later all “Hey Scratch there was this guy who kind of looks like you. You don’t think you have any descendants or family members who are still around?”

Then again, this is the same girl who mistook Geoff for President Lincoln, so….

… But now I’m having another realization. Brunson knew Todd since they were kids, so why the hell did he not recognize Scratch, who was RIGHT THERE WITH THE OTHER GHOST MAYORS?! In that song?!

…..Is Todd so average-looking that this applies to his ghost as well?

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm AMA Discord Summary (Bill Motz)

Will there be any human antagonists? ¨It’s a Spoiler¨

Andrea will be in Lucky Penny

Scratch butt joke started as a storyboard joke I believe by Alayna Cabral

All Night Plight episode builds up to the finale, but it's basically a separate story

The ghosts' ectoplasm colors don’t have any correlation to their death,  it's about a balance of colors within the Ghost World.

The process behind coming up with the songs consists in The writing team thinking about where a good place for the song would be, the kinds of things it should cover story wise, the thematics and emotional intent, and then they discuss it with Rob Cantor, often suggesting possible genres of music.

The Mcgees had a dog pet in the concept show art, the creators never came up with a name for the dog but Bob, though, wanted to kill the dog and have it become a ghost.

Mayor Brunson’s sexual orientation is open to interpretation (in reference to some of his lines in Citizien Mcgee that he never married or had children)

We may learn how Scratch died in some future episode

The chairman communicates by using grunts and hisses.

The sobgoblins are a type of ghost, but different from the human derived ghosts. They are more like negative emotions that haunt us (like self-doubt)  that have become personified.

Andrea Davenport, like every character in the show, has her own journey

It’s impossible for a ghost to escape the Flow of Failed Phantoms on their own with enough willpower

Molly and Scratch are both a contrast and a complement of each other. But they are better together than they would be apart¨

The chairman shares some of those characteristics with the Grim Reaper

Scratch gets another solo song, but Bill Motz couldn’t remember how soon

Bill Motz love to have an art book from the series. They are looking into how Matt (Amphibia) and company have done theirs.

There wasn't any intentional connection of Tgamm to Lilo and Stitch, but Bill can see where there are some similarities between them

Molly and Scratch are Bill Motz’s favorite characters

The story behind Andrea’s obsession with her name gag was that Bob has a friend for whom the Andrea name pronunciation was important.

Bill’s favourite episode is "Festival of Lights." and some upcoming episodes.

The origin behind Scratch’s name will be answered in the show in the future

Scratch likes listening to jazz from the 40's-70's. Molly would probably consider that "chaos music."

What happens when a ghost enters in the flow: ¨It's not so much pain as a sense of loss... of everything that made them feel like "them"¨

The creators originally came up with the idea of the show 14 years ago.The relationship of Molly and Scratch is based on Bob and Bill (Bill being Molly and Bob being like Scratch)

There could be a Libby song takeover in the future

Originally Molly's name was Piper, but there was another show in development at Disney with a lead character named Piper, so we changed it to Molly. Scratch’s name came from Bill ¨It struck me as being this subtle torment... and itch you just have to Scratch.¨

We will see some light touches of Libby's Argentinian heritage. 

Ms. Lightfoot is Indigenous. She's played by Julia Jones, who is Choctaw and Chickasaw.

Libby's aspiration is to be a writer, she would like to write about turtles

There are going to be some romance plots

Matt Braly (Amphibia’s creator who is also Thai) helped with the Thai representation in Tgamm

Scratch really doesn't remember how long he has been in the ghost world since he died

They had an idea about that the real expert ghosts don't startle you at all. They're the ones that wake you up at 3am to make you worry about work or school or family, etc. You never even realize you're being haunted, you're just miserable.

There are going to be half hour episodes in season 2

It takes about a year to make an episode of the show, from story idea to final mix and delivery. The Tgamm work on multiple episodes all at once.

Molly wearing a blue wig in ¨Scratch the surface¨ isn’t intended to be a reference to Chloe from Life is Strange, a character voiced by Ashly Burch

Andrea Father’s name is Maxwell

Molly's disdain for maple syrup comes from the story editor Madison Bateman

Most of those quirky traits are direct lifts from the writing team. Madison hates syrup, Sammie Crowley hates close-up magic.

There is a design language created for the show, which means that there are frequently similar and unifying elements in the show that do not necessarily infer a story connection. (Similarities in design between Alister and Geoff doesn’t mean anything between them)

A number of people contributed to Scratch's design, including John Loter, Alex Kirwan, and Lead Character Designer Justin Rodrigues

Molly had many friends in other cities before she had to leave, which is why leaving has always been so hard for her, why having a "forever friend" means so much to her.

The word enhappify came from the creators looking for an "ownable" word that would be uniquely Molly's and tell you instantly her point of view on life.

The Ghost Council used to be human, in Chairman’s case: ¨If he was human, he's a very ancient spirit who has transformed over time into the embodiment of misery.¨

We will find out at least part of that story of why Libby’s mother moved to Brighton

 The person that's usually seen around Irving the Illusionist is called Rowdy Joe

We may learn more about Ghost lore in the future

The series will explore Molly’s hatred for street magic in the future

Google doc with the summary and questions asked:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vyP6934BoxTmltqAb50UoFZK2_OtmhZZnpLUXOLDu0Y/edit