- "We're gonna go behind the wheel of the Magic School Bus and find out just what makes the show run."
- —Malcolm Jamal-Warner, host
Behind the Wheel of the Magic School Bus is the main bonus feature of The Magic School Bus holiday special. It exclusively aired during the Special's premiere as the "Family Edition" on December 25, 1996. It is hosted by Malcolm Jamal-Warner, the voice of the in-universe producer, along with the various staff who worked on the show at the Canadian animation studio, as well as Lily Tomlin, the child actors, and the guest stars.
In 2015, about 19 years after its 1996 airdate, Behind the Wheel returned when the Family Holiday Special was uploaded to the Vimeo channel of Dolly Parton, the voice of Murph.
Episode clips[]
Opening[]
- Cold Feet - Liz hammers a fan, shot of the in-universe producer
- Under Construction - Liz scowls
- Cold Feet - Producer turns on TV; and the animation frame pauses.
- The Busasaurus - triceratops stampede
- For Lunch - Bus drives down Arnold's large intestine
- Blows Its Top - DA gets erupted
- Theme song - Prof. Frizzle pulls the lever and steps on the gas
- Theme song - Bus drives down a hill
Writer Segment[]
- Gets Lost in Space - Bus blasts off
- Opening - Come on in and don't be shy
The rest of the clips are from Under Construction, as the writers explain how they wrote the episode:
- William shrinks everyone
- "The bathroom? What're we gonna do in there?"
- Wanda hangs from the toilet seat
- Wanda successfully crosses the toilet
- Ralphie finds a gumdrop
- "And the shape is triangles! Strong!"
- Everyone crosses the gumdrop bridge, and Arnold crawls around
Nelvana Segment[]
- Taking Flight - Phoebe, Tim, and Liz turn the Bus into a Wright Flyer I, which flies over Walker Elementary
- Going Batty - Ralphie turns the kids into bats (however Liz is not shown in this clip)
- Cold Feet - The reptilian students exit Valerie/the Busigator
- Wet All Over - The cloud class merges into one big cloud
- Holiday Special - The class is introduced to Katrina Eloise Murphy
- Holiday Special - "The war against waste"
- In a Pickle (Is This the Magic School Bus?) - Liz has flipped pizza crust onto the ceiling. To get it down, she splats it onto the Producer's head.
Actor Segment[]
Students' segment[]
- Taking Flight - Arnold flies on an eagle
- In the Haunted House - "Weaselly wimps" catchphrase
- In a Pickle - "Tough questions"
Lily Tomlin's segment[]
- The Busasaurus - "He's gonna eat us!"
- The Busasaurus - Prof. Frizzle's "Studying the digestive system" catchphrase
- Spins a Web - Prof. Frizzle gets scooped up by a deinopis spider
- Holiday Special - "Ooh, what a fascinating idea!"
Transformation segments[]
When Lily Tomlin explains what it would be like to have a Magic School Bus, these scenes play. They are mostly from the part of "Spins a Web" when General Araneus transforms the Bus into many different things before eventually shrinking it and returning the kids to Walkerville.
- Gets Eaten - Bus → Dolphin
- In the Arctic - "In the Arctic" snow bus → Helicopter
- Spins a Web - Bus → Bus-Sized Snail
- Goes Upstream - Fishing boat → Salmon
- Spins a Web - Snail → Electric guitar
- In a Beehive - Bus → Bee
- Spins a Web - Bus → Pizza (except Araneus does not activate the Shrinkerscope)
- Spins a Web - "Does military intelligence know about this bus?"
Rest of Lily Tomlin's segment[]
- Makes a Rainbow - Closet door is opened
- Makes a Rainbow - Prof. Frizzle beats the pinball game
Guest star segments[]
Tony Randall[]
All of these clips are from Flexes Its Muscles:
- "Long time, no see, Valerie!"
- "My little togglebolt"
- Ralphie is introduced to the Megarriffic Introscopic Kineto-Examino Mediscope (as Tony Randall struggles to pronounce the name of the M.I.K.E. Mediscope)
Rita Moreno[]
All of these clips are from The Busasaurus:
- Prof Frizzle gives Skeledon the egg
- "Egg-xtinct" pun
- "Good yolk (joke), Ms. Frizzle!"
Paul Winfield[]
*in his interview, he teases "Making Magic".
All of these clips are from Makes a Rainbow:
- "It's Mr. Ruhle!"
- "Good morning, Arnold; where's Ms. Frizzle?"
- Arnold stalls Mr. Ruhle ("ding-ding-ding")
- Mr. Ruhle guides Arnold back to the classroom
Dolly Parton[]
All of these clips are from Holiday Special:
Video clips[]
Trivia[]
- "Goes to Mussel Beach" was teased when the Nelvana team talked about the kids as mussels and discussed an episode about ocean zones.
- Similarly, Paul Winfield (Mr. Ruhle) foreshadowed "Making Magic" when he mentioned in his part of the feature that maybe one day, Mr. Ruhle would "tag along" on a field trip with the class. In "Making Magic", he joins the class on a field trip to the sun to charge the Magic School Bus's battery (while making Ruhle think the trip is a computer simulation).