The Magic School Bus (TV series)

The Magic School Bus
File:The Magic School Bus title credit.jpg
Genre	Educational Adventure Comedy Science fantasy
Based on	The Magic School Bus by Joanna Cole Bruce Degen
Developed by	Alison Blank Kristin Laskas Martin Jane Startz
Voices of	Lily Tomlin Lisa Yamanaka Danny Tamberelli Daniel DeSanto Tara Meyer Erica Luttrell Maia Filar Stuart Stone Renessa Blitz Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Theme music composer	Peter Lurye
Opening theme	"Ride on the Magic School Bus", performed by Little Richard
Composer(s)	Peter Lurye Fred Barton (seasons 2-4)
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	South Carolina ETV Nelvana Scholastic Entertainment
Distributor	Nelvana Limited (International) Warner Bros. Television (US)
Release
Original network	PBS
Picture format	SD: 4:3
Audio format	Dolby Surround
Original release	September 10, 1994 (1994-09-10) – December 6, 1997 (1997-12-06)
Chronology
Followed by	The Magic School Bus Rides Again
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

The Magic School Bus is an American-Canadian animated children's television series, based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. The series has received critical acclaim for its use of celebrity voice talent such as Malcolm-Jamal Warner and combining entertainment with an educational series. Broadcasting & Cable said the show was "among the highest-rated PBS shows for school-age children."

In 2017, on the 20th anniversary of the show's conclusion, a sequel series titled The Magic School Bus Rides Again premiered on Netflix.

Plot

Valerie Frizzle embarks on adventures with her class on the titular school bus. As they journey on their exciting field trips, they discover locations, creatures, time periods and more to learn about the wonders of science along the way.

Cast

Main article: List of The Magic School Bus characters

• Lily Tomlin as Miss Valerie Felicity Frizzle
• Amos Crawley (Season 1) and Danny Tamberelli (Season 2-4) as Arnold Perlstein
• Daniel DeSanto as Carlos Ramon
• Tara Meyer as Dorothy Ann Rourke
• Erica Luttrell as Keesha Franklin
• Maia Filar as Phoebe Terese
• Stuart Stone as Ralphie Tennelli
• Max Beckford (Season 1) and Andre Ottley-Lorant (Season 2-4) as Tim Jamal
• Lisa Yamanaka as Wanda Li

Episodes

Main article: List of The Magic School Bus episodes

This is a list of episodes of the children's television series The Magic School Bus, which is based on the series of books of the same name written by Joanna Cole.

The show's continuity is not necessarily dependent on the order in which the episodes aired. In the first episode aired ("Gets Lost In Space"), Arnold mentions that the class has already been inside a rotten log ("Meets the Rot Squad") and to the bottom of the ocean (various episodes, including "Gets Eaten," "Blows Its Top," and "Ups and Downs").

Season 1 (1994)

