"Ride on the Magic School Bus" is the theme song of the Magic School Bus franchise, written by Peter Lurye. Since its debut as the opening to The Magic School Bus (1994), it has been used as a Leitmotif in the soundtrack and become heavily associated with the franchise. It has even been used outside the TV canon, like the games.
Its first arrangement, performed by Little Richard, debuted as the opening and ending theme for The Magic School Bus (1994). It is also heard in the opening movies for the games. Little Richard’s version of the theme song was animated by Hanho Heung-Up, the studio behind the entire original run.
Its second arrangement, performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the opening and ending theme for The Magic School Bus Rides Again. The Season 1 + 2 version was animated in-house at 9Story, while the Season 3 version (the credits stills) was animated by Brown Bag Films.
In the first teaser trailer for The Magic School Bus: Mighty Explorers, Albie can be heard humming the opening bars of the song while driving around before knocking into the fourth wall and later introducing itself to the viewers. While it is present in Mighty Explorers material, It is unknown if a version of this will be the theme to this series.
Lyrics
These are the English lyrics to the song. For other languages, see Ride on the Magic School Bus/International lyrics (The Magic School Bus) and Ride on the Magic School Bus/International lyrics (The Magic School Bus Rides Again).
The Magic School Bus
Valerie Frizzle: Seatbelts, everyone!
Arnold: Please, let this be a normal field trip.
Wanda: With the Frizz?
Students: No way!
Arnold: Oh…
Cruisin’ on down Main Street
You’re relaxed and feelin’ good (Yeah)
Next thing that you know, you’re seein’…
Valerie Frizzle: Wa-ha-ha-hoo!!
All: An octopus in the neighborhood?!
Surfin’ on a sound wave
Swingin’ through the stars (Keesha: Yee-ha!)
Take a left at your intestine
Take your second right past Mars
On the Magic School Bus
Navigate a nostril (Ralphie: Achoo!)
Climb on the Magic School Bus
Spank a plankton, too (Wanda: Take that!)
On our Magic School Bus
Raft a river of lava
On the Magic School Bus
Such a fine thing to do! (Class: Whoa!)
(Key change)
So, strap your bones right to the seat
Come on in and don’t be shy (Come on)
Just to make your day complete,
you might get baked into a pie
On the Magic School Bus
Step inside; it’s a wilder ride!
Come on!
Surfin’ on a sound wave
Swingin’ through the stars (Keesha: Yee-ha!)
Take a left at your intestine
Take your second right past Mars
On the Magic School Bus
Navigate a nostril (Ralphie: Achoo!)
Climb on the Magic School Bus
Spank a plankton, too (Wanda: Take that!)
On our Magic School Bus
Raft a river of lava
On the Magic School Bus
Such a fine thing to do! (Class: Whoa!)
So, strap your bones right to the seat
Come on in and don’t be shy (Come on)
Just to make your day complete,
you might get baked into a pie
On the Magic School Bus
Step inside; it’s a wilder ride!
Come on!
Cruisin’ on down Main Street
You’re relaxed and feelin’ good (yeah)
Next thing that you know, you’re seein’…
Valerie Frizzle: Wa-ha-ha-hoo!!
All: An octopus in the neighborhood?!
Surfin’ on a sound wave
Swingin’ through the stars (Keesha: Yee-ha!)
Take a left at your intestine
Take your second right past Mars
On the Magic School Bus
Navigate a nostril (Ralphie: Achoo!)
Climb on the Magic School Bus
Spank a plankton, too (Wanda: Take that!)
On our Magic School Bus
Raft a river of lava
The Magic School Bus Rides Again
Fiona Frizzle: Seatbelts, everyone!
Arnold: Please, let this be a normal field trip.
Dorothy Ann: With the Frizz?
Students: No way!
Arnold: Oh…
Cruisin’ on down Main Street
You’re relaxed and feelin’ good (Uh!)
Next thing that you know, you’re seein’…
Fiona Frizzle: Whoo-hoo!
What? Octopus in the neighborhood!
Surfin’ on a sound wave
Swingin’ through the stars (Keesha: Yee-ha!)
