The Magic School Bus
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| The Magic School Bus | |
|---|---|
 The Magic School Bus as seen in the show's opening sequence. |
|
| Genre | Children's television series |
| Creator(s) | Joanna Cole Bruce Degan |
| Starring | Lily Tomlin (Ms. Frizzle) Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The "Producer") Danny Tamberelli (Arnold Perlstein) Daniel DeSanto (Carlos Ramon) Tara Meyer (Dorothy Ann) Erica Luttrell (Keesha Franklin) Maia Filar (Phoebe Terese) Stuart Stone (Ralphie Tennelli) Lisa Yamanaka (Wanda Li) Andre Ottley-Lorant (Tim) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS (originally) |
| Original run | September 11, 1994 – December 7, 1997 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
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 Degen. The most recent book was published in August 2006. 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, Discovery Kids and PBS Past in the US, TV Ontario in Canada and Pop in the UK, with 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 three books in that series. Microsoft Home started publishing 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. On Fox, TLC, and Discovery Kids, this portion was not aired.
The show's theme song called "Ride on the Magic School Bus" was written by Peter Lurye and performed by singer Little Richard.
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..
Contents |
[edit] Merchandise
- See The Magic School Bus merchandise for specific information about books and software based on the series.
[edit] Episodes
- See List of The Magic School Bus episodes for a list of television 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.
In Canada, there is a French language version called Le bus magique ("The Magic Bus"), the only difference is the dubbing of the English characters into Québec French. This version airs on TFO and Télé-Québec.
Major funding for the Magic School Bus is provided by the National Science Foundation, supporting education and research in science, mathematics, and technology. Microsoft Home also supports the Magic School Bus and other programs that promote further learning, exploration, and discovery. Additional funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and also by the annual financial support of Viewers Like You.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Major characters
| Ms. Frizzle — Main article: Ms. Frizzle |
| Arnold Perlstein (Danny Tamberelli) — Arnold is the most unique member of Ms. Frizzle's class, in that he is the only one who does not enjoy the field trips. He is seen as something of a "wimp", but he is actually smarter and braver than given credit for (such in the episodes The Magic School Bus The Busasaurus and The Magic School Bus In the Arctic). On occasion, as in the episodes The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space and The Magic School Bus All Dried Up, he will actually suggest going on a field trip. Arnold's main interest is geology, and in the episode The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular, he became the first kid to be a member of a prestigious geology society called GRANITE (Great Rock Admirers National Institute of Tectonics Experts). Arnold has a know-it-all cousin Janet who from time to time makes an appearance, and in The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells, Arnold mentions his great-aunt was a famous archeologist named Arizona Joan (a play on Indiana Jones). In the CD-ROM game, The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, Phoebe states that Arnold is 85 pounds, and in the episode The Magic School Bus Holiday Special, it's learned that he is Jewish. In The Magic School Bus In the Arctic, he mentions he loves cold weather because of hot cocoa. His favorite color is orange (except when he turned orange in the episode The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular from eating too much beta carotene), and his catchphrase is: "I knew I should've stayed home today." |
| Carlos Ramone (Daniel DeSanto) — Carlos is the "class clown" of the class, always making a pun or joke about the situation the class is in (most of the time, they're bad or corny). Carlos is a hands-on learner, preferring to invent different devices, such an instrument or rain catcher, rather than learn from a book. This usually leads to arguments with Dorothy Ann. Carlos hates insects, but most of all, he hates spiders (The Magic School Bus Spins a Web). He also has a disabled younger brother named Mikey. After telling a joke, Carlos utters the closest thing he has to a catchphrase: "Get it?" |
| Dorothy Ann (Tara Meyer) — Dorothy Ann (also known simply as "D.A.") is the class bookworm, always looking for a fact in one of her many books. In the episode The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top, Dorothy Ann lost her books, but she realized she didn't need them to learn about facts. However, when she got them back, she went back to checking everything in them. Dorothy Ann's last name is never mentioned in canon, books or the TV show, and her catchphrase is: "According to my research..." |
| Keesha Franklin (Erica Luttrell) — Keesha is the most level headed and realistic student in the class. She is usually always the most sarcastic one, as well. Because of her realism, she usually argues with Ralphie, who tends to live in his imagination. Her catchphrase is: "Oh, bad. Oh, bad. Oh, bad bad bad!" |
