''The Magic School Bus Rides Again'' is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

children's web 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 ...

. It also serves as a continuation of the 1994–97

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

series ''

The Magic School Bus ''The Magic School Bus'' is an American edutainment media franchise that includes a book series, a TV series, a streaming series, and video games. Each of the stories within the franchise centers on the antics of a fictional elementary sch ...

'', with

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 ...

reprising her role as Ms. Frizzle. The series premiered on

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 September 29, 2017. The second season premiered on April 13, 2018. The series made its linear debut on

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 ...

on November 1, 2020 and aired until the channel ceased broadcasting on February 28, 2021. Three 45-minute specials, "Kids in Space", "The Frizz Connection", and "In the Zone", premiered on Netflix in 2020. They were dedicated to Joanna Cole, the author of the original books, who died that year.

Plot

In the sequel to '' Scholastic's The Magic School Bus'', the flagship Dr. Valerie Frizzle (now Professor Frizzle) gets her Ph.D and retires from teaching at Walkerville Elementary School. She then hires her younger sister, Miss Fiona Frizzle, to teach the class, and passes the keys of the Magic School Bus over to her. The kids journey on exciting new field-trips, discovering new locations, creatures, time periods and more to learn about the wonders of science, educating viewers along the way, on the eponymous Bus.

Voice cast

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 ...

as Miss Fiona Felicity Frizzle *

as Professor Valerie Felicity Frizzle,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

* Miles Koseleci-Vieira (Seasons 1-2) and Roman Lutterotti (specials) as Arnold Matthew Perlstein * Lynsey Pham as Wanda Li * Mikaela Blake as Keesha Franklin * Gabby Clarke as Dorothy Ann Hudson * Leke Maceda-Rustecki as Carlos Ramon * Matthew Mintz (Seasons 1-2) and Matthew Mucci (specials) as Ralphie Alessandro Giuseppe Tennelli * Birva Pandya as Jyoti Kaur (new student after Phoebe Terese went back to her old school) * Kaden Stephen as Tim Wright

Guest stars

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...

as Galapagos Gil ("Frizzle of the Future") * Mae Jemison as Keesha's favorite celebrity astronaut, Kathy K. Kuiper ("Space Mission: Selfie") *

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian–American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Rita Wu on the HBO comedy '' Arliss'' (1996–2002), Dr. Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005 ...

as Dr. Sarah Bellum ("Ralphie Strikes a Nerve") *

Jay Baruchel Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the '' How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies ...

as Dr. Tillage ("Ghost Farm") *

Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...

as Dorothy Ann's famous scientist uncle, Dr. Axle "ValveStuck" ("Waste Not, Want Not") * Catherine O'Hara as Aunt Tennelli and Teresina Tennelli, Ralphie's trapeze-artist aunt and cousin ("Ralphie and the Flying Tennellis") * Martin Short as Tony Tennelli, also in Ralphie's family who works in the circus ("Ralphie and the Flying Tennellis") *

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 ...

as Mathew Math Matthews ("Ralphie and the Flying Tennellis") * Chris Hadfield as himself ("Kids in Space") *

Lights Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision. Light or Lights may also refer to: Illumination * Light bulb * Traffic light Arts and entertainment Music * Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...

as Maven, Ms. Frizzle's pop-star cousin ("In the Zone")

Additional voices

Lilly Bartlam Lilly Noelle Bartlam (born July 17, 2006) is a Canadian actress.Dan Rolph"Detention Adventure adds Grand Bend’s Lilly Bartlam to cast" '' Exeter Lakeshore Times-Advance'', October 21, 2020. She received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at ...

* Amos Crawley as Mr. Hudson, Dorothy Ann's father ("The Tales Glaciers Tell"). * Annelise Forbes as Arnold's cousin, Janet Perlstein * Lisa Jai as Mrs. Li, Wanda's mother and as a caller in the Professor Frizzle segments ("The Magnetic Mambo", "The Tales Glaciers Tell", "The Land Before Tim", "Ghost Farm" and "Ralphie and the Flying Tennellis"). Jai was the voice of Wanda in the original series. *

Julie Lemieux Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress. Career Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...

