The Magic School Bus (TV series)

infobox Television
show_name = The Magic School Bus


caption = The Magic School Bus as seen in the show's opening sequence.
format = Children's television series
creator = Joanna Cole
Bruce Degan
starring = Lily Tomlin (Ms. Frizzle)
Frank Welker (Liz)
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 = CAN
USA
num_episodes = 52
list_episodes = List of The Magic School Bus episodes
runtime = approx. 0:30 (per episode)
network = PBS
first_aired = September 11, 1994
last_aired = December 6, 1997
imdb_id = 0108847
tv_com_id = 1352

"The Magic School Bus" is a children's television series based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole.

Premise

Like the books they are based on, "The Magic School Bus" features the exploits of Ms. Frizzle and her class of eight children (in the original books, the class population was of a more normal, larger size of nineteen) who board a magical school bus which takes them on field trips into the solar system, under the Earth, into the human body, or to other such impossible locations. The books were written in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed student in "the Friz's" class.

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 books' television adaptation, 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.

Production and airing

On September 11, 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 (USA-Canada). 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 be aired on PBS. The last episode was released on December 6, 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.

"The Magic School Bus" is currently shown on TLC and Discovery Kids in the U.S., TVOntario and the Knowledge in Canada and Pop in the United Kingdom, with no plans to make more episodes.

The show's theme song called "Ride on the Magic School Bus" was written by Peter Lurye and performed by rock 'n' roll legend Little Richard.

The television series was released on VHS by KidVision between 1994 and 1997 and by PBS Home Video between 1997 and 2001, and is currently being released on DVD by Warner Bros.. The funding credits are retained on these DVDs, but the 1993 PBS Kids ident is not.

When "The Magic School Bus" was premiered on other U.S. TV channels, the opening song was shortened to one line, which was "Ride on the magic school bus". After which Lionel Richie sang "oh-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-YAAAAAA"

Characters

Main characters

The class is more than likely in the third grade, as Dorothy Ann celebrated her 9th birthday in "The Magic School Bus Sees Stars", making the class 8 and 9 years old. In the computer game "The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals", Phoebe mentions that the class is in the third grade.

; Valerie Felicity Frizzle: Voiced by Lily Tomlin, a teacher at Walkerville Elementary. She is normally referred to as Ms. Frizzle, but her students sometimes call her "the Friz." She has red hair and wacky clothes and is usually described as being weird. Her clothing matches the subject of each adventure. Her earrings glow when they're about to have a field trip. In the original books, Ms. Frizzle's dress at the end usually gave a clue as to what the next book was about. In the last book, her dress at the end is covered with question marks. Her catchphrase is "Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!"

; Liz: a class pet lizard that goes on most of the field trips with Ms. Frizzle and the students, often getting herself into a dangerous comedic situation. She also appears to get jealous of the bus, when it is given more attention than herself.

; Arnold Matthew Perlstein: Voiced by Danny Tamberelli, a unique member of Ms. Frizzle's class, in that he is the only one who doesn't enjoy the field trips, but in the episode "The Magic School Bus All Dried Up", he is seen with a desert kit along with a field trip guide and a first aid kit. He is seen as something of a wimp, but he is actually smarter and braver than given credit for. In the episode "The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells", he mentions that his great-aunt is the famous archeologist and parody of the film character Indiana Jones, Arizona Joan. Another interesting point is that, in spite of his dislike of Ms. Frizzle's wacky field trips, he is on several occasions fiercely loyal to the teacher herself, as in "The Magic School Bus Lost in Space" where he defends her to his cousin Janet. His middle name Matthew is revealed in the book "Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Medieval Castle", and his catchphrase is "I knew I should have stayed home today." In a 2006 interview, Degan stated that Arnold was loosely based on himself.

; Carlos Ramon: Voiced by Daniel DeSanto, a class clown, is always making a pun or joke about the situation the class is in. Carlos is a hands-on learner, preferring to invent different devices, such as an instrument or rain catcher, rather than learn from a book. After telling a joke, Carlos utters the closest thing he has to a catchphrase: "Get it?" to which the rest of the class utters in annoyance, "CARLOS!"

; Dorothy Ann: Voiced by Tara Meyer, 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. She usually wears her hair in pigtails. As in one episode, her hair was in pigtails, but with no tie. 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: Voiced by Erica Luttrell, Keesha is considered to be 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 catchphrases include "Oh, bad! Oh, bad! Oh, bad, bad, bad!" and "Let me get the facts..." She is the only person to participate in every single field trip.

; Phoebe Terese: Voiced by Maia Filar, 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, her biggest fear being revealed as stage fright in the episode "The Magic School Bus Gets Planted". Phoebe is an animal activist, and in the episode "The Magic School Bus The Busasaurus", it is hinted she has a crush on Arnold. Her catchphrase is "At my old school...," usually phrased in some way to point out how unusual their field trips are.