Take a left at your intestine
Take your second right past Mars
On the Magic School Bus
Navigate a nostril (Carlos: Achoo!)
Climb on the Magic School Bus
Spank a plankton, too (Jyoti: Take that!)
On our Magic School Bus
Raft a river of lava
On the Magic School Bus
Such a fine thing to do! (Class: Whoa!)
So, strap your bones right to the seat
Come on in and don’t be shy
Just to make your day complete,
you might get baked into a pie
On the Magic School Bus
Step in, step in! Step inside; it’s a wilder ride!
Come on!
Ms. Frizzle: Class, as my big sister always says: “Bus, do your stuff!”
Cruisin’ on down Main Street
You’re relaxed and feelin’ good (Uh!)
Next thing that you know, you’re seein’…
Fiona Frizzle: Whoo-hoo!
Class: A monster! *Note: Lin-Manuel and the class sing “What…octopus in the neighborhood?” while this line of dialogue plays. This is more audible in other languages.
Ms. Frizzle: I love it!
Surfin’ on a sound wave (Class: Whoa!)
Swingin’ through the stars (Jyoti: Awesome!)
Take a left at your intestine (Class: Aah!)
Take your second right past Mars
On the Magic School Bus
Ralphie: Let’s do this!
Ms. Frizzle: I wonder what this one does.
Climb on the Magic School Bus
Dorothy Ann: A whole new world’s out there just waiting to be discovered!
On our Magic School Bus
Raft a river of lava
On the Magic School Bus
Arnold: I’m pretty sure this wasn’t on my permission slip.
So, strap your bones right to the seat
Come on in and don’t be shy
Just to make your day complete,
you might get baked into a pie
On the Magic School Bus
Ms. Frizzle: I am on a ROLL today!
Keesha: Let’s go again!
Come on!
Ride on the Magic School Bus!
Trivia
- Most of the original series' closed captions (both the closed captions from VHS, TV, and digital and the SDH subtitles from Peacock) render the word "Friz" as "Frizz" (the double-Z spelling wouldn't become official until the episode, The Frizz Connection). In the DCMP captions, it says "Friz".
- In the Rides Again version, most of the scenes are ripped directly from "Monster Power", "The Magnetic Mambo", "Carlos Gets the Sneezes", and "The Tales Glaciers Tell".
- In the main Italian dub of the original series, Allacciate le cinture! Viaggiando s'impara! by Deneb Films, a different theme song is used. In the Italian dub of Rides Again, Ride on the Magic School Bus is translated instead.
- Shots of the theme in the Brown Bag art style are used as the end credits of the Joanna Cole specials.
- Each version of the intro has an arrangement where the melody is played over the instrumental with an electric guitar.
- The MSB '94 guitar theme debuted in the Season 1 VHS trailers from 1995, later appearing in the credits of "A Magic School Bus Halloween" the same year, Region 1 DVD menus (particularly the Warner MSB '94 releases, though sped up and played once in the NewVideo releases), future physical media trailers and TV promos from the channel-hopping days; the credits for the 1996 Family Holiday Special, and the credits for the FOX Kids/qubo prints of the first 52 episodes. This version of the guitar theme last appeared in the 2017 DVD port of The Magic School Bus: Greatest Adventures/Greatest Classic Episodes, originally released on VHS in 2000.
- The Rides Again guitar theme debuted in the credits for "Frizzle of the Future" and has since been used throughout the entirety of the next 26 episodes before being replaced by the full, sung intro in the third season. The guitar theme has also been used in promos for the series and the menus to the N Circle Rides Again Region 1 DVDs. This version of the guitar theme phased out in the third (seventh) season.
- For the 9 Story opening sequence, the Bus' parachute and raft are orange in the sequence, and yellow in "Monster Power".
- In most dubs of Rides Again that are not English, the "Octopus in the neighborhood" line is sung rather than spoken. The melody that it is sung in stays the same throughout each dub.
- An instrumental version of the theme (without guitar) plays in the Learning Channel (TLC) airings and some dubs, like Latin American Spanish (El Autobús Mágico), during the original end credits.