* Ana Sani as Pariksha Kaur, Jyoti's grandmother ("Nothin' but Net"). * Stuart Stone as the Gizmos That Go staff ("Three in One"), the Cosmic Corner Show announcer ("Space Mission: Selfie"), and a caller in the Professor Frizzle Segment ("Ghost Farm"). * Jamie Watson * Marcus Craig as Mikey Ramon, Carlos' younger brother ("The Good, the Bad, and the Gnocchi"). *

Martin Roach Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

as Mr. Ruhle * Kevin Vidal

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

Season 2 (2018)

Specials (2020)

Production

In 2014, the series was first announced by

and Scholastic Media, and was titled ''The Magic School Bus 360°''. The new iteration of the franchise features a modernized "Ms. Frizzle" (replacing Valerie with her younger sister Fiona) and a high-tech bus that stresses modern inventions such as robotics, wearables and camera technology. The hope is to captivate children's imaginations and motivate their interest in the sciences. It was produced by

9 Story Media Group 9 Story Media Group Inc. (formerly known as 9 Story Entertainment) is a Canadian children's media production company and international distributor founded by Vincent "Vince" Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Blake Tohana on September 1, 2002, and head ...

. Producer Stuart Stone, who voiced Ralphie in the original series, stated that ''The Magic School Bus 360°'' will feature some of the original voice actors in different roles. The show's 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' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 ...

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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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,

was cast in the role of Ms. Frizzle (without clarifying it was Fiona, the younger sister of Valerie, now Professor Frizzle, still voiced by Tomlin). The series then changed its name to ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again''. The series was released on

on September 29, 2017. The second season was released on April 13, 2018.

of ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

'' sings the theme song. Phoebe Terese, a character from the original series, is replaced by a new student named Jyoti, as it was revealed that Phoebe transferred back to her old school. The episode endings feature question and answer sessions with Professor Frizzle, echoing the segments about viewers calling the producer which accompanied the original series on commercial-free channels. Despite clarifying some creative license taken in the episode, these scenes are still set in a universe with magical vehicles. Among other changes, the students still wear the same clothes every day but they do not resemble those from the original series. Three 45–minute specials were released in 2020: the first special ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Kids in Space'' was released on August 7, the second named ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again: The Frizz Connection'' on October 20 and a third titled ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again: In the Zone'' on December 26. The artstyle was changed for the specials as the characters have no outlines and the lighting and shading are more detailed.

Critical reception

After the series' announcement and the release of its trailer, there was initial resistance to the new art style, absence of Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle, and fear it would not live up to the

original series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

. AOL accused the show of giving Ms. Frizzle a nose job. Bustle put this down to fans of the show being "protective of its legacy". Despite this speculation, the series has been critically acclaimed upon release. ''

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'' deemed the show a worthy successor to its 1990s sister series, praising its gender and ethnic diversity and its commitment to teaching children about STEM subjects. ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' argues that the show managed to keep the "genius of the franchise", which is that the children are almost more intrigued by the complexity and order of the natural world rather than the magic of the titular school bus. ''

Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown ...

'' praised the series' premiere for addressing the change to the show's structure, putting viewers at ease through the transition, adding that the science was made "approachable". '' The Houstonian'' found the episodes' scenarios to be "pretty interesting", commenting on the academical and moral lessons. The AV Club felt the series lives up to its predecessor, and contains the same "goofy humor and ease with making learning fun". Another AV Club article wrote that the series is "lively, fast-paced, and exceedingly tolerable for adults", and full of enough science to allow them to park their kids in front of it guilt-free. Some users on social media have accused the show of whitewashing the black characters.

Awards and nominations

, - , 2018 , ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again'' , Parent's Choice Silver Honor - Spring 2018 Television , , - , 2018 , ''The Magic School Bus Rides Again'' , Common Sense "Great For Families" seal , , - , 2018 , ''Annellie Rose Samuel'' for episode "Space Mission: Selfie" , Canadian Cinema Editors Award for Best Editing in Animation ,

References

External links

''The Magic School Bus Rides Again''
on