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*The Bus is sometimes referred to as its current transformation. This mostly happened in the Joanna Cole books and the Science Chapter Books. However, it has happened in the television series. In "[[Cold Feet]]", the Bus was referred to as "The Busigator". |
*The Bus is sometimes referred to as its current transformation. This mostly happened in the Joanna Cole books and the Science Chapter Books. However, it has happened in the television series. In "[[Cold Feet]]", the Bus was referred to as "The Busigator". |
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* The Magic School Bus appears to be sentient, mainly due to having a face. This is further shown in [[Taking Flight]] when it gets angry at [[Liz]] for constantly making it crash when [[Tim]] and [[Phoebe Terese|Phoebe]] were trying to save the rest of the class, in [[Ride on the Magic School Bus (theme song)|the opening]] when it looked a bit scared upon seeing an octopus, and in [[Gets Lost in Space]] when it felt exhausted upon Janet overloading it with "proof" she went to all the planets of the Solar System. It is shown The Magic School Bus is incapable of talking, but it is capable of panting and coughing and the famous honking is used for talking as revealed in [[The Magic School Bus Rides Again|Rides Again]]. It's also unknown what gender The Magic School Bus is. |
* The Magic School Bus appears to be sentient, mainly due to having a face. This is further shown in [[Taking Flight]] when it gets angry at [[Liz]] for constantly making it crash when [[Tim]] and [[Phoebe Terese|Phoebe]] were trying to save the rest of the class, in [[Ride on the Magic School Bus (theme song)|the opening]] when it looked a bit scared upon seeing an octopus, and in [[Gets Lost in Space]] when it felt exhausted upon Janet overloading it with "proof" she went to all the planets of the Solar System. It is shown The Magic School Bus is incapable of talking, but it is capable of panting and coughing and the famous honking is used for talking as revealed in [[The Magic School Bus Rides Again|Rides Again]]. It's also unknown what gender The Magic School Bus is. |
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| − | * While the Bus has no gender, some of its transformations include a female hen (in [[Cracks a Yolk]]) and a female salmon. This may imply that the Bus is female. |
+ | * While the Bus has no gender, some of its transformations include a female hen (in [[Cracks a Yolk]]) and a female salmon. This may imply that the Bus is female. Especially since (in [[Gets Ready, Set, Dough]]) when the baker was chasing after the Bus with a fly swatter, Carlos shouted “Quick, set '''''her''''' down over there, Liz”!). |
* The Magic School Bus has few modifications throughout the series, which include: |
* The Magic School Bus has few modifications throughout the series, which include: |
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** 1986-2017 (Original books, Microsoft video games, 1994 TV series,) |
** 1986-2017 (Original books, Microsoft video games, 1994 TV series,) |
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Revision as of 08:40, 13 August 2020
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The Magic School Bus is the titular sentient, anthropomorphic school bus that the Frizzles' class and Liz use to go on field trips and is the main character in the series. It is most often piloted by the Frizzle sisters or Liz, but occasionally, one of the kids will take the wheel (e.g. Ralphie in "Kicks Up a Storm", "Going Batty" and him with Wanda in "Gets Lost in Space", Carlos in "Gets Ready, Set, Dough", and Tim and Phoebe in "Taking Flight") or it will take on a shape (such as an animal) that allows it to "drive" itself. It is able to change its size (which affects its passengers), shapeshift, and teleport (as seen in Rides Again).
Technical Details
Basis
The Magic School Bus is somewhat based on a 1970s Ward International bus with fender skirts on the rear wheels, the front windshield being 2 different windows, and a grille spine down the center of the grille.
Livery
The Bus' appearance in the reboot.
In the original series, the Bus was painted fully Walkerville yellow. In The Magic School Bus Rides Again, it is painted in the common North American School Bus yellow with black stripes.
Internal mechanics
It isn't very clear how the Bus works, but there are various hints. We can see how fuel gets to the engine in "Revving Up", but in "Gets Ready, Set, Dough", it is revealed that its magic comes from various devices, with the most used ones being the Shrinkerscope and the Mesmerglober, and in Rides Again, the Warp Drive, which controls the Bus' teleportation and warp-speed when traveling through space so that it doesn't take the students many years to travel between planets.
The Shrinkerscope serves mostly as an internal method of size manipulation from the Bus itself. In "Butterfly and the Bog Beast", it is revealed that there is a second size-manipulation device: the Port-a-Shrinker, which is a pink ray gun that is mainly used for shrinking someone without shrinking the Bus. When someone attempts to activate the Portashrinker when it is damp or wet, a dew-dinger alarm sounds.
