''The Magic School Bus'' is an animated educational children's television series, based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and

Bruce Degen Bruce Degen (born June 14, 1945) is an American illustrator and writer with over forty children's books to his credit. He may be known best for illustrating ''The Magic School Bus'', a picture book series written by Joanna Cole. He has collab ...

. Running originally from 1994 to 1997, the series received critical acclaim for its use of celebrity voice talent and combining entertainment with an educational series. The show features famous actress and celebrity

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the vari ...

as the voice of Ms. Frizzle. The show's theme song is performed by famous singer

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

Plot

Miss Frizzle embarks on adventures with her class on the eponymous school bus. As they journey on their exciting field trips, they discover locations, creatures, time periods and more to learn about the wonders of science along the way.

Voice cast

as Miss Frizzle * Amos Crawley (season 1) and Daniel Tamberelli (season 2–4) as Arnold Perlstein *

Daniel DeSanto Daniel DeSanto is a Canadian actor. Early life Raised in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, DeSanto made his acting debut at the age of 8 as the lead protagonist in ''Brown Bread Sandwiches'' (a.k.a. ''La famiglia Buonanotte''), a film about Ita ...

as Carlos Ramon * Tara Meyer as Dorothy Ann Hudson *

Erica Luttrell Erica Luttrell is a Canadian actress. Personal life Luttrell was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Tanzanian mother and an American father. Luttrell is the youngest of four sisters. She can speak some French and Swahili. In August 2019, Luttrell ...

as Keesha Franklin * Maia Filar as Phoebe Terese * Stuart Stone as Ralphie Tennelli * Max Beckford (season 1) and Andre Ottley-Lorant (season 2–4) as Tim Wright *

Lisa Yamanaka Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''The Magic School Bus'' and Yoko in ''Timothy Goes to School''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''Babar'' and ''Resident Evil 2''. She is also credited as L ...

as Wanda Li *

Malcolm-Jamal Warner Malcolm-Jamal Warner (born August 18, 1970) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'', which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series a ...

as the male producer * Susan Blu as the female producer * Elliott Gould as Mr. Perlstein *

John Morris (actor) John Charles Morris (born October 2, 1984) is an American film, television and voice actor. He is best known for his role as the voice of Andy Davis in the ''Toy Story'' films. Career In 1991 while auditioning for the role of Andy in ''Toy Stor ...

as Asher Perlstein * Renessa Blitz as Janet Perlstein *

Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...

as Mr. Ramon *

Kevin Zegers Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

as Mikey Ramon *

Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz ( ; born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. She is the recipient of an Emmy Award and two Tony Awards. Kurtz made her Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''Ah, Wilderness''. She has received five Tony ...

as Mrs. Hudson *

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

as Mrs. Franklin *

Dana Elcar Ibsen Dana Elcar (October 10, 1927 – June 6, 2005) was an American television and film character actor. He appeared in about 40 films as well as on the 1980s and 1990s television series ''MacGyver'' as Peter Thornton, MacGyver's immediate ...

as Mr. Tennelli and Mr. Terese *

Paul Winfield Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American stage, film and television actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark fi ...

as Principal Ruhle *

Tyne Daly Ellen Tyne Daly (; born February 21, 1946) is an American actress. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work, a Tony Award and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. Daly began her career on stage in summer stock in New York, ...

as Dr. Tennelli *

Thomas Dekker (actor) Thomas Alexander Dekker (born December 28, 1987) is an American actor, musician, singer, director and producer. He is known for his roles as John Connor in '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', Adam Conant on ''The Secret Circle'', and Zac ...

as Nick Tennelli * Bob Barker as Donald Tennelli *

Brian Keith Brian Keith (born Robert Alba Keith, November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family film '' The Parent T ...

as Brian Tennelli *

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

as James Wright *

Rosalind Chao Rosalind Chao (; born September 23, 1957) is an American actress. Chao's best-known roles have been Soon-Lee Klinger in the mid-1980s CBS show ''AfterMASH'', Rose Hsu Jordan in the 1993 movie ''The Joy Luck Club (film), The Joy Luck Club'', the ...

as Mrs. Li *

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

as Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy *

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...

as R.U. Humerus *

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and thea ...

as Dr. Carmina Skeledon *

Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...

as Mr. Junkett *

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

as Harry Herp

Episodes

Production

In early 1994, ''The Magic School Bus'' concept was made into an animated series of the same name by

Scholastic Entertainment Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

and it premiered on September 10, 1994. The idea for the TV series was developed by former Scholastic Entertainment Vice President and Senior Editorial Director Craig Walker. Scholastic Entertainment president Deborah Forte explained that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids "learn about science in a fun way". During this time, Forte had been hearing concerns from parents and teachers about how to improve science education for kids and minorities across the globe.

Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. () is an animation service studio based in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1984 by Steven Hahn, over the years the studio has produced animation for many of the industry’s leading SVOD, cable, and broadcast studios and di ...

contributed some of the animation for this series. The theme song, called "Ride on the Magic School Bus", was written by Peter Lurye and performed by

. The voice director was Susan Blu; two of the writers for the series were

Brian Meehl Brian Giuseppe Meehl (also known as Brian Muehl; born August 24, 1952), is an American puppeteer and writer. Biography Meehl was born in Canandaigua, New York and grew up mostly in Iowa City, Iowa. Meehl worked on the last six shows of ''The Mu ...

and

Jocelyn Stevenson Jocelyn Stevenson is a British-American writer and producer, largely for children's shows. She has received the BAFTA Special Award. Screenwriting credits Television * ''Fraggle Rock'' (1983-1987) * ''Sesame Street'' (1987-1989) * ''Charlie Chalk ...

