Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
THE PUPPY’S NEW ADVENTURES / THE
PUPPY’S FURTHER ADVENTURES / THE PUPPY’S GREAT ADVENTURES (ABC, September 25,
1982-October 29, 1983) Ruby-Spears
Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions (season 1)
Catherine Woolley was a
prolific writer best known for her children’s books under both her name and her
pen name, Jane Thayer. Her first book, I
Like Trains, was published in 1944 and her last, Writing
for Children, in 1989. Within that 45-year timeframe, she had penned 87 children’s books,
including 1958’s The
Puppy Who Wanted a Boy. It was the story of a puppy named Petey who
wanted a little boy of his own for Christmas in a town where they were in short
supply. After trying and failing to convince several dogs to give up their
boys, he would eventually find Ricky at an orphanage, and found himself with
not one but many boys.
The original book.
20 years
later, the book got a second life as it was one of the ones chosen for an
adaptation into an episode of the anthology series ABC
Weekend Specials. Produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises,
it followed Beagle mix Petey
(Todd Turquand), the only
member of a litter not to be adopted, as he searched for a boy of his own. Like
the book, he tried to convince a couple of dogs to give up their boys to no
avail. In order to expand the story to a full 22-minutes, Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday added Petey
encountering two dog bullies and foiling their attempt to steal food; escaping
capture from a cruel dog-seller with a group of strays; and attempting to pass
himself off as a toy dog so a boy and his mother would buy him. He finally
found his boy, now named Tommy, at the orphanage.
The original special title card.
The episode performed well enough
to not only earn Ruby-Spears its first Emmy
nomination, but gained something the book itself never did: sequels. “The
Puppy’s Great Adventure” saw Petey (now Bryan Scott) have to win over
Tommy’s dog-hating adoptive parents. “The Puppy’s Amazing Rescue” had Petey and
his friend/love interest, a Cocker Spaniel mix
named Dolly (Nancy McKeon), try to avoid dangers while getting help for their
humans trapped in an avalanche. “The Puppy Saves the Circus” gave Petey (now Sparky Marcus) amnesia and saw
him becoming a breakout performer in a struggling circus.
Dash, Duke, Lucky, Dolly and Petey.
With the
sequels also being well-received, and reruns of the original still getting high
ratings, ABC decided to take things to the
next level and greenlight a full animated series. Dubbed The Puppy’s New
Adventures, Petey’s (now Billy Jacoby) family decided to move overseas by
ship and took Dolly with them. Stowing away were Petey’s friends from his days
as a stray: Duke (Michael Bell), a German shepherd/Labrador Retriever
mix who looked after the group; Dash (also Bell), a sleek and speedy Greyhound who was both the
smartest of the group and also the most cowardly; and Lucky (Peter Cullen), a
big and strong St. Bernard
who was a little light in the brains department. A freak storm washed the dogs
overboard and they had to journey through various counties looking for Tommy
(Tony O’Dell) and his parents. Along the way, they encountered people (understanding
them perfectly, although they couldn’t speak back) or animals who needed their
help before they could move on to the next destination. Each episode featured
an opening narration by Petey setting up the circumstances of their upcoming
adventure.
The
Puppy’s New Adventures debuted on ABC on September 25, 1982. Inexplicably,
it was combined with the dissimilar Scooby-Doo
and Scrappy Doo (1980) in a block called The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy
Hour. Hanna-Barbera,
makers of Scooby-Doo, and Ruby-Spears were both owned by the same parent
company, Taft
Broadcasting, and Joe Ruby
and Ken Spears
were former employees of Hanna-Barbera and the creators of Scooby-Doo.
While Hanna-Barbera continued the pre-production and voice-over work for their
half of the block, Ruby-Spears handled the actual production of the entire
program, resulting in some of their unique sound effects library being heard in
the Scooby segments. The series was written by Mark Jones, Buzz Dixon, Diane Dixon, Jack Enyart, Steve Gerber and Gary Greenfield, with Jones
serving as executive story consultant and Michael Maurer as story editor. Dean Elliott and Hoyt Curtin were the musical
directors, with Paul DeKorte
as the musical supervisor.
The series
was renewed for a second season, this time airing independently as The
Puppy’s Further Adventures. The globe-trotting storyline was ended in a
two-part episode resulting in Petey being reunited with his family and his
friends being adopted by them. Their new adventures usually involved joining
Tommy as his father (John Stephenson) went on scientific expeditions or visited
friends. A new recurring dog character was introduced named Glyder (Josh Rodine), whose enormous
ears caused him to constantly trip when on the ground, but allowed him to glide
in the air. Writers for this season included Jones, Gerber, Flint Dille, Michael J. Reaves, Marc Scott Zicree, Janis Diamond, Martin Pasko and Sheldon Stark, with Diamond
serving as story consultant. Although no new episodes were made for the third season,
a third season of reruns did air as The Puppy’s Great Adventures from
September 8-November 10, 1984. Great Adventures would return for a final
run on CBS from September 13-November 8,
1986.