#	#	Title	Topic	Written by	Guest star	Original airdate
1	101	"Gets Lost in Space"	Solar System	Brian Meehl, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	September 10, 1994
Arnold's cousin Janet visits Ms. Frizzle's class to go on a field trip to the planetarium to watch a show about the solar system. When the planetarium is closed, Arnold suggests they go into outer space. The class explores Mercury, Venus, and Mars, while Janet collects proof of their voyage. In the asteroid belt, while Janet is trying to collect an asteroid as further proof, they lose Ms. Frizzle and find themselves lost in space.
2	102	"For Lunch"	Digestion	Ellen Schecter, Brian Meehl, John May, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	September 17, 1994
Arnold really wants to break a school record, and to his surprise, finally gets his wish by staying at school with Liz while Ms. Frizzle takes the class on another weird field trip...without realizing he is the field trip.
3	103	"Inside Ralphie"	Germs	John May, Jocelyn Stevenson	Tyne Daly	September 24, 1994
The class needs Ralphie to give them a story idea for broadcast day, but Ralphie is sick. His mother (Tyne Daly), a doctor, refuses to allow him to go to school. When Ms. Frizzle says that there is an amazing battle going on inside him, the class decides broadcast day should be about whatever is making Ralphie sick. After shrinking and going into Ralphie's veins through a cut, the class travels to Ralphie's sore throat to see what is making him sick. Then his white blood cells see the bus as a threat and attempt to devour it.
4	104	"Gets Eaten"	Food chain	Jocelyn Stevenson, John May	N/A	October 1, 1994
Arnold and Keesha were supposed to do a "bring-in" of two beach things that go together for a report, but they had both completely forgotten about it. Keesha brought in a tuna fish sandwich, and Arnold brought the "scum" he got on his shoe when he stepped into a pond. The two have nothing in common...or do they?
5	105	"Hops Home"	Animal habitats	Jocelyn Stevenson	Frank Welker	October 8, 1994
Members of the class are bringing animals to school and Wanda has brought her frog named Bella. When Bella escapes, Wanda is determined to get her frog back. Ms. Frizzle takes the class to several different places, until they find a perfect frog habitat.
6	106	"Meets the Rot Squad"	Decomposition	John May, Jocelyn Stevenson	Ed Begley, Jr.	October 15, 1994
The class learns about what makes things rot by getting small enough to examine a rotting log up close when Wanda attempts to have the log removed to plant a new tree in its place. Also, Arnold wanted everyone to be part of the "Leave-The-Log-As-It-Is" club.
7	107	"All Dried Up"	Deserts	Brian Meehl, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	October 22, 1994
Phoebe is worried about all the poor animals living in the desert. How will they ever survive? She decides to go to the desert in order to do something about it, and for once, Arnold is not complaining. (This is due to his Field Trip Survival Guide.)
8	108	"In the Haunted House"	Sound	John May, Kristin Laskas Martin, Jocelyn Stevenson	Carol Channing	October 29, 1994
Carlos invents a new instrument for the class concert at the "Sound Museum," but it sounds awful. When the bus breaks down, they miss the rehearsal, giving Carlos more time to perfect his instrument. But to do so, the class must learn how sound is made in the middle of the night in the Sound Museum itself, where they learn about the history of the museum.
9	109	"Gets Ready, Set, Dough"	Kitchen Chemistry	Brian Meehl, John May, Jocelyn Stevenson	Dom DeLuise	November 5, 1994
Oops! On Ms. Frizzle's birthday, the kids in the class want to throw a surprise party for her, but they have no cake. The bus is acting up on their field trip to the bakery, and it shrinks. How will the kids make Ms. Frizzle a cake when they are around a millimeter tall?
10	110	"Plays Ball"	Forces	John May, Brian Meehl, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	November 12, 1994
Dorothy Ann has brought a book about physics, but everyone else finds it boring. Ralphie borrows it from her to use it as a replacement for home plate, of which D.A. does not learn until they set off on a field trip. Ms. Frizzle decides to back up and get the book, but the bus shrinks and lands on page 97 which has a "frictionless" baseball field. The class soon learns that friction is needed for the simplest actions, from playing baseball to walking. However, when it comes time to leave, the book closes--and the kids and Ms. Frizzle get trapped in the book!
11	111	"Goes to Seed"	Seeds	Ronnie Krauss, Brian Meehl, Jocelyn Stevenson	Robby Benson	November 19, 1994
The class is planting a garden, but Phoebe's plant is at her old school. The students decide to go there, but Phoebe is worried about Ms. Frizzle embarrassing her and her former teacher, Mr. Seedplot (Robby Benson).
12	112	"Gets Ants in Its Pants"	Ants	Jocelyn Stevenson, Kristin Laskas Martin, Brian Meehl	N/A	November 26, 1994
The class is going to make a movie about ants, and Keesha is the director. She finds an ant to be the star, but the ant runs away to an ant hill with hundreds of other ants, leaving Keesha increasingily frustrated at her inability to find an ant to serve as the focus of the movie.
13	113	"Kicks Up a Storm"	Weather	John May, Brian Meehl, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	December 3, 1994
Ralphie decides to call himself WeatherMan, but this angers Keesha who claims he is not. She tells him the heat is getting to him, which makes Ralphie angry; so he decides to prove his worth by creating a thunderstorm. After he creates it, things go out of control.

Season 2 (1995)

