Season 2 of The Magic School Bus is the second season in total. It began on September 9, 1995 with "Blows Its Top" and it ended on December 2, 1995 with "Ups and Downs". It contains 13 episodes.
On October 31, 1995, the season's only special aired: A Magic School Bus Halloween, acting as a midway point for the season.
Starting in "In a Pickle," the students are in fourth grade.
Netflix (removed 2021): "In Season 2 adventures, the Magic School Bus takes Ms. Frizzle and her students on field trips to a volcanic island, to a spa for reptiles, and more."
The Complete Series: Ms. Frizzle presents the class with the missing piece to their gigantic Earth puzzle—an island that hasn't been discovered yet! Both Dorothy Ann and Carlos want to be the first to get to to name it, but when they reach the spot where it's supposed to be, all they see is the sea. It takes a run-in with an explosive underwater volcano to help them understand how the Earth makes new land.
Season 2 Activity Guide: Something's missing from the classroom globe: an island so new it hasn't been discovered yet! Where will the kids find the island? What will they name it? In their search, the kids spot a mountain underwater and dive down to the ocean floor. They squeeze between two plates of crust and discover that the mountain is an underwater volcano—and they're inside it, about to explode! They figure out that when the magma explodes into the air, it will cool and harden on top of the volcano. Eventually, the volcano's top will stick out of the water and form the new island. Now, if only Dorothy Ann and Carlos can agree on a name for the island!
The Complete Series: Because he'd rather be playing ball, Ralphie wants to build a robot to do his chores. As he and his classmates struggle to do so, they discover the importance of knowing how joints, bones, and muscles work together to help us move.
Season 2 Activity Guide: Ralphie's bored with chores, so he daydreams about building a robot to do his tasks. Before he can start, the Magic School Bus's mesmerglobber blows a gasket. At the body shop, Ralphie and the kids use spare parts to build a Ralphiebot. But the robot doesn't move! By trial and error, the kids learn that everything "hinges" on understanding how their own bodies move. They use parts that are like bones, joints, and muscles to get Ralphiebot working. But now the giant robot is out of control! Can Ralphie take Ralphiebot apart before he destroys the body shop?
The Complete Series: Ms. Frizzle takes the class to a dinosaur dig, courtesy of her old schoolmate, Dr. Carmina Skeledon. She completes this field trip by traveling back 67 million years to see what dinosaurs were really like.
Season 2 Activity Guide: Were dinosaurs the biggest, meanest animals that ever lived? To find out, the kids travel back to the Late Cretaceous period—67 million years ago. There, they see dinosaurs eat, hunt, rest, and fight. Some even take care of baby dinosaurs! The kids discover that not all dinosaurs were huge—some were as small as rabbits. And most dinosaurs weren't killers—they preferred plants to dino-burgers. But one meat eater—Tyrannosaurus rex—has a taste for a Magic School Bus sandwich! What happens when Ms. Frizzle enlarges Arnold to T-rex size? Does the Cretaceous creature drop his dinner plans?
When Ms. Frizzle invites the class' parents for a meeting to demonstrate the exciting things that their children are learning about nocturnal animals. Ralphie becomes convinced that she is a vampire. Is he right—is she a vampire and are bats a dangerous threat to their parents? How does she overcome his bad bat rap?
It's time for the big soccer game and the class needs a new mascot, fast! But when Phoebe suggests "The Butterflies", the others say no way. So it's off to the swamp in search of the mysterious creature known as the Bog Beast. But when the Porta-Shrinker zaps the class to bug-size, they discover the swamp's most truly exciting beast, as they learn there's no surprise...like butterflies!
The class turns into water and takes a wild ride through the water cycle—evaporating, condensing, raining, running downhill into a river, and then all over again. Arnold, wet and worried that they will be stuck in the water cycle forever, suggests they escape back to school by a detour to the reservoir. By traveling through the waterworks and town pipes, Arnold hopes they'll find their way back to school. But he's not quite prepared for the trip's conclusion: being spewed out of the faucet in the girls' bathroom!
Keesha's prize cucumber was stolen and replaced with a smelly old pickle! Ms. Frizzle says a tiny group of troublemakers known as the Mike Robe Gang is responsible, and takes the class for a visit into the teeny tiny world of microbes.
The school district's vehicle maintenance inspector, Mr. Junkett, is about to condemn the bus! When Ms. Frizzle persuades him to take a test drive with her and the class, the engine stalls. Determined to save the bus at any cost, the class heads into its fuel tank and learns how engines work. But can they save it?
Ms. Frizzle, under the alter-ego "Dauntless", guides students Richie, Howard, and Katie through an old, haunted museum, telling stories about her famous field trips along the way.
After Wanda asks how things fly, the class is shrunk inside Tim's model airplane. In a series of high-flying adventures, they personally discover how wings and moving air cause flight.
The class' Ferris Wheel is about to cause them big trouble unless they find a way to power it. Carlos' younger brother, Mikey, electrifies the crowd after he plugs into a powerhouse of alternative energy sources.
After Dorothy Ann sees an asteroid on a crash course toward the school, the class blasts into space. They discover comets and meteors—but will they be able to divert the asteroid and save the day?
The class discovers that Liz is missing, having gone off to a mysterious place called Herp Haven. Why has she left them? Thinking she's in trouble, they rush there, where they transform into reptiles in order to get past Harry Herpst, the proprietor. Now reptilian, they learn what it means to be cold-blooded.
A monster is sighted in Walker Lake! Wanda wants to be the first one to see it, but the bus refuses to sink. Meanwhile, Gerri Poveri, a TV reporter who needs to find it to boost her sinking ratings, wants Wanda out of the way.
This season is produced in a higher quality than the previous, as shown by a brighter and more vibrant color scheme
This is the first season to be produced by Vince Commisso, and the first with Kristin Laskas Martin as one of the executive producers, but only for the live-action parts of A Magic School Bus Halloween.
This is the first season to be directed by Charles E. Bastien.
This is also the only one to be directed by Hugh Martin. He worked on the main live-action storyline for A Magic School Bus Halloween.
Some of the characters' appearances have been tweaked in this season (Dorothy Ann's and Keesha's eyes are smaller).
Amos Crawley only called the producer once in this season as opposed to the many times in Season 1. He called him in "Going Batty".
A few students' last names are revealed this season.
Arnold's is Perlstein.
Carlos' is Ramón.
Keesha's is Franklin.
Starting with this season, the actors of callers on Is This the Magic School Bus? and the voices of background characters are credited in the cast listing.
Throughout this season, Carlos' and Ralphie's voices were deepening due to their voice actors going through puberty at the time of production.
This is the second and last season of the 4 in the original TV series where the Lost in the Solar System book appears in the book promo. In the finaltwo seasons, it does not appear.
"Going Batty" and "In a Pickle" failed to credit Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Viewers Like You in their original broadcast versions (and VHS videos) and used the Season 1funding credits.
However, when shown in reruns on PBS until September 25, 1998, both of these episodes used the Season 4 funding credits. Because the funding credits --from Season 4-- was also used on reruns until September 25, 1998.
Because of this, "Going Batty" and "In a Pickle" (like all other episodes on reruns through the PBS lineup) used the Season 4 funding credits. That is National Science Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Viewers Like You.