Ad for CBS Saturday morning's initial 1986 line-up.
“The Treasure of the Ancient Ruins” (9/25/82) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“The Puppy’s Dangerous Mission” (10/2/82) – The dogs must
keep a serum meant to heal an ailing young king out of the hands of enemy
spies.
“An American Puppy in Paris” (10/9/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Puppy and the Pirates” (10/16/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Mystery of the Wailing Cat” (10/23/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Puppy’s Australian Adventure” (10/30/82) – NO SYNOPSIS
AVAILABLE.
“Puppy and the Reluctant Bull” (11/6/82) – The dogs must
rescue a gentle bull that has been abducted to participate in a bullfight.
“The Puppy’s Hong Kong Adventure” (11/13/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Honolulu Puppy” (11/20/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Puppy’s Great Escape” (11/27/82) – The dogs attempt to
reunite a grandmother separated from her grandchildren by the Berlin Wall.
“The Puppy’s Great Race” (12/4/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“The Puppy’s Amazon Adventure” (12/11/82) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Petey and the 101 Seals” (12/18/82) – The dogs must protect
a baby seal from some poachers.
Season 2:
“Glyder, the Misfit Puppy” (9/10/83) – The dogs try to keep
a puppy with enormous ears from becoming a sideshow attraction.
“Puppy Goes Home” (9/17/83) – Thieves kidnap Petey’s family
to get inside a top-secret government crate.
“Puppy and the Badlands” (9/24/83) – Petey’s family goes on
an archaeological dig where bandits happen to be looking for lost Civil War
gold.
“Puppy in Omega World” (10/1/83) – Tommy and the dogs are
taken on a tour of futuristic theme park Omega World where things are
mysteriously going haywire.
“Puppy and the Spies” (10/8/83) – Duke, Dash and Lucky get
themselves “recruited” into the scheme of enemy spies looking to steal plans
from NASA.
“Puppy Goes to College” (10/15/83) – Glyder ends up
performing at Tommy’s father’s old college where a plot is in the works against
the governor.
“Puppy and the Brown Eyed Girl” (10/22/83) – NO SYNOPSIS AVAILABLE.
“Biggest Diamond in the World” (10/29/83) – Tommy ends up
kidnapped by a pair of jewel thieves whose crime he stumbles across.
The novel follows wealthy
English gentleman Phileas Fogg who argued with members of his club that the
opening of a new railway section in India made it possible to get around the
world in 80 days. He's challenged to prove that, with the wager being half his
fortune: £20,000 (or roughly £1.9 million in today’s money, time of writing).
With his remaining money and valet, Jean Passepartout, Fogg sets out to win the
wager.
Phileas Fogg's path.
Of
course, the journey wasn’t smooth. Fogg and Passepartout encountered numerous
obstacles both natural and man-made along the way; starting with the fact that
the newspaper article that inspired the whole thing ended up being wrong, and
that the connecting track in India hadn’t yet been built. They gained a new
traveling companion in Aouda, who was set to be sacrificed against her will by
fire. They also had a shadow: Scotland Yard detective
Fix, who believed Fogg was a bank robber whose description he matched and was
determined to arrest him either on British territory or back in London. Ultimately,
Fogg did get arrested and subsequently released when it was learned that the
actual culprit had already been caught. Believing he missed the deadline, Fogg
was resigned to living in poverty until Passepartout reminded him that they
were actually ahead of schedule, basically thanks to time zones chipping
away time from their journey as went against the sunrise. Fogg won the bet and
the love of Aouda, and split the money with Passepartout and Fix.
Game board illustrating Nellie Bly's journey in 1889.
As
with other enduring works of literature, Around the World has been
adapted, expanded upon, or parodied numerous times across various media;
including stage plays as early
as 1874, films as
early as 1919, television films, games and more. One of those was an
Australian animated series that aired in 1972; the first Australian-produced
cartoon to be aired on American network television.
Fogg, Passepartout and Toto.
Around
the World in Eighty Days was a very loose adaptation of the novel. While
the protagonist was still Phileas Fogg (Alastair Duncan), his motivations for
the journey were much different. This version was in love with a woman named
Belinda Maze (Janet Waldo)
and wanted to marry her. But her uncle, Lord Maze (Owen Weingott), was against
a commoner becoming her husband. Maze proposed a wager: if he could
successfully travel the world in 80 days, he would allow him to marry
Belinda. If he failed, he would never see her again. A pot of £20,000 was
thrown in for good measure (and as a nod to the original plotline).
Mr. Fix being chastised by Lord Maze.
Fogg accepted this proposal and set out with his French valet, Jean
Passepartout (Ross Higgins), and Passepartout’s pet monkey, Toto (even the
Australians weren’t above the animal sidekick trope prevalent in that era).
