The Magic School Bus

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Magic School Bus

The Magic School Bus was a series of children's books intended to teach scientific concepts to children. They were written between 1986 and 2001 by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degan. The books feature the exploits of Ms. Frizzle and her class of students at Walkerville Elementary School who board a magical school bus which takes them on educational adventures to space, under the Earth, into the human body, or to other such locations. The books were written in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed student in the Friz's class.

In 1994, the Magic School Bus concept was made into an animated television series of the same name by Ellipse (France), Nelvana (Canada), and Scholastic Studios. Each episode ran about 30 minutes. In the United States, the show originally aired on PBS, through South Carolina's SCETV network; it was the first fully animated series to air on PBS. The last episode was released in 1997, when the series was dropped to make room for more shows aimed at pre-schoolers. The Fox network also had the series on the schedule, after it acquired the rights from PBS in 1998; it ran on that network until January of 2002, when 4Kids took over Fox's children's programming. The Magic School Bus is currently shown on TLC and Discovery Kids in the US and Pop in the UK, TVOkids in Ontario, Canada and there are no plans to make more episodes. After the last Magic School Bus book was released, Cole and Degan started a new series called Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in 2001, which teaches social studies. There are now two books in that series. Microsoft started releasing Magic School Bus software in 1994.

Since the Magic School Bus books present scientific facts in the form of stories in which fantastic things happen (for example, a bus turns into a spaceship, or children shrink to the size of blood cells), each book has a page at the end detailing in a humorous manner which parts of the book represented scientific fact and which were fanciful storytelling. In the TV show, this was replaced by the Producer Says segment at the end of each episode, in which the producer of the show (voiced by Malcolm-Jamal Warner of The Cosby Show fame) receives phone calls from kids complaining about how some things that happened on the show couldn't happen in real life. With the show formatted for commercial broadcasts (evident by some of the fade outs on the show), this segment was merely a filler segment, due to PBS's commercial-free stance.

The television series was released on VHS by PBS Home Video between 1994 and 2001, and is currently being released on DVD by Warner Bros.

Merchandise

Episodes

When Magic School Bus was premiered on other US TV channels, opening song was shortened, and 'Producer Says' segment was removed, ending sequence was rearranged to show the Scholastic logo first, National Science Foundation endorsement was added. Canadian broadcasts kept the original format intact.

Characters

Ms. Frizzle

Arnold

Arnold Perlstein (voiced by Danny Tamberelli) is a unique member of Ms. Frizzle's class. He is the only student who does not enjoy his magical field trips and would rather go on a normal trip. Arnold has reddish blond hair and wears round glasses, and he is also Jewish.

He is interested in rocks and geology. When he lost some rocks from his collection in the CD-ROM The Magic School Bus Explores Inside the Earth, the class went on a field trip to recover them. He was excited, until he found out that they would encounter volcanoes and other dangers. Arnold knew enough about rocks to be the first kid to become a member of GRANITE ("Great Rock Admirers National Institute of Tectonics Experts"), a prestigious society of geologists, in The Magic School Bus Goes Cell-Ular. He is usually portrayed as something of wimp, especially since his catch-phrase is "I knew I should've stayed home today." Though he is often the butt of jokes in the series, he seems to be smarter and braver than he is given credit for.

Arnold has a know-it-all cousin named Janet (voiced by Renessa Blitz), who first appeared in the book The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, and appears often in the television series, but not enough to be considered a regular. In The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells, Arnold mentions his great-aunt was the famous archeologist Arizona Joan (a play on Indiana Jones.)

Arnold has a crush on Wanda, but has a soft spot for Phoebe and Dorothy Ann as all three have showed some feelings for him. In The Magic School Bus Wet All Over, Arnold has a crush on a girl in another class named Tiffany, but she was only seen and mentioned once in the series. He is most often paired up with Phoebe in fanfiction, who happens to have a crush on him, and if things with Wanda do not work out he could get together with Phoebe.

Carlos

Carlos Ramón (Daniel DeSanto) is known for telling bad jokes, at which the rest of the class usually respond exasperated with "Carlos!". He has made many odd inventions, like an instrument and a rain-catcher. He prefers to learn from experiencing things first hand, which is partly why he doesn't get along with Dorothy Ann. Fans have often speculated that Carlos and Dorothy Ann's relationship would change later, and the two would become a couple. They also happen to be paired up a lot in fandom, and actually might become one in the future.

