1. Animal Crossing Shooting Star
2. Animal Crossing Showcase Hh Holmes
3. Acnl Fireworks Show

Animal Crossing has an appealing, sweet visual style and an addictive catalogue of cute items to collect, but the premise of the game involves clearing and organizing a deserted island, gradually. In Animal Crossing, TVs play one show that can be viewed only on a certain TV. An Apple TV E-Reader card showing a male and female player playing Mario Bros.

Animal Talking With Gary Whitta is a web television virtual talk show hosted by Gary Whitta on Twitch. The show is executive-produced by Leah Whitta, and is livestreamed entirely from a talk-show set built in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Animal Talking premiered on April 25, 2020. It features Adam Nickerson as the bandleader.

Background[edit]

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Gary Whitta began streaming himself playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons daily a month before Animal Talking began, in the form of Animal Crossing Mornings. The show helped the channel gain a growing audience and identity. During his playthrough, Whitta came up with an idea to create a talk show set that paid homage to his favorite shows of the genre, such as The Tonight Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and Between Two Ferns.^[1] A pilot episode was livestreamed in the set on April 25 with his friend and internet personality Naomi Kyle, which was well regarded by viewers. The show would later produce four more shows that week, before settling into a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, with a permanent schedule at 7PM PT every Wednesday starting from episode 16.

Production[edit]

The show is filmed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Gary's island of Kawaii. The set was put together with in-game furniture created by or gifted to the Whittas by viewers of the show. The in-game camera is utilized to film the show, although its limitations require the host avatar to move for better angles. Guests appear on the show as Animal Crossing avatars, with the wardrobe supervised by fellow Twitch streamer Kate Stark. On the occasion that a guest does not play Animal Crossing, executive producer and Gary's wife, Leah Whitta would customize her own avatar to match the appearance of the guest and puppeteer them live as they speak.^[2] The production and guests speak together through Discord.

Additional staff members include Adam Nickerson, who serves as band leader and edits full episodes into ten minute highlight videos that can be accessed on the show's YouTube channel. The logo was designed by Chandana Ekanayake with Leah Whitta. The theme song was composed by Kenny Fong, and also credits Tom Young, Cameron Rose, Chris Petty, Desmond Splitter, Christian Lucy, and K.K. Slider.^[3]

Due to the show's viral success, the show has been approached by potential sponsors, cable television networks, and advertisers. However, Whitta has rejected these opportunities, citing disinterest and stating 'As soon as it becomes cynical, monetized, or corporatized, I think the whimsy and authenticity of it will disappear.'^[4]

Format[edit]

The show functions similarly to its real-life counterparts. Each episode starts with an opening sequence featuring Whitta's avatar performing various activities around his island, while Snowbike Mike announces that episode's guests. The theme song plays in the background as Mike introduces Gary Whitta as the host, who greets the audience, converses with Nickerson, and delivers any news about the show.

Following the introduction, main segments include celebrity interviews, live musical performances, and stand-up comedy.^[5] While interviews have dived into the life of the guests, much of the conversation revolves around gaming and Animal Crossing.^[6] At the end of the show, each guest is invited to step up to a mic to deliver a joke, and the best joke among the guests is determined through chat poll votes from the live audience.

A segment Danny's Diary featuring Danny Trejo first aired its debut episode on 8 June.^[7] The first episode follows Trejo's avatar giving Nickerson a tour of his own island.

Episodes[edit]

Season 1[edit]

Season 2[edit]

Reception[edit]

The show has been well received by viewers. Animal Talking was featured on the Twitch homepage, with its fourth episode reaching over 12,000 viewers and was number 14 on the site's most watched streams that day.^[8] Episode 10 pulled in a total of 339,000 individual viewers,^[9] while Episode 11 reached 18,000 concurrent viewers, a record for the show.