| Phoebe Terese (Maia Filar) — Phoebe is the new student of Ms. Frizzle's class, always referring to how things were at her old school. The "caring soul" of the class, she also seems to be a little bit shy. Phoebe is an animal activist, such as when she started the group SADS (Students Against Desert Scarcity) in the episode The Magic School Bus All Dried Up, and when she mentions how inhumane it was that reptiles only get fed once a week or month (The Magic School Bus Cold Feet). She is also an emerging feminist, once getting mad at Ralphie for using the term "man power" (The Magic School Bus Getting Energized). In the episodes The Magic School Bus Plays Ball and The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants, it's shown that Phoebe is left handed, and in the episode The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm, she mentions how she knows the metric system. Despite her passion for taking up causes, she is usually the more embarrassed one, aside from Arnold, such as in the episodes The Magic School Bus Gets Planted, when she mentions her biggest fear is stage fright and The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed when she's afraid of Ms. Frizzle embarrassing her in front of her old teacher, Mr. Seedplot. In the episode The Magic School Bus Gains Weight, she says she weighs 65 pounds. Though her parents are seen on the show, in the original books, it is implied that Phoebe lives with her grandparents. In The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, the class finds themselves in Phoebe's house, her grandparents present, and in The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs, only her grandmother comes for Parents' Night. Her catchphrase is: "At my old school...." |
| Ralphie Tennelli (Stuart Stone) — Ralphie is the class athlete, despite being the heaviest of the students, and he loves to daydream. He plays a lot sports (soccer, basketball, hockey, and baseball, his favorite). Ralphie is of Italian descent, once mentioning about his mother's calzones "go down like rocks" (The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs). He has a distaste for anchovies, which his dad puts on pizza to keep him from eating it (The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten). His mother is a doctor, once taking care of him when he was sick (The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie). He also has a big imagination, and one of his daydreams lead to the building of a robot, The RalphieBot (The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles). His catchphrase is: "Is it just me...?" |
| Tim (Andre Ottley-Lorant) — Tim is the more observant and artistic student in the class. He is not necessarily the most quiet of the students, and he can usually be found drawing something (such as Liz posing on a crater on Mercury or his Ralphie-inspired comic book The Adventures of Weatherman). His grandfather owns a bee farm outside of Walkerville, and as a small job he delivers the honey at the start of winter time. (The Magic School Bus In a Beehive). Like Dorothy Ann, his last name is never mentioned in canon. |
| Wanda Li (Lisa Yamanaka) — Wanda is the boisterous tomboy of the class. Always willing to jump into adventure and going where "no kid has gone before", she serves as a foil to Arnold. Despite her tough exterior, she loves the ballet, especially The Nutcracker (The Magic School Bus Holiday Special). Wanda's favorite singer is Molly Cule (play on the word molecule), and, like Ralphie, she loves sports. In The Magic School Bus Gains Weight, she was the highest jumper of the class, despite being one of the shortest students. Wanda's mother is a science journalist, and she has a younger brother named William. In the episode The Magic School Bus Hops Home, she has a pet bullfrog named Bella. Her catchphrase is: "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" |
[edit] Minor recurring and one-time characters
- Janet (Renessa Blitz) - Arnold's bossy, know-it-all cousin is not really popular with the rest of the class. Janet usually tries to sabotage the class in some way to gain something for herself. In the episode The Magic School Bus Makes a Stink, she tried to ruin the smell the class was going to enter in a smell competition so her class could win, and in the episode The Magic School Bus Butterfly and Bog Beast, she tried to turn the class against Phoebe when she pointed out that their big soccer game was against Phoebe's old school. Usually, in the end, Janet redeems herself in some way, only to revert to her old self in the next episode she appears in. As a gag, Janet looks essentially like a female version of Arnold with the same hair, a similar striped shirt, a jean skirt (Arnold wears jeans) and glasses, although hers are horn-rimmed, whereas Arnold wears circular glasses. She initially appeared in the book The Magic School Bus lost in the Solar System, where it was stated she went to another school. In the TV series, she apparently attends a different class instead of a different school.
- Mikey Ramone - Carlos's younger, paraplegic brother who is a mechanical and computer whiz. No more than two or so years younger than Carlos, the brothers seem close, Carlos calling him when the class needs help with something mechanical.
- Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy (Dolly Parton) - Ms. Frizzle's very first cousin who owns and operates Murph's Recycling Plant. She teaches the class the value of recycling in the episode The Magic School Bus Holiday Special.