- On the PAL version of the song in the original series, due to some kind of error in the PAL speeding-up process, the music is slightly louder than the voices, and there is a slight delay on both tracks.
Differences between versions
- In the original version, the biggest difference is that Wanda says "with the Friz?". In the Rides Again version, Dorothy Ann instead says the line, probably due to her absence in the original "no way!" (she was in fact not seen until 16 seconds later in the MSB sequence).
- In the MSB opening sequence, the kids are saying "Yeah!". In the Rides Again sequences, they say "Uh!".
- During the line "Navigate a nostril", Ralphie sneezes in the original version. Carlos sneezes in the Rides Again version (probably due to them sneezing in their titular episodes).
- During the line "Surfin' on a soundwave", Liz spins a turntable in both the 9 Story and Brown Bag versions of the RA opening, and a rock musician plays an electric guitar in the original sequence.
- In the MSB sequence, Wanda says "Take that!". In both Rides Again versions, Jyoti says it instead.
- In the Rides Again version, the lines "Strap your bones right to the seat/come on in and don't be shy" have a alternate melody than in the original version.
- In the original, Tim says "C'mon". In the Rides Again version, like foreign dubs of the original series which use the English theme, his line is not added in the theme.
- During the line, "You might get baked into a pie", the Bus comes out from the baker's pie in the Nelvana sequence, from a school secretary's pie in the 9 Story sequence, and from Angela Franklin in the kitchen at Keesha’s house in the Brown Bag sequence.
- In the original series, a title card appears at the end of the theme song that reads the episode's title. Title cards for the episodes never appear in Rides Again. However, in the Greek dub of Rides Again, an announcer reads the episode title.
- In the Nelvana sequence, as the Bus pulls up to pick up the class, Wanda is not at the bus stop with her classmates because she is already on the Bus. Wanda hasn't been picked up yet in the 9 Story version, so the whole class can be at the bus stop.
- The bus stops are also different. In the Nelvana version, it's in front of Walkerville Elementary School, while in the 9 Story version, it's in a neighborhood.
Errors
The Magic School Bus (Nelvana sequence)
- When Professor Frizzle is driving into the ocean, the Bus' tires change colors slightly.
- When the professor pulls the Mesmerglober in the Bus, Ralphie is shown in the background.
- When the close up of the Bus is shown during the line "Next thing that you know, you'll see an octopus in the neighborhood", Ralphie is never inside. In fact, only Arnold, Phoebe, and Keesha are on the Bus, the rest of the class is not there.
- During the line "Navigate a nostril", the Bus' back wheel flickers when it is up Ralphie's nose. This is due to the wheel's being missing in a few frames, and then visible in the next.
- During the line "Surfing on a sound wave", Carlos is missing in one frame.
The Magic School Bus Rides Again (9 Story sequence)
The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Brown Bag sequence)
- Despite Dorothy Ann's saying "With the Frizz?" in this sequence, which also uses Lin-Manuel Miranda's recording of the theme, the subtitles for "Kids in Space" and "In the Zone" erroneously credit Jyoti for saying the line. However, her "take that" is unchanged in those episodes.
| TMSB | Ride on the Magic School Bus · An Old, Dead Log · High-Dee High, Low-Dee Low · The Fountain in the Park · It Ain’t Gonna rain no more · Wings · Air-oh-Air Has My Little Class Gone? · 12 Days of Recycling · Our Favorite Magic Bus · O Here We Come Recycling · Ladle · The Gift That Keeps on Giving · Clean, Clean, Clean · Down to the Very Last Bit · Sugar and Water · Air · Seaweedies Jingle · Can You Squeeze a Stardust Cloud into a Star |
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| TMSBRA | Ride on the Magic School Bus · Plants Talk · Oh, What a Beautiful Orchid · Brown Gold Song · Pookadumpadoody · Waste Not, Want Not · Following Waste · What The Orchid Prefers · The Nutrient Cycle of Life · Hangin' with the Frizz · One Time Only · Time Zones · Time to Go · No Better Time to Fly · In the Zone · Our Time Has Just Begun · The Best Times · They Needed Time Zones · Research Stations |