The Verge proclaimed Animal Talking as '2020's Hottest Late-Night Talk Show'. Touching on the uniqueness of the concept, Megan Farokhmanesh highlighted the pros of the show taking place in the video game: 'On any other talk show, it would be an agonizing minute and a half of mistakes. Here, it's what makes Animal Talking so special.'^[10]Screen Rant's Christopher Teuton commented that 'while most (...) traditional late-night talk show hosts are currently filming (...) and holding interviews over live chat services like Zoom, it's refreshing and unique to see the same format translated so perfectly here inside of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.' He praised Whitta's skill as an interviewer and host, with 'his conversations with Hollywood celebrities, musical geniuses, and video game enthusiasts are almost always just as enjoyable as those of his professional late night show counterparts, if not more so.'^[11]

References[edit]

1. ^EDT, Phillip Martinez On 5/1/20 at 2:55 PM (2020-05-01). 'We speak with Gary Whitta on the creation of 'Animal Talking,' his talk show within 'Animal Crossing: New Horizons''. Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
2. ^Desk, News. 'Animal Crossing talk show host Gary Whitta gives us a tour Launcher Live FULL LIVE STREAM 5/6'. The Global Herald. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
3. ^Whitta, Gary, Animal Talking Theme Music - YouTube, retrieved 2020-05-18
4. ^Forde, Matthew (May 5, 2020). 'Interview: Why Rogue One screenwriter Gary Whitta started a talk show in Animal Crossing: New Horizons'. Pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
5. ^Warman, Dylan (2020-04-27). 'Gary Whitta Hosts A Talk Show From Within Animal Crossing: New Horizons'. ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
6. ^Warman, Dylan (2020-04-27). 'Gary Whitta Hosts A Talk Show From Within Animal Crossing: New Horizons'. ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
7. ^Deschamps, Marc (May 19, 2020). 'Danny Trejo Joins Animal Crossing Talk Show as a Regular Correspondent'. Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
8. ^Gerblick, Jordan (May 2, 2020). 'Screenwriter Gary Whitta talks origins and plans for Animal Crossing: New Horizons talk show'. GamesRadar. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
9. ^'ANIMAL TALKING WITH DANNY TREJO, ELIJAH WOOD, GREG GRUNBERG'. Twitch. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
10. ^Farokhmanesh, Megan (May 14, 2020). 'Late night's hottest talk show is in Animal Crossing'. The Verge. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
11. ^'Animal Talking Is The Best Video Game Television Combo Ever'. ScreenRant. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2020-05-18.

Further reading[edit]

• Hall, Charlie (April 28, 2020). 'Rogue One writer launches a late-night talk show inside Animal Crossing'. Polygon. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
• Makuch, Eddie (April 29, 2020). 'Star Wars Writer Starts A Talk Show Inside Animal Crossing, Watch The First Episode Here'. GameSpot. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
• Romano, Nick (April 28, 2020). ''Star Wars' writer launches late-night talk show on 'Animal Crossing''. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
• Williams, Leah (May 13, 2020). 'Danny Trejo, Elijah Wood And Greg Grunberg Set For Virtual Animal Crossing Talk Show'. Kotaku Australia. Retrieved May 15, 2020.

External links[edit]

• Animal Talking on Twitch
• Animal Talking on YouTube

The Fireworks Show (known as the Fireworks Festival prior to Wild World) is an event held regularly through summer in every game in the Animal Crossing series. During a Fireworks Show, fireworks can be seen flying into the sky in the background and exploding in different colors, lighting up the ground and the insides of certain buildings. Villagers will clap and sing as they observe the fireworks in the sky. On the day of a Fireworks Show the weather will always be clear, and unique music will play during the show.

Fireworks are also displayed at the end of Countdown on January 1st to celebrate the New Year.

• 1Appearances

Appearances[edit]

In Doubutsu no Mori[edit]

In Doubutsu no Mori, a Fireworks Festival is held at the town's lake every Saturday evening throughout August. Redd operates a stall selling either Gyroids, airchecks, or fruit. What he sells changes each Fireworks Festival, and the prices vary based on which item he is selling: Gyroids cost 1,000 Bells, fruit costs 1,280 Bells, and songs cost 980 Bells. Villagers gather around the lake, and the fireworks can be seen reflected in the water throughout town.

In Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+[edit]

In Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+, the Fireworks Festival is held at the town's lake on July 4, coinciding with Independence Day in the United States. According to a bulletin board posting advertising the event, the show is held to commemorate the anniversary of the Train Station opening. Villagers gather around the lake, and the fireworks can be seen reflected in the water throughout town. In the original Japanese release of Animal Crossing, Fireworks Festivals are instead held each Saturday in August.

During a Fireworks Festival, Tortimer can be found roaming in a random acre and will give the player a decorative Bottle Rocket if he is spoken to; in the original Japanese release, he instead gives the player a Three-Foot Ball. Redd will set up a stall by the lake selling handheld items for 480 Bells. He can sell either balloons, pinwheels, or fans, and which one he sells changes each Fireworks Festival.