- Molly Cule (Wynonna Judd) - Famous rock singer and one of the original Frizzlettes (Ms. Frizzle's old band she used to tour with). She's Wanda's favorite singer, and the class got to wash her car in the episode The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule.
- Mr. Ruhle (Paul Winfield) - Principal of Walkerville Elementary, he once ran a bet with Ms. Frizzle on whether or not she could beat the light pinball machine she and Liz had built (The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow). He's an expert on chickens, owning a Rhode Island Red rooster named Giblets, who Dorothy Ann had accidentally lost in the episode The Magic School Bus Cracks a Yolk.
- Dr. Tennelli (Tyne Daly) - Ralphie's mother who thought the broadcast of the class from inside of Ralphie looked real. When Ralphie was sick and made a joke, she responded, "Even your jokes are sick".
- Mrs. Li (Rosalind Chao) - Wanda's mother who is a busy, science journalist. Known for once keeping a Gila monster in Wanda and William's sand box and an alligator in the bathtub (keeping Wanda from ever being surprised by anything) (The Magic School Bus Under Construction). She also appears in The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs and The Magic School Bus Going Batty, not having a speaking part in the latter.
- William Li - Wanda's baby brother that accidentally shrinks the class in The Magic School Bus Under Construction. He also appears in The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs.
- Cornelia C. Contralto, II (Carol Channing) - Owner of The Sound Museum and great-granddaughter of sound eccentric, Cornelia C. Contralto, I, who had mysteriously disappeared in 1892. The class thought she was a ghost, until she introduced herself as "the second" (The Magic School Bus In the Haunted House).
- Archibald Seedplot (Robby Benson) - Phoebe's old teacher and a "fan" of Ms. Frizzle. At the end of the episode The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed, Mr. Seedplot answers the phone instead of the producer, and it is implied he has romantic feelings for Ms. Frizzle.
- Radius Ulna Humerus (Tony Randall) - Mechanic who taught Ms. Frizzle all she knows "about busanautics" (The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles). He and Ms. Frizzle apparently have a long history with each other, but not much else is known.
- Dr. Carmina Skeledon (Rita Moreno) - Old friend of Ms. Frizzle's who took the kids around a dinosaur dig site in The Magic School Bus The Busasaurus. She and Ms. Frizzle had in the past searched for the Loch Ness Monster (to which Arnold muttered "That must have be in prehistoric times").
- Gerri Poveri (Cindy Williams) - Failing journalist in the episode The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs who faked a monster in Walker Lake to boost the ratings for her show In Your Face.
- Mr. Garth Sinew (Dan Marino) - The ridiculously "ripped" gym teacher at Walkerville Elementary who competed against Ms. Frizzle in the Teacherathalon in the episode The Magic School Bus Works Out. He can rip his shirts just with his chest muscles. It is possible that he is the only character modelled after his voice actor, as the appearances of Sinew and his voice actor Dan Marino (also an athlete) are uncannily similar.
- Ashley Waker Club Dupree (Jessica Walter) - Great-granddaughter of Walkerville's town founder, Captain Crasnick P. Walker, Esq. She's there to celebrate Walkerville's centennial when the class has to make a statue of Captain Walker without using their hands in the episode The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls.
- Inspector 47 (Matt Frewer) - Inspector that runs the patch of rainforest that Ms. Frizzle's cocoa tree is in The Magic School Bus In the Rainforest. He was proud to have gotten rid of the mud and bugs in his patch, but the kids tell him that by doing that, he got rid of the bugs that pollinated the cocoa trees. Later in the episode in a letter to the class he states that thanks to the kids' work he was promoted to "Inspector 22".
- Larry (Ed Begley Jr.) - Owner of "Larry's Log Away" that Wanda hired to clear out the abandoned lot where she wanted to plant her tree in The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad.
- Mr. Junkit (Sherman Hemsley) - Mechanic that condemned the bus when it was not working properly (which was his fault because he left his sandwich inside of the bus) in the episode The Magic School Bus Revving Up.
- Harry Herp (Michael York) - Owner and operator of Herp Haven, a reptile spa. The students thought he was torturing Liz, but he was only repairing her habitat (which he had built) as she took a vacation in the episode The Magic School Bus Cold Feet.