They would employ all manner of transportation native to the 19th
century including balloons, trains, animals and ships. However, Maze planned to
win this bet and hired a saboteur, Mr. Fix (Max Osbiston), to interfere and
impede Fogg’s journey by any means necessary.
The random collection of stuff Fogg asked for coming in handy as makeshift transport.
Around
the World in Eighty Days debuted on NBC
on September 9, 1972. Each episode followed a similar structure: Fogg announced
their intended location; Fogg asked Passepartout to pack a bag with a seemingly
random collection of items that actually end up serving a purpose in the
episode; Fogg delivered a proverb to Passepartout that would also help in their
success by episode’s end; Fix had a full discussion with himself about how he
planned to stop Fogg; Fogg and Passepartout followed their itinerary and along
the way Fogg would explain the history of their visited locations; Fix was hot
on their heels, usually in a disguise that they failed to see through at first (typically
that of the driver of whatever transport they were taking); and the episode
ended with Fogg exclaiming “Good show, Passepartout!” The series was approached
with a more comedic slant than the book; particularly in the ridiculous plans
Fix kept coming up with that backfired on him, or Passepartout’s overreactions
to various situations as they arose (as well as constantly declaring “Fix
tricks!” when things went wrong). Occasionally, Maze would take a hand in
trying to derail Fogg himself. Belinda would also send Fogg support, information
she overheard about Maze’s schemes (some of which was falsely planted by Maze
with that expectation) and joined him occasionally along the way.
Fix up to his tricks posing as an engineer.
The
series was produced by Walter J.
Hucker, a staff producer for Air Programs
International, and entirely written by Chet Stover and directed by Leif Gram, respectively. The
series’ music was composed by John Sangster, with the theme being a variation
of the tune from “Mademoiselle
from Armentières”. Around the World ran for a single season of 16 episodes,
and although we never see them actually return to England, the final episode
ended with them on their way. 40 years after its original airing, Visual Entertainment would
release the complete
series to DVD. Additionally, a
statue of Mr. Fix was reportedly seen at the Zoo
XII Months in Ukraine.
EPISODE GUIDE (note: the episodes don’t
have official names and are named after the featured locations):
“London, Buckingham Palace” (9/9/72) –
Fix tries to keep Fogg from his appointment with the Queen to secure a letter
to leave London on his journey.
“Paris” (9/16/72) – Fix hijacks the
boat and later the train Fogg plans to take to catch an airship out of Paris.
“Switzerland and the Alps” (9/23/72) –
Fix attempts to frame Fogg for the destruction of a statue of William Tell.
“Rome” (9/30/72) – Fix plots to frame
Fogg for stealing a painting from the museum via the fact he’s seemingly
driving the only car in Rome.
“Naples, Pompei” (10/7/72) – Fix
attempts to make Fogg a permanent resident of Pompei.
“Mediterranean Sea, Greek Islands”
(10/14/72) – Maze arranges for Fogg to end up on the wrong ship.
“Greece, Athens” (10/21/72) – Maze
plots to use inclement weather to trick Fogg into taking a not-so-shortcut to
Athens.
“Egypt and the Pyramids” (10/28/72) – A
dream makes Fix believe Fogg is searching for a magic carpet to help him get
around the world quickly.
“Sinai and Petra” (11/4/72) – Fix
causing them to miss their boat has Fogg taking the dangerous overland route
and winding up in the lost city of Petra inhabited by bandits.
“Gaza, Damascus and Palmyra”
(11/11/72) – Maze has fix kidnap Passepartout and bring him to Palmyra.
“Persia, Isfahan” (11/18/72) – Fix
poses as a fortune-teller and gets an exhausted Fogg roped into a polo game
where losing could prove fatal.
“India, Udaipur” (11/25/72) – Fogg
gains a new travelling companion in a far-sighted elephant he helped with a
custom pair of glasses.
“China sea, China” (12/2/72) – After
being blown off course, Fogg helps a Chinese village get the money they need to
pay their taxes and save their land.
“Japan, Tokyo, Mount Fuji” (12/9/72) –
Maze has Fix frame Fogg for stealing a pearl in Japan while slowing him down
with traps on Mount Fuji.
“United States, California, San
Francisco” (12/16/72) – Fix enlists the aid of Native Americans and robbers to
stop Fogg as he rides on the train carrying the transcontinental railroad
golden spike.
“United States, Louisiana, New
Orleans; England” (12/23/72) – Fix attempts to keep Passepartout from becoming
King of Mardi Gras and ordering themselves a boat to England.
Gulliver’s Travels,
or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By
Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships is a
book written by Jonathan
Swift and first published in 1726. It was meant to be a satire of human
nature, English customs, politics of the day, and travelouges, and contributed
to the rise of the novel as a literary form in English.
A well-known image of Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians.
The book
was told in four parts from the first-person from the perspective of Lemuel
Gulliver, a surgeon and sea captain that travelled the world. The first part,
probably the most well-known, had Gulliver as the sole survivor of a shipwreck that
ended up in Lilliput, a land where the populace was only 6-inches tall.