#	#	Title	Topic	Written by	Guest star	Original airdate
14	201	"Blows Its Top"	Volcanoes	Sean Kelly, George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	September 9, 1995
According to Ms. Frizzle, there is an island so new it still has yet to be discovered. Carlos wants to name it "Carlos Island," but Dorothy Ann has decided to get a name by looking in a book. However when they arrive, there is no island. Ms. Frizzle says it is because the island has not arrived yet. In the end, it turns out that the island was created by an underwater volcano.
15	202	"Flexes Its Muscles"	Body Mechanics	John May, Jocelyn Stevenson, George Arthur Bloom	Tony Randall	September 16, 1995
The bus is acting up, so Ms. Frizzle decides to take it to the Body Shop for repairs, owned by R.U. Humerus (Tony Randall). Meanwhile, Ralphie has been dreaming what it would be like if he had a robot to do all his chores. So he and the rest of the class (minus Keesha) want to try building one using all the gadgets in the body shop. First, though, they will have to understand how bones and muscles work.
16	203	"The Busasaurus"	Dinosaurs	Ronnie Krauss, Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	Rita Moreno	September 23, 1995
This is the cartoon version of The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs. (All the periods--Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous--are visited in the book, but time constraints forced the episode to be limited to showing only the Cretaceous Period.) In this episode, the kids visit Ms. Frizzle's old friend, Dr. Carmina Skeledon (Rita Moreno), at a dinosaur dig. Dr. Skeledon lets Arnold see a fossilized dinosaur egg as the kids are leaving, and he still has it when they go back in time. An Ornithomimus steals the egg, and both Arnold and Phoebe chase after it. The rest of the class is left to find them, and in the end, Arnold squares off with a Tyrannosaurus Rex after being grown. (It resembles the one shown in Jurassic Park.)
17	204	"Going Batty"	Bats	Ronnie Krauss, Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	Tyne Daly, Dana Elcar, Elliott Gould, Eartha Kitt, Edward James Olmos	September 30, 1995
Ralphie is convinced that Ms. Frizzle is a vampire when she shows up outfitted in a cape, speaking with a Transylvanian accent, and moving and talking like a vampire. The Friz is now taking all the kids's parents on a little field trip and Ralphie is convinced she is going to do something horrible to them. This episode teaches that the majority of bats are not vampires, and that they are fascinating creatures.
18	205	"Butterfly and the Bog Beast"	Butterflies	Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	N/A	October 7, 1995
The class needs a new mascot for their soccer team, the old mascot being so old that nobody even knows what it is anymore. Phoebe is convinced it should be the butterfly, but the rest of the class disagrees with this. Janet shows up again and convinces the class that their mascot should be the "Bog Beast." Since nobody seems to know what a bog beast is, the Friz takes the class on a trip to the swamp to find out.
19	206	"Wet All Over"	Water	Jocelyn Stevenson, George Arthur Bloom, Kristin Laskas Martin	N/A	October 14, 1995
The class is excited about going to Waterland. Wanda and Arnold are working on a project together and somehow Wanda convinces him to go to the girls' bathroom with her to get water. He accidentally leaves Ms. Frizzle's keys and Liz in the bathroom, and forgets to turn the water off. When they leave to go to Waterland, Ms. Frizzle instead uses a spare key which turns her, the class and the bus into water. NOTE: This episode can be seen as a sketch on the Kids for Character with Tom Selleck VHS.
20	207	"In a Pickle"	Microbes	Jocelyn Stevenson, Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	N/A	October 21, 1995
The kids have just come back from vacation and found that the vegetables that had won a contest have rotted. Keesha is particularly distressed, not because her first prize cucumber has rotted, but because it is gone and has been replaced with a pickle. Keesha reasons that the door to the classroom was locked over vacation and Ms. Frizzle had the key. To everyone's surprise, Ms. Frizzle admits that she did do something to Keesha's cucumber. The kids put Ms. Frizzle on trial and make Liz the judge. The Friz claims that Keesha’s cucumber was turned to a pickle by a group of microbes, which she nicknames "The Mike Robe Gang," and she takes the class on a field trip to prove it.
21	208	"Revving Up"	Engines	Sean Kelly, Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	Sherman Hemsley	October 28, 1995
Mr. Junkett (Sherman Hemsley), a vehicle maintenance inspector, was so displeased when he inspected the Magic School Bus that he decides to take it to the junkyard to crush it. The Friz and the class have to do something to save their bus. Naturally, they have decided to shrink and go inside it. All the problems seem to be caused by peanut butter, as Mr. Junkett was eating a peanut butter sandwich while he was inspecting the bus.
22	209	"Taking Flight"	Flight	Kermit Frazier, George Arthur Bloom	N/A	November 4, 1995
Wanda and Tim have built a model airplane together for a model show. Ms. Frizzle decides to shrink the class, so they can fly in it. Tim, Phoebe and Liz stay on the ground to operate the remote control, at least until it gets smashed. The class learns all about flight. Meanwhile, Tim, Phoebe and Liz try to turn the bus into different airplanes (two of which cannot fly) to go rescue them.
23	210	"Getting Energized"	Energy	Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	N/A	November 11, 1995
At the Walkerville carnival the kids are running the Ferris wheel; however, it is unworkable for some reason. Mikey, Carlos's little brother, who is wheelchair-bound, comes to the rescue. Since electric power will not work, they decide to use the energy of falling rocks. If the people ride in the one side of the Ferris wheel and the rocks land on the other, then it will cause the wheel to turn without hurting anyone. The problem is how to get the rocks to the Ferris wheel. Rachel makes a cameo, since she did not appear with Ms. Frizzle and her class.
24	211	"Out of This World"	Space Rocks	Libby Hinson, George Arthur Bloom	Swoosie Kurtz	November 18, 1995
Dorothy Ann has a nightmare about an asteroid crashing into Walkerville Elementary. She has also spotted an asteroid that will hit Earth in about five days and is worried that it will destroy her school to make her nightmare come true. To protect the school with her ideas, the class calls NASA, and has decided "to find it, follow it and finish it off," with a Star Trek theme. They also encounter a meteor and comet in this episode.
25	212	"Cold Feet"	Warm/Cold-Blooded	Jocelyn Stevenson, John May, George Arthur Bloom	Michael York	November 25, 1995
Liz has disappeared and the trail leads to Herp Haven, which is some kind of spa for reptiles. There, they see a woman named Mrs. Westlake ask for her turtle to be "toasted and stuffed, just like the last one." The class has decided to lead a rescue mission to find Liz, on which they learn about reptiles and how they need to move from place to place to get comfortable because they are cold-blooded, which comes in handy, as Ms. Frizzle has turned them into some.
26	213	"Ups and Downs"	Floating and sinking	Brian Meehl, George Arthur Bloom	Cindy Williams	December 2, 1995
Talk show reporter Gerri Poveri is reporting that there is a monster in Walker Lake. The class is very eager (especially Wanda) to find it. Phoebe also wants to find the monster so she can feed it. However, the bus's automatic sinking button has broken. They will have to find some other way to get it to sink. They succeed by adding weight and "crumpling" the bus. However, at the bottom, they discover that the monster was a fake; Gerri Poveri made the story up to increase her ratings. Now they will have to make the bus float again, so they can tell the truth to the public.

