The following is a list of home-video releases of The Magic School Bus, released for the United States and Canada (NTSC and DVD Region 1).
To see video releases of the next series in this region, see List of home video releases of The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Region 1).
Warner Home Video (1995-2012)[]
VHS[]
Various individual episodes of the first three seasons of The Magic School Bus were released on VHS in English and French between 1995 and 2002. They were distributed by Warner Home Video under its KidVision division. Apart from logos and trailers, these tapes include the full opening theme, the episode, Is This The Magic School Bus, the ending funding credits, and the 1986-2021 book series promo. English closed-captioning is included on the English versions.
Some episodes that were released to video together were included in boxed collector's edition sets called "The Magic School Bus: Video Collections". Some of them were "Gets Lost in Space" and "For Lunch", "Hops Home", "Inside Ralphie", and "Gets Eaten", or "The Busasaurus", "Taking Flight", and "Flexes Its Muscles".
First wave (1995 and 1996)[]
The first wave of tapes were released in 1995 and 1996. These featured select Season 1 and Season 2 episodes, including A Magic School Bus Halloween. The 1995 releases featured a collectible postcard with information about the episode's topic. The 1996 releases did not have postcards. Tapes from this wave came with an advertisement insert for the French Toast clothing brand featuring Magic School Bus fan Lindley Mayer.
Cover Artwork | Title | Release Date | Topic | Catalogs | Postcard Artwork |
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Gets Lost in Space | February 1, 1995 | The Solar System | 51200-3
51226-3 |
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For Lunch | Digestion | 51201-3
51227-3 |
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Inside Ralphie | June 13, 1995 | Human Health | 51202-3
51228-3 |
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Hops Home | Habitats | 51203-3
51229-3 |
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Gets Eaten | Food Chains | 51204-3
51230-3 |
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Inside the Haunted House | September 12, 1995 | Sound | 51206-3
51232-3 |
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Plays Ball | February 13, 1996 | Forces and Motion | 51209-3
51235-3 |
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Goes to Seed | Seeds | 51211-3
51237-3 |
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Kicks Up a Storm | Weather | 51212-3
51238-3 |
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Blows Its Top | October 1, 1996 | Volcanoes | 51221-3
51247-3 |
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Going Batty | Bats | 51224-3
51250-3 |
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Going Batty + Inside the Haunted House | Sound and Bats | 51276-3 |
Second wave (1997-2002)[]
The second wave of videos were released from 1997 to 2002 and changed up the box-art design, which now features a "tagline" for the episode that is on the tape (example: "Take a Field Trip That's Out-of-This-World" for "Gets Lost in Space"). Select episodes were rereleased with this box art type. Episodes that were new to video in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 had a "NEW" marker on their covers. Episodes that were new to video in 2001 and 2002 did not have a "NEW" marker, similar to the represses.
Cover Artwork | Title and Tagline | Release Date | Topic | Catalogs | New release? (has "NEW" on cover) |
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Flexes Its Muscles Let's Put Every Body to Work |
April 15, 1997 | Body Mechanics | 51222-3
51248-3 |
New | |
The Busasaurus Bone Up on Prehistoric Animals |
Dinosaurs | 51223-3
51249-3 |
New | ||
Taking Flight All Aboard for Some Plane Facts |
Flight | 51216-3
51242-3 |
New | ||
Gets Lost in Space Take a Trip That's Out of This World |
July 29, 1997 | The Solar System | 51200-3 | Rerelease | |
Inside the Haunted House Sssounds Like Something Spooky's Going On Here! |
Sound | 51206-3 | Rerelease | ||
Ready, Set, Dough Chemistry—It's a Piece of Cake |
Kitchen Chemistry | 51208-3 | New | ||
Plays Ball A Homerun with Physics |
Forces | 51209-3 | Rerelease | ||
Gets Ants in Its Pants Caution—Ants at Work |
Ants | 51210-3 | New | ||
Blows Its Top Volcanoes—An Explosive Adventure |
Volcanoes | 51221-3 | Rerelease | ||
Going Batty Meet Animals with an Interesting Nightlife |
Bats | 51224-3 | Rerelease | ||
Out Of This World A Crash Course in Asteroids and Meteors |
February 17, 1998 | Space Rocks | A58106 | New | |
Getting Energized Using New Energy Sources |
Energy | A58107 | New | ||
Hops Home Looking into Nature's Own "Living Rooms" |
April 20, 1999 | Habitat | A58133 | Rerelease | |
Goes to Seed Growing Places with Plants |
Seeds | A58134 | Rerelease | ||
Kicks Up a Storm How to Become Weather-wise |
Weather | A58135 | Rerelease | ||
Butterflies! A Flurry of Exciting Winged Activity |
July 27, 1999 | Butterflies | A58136 | New | |
In a Beehive The Buzz about Bees |
Bees | A58138 | New | ||
Spins a Web The Special Ways of Spiders |
Spiders | A58139 | New | ||
Under Construction The Power of Building |
April 25, 2000 | Structures | A58146 | New | |
In the Rainforest A Tropical Paradise Adventure |
Rainforest Ecology | A58147 | New | ||
Gets Planted Helping a Tiny Sprout Grow Tall |
July 3, 2001 | Plants | A58157 | New without indicator | |
Makes a Rainbow The Secrets of Colors |
Rainbows | A58158 | New without indicator | ||
Holiday Special | October 8, 2002 | Not mentioned | A58165 | New without indicator |
Three episodes[]
On August 8, 2000, Warner released two VHS tapes featuring three episodes each: The Magic School Bus: Greatest Adventures and The Magic School Bus: Creepy, Crawly Fun!, which released on DVD in 2017 and 2002 respectively.