Parodying the English political parties, the Tories
and Whigs,
the Lilliputians engaged in ridiculous customs and petty debates while court
positions were filled by those that were good at ridiculous feats of skill. Gulliver
is asked to help in the conflict with the empire of Blefuscu over which end of
an egg should be broken, their religious doctrine. After falling out of favor
with the Lilliputians he found a human-sized boat in Blefuscu and escaped back
to England.
Gulliver in the land of giants.
The second
voyage took him to Brobdingnag, this time populated by giants. Captured by a
farmer, Gulliver was put on exhibit and eventually purchased by their queen.
Their king, however, wasn’t quite as taken by him over his stories of England
and was horrified by Gulliver’s offer to make them projectile weapons. He was
snatched up by an eagle and rescued by normal-sized people at sea.
Gulliver spying Laputa.
The third
voyage saw him on the flying island of Laputa, whose populace were so lost in
thought they needed to be reminded to pay attention, and who loved mathematics
and music but had no practical applications for either. Visiting the continent
of Balnibarbi, the land below the island, he found the fields in ruin and
people living in squalor as the citizenry were governed by a learned academy
that spent all their time on impractical experiments; such as extracting sunbeams
from cucumbers. The island of sorcerers, Glubbdubdrib, yielded insights into
the great lies of history. Finally, he went to the kingdom of Luggnagg, whose
citizens were immortal but aged as if they were mortal, rendering them
miserable. From there, Gulliver was able to get to Japan and back to England.
The Houyhnhnms herding their Yahoos during a harvest.
The last
voyage took him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, intelligent horses who were superior
to the brutish humanoid race of Yahoos; some of whom were tamed in a twist on
the human-beast relationship. The Houyhnhnms were fascinated by Gulliver who
seemed to them to be a better version of the Yahoos, but his stories of England
led them to conclude they were just as bad as the Yahoos and that Gulliver must
leave. Upon his return to England, Gulliver decided to spurn human connections
and bought horses to converse with instead.
The first edition of the book.
The book
was first published in England by Benjamin Motte, utilizing
five printing houses for speedy production to avoid piracy. Fearing persecution
due to the book being transparently anti-Whig, he made several edits to the manuscript
without Swift’s input to soften the blow and added material defending Queen
Anne before publication. The book proved popular with the populace, although
Swift’s peers were often critical of its messages and depictions of humanity.
Naturally, members of the Whig party were offended at the mocking of their
politics. The book was reprinted in 1735 by Irish publisher George Faulkner with
Motte’s edits removed. Swift composed a “letter” from Gulliver to his cousin
Sympson complaining of Motte’s alterations to be included in the new edition,
as was a set of five Verses on Gulliver’s Travels written by Swift’s
friend, Alexander
Pope. Both versions of the book would be reprinted over the years with
additional material.
Gary with Tagg and the sinister Captain Leech.
As with
many other great works of literature that have endured over centuries, Gulliver’s
Travels has been adapted numerous times—although many put to film have
tended to focus only on the first two adventures—and there have been a wide
range of unofficial sequels and imitations. One of these efforts was made by Hanna-Barbera, loosely
borrowing the names and themes from the first adventure for an all-new animated
series. The Adventures of Gulliver followed father and son Thomas (mistakenly
called “Lemuel” by many sources, voiced by John Stephenson) and Gary Gulliver
(Jerry Dexter) as they went on a treasure-hunting voyage with their dog, Tagg (which
many sources mistakenly call “Bib”, voiced by Don Messick). However, the
sinister Captain Leech (Stephenson) also wanted the treasure and tried to steal
their map, resulting in their ship crashing on the rocks.
Our Lilliputian friends (clockwise from top): King Pomp, Flirtatica, Bunko, Eager and Glum.
Gary and
Tagg found themselves on the very island they were looking for, which turned
out to be the home of the Lilliputians—beings only 6-inches tall. After some
initial mistrust of their giant visitors, Gary’s rescuing of King Pomp
(Stephenson) put him in their good graces; particularly with Bunko (Allan
Melvin), Eager (Messick), Glum (Herb Vigran), and Flirtacia (who was never
indicated as being a princess despite many claims as such, voiced by Ginny
Tyler). As he helped protect their kingdom from assorted threats like giant
birds and other tiny people, they in turn helped him search for his father somewhere
in the perilous wilds of the island. Of course, additional danger continued to
lurk in the form of Captain Leech, pursuing Gary for the map he was initially unaware
his father hid in Tagg’s collar.
If someone doesn't end up tied down by little people, is it even a Gulliver adaptation?