Season 3 (1996)

#	#	Title	Topic	Written by	Guest star	Original airdate
27	301	"In a Beehive"	Honeybees	Doug Booth	N/A	September 14, 1996
When Wanda and Tim were delivering honey from Tim's grandfather's bee farm, their cart had tipped over, and all the jars had broken. Desperate to replace the ruined honey, the class then learns about the lifecycle of bees to make more honey. When they accidentally lead a bear to the hive, the class ends up having to help the bees replace their lost supply of food as well as replacing Wanda's and Tim's merchandise. In the end, a customer tells them that the honey they made is the best-tasting yet.
28	302	"In the Arctic"	Heat	Brian Meehl	N/A	September 21, 1996
Arnold wants to know what happened to the heat from his hot cocoa. Ms. Frizzle thinks it is fitting to learn about heat in the land of ice and cold, so she takes the class to the Arctic. However, she accidentally drives the bus into the water, and the bus freezes. To make matters worse, the bus has been trapped on an ice floe with Phoebe, Ralphie and Liz. The class will have to get to the bus and heat it up to escape.
29	303	"Spins a Web"	Spiders	Robert Schechter	Ed Asner	September 28, 1996
The class has gone to a drive-in movie to watch the black and white B-film Stand by Your Mantis from 1953 (a parody of the 1957 film The Deadly Mantis) featuring General Araneus (Ed Asner) who is attempting to destroy a giant praying mantis. Carlos and Phoebe are not enjoying it. Carlos hates insects--and spiders, and Phoebe is upset and declares that if she were in that movie, then she would trap the mantis, take it somewhere else, and free it. Naturally, this gives Ms. Frizzle an idea. So she drives the bus into the movie. General Araneus takes over the bus, kidnaps Liz, and pushes a button that makes the class go back out of the movie and shrink. He wants to use Liz as bait for the praying mantis. Outside the movie, the class encounter spiders a lot, and when Liz pushes a button that pulls them back in the movie, they apply what they have learned about spiders to stop the General from using Liz as praying mantis bait.
30	304	"Under Construction"	Structures	Libby Hinson	Rosalind Chao	October 5, 1996
The class is going on a field trip to the new suspension bridge currently being constructed. However, there is a problem: Mrs. Li (Rosalind Chao) (Wanda's mother) needs Wanda to watch her little brother William until she gets off her business call. The class decided to watch William together. William, only an infant, accidentally uses the Porta-shrinker to size down the entire class (without Liz) and the bus and locks the class in the bathroom. The class uses the materials available to them to build structures to escape. This is the first episode where the bus does not transform in any way.
31	305	"Gets a Bright Idea"	Light	Ronnie Krauss	N/A	October 12, 1996
Janet is disappointed by the all-school field trip to a light show, considering that she wanted to see a magic show. She tells the class she could do a magic trick, but she cannot because of the ghost that haunts the theater. When the class leaves the theater they find Arnold missing. When they enter the theater again, they see Arnold's "ghost." Keesha, the skeptic, is convinced that it is really a trick done by Janet to scare them. She soon finds out that Janet is using the Pepper's Ghost Effect to scare the class.
32	306	"Shows and Tells"	Archaeology	John May	Alex Trebek	October 19, 1996
The class is on the international show and tell game show, one person shows and the other tells. Arnold will bring his rock collection and Dorothy Ann will be doing the "tell" part. However, Arnold arrives without his rock collection. He had found a strange object, which he thinks would work much better, but nobody even knows what it is. Ms. Frizzle then takes the class on field trip to find out. She turns the bus into Suppose-O-Tron, that can test their hypothesis.
33	307	"Makes a Rainbow"	Color	George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	Paul Winfield	October 26, 1996
Ms. Frizzle and Liz have invented a magical pinball machine that uses light instead of balls. (The light travels much slower than in the real world.) The light goes through a prism and the player attempts to bounce the different colored beams of light into the appropriate eye, in order to "make the rainbow." Ms. Frizzle says if she fails to win the game, it will be taken away. The class decides to help, and they shrink the bus and go inside the machine. Mr. Ruhle, the principal, shows up, and Arnold tries to stall him.
34	308	"Goes Upstream"	Salmon migration	Ronnie Krauss	N/A	November 2, 1996
Ralphie is wondering what happened to all the salmon. They need them for the school fish fry, but none of them are there. The Friz has decided to take the class on a field trip to find out. She turns the bus into a salmon and puts a compact disk in the bus that makes it think like a real salmon, so it will go wherever Ralphie's salmon went. However, when the bus starts migrating, Ralphie changes his mind about doing anything to find out what happened to the salmon. He and some kids in the class attempt to stop it, but to no avail.
