The Magic School Bus Rides Again (commonly shortened to Rides Again and known as The Magic School Bus 360° during development) is the second installment in the Magic School Bus TV franchise, and the second part of the classic series. It is a revival that makes up the fifth through seventh seasons of The Magic School Bus. It is a Canadian-American Flash/CGI animated TV series produced by 9 Story, Scholastic Entertainment (all 3 seasons), and Brown Bag Films (Season 7 only). It first premiered on Netflix on September 29, 2017, and is available on DVD and digital since 2019. It is preceded by (and is the sequel to) The Magic School Bus and succeeded by The Magic School Bus: Mighty Explorers.
In the United States, qubo began airing the first two seasons on television in November 2020, like the original series did in the early 2010s, and has been airing reruns until the channel went off the air in February 2021 due to Scripps' acquistion[1]. In Canada, all three seasons currently air on Knowledge Kids.
The show was produced and animated by 9 Story (Seasons 1 and 2) and 9 Story through Brown Bag Films (Season 3).
As of the early 2020s, all three seasons, including the fourth episode of Season 3, “Goldstealer,” currently air reruns on the Canadian television network Knowledge Kids[2].
On March 22, 2024, it was revealed on KidScreen that The Magic School Bus Rides Again was cancelled after its third season, and that the brand's legacy will continue in the movie and a brand-new CGI animated series.[3]
Premise
The Magic School Bus Rides Again is the direct sequel to The Magic School Bus, set after the fourth season. Now in fifth grade at Walkerville Elementary School, Arnold, Carlos, Dorothy Ann, Keesha, Ralphie, Tim, Wanda, and their newest classmate, Jyoti, embark on educational escapades aboard the Bus, only this time there have been big changes - Phoebe has returned to her old school, and Professor Valerie Frizzle, PhD has retired from teaching to become a research professor, so she passes the keys of the Magic School Bus on to her younger sister, Ms. Fiona Frizzle, who gets hired to teach the class.
Broadcast
The first run started on September 29, 2017 and ended on April 13, 2018, respectively, with twenty-six 25-minute episodes across two total seasons. From August 7, 2020 to November 9, 2021, the show was renewed for a third season of four 45-minute episodes dubbed the Joanna Cole specials. They were dedicated to the author of the book series who passed away in 2020.
All the main 26 episodes were released to DVD (however, only on Region 1) and other streaming services by NCircle on July 7, 2020. Instead of breaking the main 26 episodes into two seasons, NCircle grouped all the episodes into a single season.
On November 1, 2020, the show started airing on Qubo, similar to how its predecessor aired in 2010.
Ms. Frizzle, now Professor Frizzle, has taken over the role of the producer by answering questions at the end of the episodes. At the end of the Is This the Magic School Bus? segments with Professor Frizzle, the next episode is teased, similar to the books by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. Professor Frizzle has hosted these segments for the first two seasons, and as of now, only guest stars have hosted Producer Says Segments in Season 1 and 2, with Liz reprising her role in the original series as the "pet," and the Bus taking over the Motorbike's role as the "vehicle."
A film adaptation for the main series was announced in June 2020, with Elizabeth Banks playing the role of Ms. Frizzle, without clarifying if she will be playing Valerie or Fiona.
Seasons
Trivia
- This is the first series:
- to debut in the 21st century.
- to use 3D computer animation, albeit limited and later in its run.
- with Richard Weston as director and showrunner. Weston has had involvement with the original series, but only after its run—through distribution under his production company, Weston Woods.
- to run for more than four years, if one counts the April 13, 2018–August 7, 2020 break and the series finale, “Goldstealer” (the only episode of 2021).
- to include a season without thirteen episodes.
- to skip a year in its run, that year being 2019. Furthermore, this is also the first show of the MSB trilogy to have a hiatus that lasted both longer (the time between the second and third seasons), and to have one within a season (the time between the Netflix airdate of “In the Zone” in December 2020, and the November 2021 DVD release that includes “Goldstealer”)
- to permanently break the “Saturday Morning” schedule, as the original series’ Holiday Special had a Monday airdate which broke the trend before resuming it in the fourth season. Rides Again also features the first airdates outside of September and Q4, with only two—those being in April (Season 2) and August (“Kids in Space”). The majority of its run did premiere within the “ber” months just like the original series.
- to have an episode that released on an anniversary of one from a past series, that being “Goldstealer” which released on November 9, 2021, 24 years after “Works Out.”
- with new episodes from after Joanna Cole’s lifetime.
- to be developed by 9 Story.
- with a season whose producer segments consist of only guest stars, that being the third.
- with an episode in which the teaching Frizzle hosts the producer segment, that one being “The Frizz Connection.” This segment is also the only one to date without Liz or Goldie.
- in which Liz is in very few producer segments, with her only being in three.
- This series sets a pattern for producer segments—they always include a “host” (Professor Frizzle, or the guest star in season three’s case), a “pet” (Liz [S3] or Goldie [S1 and 2]), and a “vehicle” (the Motorbike, or the Bus in Season Three’s case). While three of the four Season 3 segments break this trend, “In the Zone” is the only one in that season with all three.
- This series is notorious for its mixed reception, most notably when it released and shortly before the third season.
- This is the final series:
- to air during creator Craig Walker’s lifetime.
- to air during series author Joanna Cole and illustrator Bruce Degen’s lifetimes.
- to be completed during Bruce Degen’s lifetime.
- of the main canon.
- to have a new classic book released during its run. This is also the final series to air during the era of the classic books, as the final book was June 2021’s Explores Human Evolution.