The
Adventures of Gulliver debuted on ABC on
September 14, 1968. The series was written by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears,
with character designs by Alex Toth and music
by Ted Nichols. The biting
satire found in Swift’s novel was greatly reduced, if at all present, to
instead focus on fantastic adventure tales with the Lilliputians providing Hanna-Barbera’s
trademark comic relief. Further differences involved neither Gulliver being noticeably
British and being set in the present day. Although only 17 episodes were
produced, the series ran through the summer of 1970 before being integrated
into The Banana Splits and Friends Show syndicated package program. Reruns would eventually make their way to both Cartoon Network and its sister
channel, Boomerang. A decade after the
series’ production, Hanna-Barbera would return to Lilliput with a new
adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels for their anthology television series Famous Classic Tales.
This version would stick a bit closer to the book.
“Dangerous Journey” (9/14/68) – After being attacked on the
sea, Gary and Tagg end up on the island of the Lilliputians where Gary rescues
their king.
“The Valley of Time” (9/21/68) – Leech blackmails Gary for
the map by trapping him and his friends in a cave, only for them to find
another way out into a land stuck in prehistoric times.
“The Capture” (9/28/68) – Leech and Gary are conscripted by
Captain Cutler to serve as members of his pirate crew.
“The Tiny Vikings” (10/5/68) – Leech partners with a band of
tiny Vikings to help them on their raid on Lilliput if they help him get the
map.
“The Forbidden Pool” (10/12/68) – Gary and Tagg drink from a
pool that shrinks them down to Lilliputian size and must race to another to
restore themselves before it disappears at sunrise.
“The Perils of the Lilliputs” (10/19/68) – Bunko, Eager and
Glum are captured by a circus owner for his show when their ship stops on the
island for water.
“Exit Leech” (10/26/68) – Leech declares he’s leaving the
island, but returns disguised as a witch doctor to trick the Lilliputians into
giving him the map.
“Hurricane Island” (11/2/68) – Gary sets out to get an egg
his friends need for a festival while searching for his father, and Leech
watches over him believing he’s after the treasure.
“Mysterious Forest” (11/9/68) – A group of treasure-seeking
ghosts drags Gary off into the Mysterious Forest.
“Little Man of the Year” (11/16/68) – Gary offers to leave
for the duration of a contest so Eager could win “Man of the Year”, but Eager
causes a disaster that requires Gary’s help to fix.
“The Rescue” (11/23/68) – Leech captures Tagg and offers to
exchange him for the map, but with Gary gone searching his friends are left to
rescue Tagg on their own.
“The Dark Sleep” (11/30/68) – Leech attempts to slip Gary a
sleeping potion but Flirtacia takes it instead, leading the others to find the
antidote for her.
“The Runaway” (12/7/68) – When King Pomp comes across a
photo of an attractive woman Gary has, Flirtacia decides to leave the village
in a jealous rage.
“The Masquerade” (12/14/68) – Leech and an outlaw
Lilliputian gang decide they’ll acquire the map by replace the king with a
doppelganger.
“The Missing Crown” (12/21/68) – Bunko and Eager investigate
the disappearance of various items around the village, leading to the discovery
of clues that pit friend against friend.
“Gulliver’s Challenge” (12/28/68) – Gary challenges the
Black Knight to a duel for the freedom of his friends.
“The Hero” (1/4/69) – Eager becomes dejected when the others
reminisce about Gary’s heroic deeds and ends up eating a fruit that makes him
hallucinate that he is a superhero.
In the
1980s at the height of picture book sales, Scholastic
was getting a lot of requests from teachers who wanted to see more books based
on science. Then-vice president and senior editorial director Craig
Walker conceived of a concept that would combine science with fictional
stories by combining his love of field trips with memories of an eccentric
second grade teacher he had. He decided that a wacky teacher would take her
class to places they ordinarily couldn’t go in real life, opening the door for
those kids and the reader to learn about science in the process. He approached writer
Joanna Cole
and artist Bruce Degen
about bringing the series to life.
The world's introduction to Miss Frizzle.
They
accepted the task. However, at first Cole found herself struggling to find a
way to make the book funny yet informative while boiling down complicated ideas
into terms kids could understand without becoming boring. She also didn’t know
what the wild teacher, Miss Fizzle, would be like, until she finally wrote down
the first paragraph of the first book where an unnamed student of the class
(the perspective taken by all the books) conveyed her strangeness to the
reader. From there, she was able to flesh the character and her adventures out.
Degen designed the students of Frizzle’s class by thumbing through his children’s
elementary school picture books, finding a student whose look he liked, and
turning them into a caricature. From the outset, it was decided to make the
class as realistically diverse as possible; something rarely done in children’s
books at the time.
The original edition of the first book.