35	309	"Works Out"	Circulation	Jocelyn Stevenson, George Arthur Bloom, Robert Schecter	Dan Marino	November 9, 1996
At this year's Teacherathalon, Ms. Frizzle is competing against Mr. Sinew, the gym teacher with giant muscles. Janet (from Gets Lost in Space, Butterfly And The Bog Beast, Gets A Bright Idea, and Goes Upstream) shows up again and supports Mr. Sinew (Dan Marino). The class is convinced that there is no way Ms. Frizzle can beat someone who can destroy shirts simply by flexing his muscles. Ralphie wants to know what lungs have to do with how your muscles work, so they go on a field trip inside the Friz herself.
36	310	"Gets Planted"	Photosynthesis	Ronnie Krauss	N/A	November 16, 1996
The class is performing a play of Jack and the Beanstalk. As Phoebe gets stage fright, she decides to make the props. However, there is problem with the beanstalk: She tried to grow a real one, but it did not work; so she tried to build one, but that did not work either. Naturally, the Friz turns her into a bean plant and Phoebe becomes shorter than Liz. However, no one is sure how plants get food.
37	311	"In the Rain Forest"	Rainforest ecology	Brian Meehl	Matt Frewer	November 23, 1996
The class has decided to give the Friz a present for Earth Day--a cocoa bean tree in the Amazon, as cocoa beans are used to make chocolate. The day just happens to be the day the first shipment reaches them, but for some reason, the tree has produced no cocoa beans. They go to the rainforest to find the reason and Ms. Frizzle makes Tim and Dorothy Ann "RFIs," or RainForest Investigators. Ms. Frizzle's tree is in a patch of the rainforest controlled by Inspector 47, who talks with a strong accent and runs around the rainforest in a white suit. He is very proud that he got rid of the mud in his patch of the rainforest; however, the class finds out, at the end, that the mud was what caused the absence of cocoa beans. The mud holes were where the insects that pollinated the cocoa pods lived, and it is revealed that Inspector 47 had covered the rainforest floor with artificial turf! They explain this to him and he decides to "rip up this filthy artificial turf with my bare hands."
38	312	"Rocks and Rolls"	Water erosion	Jocelyn Stevenson, George Arthur Bloom, Robert B. Schechter	Jessica Walter	November 30, 1996
The class is sculpting a statue of Captain Walker, their city's founder. Captain Walker left instructions on how he wanted this statue sculpted in the form of a poem. Ms. Frizzle's class interprets the meaning--he wants it sculpted without the use of hands--a little too literally. However, the statue breaks off the top of the mountain, and falls down. The Friz turns the bus into a rock and follows. Water erosion reduces the statue to a head by the time they reach the bottom. Desperate to get to the ceremony, the bus cracks open a dam of rocks that has formed and slides down the mountain. However, they found that somehow they made the mountain into a statue of Captain Walker's head and realize that Captain Walker had wanted his statue sculpted through erosion!
39	313*	"Family Holiday Special"	Recycling	Brian Meehl, John May	Dolly Parton	December 25, 1996
It is the day before the winter holidays, and the class is taking stuff to the recycling center, which is run by Murph (voiced by Dolly Parton), Ms. Frizzle's cousin. Wanda is going to see The Nutcracker and is bringing a toy soldier instead of taking money, as they are taking toys to give to homeless children. As usual, something goes wrong. Arnold mistakes the soldier for something being taken to the recycling plant and Wanda's soldier is turned into plastic pellets. Wanda angrily declares she wishes recycling had never been invented. Naturally, this gives the Friz an idea. She turn the bus into an anti-recycling machine, which changes the city to the way it would be without recycling. It cuts down the forest, and turns recycling trucks into garbage trucks. The kids are confused when it turns the swing set in the park into aluminum cans and such. Wanda is still pleased, since if recycling had never been invented, then her soldier would be still waiting for them in school. However the bus turns the school into a garbage dump when they get there. Finally, the bus "un-recycles" itself. Wanda then apologizes for having ever wanted to get rid of recycling, and wants it back. The Friz changes the bus so it changes everything back. Wanda makes new toy soldiers from the melted plastic pellets. Arnold has to leave for his sick grandma for Hanukkah. Soon, Arnold's classmates, Ms. Frizzle and Murph appear. This episode aired as a special one hour episode during its original airing. The first 30 minutes is the regular episode and the second half of the hour is a behind the scenes look of the series with the voice cast. For subsequent reruns, it aired as a regular 30 minute episode with the behind the scenes segment cut out. The home video release is also missing the behind the scenes segment and only features the 30 minute version seen in syndication.