Carlos has a handicapped little brother named Mikey, who appeared in two episodes of the television series. Sometimes he speaks Spanish when he talks so they might be Hispanic. He only appears in The Magic School Bus Getting Energized and The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed

Dorothy Ann

Dorothy Ann "D.A." (Tara Meyer) is a bibliophile, her most prized possession being her pink book bag. She uses her books to research whatever the matter at hand is, and usually begins each of her educational contributions with "According to my research...". In The Magic School Bus Sees Stars, she celebrated her ninth birthday. D.A. enjoys star gazing and has a telescope outside her bedroom window. She also has a little sister.

Dorothy Ann has blonde hair, which she wears set in pigtails. In The Magic School Bus Goes On Air, when she took the bands out, her pigtails stayed in place, probably a result of her wearing bands for so long. In a close up of her in The Magic School Bus Plays Ball, we can see she had blue eyes.

Dorothy Ann and Carlos's constant bantering and arguing has lead many fans to believe the two will eventually develop a romantic relationship. In fanfiction, the two are most often paired together.

When Arnold came back from the egg in The Magic School Bus Cracks A Yolk, D.A. kissed him on the cheek.

Keesha

Keesha Franklin (Erica Luttrell) is probably the most skeptical of the students and arguably the most level-headed as well. Her hair is dark brown and is kind of like Ms. Frizzle's hair style. She usually wears a purple sweater with a stripe. She also wears tights and dancing shoes. She appears to be a close friend of Phoebe. Her catchphrases are "So let's get the facts..." and "Oh bad, oh bad, oh bad, bad, bad, bad, bad!". Keesha seems to have a soft spot for Ralphie, and she is often paired up with him in fanfiction.

Phoebe

Phoebe Terese (Maia Filar) has auburn hair and would well deserve the title of "the compassionate one." She's very concerned with the well-being of animals and started an organisation called S.A.D.S. (Students Against Desert Scarcity) to help animals living in the desert in The Magic School Bus All Dried Up. In The Magic School Bus In a Beehive, she is also against the taking of honey from bees. In The Magic School Bus Plays Ball and The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in Its Pants, we see that she is left handed, and in a close up in The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular, we also see she has greenish-brown eyes.

Phoebe transferred to Walkerville Elementary (hence her catchphrase, "At my old school..."), where Ms. Frizzle teaches, from her old school, which is only ever referred to as Phoebe's Old School. In The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed the class went to her old school to pick up a plant, but Phoebe was worried Ms. Frizzle would embarrass her. However, it turned out her old teacher not only knew Ms. Frizzle, but was a close friend.

Phoebe generally likes seeing things in a romantic sort of way, where the other girls in her class do not. For instance, in The Magic School Bus Hops Home, she sees the romance in the two bullfrogs Bella and Herman, then fantasizing the little tadpoles. She also is noted for having a soft heart, because she's the only one who states if things are cute. For instance, in The Magic School Bus Going Batty, she states that the bat babies are cute, and in The Magic School Bus All Dired Up she says a gila monster doll was cute.

Phoebe also seems to have a crush on Arnold, which leads to him comforting her whe she is down (such as in The Magic School Bus Spins a Web when he assures her not to feel bad about not getting Liz back). He sticks up for her a lot (even to his cousin Janet, like in the episode The Magic School Bus Gets Swamped), and she is most often paired with him in fanfiction.

Ralphie

Ralphie Tenelli (Stuart Stone) is interested mainly in sports, especially football. He is the heaviest child in Ms. Frizzle's Class despite playing all those sports. He frequently daydreams in Ms. Frizzle's class, where daydreams aren't a waste of time. One daydream led to the invention of the Ralphie-bot. Ralphie's mother, Dr. Tenelli (voiced by Tyne Daly) is a physician. She helped him get better when he was sick in The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie. His catchphrase is, "Is it just me, or..."