The first
book, The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks, was published in 1986 by
Scholastic. The book was a hit with both readers and educators, often
attributed to the way information was delivered through ideas and questions
rather than straightforward facts. Scholastic quickly ordered the next book in
the series based on that reaction. Each book took about a year to make, between
Cole’s research and writing and Degen’s drawing. They followed the exploits of
Miss Frizzle as she taught her class of 20 students by taking them and their
class pet lizard, Liz
Ard, on field trips via a magic school bus. The Bus in question was
high-tech, sentient, and anthropomorphic, and could traverse to places like
space or inside the human body, change shape and size, or become other types of
vehicles. However, it did tend to malfunction at the worst possible moments
(usually leading to a good opportunity for the students to use what they’ve
learned to get them through). 12 books in total were published in the main
series up to 2010, , with revised editions appearing frequently and a 13th
being released in 2021 after Cole
passed away. Additionally, 20 chapter books, 33 Reader Level 2 books, and
several spin-off books were produced. The Magic School Bus was Scholastic’s
best-selling franchise, selling over 93 million copies worldwide, until
it was surpassed by Harry Potter.
Miss Frizzle, Liz and the Bus with their class: Keesha, Dorothy Ann, Arnold, Wanda, Tim, Ralphie, Carlos and Phoebe.
With a
successful book series, it was only logical to take the next step and bring the
adventures to television. The Magic School Bus was developed by Kristin Laskas Martin, Alison Blank and Jane Startz and produced by
Scholastic Productions along with Nelvana
and South Carolina ETV. The producers sat
down with Cole and Degen to get their input on what made the books work in an
attempt to emulate that for the series. The character designs were lifted
directly from Degen’s artwork while being simplified for animation purposes.
Additionally, the class size was reduced from 20 to 8 children to reduce the
number of characters that would need to be animated and allow greater focus on
the children.
Character model sheet.
Joining the
eccentric and unusual Miss Fizzle (Lily Tomlin) and Liz were Arnold Perlstein
(Amos Crawley, replaced by Danny Tamberelli when his voice changed), a
seemingly cowardly and brilliant boy who typically hated the field trips but
enjoyed having Miss Frizzle as a teacher; Timothy Wright (Max Beckford, also
replaced by Andre Ottley-Lorant), the most observant and artistic in the class
that usually served as the class’s unofficial documenter; Carlos Ramon (Daniel
DeSanto), the class clown who preferred to learn by doing and loved inventing
unique devices; Dorothy Ann Hudson (Tara Meyer), the class bookworm whose bag
was usually filled with a book on just about any topic; Keesha Franklin (Erica
Luttrell), the most level-headed and realistic of the class who often dealt in
sarcasm; Ralphie Tennelli (Stuart Stone), the class athlete whose tendency to
get lost in his daydreams often put him at odds with Keesha; Wanda Li (Lisa
Yamanaka), a tomboy with an adventurous spirit who loved to face her problems
head-on; and Phoebe Terese (Maia Filar), a transfer student that often spoke
about her old school, gentle, kind and a little bit shy. Occasionally the class
was joined by Arnold’s know-it-all, conceited cousin Janet (Renessa Blitz), who enjoyed
being cruel to others and acting in her own self-interests. Like the books, the
series was set in the fictional city of Walkerville
(named after Walker) at Walkerville
Elementary School.
Just a little field trip through the blood stream. No big.
Miss Frizzle in live-action and disguise to deliver a frightful Halloween lesson.
The series
ran for four seasons and one Halloween special, which repackaged the episodes
“In the Haunted House” and “Going Batty” between new live-action material
featuring Tomlin and Tamberelli. During its run, it was nominated for several
awards including multiple Daytime Emmys,
of which Tomlin won one; two Environmental
Media Awards, winning both; a NCLR Bravo Award; and a Television Critics Association Award.
Despite this, high ratings and the continued popularity of the franchise, PBS
ultimately decided not to continue the show and instead shift their focus
towards programming for a younger demographic.
The
Magic School Bus became a tool to allow networks to fulfill their
educational requirements. Shortly after ending its run, it was acquired by FOX to air as part of the weekday Fox Kids block until its end
in 2002. Afterwards, it aired on TLC and Discovery Kids from
2003-09. In 2010, it was picked up by Qubo until 2011. In a lot of
these airings, the “Producer Says” segment was cut out to make room for more
commercials. The series became available to stream on Netflix from 2013 until 2021; with season 1
returning in 2022. It’s was also available to stream on Hoopla and for purchase
on Amazon
Prime, Google
Play and Vudu.
One of the books adapted from the series.
From
1996-99, Scholastic published a series
of books adapted from episodes of the show. Additionally, they also made
four “Fun
Kits”, which were activity books accompanied by cassettes featuring episode
audio tracks and narration by Tony
Sperry. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft published a number
of games based on a combination of the books and show through their Microsoft Home brand
from 1994-99; developed initially by Music Pen and later KnowWonder. While
Tina Marie Goff voiced Miss
Frizzle in the games, the cast from the show was retained for the students
through 1997’s Explores
the Rainforest. Between 1995-2002, numerous episodes were released onto
VHS
by KidVision and later Warner
Home Video. Warner would then release
DVD collections containing 3 episodes each from 2002-05, with Scholastic
releasing two of their own in 2006. New Video Group began
re-releasing all of those DVDs with bonus episodes in 2012, with some getting a
bonus
book included, as well as new
collections and the
complete series. In 2017, a new collection called Greatest
Original Episodeswas released containing 7 episodes.