Season 4 (1997)

#	#	Title	Topic	Written by	Guest star	Original airdate
40	401	"Meets Molly Cule"	Molecules	Ronnie Krauss	Wynonna Judd	September 13, 1997
Wanda's favorite music star, Molly Cule (voiced by Wynonna Judd), is coming to Walkerville. Wanda wants to have the great honor of washing her car. The class set up a car wash. Molly Cule miraculously chooses theirs over automatic car washes. The reason for this is explained when Molly Cule says that she cannot afford to have her hood ornament get wet. When Arnold asks what it's made of, she says, "That's my little secret, Sugar." She continues to call Arnold "Sugar" for the remainder of the episode. After they clean the car, she found a tiny blot of tar on the car using a "megamagnifier." The class shrinks down to the size of molecules to find it, and clean it off. However, when they get back Wanda accidentally knocks Molly's hood ornament into a bucket of water. It occurs to Arnold that her hood ornament is made from sugar, from what she said when he asked her what it was made from. The class shrinks down to the size of molecules to rebuilt the hood ornament. After they start, they began to crystallize. The class gets to participate in Molly's concert.
41	402	"Cracks a Yolk"	Eggs	Ronnie Krauss	Paul Winfield	September 20, 1997
Mr. Ruhle gives the class the task of caring of Giblets, his pet chicken. However, Giblets "flies the coop" and the class decides to get a new Rhode Island Red to replace Giblets. Naturally, they decide to hatch one from an egg. They learn on their trip that both a male and female chicken are needed to produce a chicken--though it is never explained how, being a children's show. At the last minute Giblets returns, and Ms. Frizzle cracks, "I guess he who flies the coop can always fly back again."
42	403	"Goes to Mussel Beach"	Tidal zones	John, May, George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	September 27, 1997
The class has gone to the beach, but Ralphie insists on keeping the class in one spot, which the rest of the class think is the most rotten spot on the beach, being crowded with other people. Ralphie, however, insists that this is where they want to be. Ms. Frizzle hears that "Uncle Shelby" needs a special spot saved. Eager to get away from Ralphie's spot, the rest of the class agrees. However, they find the inhabitant of this spot is not a human; it is a mussel. They decide the middle tide zone is too crowded so they decide to find a spot. However, they find worse problems in the low tide zone and the high tide zone, so they eventually come back. When they get back to Ralphie, they try to apply what they have learned to convince him to change spots, but they discover that he did have his reasons for picking the spot-–the ice cream truck stops there!
43	404	"Goes on Air"	Air pressure	Brain Meehl, George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	October 4, 1997
For the Walkerville space capsule, Ms. Frizzle's class has to put in something on air. Keesha brings an "empty" pickle jar though, as she explains, "It's not empty; it's filled with air." The rest of the class believes this is extremely pathetic and Ms. Frizzle "accidentally" gets the entire class stuck inside the pickle jar. Conveniently, they have to use air to get out of the jar in time for the space capsule's liftoff. Carmen makes a cameo, since she did not appear with Ms. Frizzle and her class.
44	405	"Gets Swamped"	Wetlands	George Arthur Bloom, Robert B. Schechter	N/A	October 11, 1997
Walkerville is debating whether to build a mall where the swamp is now, or to build it somewhere else. With the toss of a coin, Ms. Frizzle's class finds themselves defending the swamp and Janet arguing against them. However, the class finds out that the swamp is home to several organisms, an argument Janet finds little more than a joke, with which the city agrees. That is, until a tree gets knocked over by lightning, blocking off the swamp and flooding the city. After the crisis is resolved, the city realizes that if it were to build a mall on the swamp, then that mall would be washed away.
45	406	"Goes Cellular"	Cells	Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	October 18, 1997
Arnold is about to have the honor of being the first kid to receive one of the Rocky Awards at the annual Granite Awards. However, he has an embarrassing predicament. For reasons that are never exactly explained, Arnold has eaten only Seaweedies for a month and has consequently turned orange. ("It's my favorite color; except when it's my own skin.") He then asks, "What's the difference between my skin and say, Phoebe's?" So, of course, the class goes on a field trip to compare their skin, but they get nowhere since none of Phoebe's cells are orange. The class has to learn about cells and how they get energy to solve the mystery before Arnold is forced to accept the award. It turns out the Seaweedies are high in carotene and Arnold's exclusive eating them has pigmented his skin.
46	407	"Sees Stars"	Stars	Noel MacNeal	Dabney Coleman	October 25, 1997
On Dorothy Ann's birthday, she has, unfortunately, been taken sick and has to stay home. The class does not know what to get D.A. as a present until they see Horace Scope (Dabney Coleman) on S.S.N., the "Star Shopping Network," who is selling the stars for seven dollars each. Tim reasons that if every student puts in a dollar, they will be able to buy Dorothy Ann a star and name it after her. However, Keesha refuses to put in her dollar, as her grandmother was once duped by a similar organization, the Home Mopping Network. Therefore Ms. Frizzle takes the class on field trip to see the three stars being sold by Horace Scope for themselves. This episode takes aim at the Home Shopping Network and the Quality, Value, And Convenience network.
47	408	"Gains Weight"	Gravity	George Arthur Bloom	Paul Winfield	November 1, 1997
Phoebe has been chosen to do a slam dunk for the whole school. But how can she, not being tall enough? She reasons that maybe if she just knew how it felt, then maybe she could do it. Therefore, Ms. Frizzle takes the class into outer space and transforms the school bus into a planet with adjustable gravity. With little gravity, Phoebe finds a slam dunk easy, but with no gravity it is impossible to even make the ball go through the basket. However, when the lever accidentally falls into the position of heavy gravity, the class has trouble even standing up! They will have to restore the gravity to normal so they can return to Earth in time for Phoebe's performance.
48	409	"Makes a Stink"	Smell	George Arthur Bloom	Bebe Neuwirth	November 8, 1997
Flora Whiff (Bebe Neuwirth), the famous expert on smell--whose "nose knows"--comes to school to judge the First Annual Smell Search. Ms. Frizzle's class creates a unique smell which is bound to take first prize, but Arnold's cousin, Janet, determined to win by herself, evilly corrupts their smell to a stench that even a skunk would hate. The kids discover the secret to what makes things smell...now they have to make sure their creation will not make a big stink. Michael makes a cameo, since he did not appear with Ms. Frizzle and her class. There is a big mistake in which Ralphie is talking using the voice of Arnold right after they get out of the trash.
49	410	"Gets Charged"	Electricity	Suzanne Bolch, George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	November 15, 1997
On Valentine's Day, the class is selling light bulbs as a fundraiser. They decide to go to Ms. Frizzle's house to see if she wants to buy some, but her doorbell is not working. Tim and Wanda go to find her, and they overhear her reading a "love letter." The class now has to fix the doorbell before Ms. Frizzle's "big connection" comes over.
50	411	"Gets Programmed"	Computers	John May, Ronnie Krauss	Malcolm McDowell, Paul Winfield	November 22, 1997
Mr. Rhule, the principal, gets a new computer, and Ms. Frizzle's class has the job of opening the school and set up his computer. Carlos's brother, Mikey (from Getting Energized), is a computer expert. After he sets the computer up to raise the flag, make the coffee in the teachers's lounge, and ring the bell, he goes on his own trip to see the inner workings of the computer. Carlos records his voice with a handheld microphone. As usual, something goes wrong, along with the replay of his recorded voice, and Mikey has set the computer to do the tasks every minute instead of everyday. Can the class get to Mikey to have him fix the problem?
51	412	"In the City"	Urban wildlife	Noel MacNeal, George Arthur Bloom, Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	November 29, 1997
On the class's first "normal" field trip to the zoo, they wonder how the animals could live in the city. Ms. Frizzle then turns the kids into various city animals (Tim, Arnold, and Phoebe into foxes; Ralphie, Wanda, and Keesha into possums; Dorothy Ann and Carlos into peregrine falcons, and Ms. Frizzle a raccoon), but the bus mistakes itself for a bear, and with Liz inside, leaves the class. Worse, the city authorities are after the bus, thinking that it is a lost animal needing to return home. Will the class make it to the bus in time, or will they be animals forever?
52	413	"Takes a Dive"	Symbiosis	Jocelyn Stevenson	N/A	December 6, 1997
The series finale. For their coral reef projects, the class each worked in partners. Wanda hates partnership, and instead of working with her partner, Dorothy Ann, Wanda does her own project. Ms. Frizzle tells the class about her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Redbeard the Pirate, leaving treasure in a coral reef, and Wanda, a wannabe pirate, is for looking for it. Ms. Frizzle tells them to go two-by-two with their partners, which Wanda teams up with Dorothy Ann, Keesha teams up with Ralphie, Tim teams up with Carlos, and Arnold teams up with Phoebe. They learn about mutualistic, symbiotic relationships in coral reefs , such as hermit crabs and sea anemones, snapping shrimp and gobie fish, sharks and remoras, etc. However, they are forced to work together when one part of the reef has been bleached out by none other than the treasure chest. They then go back to school, and open up the treasure chest, which has a portrait of Redbeard, and a model of the ship that can change shape much like the bus.

