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The Magic School Bus (TV series)

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For the book series on which this was based, see The Magic School Bus (book series).
For the Bus itself, see The Magic School Bus.


Scholastic's The Magic School Bus (simplified to The Magic School Bus, The Magic School Bus Classic in the Rides Again era, or currently and simply as the Original Series by MSB fans) is an animated edutainment television series conceptualized by Deborah Forte and based on Joanna Cole’s book series of the same name. It was originally broadcast on PBS from September 10, 1994 to December 6, 1997 on several PBS stations across the United States as part of the PTV Park block (prior to PBS KIDS). The show's opening theme, "Ride on the Magic School Bus," was performed by the late Little Richard and composed by Peter Lurye based in New York City. It was originally produced/storyboarded at Canada-based animation and production studio, Nelvana Limited, with animation production services provided by Hanho Heung-Up, Ltd based in Seoul, South Korea. It was succeeded by The Magic School Bus Rides Again in 2017 and was further succeeded by The Magic School Bus: Mighty Explorers on a to-be-determined date.

On FrizzPedia, anything related to The Magic School Bus (1994) and its marketing era is denoted by the abbreviation ''MSB''.

With the Rides Again era, the rights are now owned by NBCUniversal, 9 Story Media Group, and Brown Bag Films, the companies behind its successor. Beginning with this era, it has adopted a new name titled: The Magic School Bus Classic[1], to distinguish it from being called the original series as a whole.

It is the predecessor to The Magic School Bus Rides Again.

Premise[]

Based on the books it's based on, the animated television adaptation centers on the lives of Ms. Frizzle and her class of eight students[2] who board their titular school bus, which takes them on field trips to the solar system, inside the Earth, and inside the human body, and any impossible locations they try to reach.

While the books present the scientific facts in the form of stories in which fantastic things happen (for example, a bus turns into a spaceship, or children shrink to the size of blood cells), each has a page at the end detailing in a humorous manner which parts of it represented scientific fact and which were inventive storytelling. In the show, this was replaced by the Producer Says segment at the end of each episode, in which the producer (voiced by Malcolm-Jamal Warner) receives phone calls from viewers about how some things that happened on the show and could not happen in reality.

Production[]

In early 1993, the concept of The Magic School Bus was made into an animated series of the same name by Canadian animation and production company Nelvana and book/entertainment company Scholastic. Headed by the Scholastic TV executive producer Deborah Forte, she explained that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids "learn about science in a fun way". Each episode ran for about 30 minutes (including funding credits). In the United States, it originally premiered on PBS, via the SCETV network; it was the first fully animated series to be done so by the network service. On September 26, 1998, reruns of the series were ended due to PBS demanding more shows aimed towards younger children and moved to Fox Kids in Fall 1998 until 2002. 20 years later after the original series ended, Netflix released it's sequel with Canada-based 9 Story Media Group.

Broadcast and home media[]

In the United States, PBS aired it in 1994 until 1997 of the series.

Fox Kids aired the show as a promotion for the show with the episode, "Inside Ralphie" in the same day. The network acquired the rights to the show from PBS on October 1998 and it ran on there until September 2002.

The show was also shown on TLC and Discovery Kids from 2003-2008 and 2004-2009 respectively. The 24-hour Qubo channel picked up the series in Fall 2010 until 2012. According to the website, it no longer airs on the channel or any Qubo block.

When the show is syndicated on international networks, the Producer Says segment is edited out to make room for commercials. The segments are only seen when the series is shown on non-commercial networks (e.g. Fox Kids) and children's networks (commercial breaks are shorter).

All 4 Seasons streamed on Netflix from 2013 to May 19, 2021[3]. As of May 19, 2021, Season 1 is only available on Netflix, The entire show was going to be removed from Netflix, but however, Netflix decided to keep the show but Seasons 2-4 were removed from Netflix, only leaving Season 1 on Netflix. Instead of being at 640×480 pixels like the DVDs, other streaming services, and VHS, it is downscaled to 576×432.