In 2017, a sequel
series debuted called The Magic School Bus Rides Again. It was produced
by 9 Story Media Group and aired on Netflix,
with Lin-Manuel Miranda singing the
theme. The series saw Miss Frizzle (full name revealed to be Valerie Felicity
Frizzle), again voiced by Tomlin, get her Ph.D and retire from teaching. In
doing so, she handed over her class, comprised of mostly the same kids with new
actors (Phoebe was said to have gone back to her old school and she was
replaced with a new character), and the Bus’s keys to her younger sister, Miss
Fiona Felicity Frizzle (Kate
McKinnon). The younger Frizzle continued her sister’s eccentric means of
teaching the class via fanciful field trips courtesy of the Bus. Stuart Stone
returned to the series as a producer and provided additional voices, as did
Yamanaka and Crawley. Like the original series, it was a dual United States/Canadian
production and original voice director Blu also returned to handle the Los
Angeles-based talent while Alyson
Court handled the ones in Toronto. The series ran for two seasons and three
specials. As of 2020, a live-action film adaptation has
been announced with Elizabeth
Banks set to star and produce.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Gets Lost in Space” (9/10/94) – When the planetarium is
closed, Miss Frizzle takes the class to space where she ends up separated from
them and they end up lost.
“For Lunch” (9/17/94) – Arnold gets left behind from the
class field trip in order to break a school record, unaware that the field trip
is into his digestive system.
“Inside Ralphie” (9/24/94) – With Ralphie home sick and
unable to deliver his idea for Broadcast Day, Miss Fizzle decides they should
take a trip inside him to see his immune system at work.
“Gets Eaten” (10/1/94) – Arnold and Keesha forget to bring
the items they needed for their assignment and scramble to find whatever’s
available.
“Hops Home” (10/8/94) – The class helps Bella try to find
the pet frog she brought in for pet day.
“Meets the Rot Squad” (10/15/94) – The class is shrunken
down to study the effects of rotting on a log up close.
“All Dried Up” (10/22/94) – Phoebe decides to head to the
desert to ensure all the animals living there will survive.
“In the Haunted House” (10/29/94) – When the bus breaks down
the class is forced to spend the night in the creepy old sound museum.
“Gets Ready, Set, Dough” (11/5/94) – The class wants to
throw Miss Frizzle a surprise birthday party, but the bus malfunctions and
shrinks them on the way to the bakery for a cake.
“Plays Ball” (11/12/94) – Miss Frizzle backtracks to retrieve
Dorothy Ann’s physics book that was used for home plate and the class ends up
trapped on a frictionless field within it.
“Goes to Seed” (11/19/94) – The class heads to Phoebe’s old
school to pick up her plant there, but she’s worried that Miss Frizzle will
embarrass her and her old teacher.
“Gets Ants in its Pants” (11/26/94) – Keesha is directing
the class movie about ants but ends up frustrated when she can’t find one to be
the movie’s star.
“Kicks Up a Storm” (12/3/94) – When Keesha refuses to
acknowledge Ralphie as Weatherman, in his anger he creates a thunderstorm that
goes out of control.
Season 2:
“Blows Its Top” (9/9/95) – Carlos and Dorothy Ann have
conflicting notions about naming a new island that Miss Frizzle claims has yet
to be discovered.
“Flexes its Muscles” (9/16/95) – When Miss Frizzle takes the
bus to a body shop for some work, the class decides to use items they find
their to build their own robot.
“The Busasaurus” (9/23/95) – Arnold ends up taking a
fossilized egg he was shown at an archaeological dig back in time with the
class and its stolen by an Ornithomimus.
“Going Batty” (9/30/95) – Ralphie is convinced Miss Frizzle
is a vampire and plans to do something terrible to their parents when she takes
them on a field trip.
“Butterfly and the Bog Beast” (10/7/95) – The class decides
they need a new soccer mascot which prompts a trip to the swamp to investigate
a proposed “Bog Beast”.
“Wet All Over” (10/14/95) – When Arnold leaves the bus’ key
and Liz in a bathroom he forgets to turn the water off in, Miss Fizzle’s spare
key turns the bus and the class into water.
“In a Pickle” (10/21/95) – Miss Fizzle is put on trial for
allowing Keesha’s prize cucumber to be replaced by a pickle, but Miss Fizzle
takes them on a trip to prove it was really a group of microbes.
“Revving Up” (10/28/95) – The class heads inside the bus’s
engine after a vehicle maintenance inspector decides it needs to be destroyed.
“Taking Flight” (11/4/95) – Tim, Phoebe and Liz are left to
control the model airplane the class shrinks to ride inside, but end up
accidentally destroying its remote.