Wanda

Wanda Li (Lisa Yamanaka) has black hair, wears a red vest and pink blouse with two yellow flowers on the bottom. Wanda's mother (voiced by Rosalind Chao) is a science writer, who once kept an alligator in the bathtub (and a gila monster in the sandbox, as Wanda remembered in the episode The Magic School Bus Under Construction). Wanda's little brother, William, is clearly no more than four, as he is still learning how to speak. Wanda is very interested in adventure and "going where no kid has gone before." Thus, she serves as something of a foil to Arnold. Wanda is oblivious to Arnold's feelings and is sometimes rude to him, which is why some fans think Arnold should like Phoebe. Wanda's catchphrases are, "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna doooo?" and "Come on, you weasley wimps!"

Tim

Tim (Andre Ottley-Lorant) can usually be found with a notebook used for drawing pictures. He has black hair and is very observant. He usually had the least dialouge at the beginning of the series, but got more shows centered around him as the series went on. He had some sort of African accent at Season 1. His catchphrase is "We've been Frizzled!" Some fans think that the Producer is Tim as an adult and the other Wanda.

Liz

Liz is the very intelligent class lizard (most likely a chameleon since she has a sweet tooth for bugs). She usually steps in when the Friz is unavailable. She can operate the numerous controls on the bus, and often rescues the children from sticky situations. She is often seen with her multifloored habitat, equipped with a shower, color television, heat lamp, and satellite dish.

Other Students

Though only these eight students are featured in the television series, Ms. Frizzle's class was far larger in the original books. The original students included Arnold, Tim, Ralphie, Wanda, Dorothy Ann, Amanda Jane, Shirley, Phil, Alex, Carmen, Florrie, Gregory, John, Michael, Molly, and Rachel. Phoebe first appeared in the 1987 Magic School Bus book The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth as the "new kid", and Keesha and Carlos were added in the 1994 Magic School Bus book The Magic School Bus in the Age of Dinosaurs.

Credits

• Executive Producers: Jane Startz, Kristin Laskas Martin, Alison Blank, Deborah Forte, Robin Grey, Marty Keitz
• For Nelvana Ltd: Patrick Loubert, Clive A. Smith, Michael Hirsch
• For Ellipse Programme: Robert Rea, Stephane Bernasconi
• Directed by: Charles E. Bastien, Lawrence Jacobs
• Produced by: Hasmi Giakoumis
• Supervising Producers: Stephen Hodgins, Kristin Laskas Martin
• Coordinating Producers: Patricia R. Burns, Karen Stevens
• Associate Producer: Steve Schmer
• Assistant Producers: Steve Schmer, John Van Bruggen
• Production Manager: Ruta Cube
• Production Supervisor: Steve Chadwick
• Unit Manager: Tyler Baylis
• Unit Director: Colen Sylvester
• Executives in Charge of Production: Marty Keitz, Deborah Forte
• Coordinators: Patty Beausoial (design), Asha Damiera (production), Rick Dubiel (pre-production), Bryan Biell (science content), Aidan Closs (layout), Norman Kagan (science research), Erika Strobel (script), Laurie Towals (storyboard)
• Assistant Directors: Jocelyn Hamilton, Paul Bouchard, Scott Glynn
• Voice Direction: Susan Blu
• Storyboard Artists: Alan Bunce, Gerry Chappelle, Jim Caswell, John Flagg, Alex Gatsis, Andrea Robbins, Bob Smith, Andrew Tan
• Storyboard Consultant: Yvette Kaplan
• Illustrations: Bruce Degan
• Layout Artists: Blayne Burnside, Ted Collyer, Suzanne Dargie, Michael Daze, Stefanie Gignac, Brad Graham, Chad Hicks, John Hill, Kevin Klis, John Lei, Jeff Lyons, Mary Lyons, Brad Markewitz, Chris Minz, Mike Nichols, Brian Poeniman, Frank Ramierz, Terry Rotsaert, Rob Sadler, Fred M. Walmot, Alfee Yepp
• Designers: Scott Bennett, David Boudreau, Ross Campbell, Trevor Davies, Steve Daye, Kevin Fraser, Brad Goodchild, Joe Gosselin, Niall Johnston, Richard Livingston, Stephen Wood, Steve Manning, Leif Norheim, Derek Prout, Richard Weston
• Lip Sync: Steve Fifth
• Picture Editors: Richard Bond, Karen Saunders
• Assistant Picture Editor: Stephanie Duncan

External links

• [Official site]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.