VHS

1. "Gets Lost in Space" (February 1, 1995)
2. "For Lunch" (February 1, 1995)
3. "Inside Ralphie" (June 13, 1995)
4. "Gets Eaten" (June 13, 1995)
5. "Hops Home" (June 13, 1995)
6. "Inside the Haunted House" (September 12, 1995)
7. "Plays Ball" (February 13, 1996)
8. "Goes to Seed" (February 13, 1996)
9. "Kicks Up a Storm" (February 13, 1996)
10. "Blows its Top" (October 1, 1996)
11. "Going Batty" (October 1, 1996)
12. "The Busasaurus" (April 15, 1997)
13. "Taking Flight" (April 15, 1997)
14. "Flexes its Muscles" (April 15, 1997)
15. "Ready, Set, Dough" (July 29, 1997)
16. "Gets Ants in its Pants" (July 29, 1997)
17. "Getting Energized" (February 17, 1998) [Screwed and Chopped]
18. "Out of this World" (February 17, 1998) [Screwed and Chopped]
19. "Butterflies!" (April 20, 1999)
20. "In a Beehive" (July 27, 1999)
21. "Spins a Web" (July 27, 1999)
22. "Under Construction" (April 25, 2000)
23. "In the Rainforest" (April 25, 2000)
24. "Creepy Crawly Fun" (August 8, 2000)
25. "In a Pickle" from Greatest Adventures (August 8, 2000)
26. "Gets Planted" (July 3, 2001)
27. "Makes a Rainbow" (July 3, 2001)
28. "Magic School Bus Holiday Special" (October 8, 2002)
29. "Space Adventures" (January 28, 2003)

DVDs

Each DVD contains three 30-minute episodes of the series. The following is a list of episodes appearing on each DVD.

• The Magic School Bus – Bugs, Bugs, Bugs (September 28, 2004)
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Ants In Its Pants
  • Butterfly and the Bog Beast
  • The Magic School Bus In A Beehive

• The Magic School Bus – Space Adventures (January 28, 2003)
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Lost In Space
  • The Magic School Bus Taking Flight
  • The Magic School Bus Out Of This World

• The Magic School Bus – Human Body (September 6, 2005)
  • The Magic School Bus For Lunch
  • The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie
  • The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles

• The Magic School Bus: Catches a Wave (September 6, 2005)
  • The Magic School Bus Wet All Over
  • Ups And Downs
  • The Magic School Bus Rocks And Rolls

• The Magic School Bus – Super Sports Fun (September 28, 2004)
  • The Magic School Bus Plays Ball
  • The Magic School Bus Works Out
  • The Magic School Bus Shows And Tells

• The Magic School Bus – Creepy, Crawly Fun! (8/20/2002)
  • The Magic School Bus In The Haunted House
  • The Magic School Bus Going Batty
  • The Magic School Bus Spins A Web

• The Magic School Bus – Holiday Special (10/8/2002)
  • The Magic School Bus Holiday Special
  • The Magic School Bus In The Rainforest
  • The Magic School Bus All Dried Up

• The Magic School Bus – Takes a Dive (2006)
  • The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Swamped
  • The Magic School Bus Goes to Mussel Beach

• The Magic School Bus – Sees Stars (2006)
  • The Magic School Bus Sees Stars
  • The Magic School Bus Gains Weight
  • The Magic School Bus Goes On Air

• The Magic School Bus – The Complete Series (2012)

• The Magic School Bus – All About Earth (2013)
  • The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed
  • The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
  • The Magic School Bus Goes on Air

Production and broadcast

In 1994, The Magic School Bus concept was made into an animated series of the same name by Scholastic Entertainment and it premiered on September 10, 1994. The idea for the TV series was developed by former Scholastic Entertainment Vice President and Senior Editorial Director Craig Walker. Scholastic Entertainment president Deborah Forte said that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids "learn about science in a fun way". During this time, Forte had been hearing concerns from parents and teachers about how to improve science education for kids and minorities across the globe. Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. contributed some of the animation for this series.