- Dorothy Ann's mother (Swoosie Kurtz) - Appeared in The Magic School Bus Going Batty, but she did not have a speaking part until her appearance in The Magic School Bus Out of This World. She looks exactly like her daughter, only with a ponytail as opposed to pigtails. Dorothy Ann's dad also has an appearance in The Magic School Bus Going Batty, but did not have a speaking part, and both parents were in The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls, neither with speaking parts.
- Mrs. Franklin (Eartha Kitt) - Keesha's grandmother, who appeared in the episode The Magic School Bus Going Batty. It is implied that she is Keesha's guardian.
- Mr. Ramone (Edward James Olmos) - Carlos' father, who appeared in the episode The Magic School Bus Going Batty. He bears a close physical resemblance to his son and also enjoys making bad jokes.
- Mr. Terese (Dana Elcar) - Phoebe's father, who appeared in the episode The Magic School Bus Going Batty. Like Elcar, he is blind as evidenced by the fact he wears dark glasses and carries a white cane. He was Elcar's penultimate screen role before his death. Note the character's name is inferred from a later episode in which Phoebe's last name is mentioned. Like his daughter, he mentions how things were like at Phoebe's old school ("At Phoebe's old school, we never took field trips"). He appears again in The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls, but he did not have a speaking part. Mrs. Terese is shown in The Magic School Bus Inside the Haunted House but did not have a speaking part, and she is never shown again.
- Mr. Perlstein (Elliott Gould) - Arnold's father, who appeared in the episode The Magic School Bus Going Batty. Mrs. Perlstein also appeared in that episode, but she didn't have a speaking part. Mr. and Mrs. Perlstein appeared previously in The Magic School Bus Inside the Haunted House and later in The Magic School Bus Rocks and Rolls and The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular in which neither had a speaking part. Mr. Perlstein also appears in The Magic School Bus Holiday Special, but again, he did not have a speaking part.
- Harry Arm - Older student who was in Ms. Frizzle's class the year before. He denied Arnold a seat in the cafeteria in The Magic School Bus In the Arctic, and he commentated for the Teacherathalon in The Magic School Bus Works Out.
- Tiffany - Girl in another class that Arnold has an implied crush on in the episode The Magic School Bus Wet all Over. It was her only appearance, and she is not mentioned again.
[edit] Original Students
Ms. Frizzle's class was originally larger in the books than the class on the television series. In the original books, Ms. Frizzle's class consisted of Tim, Arnold, Ralph (changed to "Ralphie" on the show), Dorothy Ann, Wanda, Alex, Amanda Jane, Rachel, Gregory, Florrie, Carmen, Michael, Phil, Molly, Shirley and John. Phoebe was first introduced in the 1987 book, The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, and Carlos and Keesha were added in the 1994 book, The Magic School Bus In the Time of Dinosaurs.
[edit] 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
- 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
- Casting Director: Jessie Thomson
- 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
- Color Stylists: Rebecca Barclay, Jennifer Lee, Nasrim Monem
- Paint Supervisor: Mary Bertoia
- Dialogue Editors: Steve Shelski, Keith Traver
- Voice Recording: Mark DeSimone
- Sound Designers: Dow McKeever, Marsha Moore
- Supervising Sound Editors: Steven Cole, Mac Holyoke
- Re-Recording Mixers: Andy Koyama, Brad Zoern
- Theme Song (On the Magic School Bus): written by Peter Lurye, sung by Little Richard
- Assistant Editors: David Axelrad
- Picture Editors: Richard Bond, Karen Saunders
- Assistant Picture Editor: Stephanie Duncan
- National Advisory Board: Joel Bloom, Dr. Susan Carey, Dr. Milton Chen, Edward Chittenden, Richard Clark, Dr. Hubert Dyasi, Dr. Jane Butler Kanie, Stephen Schneider, Robert J. Semper, Bonnie Smith, Dorothy Strickland, Ellen Ann Wartella
[edit] Funding Credits
Major funding for The Magic School Bus was provided by grants from The National Science Foundation and by Microsoft Home. Additional funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting(1996-1997) and by the annual financial support of Viewers Like You(1996-1997).
The National Science Foundation, Microsoft Home, The United States Department of Energy, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York were the permanent funders for The Magic School Bus. The only temporary sponsors were The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Viewers Like You, which funded several episodes for the final 2 seasons of the show, the 1996 season (season 3), and the 1997 season (season 4). One such episode funded by the two, was the season 3 episode, Under Construction.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- The Magic School Bus at the Internet Movie Database
- Magic School Bus opening sequence on YouTube