“Getting Energized” (11/11/95) – The class is in charge of
running the Ferris wheel at a carnival, but need to find a way to run it
without electricity.
“Out of this World” (11/18/95) – The class sets out to stop
a meteor that Dorothy Ann has discovered heading for Earth in order to prevent
her nightmare of it destroying the school.
“Cold Feet” (11/25/95) – The class goes out in search of a
missing Liz and discover Liz has ended up at a spa for reptiles.
“Ups and Downs” (12/2/95) – The class investigates reports
of a monster in the lake when the bus’s sink and float function is acting up.
Season 3:
“In a Beehive” (9/14/96) – A series of mishaps causes Wanda
and Tim to ruin a honey delivery from Tim’s grandfather’s farm and lead a bear
to the beehives.
“In the Arctic” (9/21/96) – Miss Frizzle takes the class on
a trip to the arctic where the bus’s engine freezes and it gets trapped on a
flow with Phoebe, Ralphie and Liz.
“Spins a Web” (9/28/96) – Miss Frizzle taking the class into
a movie results in the main character stealing the bus, kicking them all out
and using Liz as bait for a monster.
“Under Construction” (10/5/96) – When the class helps Wanda watch
her little brother, he accidentally shrinks them and the bus and locks them in
the bathroom.
“Gets a Bright Idea” (10/12/96) – Janet would rather go to a
magic show than the light show, but she decides to have a ghostly good time
regardless.
“Shows and Tells” (10/19/96) – Arnold brings a strange
object to the international Show and Tell show that nobody can identify.
“Makes a Rainbow” (10/26/96) – Miss Frizzle and Liz invent a
magical pinball machine that uses light and the class goes inside it to help
ensure she wins the game and gets to keep the machine.
“Goes Upstream” (11/2/96) – The class goes on a field trip
to investigate the disappearance of the salmon, but when they change their
minds they’re unable to keep the bus from migrating.
“Works Out” (11/9/96) – At the annual Teacherathalon, Miss
Fizzle is up against the impossibly buff gym teacher, Mr. Sinew.
“Gets Planted” (11/16/96) – Phoebe volunteers to make the
props for the class play of Jack and the Beanstalk but is unable to get
a good beanstalk going.
“In the Rainforest” (11/23/96) – The class heads to the
Amazon Rainforest to find out why the cocoa bean tree they got for Miss Fizzle
hasn’t produced any beans.
“Rocks and Rolls” (11/30/96) – The class is sculpting the
statute of their city’s founder via instructions he left in poem form.
“Holiday Special” (12/25/96) – When Arnold accidentally
recycles Wanda’s toy soldier, she angrily wishes recycling was never invented
and Miss Fizzle decides to grant that wish.
Season 4:
“Meets Molly Cule” (9/13/97) – The class gets to wash the
car of Wanda’s favorite singer however Wanda accidentally destroys the hood
ornament which was made of sugar.
“Cracks a Yolk” (9/20/97) – The class is tasked with
watching Mr. Ruhle’s pet chicken, but when he escapes they plan to replace him
with a new one by hatching one from an egg.
“Goes to Mussel Beach” (9/27/97) – The class is upset with
Ralphie’s choice of spot at the beach, which seems to be in the middle of the
most crowded area.
“Goes on Air” (10/4/97) – The class is upset when Keesha
brings a “jar of air” for the space capsule, but then need to use air to escape
it when Miss Fizzle gets them trapped inside.
“Gets Swamped” (10/11/97) – The class finds itself taking
the side of defending the swamplands from a building development.
“Goes Cellular” (10/18/97) – After exclusively eating
seaweed for a month, Arnold’s skin has turned orange just as he’s set to
receive a major award.
“Sees Stars” (10/25/97) – Dorothy Ann is stuck home sick on
her birthday and the class plans to get her a star, but Keesha is highly
suspect of the company selling them.
“Gains Weight” (11/1/97) – Miss Frizzle turns the bus into a
planet with adjustable gravity so Phoebe can practice slam dunking, but the
lever ends up getting stuck on heavy gravity.
“Makes a Stink” (11/8/97) – Janet is determined to win the
First Annual Smell Search and sabotages the unique smell the class developed.
“Gets Charged” (11/15/97) – The class overhears Miss Frizzle
reading a love letter and decide to fix her doorbell before her beau comes by.
“Gets Programmed” (11/22/97) – Carlos’ little brother sets
up the new computer that will run the school, but he accidentally sets it to
perform the school’s tasks every minute instead of every day.
“Takes a Dive” (11/29/97) – Miss Frizzle’s story about a
pirate relative has Keesha eager to explore the coral reef where he may have
left his treasure.
“In the City” (12/6/97) – Miss Frizzle turns the class into
animals on a trip to the zoo, but the bus runs off thinking it’s actually a
bear.
Special:
“A Magic School Bus Halloween” (10/31/95) – Three students
left alone in a museum get a lesson in fear from a sarcophagus-dwelling man
named Dauntless.