Image | Title | Release Date | Episodes | Catalogs | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greatest Adventures | August 8, 2000 | Gets Lost in Space, In a Pickle,The Busasaurus | A58150 | "In a Pickle" debuts on home video.
"Gets Lost in Space" and "The Busasaurus" include their funding credits, while they are cut from "In a Pickle". | |
Creepy, Crawly Fun! | In the Haunted House, Going Batty, Spins a Web | A58151 | "In the Haunted House" and "Going Batty" are separated and not presented as A Magic School Bus Halloween. |
DVD[]
Warner began releasing the first three seasons of The Magic School Bus on DVD from 2002 to 2005 when it released a DVD port of The Magic School Bus: Creepy Crawly Fun. These DVDs each have three episodes like the videos from 8/8/2000, alongside remastered versions of the VHS promos, DVD-ROM features through the Inter-Actual Player, and (not on 2004 releases) DVD menu games.
Episodes are presented in 720x480i, with 29.97 interlaced frames per second. Optional English closed captions are available (albeit internally only), and episodes are presented in American English, European French (slowed-down from the original SECAM broadcast), and Latin American Spanish.
The Warner DVD roster is the last set of releases to include the PBS funding credits and 1986-2021 book series promo. Furthermore, the 2005 discs, The Magic School Bus: Catches a Wave and The Magic School Bus Human Body, mark the final overall appearances of The Magic School Bus's PBS tags in their 11-year timeframe.
A different master is used depending on the episode:
- Gets Lost in Space, For Lunch, Inside Ralphie, In the Haunted House, Plays Ball, Gets Ants in Its Pants, Going Batty, Butterfly and the Bog Beast, and Out of This World were recorded straight from their retail VHS releases. These include the opening theme, the episode, Is This the Magic School Bus?, the PBS tags, and the book series promo.
- All Dried Up, Flexes Its Muscles, Wet All Over, Taking Flight, and Ups and Downs are presented in their Discovery Education remastered versions, which would go on to be the main prints of The Magic School Bus episodes for streaming platforms, educational sites, and future DVD releases.
- All Season 3 episodes use a mixture of the former two types. These are the digital remasters with PBS funding credits ripped from a Season 3 VHS, which are plastered in after the episode.
Image | Title | Release Date | Episodes | Catalogs | Trivia |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Creepy, Crawly Fun! | August 20, 2002 | A58164 |
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Holiday Special | October 8, 2002 | A58165 |
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Space Adventures | January 28, 2003 | A58163 |
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Super Sports Fun | September 28, 2004 | A58181 |
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Bugs, Bugs, Bugs! | A58182 |
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Human Body | September 6, 2005 | A58183 |
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Catches a Wave | A58184 |
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Scholastic Entertainment (2006)[]
DVD[]
Scholastic Entertainment released select Season 4 episodes to home video across two DVDs in 2006. The menus are styled like the Warner releases (without Liz on the episode selections), except there are no DVD bonus features, and episodes are only available in American English with no captions.
The same aspect ratio and frame rate from the Warner releases are used. Episodes are presented in their modern remastered versions.
New Video Group/Cinedigm (2012-2018)[]
DVD[]
In September 2012, New Video Group and Cinedigm began distributing The Magic School Bus on DVD. These included a new, consistent cover art style, reissues of older compilations (albeit with some episodes changed), Season 4, and digital remasters for each episode. NewVideo plasters in a Nelvana logo from the time period of these DVDs over the blue Nelvana logo, which is commonly used in the credits of The Magic School Bus. Funding is omitted.
Taglines return since being absent on the 1996-2001 VHS tapes. They are now featured on the back of the box in a speech bubble from Professor Frizzle.
Episodes are available in the same aspect ratio and frame rate as before, in American English and Latin American Spanish.
For English Season 3 episodes, voices appear on the right speaker, and the soundtrack on the left. This can be solved by switching to mono and prioritizing the left audio track (through the “Left” option on VLC), as both music and voices are heard on this track.
The Holiday Special is always presented as its version from qubo and FOX Kids.
In the NewVideo era, these episodes made their first appearances on home video: "Meets the Rot Squad", "Revving Up", "Cold Feet", "In the Arctic", "Makes a Rainbow", "Gets a Bright Idea", "Goes Upstream", "Meets Molly Cule", "Cracks a Yolk", "Goes Cellular", "Gets Charged", "Makes a Stink", "In the City", and "Gets Programmed".
Compilations[]
Individual Discs[]
Image | Name | Release Date | Episodes | Notes |
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Space Adventures Get lost in outer space. |
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Catches a Wave The water cycle never stops. Hang ten! |
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The Food Chain Cooking is chemistry! Let's get messy in the kitchen. |
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The Busasaurus Discover roaring, slithering, and swimming animals. |
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Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! Dance the Honey Bee Bop or flutter like a butterfly. |
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Super Sports Fun Get pumped up because it's time to play ball. |
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Takes a Dive Dive into oceanic and wetland adventures. |
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Super Star Power Hop aboard The Magic School Bus and become super stars. |
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Takes Flight Whoosh! Get ready to fly, glide, and hop through the air. |
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Human Body There's action, adventure, and excitement all inside the human body! Get ready for a rip-roaring field trip. |
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