The show was released on VHS by KidVision Video between 1995 to 2004, and on Region 1 DVDs by Warner Bros. from 2002 to 2011. In 2012, New Video picked up home entertainment rights to distribute Region 1 DVDs, including an entire series set. In the home video and DVD releases, all the episodes are uncut with the Producer Says segments intact.

Cast[]

Main Characters[]

Recurring and One-Time Characters[]

Seasons[4][]

Specials[]

Credits[]

  • Executive Producers: Jane Startz, Kristin Laskas Martin, Alison Blank, Deborah Forte, Robin Grey, Marty Keitz
  • For Nelvana Ltd: Patrick Loubert, Clive A. Smith, Michael Hirsh
  • Directed by: Charles E. Bastien, Lawrence Jacobs
  • Produced by: Hasmi Giakoumis
  • Supervising Producers: Stephen Hodgins, Kristin Laskas Martin
  • Coordinating Producers: Patricia R. Burns, Karen Stevens
  • Associate Producer: Steve Schmer
  • Assistant Producers: Steve Schmer, John Van Bruggen
  • Production Designer: Andrew Hickson
  • Production Manager: Ruta Cube
  • Production Supervisor: Steve Chadwick
  • Production Assistants: Mia Katoh, Stephanie Kravos, Carmina Marcial, Caroline Simmons
  • Unit Manager: Tyler Baylis
  • Unit Director: Colen Sylvester
  • Executives in Charge of Production: Marty Keitz, Deborah Forte
  • Coordinators: Patty Beausoial (design), Asha Damiera (production), Rick Dubiel (pre-production), Bryan Biell (science content), Aidan Closs (layout), Norman Kagan (science research), Erika Strobel (script), Laurie Towals (storyboard)
  • Assistant Directors: Jocelyn Hamilton, Paul Bouchard, Scott Glynn
  • Casting Director: Jessie Thomson
  • Voice Direction: Susan Blu
  • Storyboard Artists: Alan Bunce, Gerry Chappelle, Jim Caswell, John Flagg, Alex Gatsis, Andrea Robbins, Bob Smith, Andrew Tan
  • Storyboard Consultant: Yvette Kaplan
  • Illustrations: Bruce Degan
  • Layout Artists: Blayne Burnside, Ted Collyer, Suzanne Dargie, Michael Daze, Stefanie Gignac, Brad Graham, Chad Hicks, John Hill, Kevin Klis, John Lei, Jeff Lyons, Mary Lyons, Brad Markewitz, Chris Minz, Mike Nichols, Brian Poeniman, Frank Ramierz, Terry Rotsaert, Rob Sadler, Fred M. Walmot, Alfee Yepp
  • Layout Supervisor:
  • Design Supervisor: Andrew Hickson
  • Designers: Scott Bennett, David Boudreau, Ross Campbell, Trevor Davies, Steve Daye, Kevin Fraser, Brad Goodchild, Joe Gosselin, Niall Johnston, Richard Livingston, Stephen Wood, Steve Manning, Leif Norheim, Derek Prout, Richard Weston
  • Key Animators: Shane Doyle, Bill Giggle, Dennis Gonzalez, Lynn Reist, Eva Smith, Gerry Fournier, Paul Riley, Alan Knappett, Jan Tillcock
  • Background Artist: Michael Hitchcox
  • Lip Sync: Steve Fifth
  • Timing Directors: Dave Cox,
  • Color Stylists: Rebecca Barclay, Jennifer Lee, Nasrim Monem
  • Paint Supervisor: Mary Bertoia
  • Dialogue Editors: Steve Shelski, Keith Traver
  • Science Content Coordinators: Bryan Bleil, Norman Kagan
  • Science Content Director: Michael Templeton
  • Associate Content Director: Frances Nankin
  • Voice Recording: Mark DeSimone
  • Sound Designers: Dow McKeever, Marsha Moore
  • Supervising Sound Editors: Steven Cole, Mac Holyoke
  • Re-Recording Mixers: Andy Koyama, Brad Zoern
  • Music by: Peter Lurye
  • Theme Song (Ride on the Magic School Bus): written by Peter Lurye and performed by Little Richard, Lily Tomlin, Amos Crawley, and Lisa Yamanaka
  • Assistant Editors: David Axelrad
  • Picture Editors: Richard Bond, Karen Saunders
  • Assistant Picture Editor: Stephanie Duncan
  • National Advisory Board: Joel Bloom, Dr. Susan Carey, Dr. Milton Chen, Edward Chittenden, Richard Clark, Dr. Hubert Dyasi, Dr. Jane Butler Kanie, Stephen Schneider, Robert J. Semper, Bonnie Smith, Dorothy Strickland, Ellen Ann Wartella
  • Special Thanks to: Andrew Disessa, Paul Horwitz, Sandra Jenoure
  • Copyright (S1): Copyright © 1994 Scholastic Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Magic School Bus and logo are trademarks of Scholastic, Inc.
  • Copyright (S2): Copyright © 1995 Scholastic Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Magic School Bus and logo are trademarks of Scholastic, Inc.
  • Copyright (S3): Copyright © 1996 Scholastic Productions, Inc. Scholastic, The Magic School Bus, and logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Copyright (S4): Copyright © 1997 Scholastic Productions, Inc. Scholastic, The Magic School Bus, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic, Inc. All rights reserved.