When The Magic School Bus was syndicated on commercial networks, the Producer Says segment at the end of each episode was cut out to make space for commercials. The Producer Says segments were only seen when the series was shown on non-commercial networks, international networks, VHS, and DVD releases. Within the episodes, there were also time points where the episode fades out and then fades back in after a series of commercials are shown. On non-commercial networks, VHS, and DVD releases the scene immediately fades back in right after it fades out as no commercials are shown.

The theme song, called "Ride on the Magic School Bus", was written by Peter Lurye and performed by Little Richard.

The voice director was Susan Blu, two of the writers for the series were Brian Meehl and Jocelyn Stevenson.

Broadcast history

In the United States, The Magic School Bus originally aired on PBS as a part of its children's block, PTV, through South Carolina's SCETV network; it was the first fully animated series to be aired on PBS. The last episode aired on December 6, 1997. Starting after the final episode, the series then aired reruns on PBS until September 1998. On September 1998, it was dropped in order for PBS to make room for more programs aimed at preschoolers. Then that same year, FOX network acquired the series from PBS, and moved it to its Fox Kids block where it ran until 2002.

Fox Kids used the program as a weekday offering to fill educational television mandates for its affiliates, airing repeats from 1998 to 2002. On September 27, 2010, The Magic School Bus started a daily run on Qubo in the U.S., and on Saturday mornings on NBC. Both the Fox Kids and Qubo airings used a shortened version of the opening.

In the United States, after being discontinued from PBS (since September 1998), both TLC and Discovery Kids chose to air it. TLC aired it from February 15, 2003 until 2008 and Discovery Kids aired it from 2004 to 2009, as part of the Ready Set Learn block. In Canada, it aired on Teletoon and the Knowledge Network. In the United Kingdom, it aired on Pop, Channel 4, and CITV. Since 2005, Toronto-based studio Nelvana sold the original TV series to Latin America's Cartoon Network.

Home media

The series was originally released on VHS by KidVision (a division of WarnerVision Entertainment) between 1995 and 2003, and on DVD by Warner Home Video (through Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and WarnerVision Entertainment) and between 2002 and 2013. Only the DVDs contain the funding credits. In the home video releases, all the episodes are uncut and unedited with the Producer Says segments intact.

On July 31, 2012, New Video Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.

On August 15, 2013, Scholastic announced the entire series would be available on Netflix.

Reception

In a 2007 column for the online edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jason Fry expressed an overall appreciation for the series, but wrote that the episode "The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed" illustrated the rapid pace of technological change over the ten years since it first aired. He said the episode presented an old-fashioned "technology-gone-amok" story about the respective roles of programmer and machine that was no longer relevant to children growing up in 2007. He suggested that an updated version of the episode would have focused instead on the perils of Internet searches and on network concepts surfacing at the time.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref
1995	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Graphics and Title Design	The Magic School Bus	Nominated
	USA Environmental Media Award	Children's Animated Program
1996	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle	Won
	NCLR Bravo Award	Outstanding Program for Children or Youth	The Magic School Bus	Nominated
	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Children's Animated Program
		Outstanding Hairstyling	Milton Buras (for episode "Halloween Special"
		Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle
1997	Television Critics Association Award	Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming	The Magic School Bus
	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program	Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle
		Outstanding Children's Animated Program	The Magic School Bus
1998	ALMA Award	Outstanding Program for Children or Youth

Games

Main article: The Magic School Bus (video game series)

Various computer and video games associated with the series were released from 1994 to 2000, and were typically amalgamations of storylines from both the original book series and the television show. The games were published by Microsoft Home.

A video game titled The Magic School Bus: Oceans was released for Nintendo DS on October 25, 2011, ten years after the release of the last game. This is the only game to be released on a Nintendo platform.

Revival series

Main article: The Magic School Bus Rides Again

On June 10, 2014, a new series was announced by Netflix and Scholastic Media titled The Magic School Bus 360°. The new iteration of the franchise features a modernized Ms. Frizzle and high-tech bus that stresses modern inventions such as robotics, wearables and camera technology. The producers hoped to captivate children's imaginations and motivate their interest in the sciences. 9 Story Media Group would produce the series. Producer Stuart Stone, who voiced Ralphie in the original series, stated that The Magic School Bus 360° will feature some of the original voice actors in different roles. The show's voice cast is based in Los Angeles, California, United States and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with Susan Blu as the Los Angeles voice director and Alyson Court as the Toronto voice director.

In February 2017, Netflix announced that Kate McKinnon was cast in the role of Fiona Felicity Frizzle, the younger sister of Ms. Frizzle, now Professor Frizzle, again played by Lily Tomlin. By this point the title of the series had been changed to The Magic School Bus Rides Again. Lin-Manuel Miranda performed the theme song. On September 29, 2017 the series premiered on Netflix.

Movie

On June 25, 2020, a film adaptation was announced and Elizabeth Banks is cast to play Ms. Frizzle.

External links

• Official website
• The Magic School Bus at IMDb
• The Magic School Bus at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Magic School Bus 360° at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Magic School Bus at TV.com
• The Magic School Bus Rides Again at Netflix