The Mesmerglober controls the Bus' ability to shape-shift, changing it into various vehicles or animals at the driver's will. It is activated by a red lever on the dashboard. In "Flexes its Muscles", it is revealed that the Bus starts transforming uncontrollably if the Mesmerglober doesn't work. The Mesmerglober and the Shrinkerscope often work together to transform the Bus into animals, such as a frog in "Hops Home", a salmon in "Goes Upstream", and an eagle in "I Spy with My Animal Eyes".
In "Making Magic", it is revealed that the Bus' magic comes from a battery called the Magic Battery (or Mag-Batt), which runs on energy from the center of the Sun, as well as true courage and perseverance as revealed by Fiona Frizzle.
In the book "Inside a Hurricane", the Bus runs on "Magic Gas". This may imply the fact that the Bus is hybrid, or it got converted to use the Mag-Batt.
In "Holiday Special", it is revealed that most of the magical devices are made of plastic.
Trivia
- In official Scholastic media, the Bus's common name is capitalized (e.g., "Where will the Bus take you?")
- The bus was able to float around in lava. This may lead to the fact that the bus may be physically indestructible.
- The Bus cares deeply about its passengers, such as in "Gets Ants in Its Pants" when it was concerned about Keesha when she gave up being the director of the ant movie and ran outside the anthill in the rain.
- The Bus is sometimes referred to as its current transformation. This mostly happened in the Joanna Cole books and the Science Chapter Books. However, it has happened in the television series. In "Cold Feet", the Bus was referred to as "The Busigator".
- The Magic School Bus appears to be sentient, mainly due to having a face. This is further shown in Taking Flight when it gets angry at Liz for constantly making it crash when Tim and Phoebe were trying to save the rest of the class, in the opening when it looked a bit scared upon seeing an octopus, and in Gets Lost in Space when it felt exhausted upon Janet overloading it with "proof" she went to all the planets of the Solar System. It is shown The Magic School Bus is incapable of talking, but it is capable of panting and coughing and the famous honking is used for talking as revealed in Rides Again. It's also unknown what gender The Magic School Bus is.
- While the Bus has no gender, some of its transformations include a female hen (in Cracks a Yolk) and a female salmon. This may imply that the Bus is female. Especially since (in Gets Ready, Set, Dough) when the baker was chasing after the Bus with a fly swatter, Carlos shouted “Quick, set her down over there, Liz”!).
- The Magic School Bus has few modifications throughout the series, which include:
- 1986-2017 (Original books, Microsoft video games, 1994 TV series,)
- It had fender skirts covering its rear wheels.
- It is based on a 1970s Ward International school bus.
- 2017-present (Rides Again TV series, Rides Again books)
- Its fender skirts are removed from the rear wheels, thus revealing its rear wheels.
- An antenna and a roof hatch are added.
- On the back, it has two doors instead of one.
- Its bottom lip is a darker shade of silver than its top lip.
- Its headlight eyes turn light aqua.
- It now has one extra window on its sides.
- It is based on modern American school buses.
- The Bus's original 1986 design returns in the 2020 original-series book "Explores Human Evolution".
- The Bus has many similarities to Rocket from Little Einsteins and the UmiCar from Team Umizoomi, as they all are sentient, anthropomorphic vehicles.
- It is revealed in "Three in One" that the Frizzles built the Bus during a Gizmos that Go contest about magic.
- The Magic Motorcycle shares many similarities with the Bus.
- 1986-2017 (Original books, Microsoft video games, 1994 TV series,)
The Bus's Transformations
Throughout the books, video games, PBS series and Netflix series, the Bus has undergone various transformations throughout the series.
Original Bus (1986-2017)
Animals
Modes of Transportation
Airplanes
Other
Rebooted Bus (2017-present)
Staff
|
Professor Valerie Frizzle (professor) | Ms. Fiona Frizzle (teacher) | Mr. Ruhle (principal) | Mr. O'Neatly (teacher) | Mr. McClean (janitor) | Mr. Wilde^ (assistant principal) | Mr. Quiggin^ (librarian) |
|---|---|
Students
|
Arnold | Carlos | Dorothy Ann | Jyoti* | Keesha | |
Visited
|
Janet | Mikey |
Students Books only
|
Alex | Amanda Jane | Carmen | Florrie | Gregory | John | Molly | Phil | Rachel | Shirley | Michael |
Animals
|
Liz | Goldie |
Vehicles
|
The Magic School Bus | Sensemobile V | Professor Frizzle's Motorbike |