PBS Fundings[]

  • National Science Foundation (all seasons)
  • Microsoft Home (seasons 1-2 only)
  • Microsoft (season 3 only)
  • United States Department of Energy (seasons 1-3 only)
  • Carnegie Corporation of New York (all seasons)
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting (seasons 2-3 only)
  • Viewers Like You (seasons 2-4 only)

Trivia[]

  • Daniel DeSanto, Danny Tamberelli and Amos Crawley have starred in their own shows on Nickelodeon at the time they did The Magic School Bus together. DeSanto starred as Tucker in the original version of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Tamberelli starred as Little Pete in The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Crawley starred as Owl in Little Bear. Maia Filar even made an appearance in one episode of the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? The show was also broadcast on Nickelodeon in foreign countries.
  • Another TV show that aired in the Season 1 and the 8th episode of the series that aired on October 29, 1994 on PBS, was the premiere of "AAAAH!!...Real Monsters!! on Nickelodeon. The show also resembles the air dates of the Magic School Bus of Seasons 2, 3, and 4 only that Season 3 of MSB aired on the 14th of September 1996 with the episode In a Beehive, and the Holiday Special that aired on Christmas 1996.
  • The downsizing of Ms. Frizzle's class (8) when compared to the books (19) is likely to reduce time constraints and to give every student an opportunity for starring roles per episode.
  • In the TV series here, the bus is Ms. Frizzle's only vehicle she owns and operates and she even has it at home as seen in "Gets Charged". In some books, Ms. Frizzle was revealed to drive other vehicles as seen in The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses, which was published later in 1999 two years after the show ended. However, in the next series, she also drives a motorbike with MagicWare.
  • The only characters' homes that are revealed and visited are Ms. Frizzle's, Ralphie's, Dorothy Ann's and Wanda's. Arnold's and Carlos' homes are revealed, but never visited.
  • This page was one of the first pages ever created on this Fandom wiki.
  • Despite being a U.S./Canada-co-production and aired in Canada at the time, The Magic School Bus is still considered American due to it primarily being aimed for an American audience.

References[]

  1. ↑ [The Magic School Bus - 9 Story Media Group https://9story.com/portfolio/the-magic-school-bus/]
  2. ↑ (nineteen in the books)
  3. ↑ https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/leaving-soon/original-the-magic-school-bus-series-leaving-netflix-in-may-2021/
  4. ↑ "The Magic School Bus (1994) - Episode List". IMDB. Retrieved on 2009-07-11.
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