Broadcast

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, from 1994 until 1997, ''The Magic School Bus'' originally aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

(being the first television airing). It aired on PBS as part of its children's block. On PBS through

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

SCETV South Carolina Educational Television (branded as South Carolina ETV, SCETV or simply ETV) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member television stations serving the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is owned and operated b ...

network, it was the first fully animated series to be aired on PBS. The last episode aired (on PBS) on December 6, 1997. By the series' end, it was among the highest-rated

shows for school-age children. After the final episode, the show on the PBS lineup was subsequently

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

intermittently until September 25, 1998. On September 26, 1998, PBS dropped the show from its lineup in order to make room for more programs aimed at

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

ers. On that same year,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

network acquired the original TV series. After Fox network acquired the TV series, it was moved to the

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...

block and it ran there until 2002. On United States television,

in the United States used the series as a weekday offering to fill educational television mandates for its affiliates. It aired repeats from 1998 to 2002. On September 27, 2010, ''The Magic School Bus'' was broadcast through a daily run in

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

. Then it aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

(on Saturday mornings). Both the Fox Kids and Qubo airings used a shortened version of the opening. Also the PBS,

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

, and

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were ei ...

airings,

CBC Kids ''CBC Kids'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian children's television series, children's Block programming, block on CBC Television. The block was launched as Hodge Podge Lodge in 1987 and contains programming targeted at children. The block a ...

(on Canadian television), and the VHS and DVD versions, all used the original version of the opening. After its permanent removal from PBS in 1998 (in order for PBS to make room for other new programs aimed at preschoolers) and Fox Kids in 2002,

and

chose to air it.

aired it from February 24, 2003 until 2008 while

aired it from 2004 until 2009 (as part of the Ready Set Learn block). In Canada, it aired on

(from 2000 until 2003),

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

, and

Knowledge Network Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crown corpo ...

. In the United Kingdom, it aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

, and Pop. Since 2005, Canada-based studio

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

acquired the original TV series and sold it to the Latin American television (the Latin American versions of Cartoon Network and

). As of 2021, the show is currently distributed by

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's television series, children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana o ...

Home media

The series (through home media) was released on VHS from 1995 to 2003,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

from 2002 to 2013, DVD (by New Video Group) in Region 1 (which are the rereleases of the

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

DVDs) on July, 31, 2012, and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on August 15, 2013. The series was originally released on VHS. The series on VHS was distributed by

KidVision KidVision was a children's home video division of A*Vision Entertainment, later WarnerVision Entertainment. It was launched in 1992 and started distributing videos on the January of 1993 with ''The Magic School Bus'', '' The Puzzle Place'', ''Sh ...

(a division of WarnerVision Entertainment) between 1995 and 2003. On

, it was distributed by

(through

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in '' Shatter Me ...

and WarnerVision Entertainment) between 2002 and 2013. On July 31, 2012, New Video Group released the complete series on DVD in Region 1, as well as rereleases of the Warner Home Video DVDs. On August 15, 2013, Scholastic announced the complete series' availability on

. Currently however only season 1 of the series is available to stream on

Reception

Critical response

In a 2007 column for the online edition of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', Jason Fry expressed an overall appreciation for the series, but wrote that the episode "The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed" illustrated the rapid pace of technological change over the ten years since it first aired. He explained the episode presented an old-fashioned "technology-gone-amok" story about the respective roles of programmer and machine that was no longer relevant to children growing up in 2007. He suggested that an updated version of the episode would have focused instead on the perils of Internet searches and on network concepts surfacing at the time.

Awards and nominations

Games

Numerous computer and video games associated with the series were released from 1994 to 2000, and were typically amalgamations of storylines from both the original book series and the television show. The games were published by

Microsoft Home Microsoft Home was a line of software applications and personal hardware products published by Microsoft. Microsoft Home software titles first appeared in the middle of 1993. These applications were designed to bring multimedia to Microsoft Window ...

. A video game titled ''The Magic School Bus: Oceans'' was released for

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

on October 25, 2011, ten years after the release of the last game. This is the only game to be released on a Nintendo platform.

Revival series

On June 10, 2014, a new series was announced by

and Scholastic Media titled ''The Magic School Bus 360°''. The new iteration of the franchise features a modernized Ms. Frizzle and high-tech bus that stresses modern inventions such as robotics, wearables and camera technology. The producers hoped to captivate children's imaginations and motivate their interest in the sciences.

would produce the series. Producer Stuart Stone, who voiced Ralphie in the original series, explained that ''The Magic School Bus 360°'' will feature some of the original voice actors in different roles. The series' voice cast is based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

with Susan Blu as the Los Angeles voice director and

Alyson Court Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, her first role was on the series ''Mr. Dressup'' (1984–1994) and she made her film debut in '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bi ...

as the Toronto voice director. In February 2017, Netflix announced that

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

cast member

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a cas ...

was cast in the role of Fiona Felicity Frizzle, the younger sister of Ms. Frizzle, now Professor Frizzle, again voiced by Lily Tomlin. By this point the title of the series had been changed to ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again''.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...

performed the theme song. On September 29, 2017 the series premiered on

Film

On June 25, 2020, a film adaptation was announced and

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perfe ...

is cast to play Ms. Frizzle.

References

External links

* * * *
''The Magic School Bus''
at