In Wild World and City Folk[edit]

In Animal Crossing: Wild World, the fireworks once again occur every Saturday in August at 7 PM. In Animal Crossing: City Folk, it instead takes place every Sunday night in August, a change that was kept in later games. For the first time the fireworks can be seen in the sky, as the games use a different perspective from the previous titles in the series.

Tortimer will be situated outside the Town Hall, and will give the player either a Sparkler or a Roman Candle which can be equipped to shoot out sparks. Tortimer will usually only allow the player to receive two of each item a night, but if they pester him long enough, he might give out more. Tortimer may also give the player a fortune for the night in the form of mail that goes directly into their mail inventory.

In New Leaf[edit]

In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the Fireworks Show continues to be held every Sunday in August. Isabelle hosts the festivities in the Event Plaza, handing out one of four bopper hats (Bulb, Flower, Heart, or Star) or a Fountain Firework, which can be placed on the ground to fire a shower of sparks. Villagers will clap as they observe the fireworks in the sky.

Players can submit a custom design to be used as a firework design during the show. The design will be mixed in with the regular fireworks, appearing randomly.

Redd operates a Cookie Stand in the plaza, where he will sell Redd's Cookies for 500 Bells. These can be eaten, and contain tickets that can be redeemed for items.

In New Horizons[edit]

While initially absent from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Fireworks Shows were added in the 1.4.0 Summer Update Wave 2, once again taking place each Sunday throughout August. As in New Leaf, Isabelle will give the player a random bopper hat when spoken to during the show. On the day of a show, Able Sisters will be selling either the Casual Kimono, Kabuki-Actor Yukata, or Morning-Glory Yukata, these being the style of clothing that is traditionally worn during hanabi taikai in Japan.

Isabelle will stand outside of Resident Services all day, and players can submit custom designs to be used as fireworks. Up to 10 designs can be submitted, and they will be launched in a specific order that can be configured by the player. Because Isabelle is outside all day, the Civic Consultation Counter at Resident Services is not accessible on the day of a Fireworks Show.

Redd operates a raffle stand in the event plaza, selling tickets during the show for 500 Bells. The player can win handheld items such as sparklers, balloons, a Pinwheel, a Tweeter, an Uchiwa Fan, or a Fountain Firework. If the player trips while running and holding their balloon, they will lose their balloon.

Gallery[edit]

• The Fireworks Festival being announced in Animal Crossing.

• Redd selling balloons during the Fireworks Festival in Animal Crossing.

• Redd's stall in the Japanese version of Animal Crossing.

• Tortimer announcing the first Fireworks Show for August in City Folk.

• A Fireworks Show in City Folk

• Town Hall during a Fireworks Show in City Folk

• A Fireworks Show in City Folk

• A player using a Roman Candle during a Fireworks Show in City Folk

• Fireworks in New Leaf

• The Firework Show starting on a Southern Hemisphere island in New Horizons

• Redd's Raffle in New Horizons

• The player getting a raffle from Redd's Raffle on a Southern Hemisphere island in New Horizons

• A player using a party horn during a Fireworks Show in New Horizons

• Players using sparklers during a Fireworks Show in New Horizons

• Custom fireworks in New Horizons

• A Fountain Firework being set off in New Horizons

• A player in New Horizons tripping due to the King Tut Mask and losing their balloon.

Trivia[edit]

Animal Crossing Shooting Star

• In a gameplay video for Animal Crossing shown at E3 2002, a Fireworks Festival is shown taking place on a Saturday in August like in the Japanese version, rather than on July 4 like in the final international release.^[1]
• Some of the prizes Redd gives in exchange for prize tickets in New Leaf such as the Ultra Hand are products that Nintendo made before it went into the video game industry.

Notes[edit]

1. ↑In Doubutsu no Mori, Animal Crossing, Doubutsu no Mori e+, New Leaf and New Horizons
2. ↑In Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+
3. ↑In Doubutsu no Mori and Wild World
4. ↑In City Folk, New Leaf, and New Horizons
5. ↑In Animal Crossing, Doubutsu no Mori e+, Wild World and City Folk
6. ↑In New Leaf and New Horizons

References[edit]

Animal Crossing Showcase Hh Holmes

1. ↑neopokekun (July 6, 2007). 'Animal Crossing E3 2002'. Retrieved November 29, 2020.

Acnl Fireworks Show