; Ralphie Tennelli: Voiced by Stuart Stone the class athlete. Whilst in class, he likes to daydream. He plays a lot of sports: (soccer, basketball, hockey, and baseball are his favourites). Ralphie is of Italian descent, once mentioning that 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. Ralphie's voice went through a drastic change because Stuart Stone was going through puberty at the time. His catchphrase is "Is it just me...?"

; Tim: Voiced by Andre Ottley-Lorant, 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 bumblebee farm outside of Walkerville, and as a small job he delivers the honey at the start of winter. Like Dorothy Ann, his last name is never mentioned in canon. Tim is quite level-headed, as demonstrated by his flat-top haircut. Tim's catchphrase is "We've been Frizzled!" and variants thereof.

; Wanda Li: Voiced by Lisa Yamanaka, 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. She has several catchphrases, primarily: "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? What are we going to do?", "Come on, you weasly wimps!", and "Yawn burger with a side of snores".

; The Bus: While normally the bus is completely under Ms. Frizzle's control, there are certain episodes where the bus exhibits independent, even irrational, behavior: in the Magic School Bus Holiday Special, the bus dissasembles itself into raw materials (while scowling), after having done so to several other structures. It is interesting to note that some of the bus' technologies also have specific names. For example, the device that allows the bus to shapeshift is called the Mesmerglober, and the device that allows it to change size is called the Shrinkerscope. It should be noted that the bus was very small in most depictions of it, consisting of only four sets of windows, which is a common characteristic of the short bus. The bus has only one cylinder to transport 8 kids. (Seen in the episode with Mr. Junket)

Recurring or one-time characters

; Janet: Voiced by Renessa Blitz, Arnold's bossy, know-it-all cousin is not really popular with the rest of the class. She looks very similar to Arnold, by dressing the same way as he does only her shirt has a blue "J" on the side and wearing pink glasses. Janet usually tries to sabotage the class in some way to gain something for herself. 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. She made six appearances in the series.

; Mikey Ramon: Carlos's youngerFact|date=March 2008, paraplegic brother who is a mechanical and computer whiz. No more than two or so years youngerFact|date=March 2008 than Carlos, the brothers seem close, Carlos calling him when the class needs help with something mechanical. Mikey tends to be a know-it-all much to the annoyance of his brother's classmates. He usually thinks he's better then everyone else because of his superior intelligence.

; Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy: Voiced by 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: Voiced by Wynonna Judd, a 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: Voiced by the late 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: Voiced by 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".

; Inspectors: These are seen in "The Magic School Bus In The Rainforest". The ones that are mentioned are Inspectors 1, 22 and 46. The most seen was Inspector 47, who covered the rainforest with artificial turf. Inspector 47 is voiced by Matt Frewer.

; Radius Ulna Humerus: Voiced by the late Tony Randall, Ms. Frizzle's mechanic who appeared in "The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles" and provided the M.I.K.E. to help the kids build RalphieBot. He insists on being called RU.

; Mr. Sinew: A strong, bodybuilding teacher at Walkerville Elementary who is Ms. Frizzle's toughest competition in a triathlon event.

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 Designer: Andrew Hickson
* Production Manager: Ruta Cube
* Production Supervisor: Steve Chadwick
* Production Assistants: Mia Katon, Stephanie Kravos, Carmina Marcial, Caroline Simmons
* 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
* Layout Supervisor:
* Design Supervisor: Andrew Hickson
* 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
* Key Animators: Shane Doyle, Bill Giggle, Dennis Gonzalez, Lynn Reist, Eva Smith, Gerry Fournier, Paul Riley, Alan Knappett, Jan Tillcock
* Background Artist: Michael Hitchcox
* Lip Sync: Steve Fifth
* Timing Directors: Daye Cox,
* Color Stylists: Rebecca Barclay, Jennifer Lee, Nasrim Monem
* Paint Supervisor: Mary Bertoia
* Dialogue Editors: Steve Shelski, Keith Traver
* Science Content Coordinators: Bryan Bleil, Norman Kagan
* Science Content Director: Michael Templeton
* Associate Content Director: Frances Nankin
* Voice Recording: Mark DeSimone
* Sound Designers: Dow McKeever, Marsha Moore
* Supervising Sound Editors: Steven Cole, Mac Holyoke
* Re-Recording Mixers: Andy Koyama, Brad Zoern
* Music by: Peter Lurye
* 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
* Special Thanks to: Andrew diSessa, Paul Horwitz, Sandra Jenoure

Fundings

* United States Department of Energy (1994-1996)
* The Carnegie Corporation of New York (1994-1997)
* National Science Foundation (1994-1997)
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting (1994-1996)
* Viewers Like You (1994-1997)
* Microsoft (1994-1997) (Microsoft Home in Seasons 1 and 2, then changed to Microsoft in Season 3)

External links

* [http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/home.htm Official site]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2C43akxXBU "Magic School Bus" opening sequence] on YouTube