Curator Ponds is a minor antagonistic character of Amphibia. He was the owner of the Curiosity Hut in the town of Stony Gulch.
Appearance[]
Body[]
The Curator was a light orange aged frog with large, yellow eyes and bushy-grey eyebrows.
Clothing[]
He wore a black suit over a white shirt with a red bow tie similar in color to his maroon fez with an amphibian symbol. He carried an eight-ball cane with him and wore an unnecessary black eye patch over one of his eyes.
Personality[]
Like the character he resembles, Stan Pines, the Curator was sneaky and greedy, as he possessed an affinity for money and an air for showmanship. Unlike his counterpart however, the Curator had a wicked side and was willing to hurt and imprison others for his own gain.
Despite this, he is genuinely nice to a slight degree as when Anne Boonchuy calls herself stupid for falling for his trap, he lightens her mood up by persuading her to not call herself stupid and tells her she's just a bright girl who's only having a simple bad day. This could hint that he has some standards against negative self-talk even to those he captures.
Background[]
Curator of the Curiosity Hunt[]
Curator Ponds was the curator of the Curiosity Hunt in Stony Gulch. At one point, he was arrested and sent to frog prison, but was later released. Then, when he saw all of Amphibia's rare and neat creatures, he decided to capture them and turn them into wax statues. During a trip to Newtopia, he found a Skip Man, which came from Earth and belonged to a scientist known as Dr. Frakes.
A strange creature[]
Ponds meets Anne Boonchuy and the Plantar family after they stop in Stony Gulch during their trip to Newtopia, and when they visit the Curiosity Hut, he gives them a tour around the place. When Anne sees the Skip Man and is interested in it, he offers to sell it to her for a million coppers, but seeing that Anne can't afford that, he proposes a deal with her in which he gives her the Skip Man if she gives him something rare to display. Anne, seeing that she is something rare to Amphibia, reveals to Ponds that she is a human and proposes to be the main attraction for a day in exchange for the Skip Man, to which Ponds accepts. Ponds, however, has secretly other intentions for Anne, which he tells to Frog Soos, his employee.
That same night, Anne sneaks off to the Curiosity Hut to see him and fulfill the agreement, only to be cheated by Ponds. The curator then confesses to her that all his attractions are of live creatures frozen in wax, and that he will do the same to her. When the Plantars go to rescue Anne, Ponds begins to fight Sprig and Hop Pop to prevent them from taking her away, and at that moment, Polly discovers that all the creatures are frozen in wax, and together with Sprig and Hop Pop begin to free all the creatures with torches. When they are released, the creatures chase after Ponds and when they catch him, they drag him into a room to take revenge, to which the curator tries to make a deal with the Plantars to avoid that, but fails in the attempt. As the door to the room closes, a red liquid begins to pour from under the door, but he confirms that it is only wax. Subsequently, the creatures end up killing him.
Behind the scenes[]
Name and basis[]
Mr. Ponds served as an homage to the character Stan Pines from the Disney Channel series Gravity Falls. He resembled Stan in appearance and attire, as well as sharing occupation and voice actor. Stan, in turn, is inspired by Alex Hirsch's eponymous grandfather.
His last name "Ponds" is an allusion to Stan's surname "Pines".
Voice[]
Mr. Ponds is voiced by Alex Hirsch, the creator of Gravity Falls and the voice of Stan, Soos, McGucket, Bill Cipher, and other characters in the same show. Hirsch also voiced King and Hooty from The Owl House, another Disney Television Animation produced series.
Debut[]
Mr. Ponds made his debut and only appearance in "Wax Museum".