Ride on the Magic School Bus

Ride on the Magic School Bus
Episode	MSB version: Gets Lost in Space to Takes a Dive RA version: Frizzle of the Future to Goldstealer
Composer	Peter Lurye
Performed by	Little Richard (MSB Classic and CD-ROMs) Lin-Manuel Miranda (since Rides Again)
Key	E major, with a key change to F major
BPM	113 (NTSC)
Previous	N/A
Next	An Old, Dead Log

"Ride on the Magic School Bus" is the theme song of the Magic School Bus franchise, written by Peter Lurye. Since its debut as the opening to The Magic School Bus (1994), it has been used as a Leitmotif in the soundtrack and become heavily associated with the franchise. It has even been used outside the TV canon, like the games.

Its first arrangement, performed by Little Richard, debuted as the opening and ending theme for The Magic School Bus (1994). This version is also used in the opening movies for the games.

Its second and current arrangement, performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, debuted as the opening and ending theme for The Magic School Bus Rides Again.

Lyrics

For alternate versions, see Ride on the Magic School Bus/Lyrics.

For comparisons on the different sequences, see Ride on the Magic School Bus/Sequences.

Professor Frizzle^CL/Ms. Frizzle^RA: Seat belts, everyone!

Arnold: Please let this be a normal field trip.

Wanda^CL/Dorothy Ann^RA: With the Frizz?

all: No way!

Arnold: Aww...

Little Richard^CL/Lin-Manuel Miranda^RA:

Cruising on down Main Street, you're relaxed and feeling good

Next thing that you know, you're seeing...

Professor Frizzle^CL: Wa-ha-ha-hoo!/Ms. Frizzle^RA: Whoo-hooooooo!

Little Richard^CL/Lin-Manuel Miranda^RA and students: An octopus in the neighborhood?

Little Richard^CL/Lin-Manuel Miranda^RA:

Surfing on a sound wave, swinging through the stars

Take a left at your intestine, take your second right past Mars

On the Magic School Bus, navigate a nostril

Climb on the Magic School Bus; spank a plankton, too (Wanda/Jyoti: Take that!)

On our Magic School Bus, raft a river of lava

On the Magic School Bus, it's such a fine thing to do

So strap your bones right to the seat; come on in and don't be shy

Just to make your day complete, you might get baked into a pie

On the Magic School Bus

Step inside; it's a wilder ride

Come on, ride on the Magic School Bus

Trivia

• Most of the original series' closed captions (on VHS and digital) render the word "Friz" as "Frizz" (the double-Z spelling wouldn't become official until the episode, The Frizz Connection). In the DCMP captions, it says "Friz".
• In the Rides Again version, most of the scenes are ripped directly from "Monster Power", "The Magnetic Mambo", "Carlos Gets the Sneezes", and "The Tales Glaciers Tell".
• In the Italian dub of the original series, Allacciate le cinture! Viaggiando s'impara! , a different theme song is used. In the Italian dub of Rides Again, Ride on the Magic School Bus is translated instead.
  • This is the same in the Arabic dubs. It used a different theme song in the original series, and translated the English theme in Rides Again.
• Shots of the theme in the Brown Bag art style are used as the end credits of the Joanna Cole specials.
• A rock cover plays in the 2002-05 Region 1 DVD menus, the ending credits for "A Magic School Bus Halloween" and the Family version of the Holiday Special. A alternate rock cover plays in the ending credits for the main 26 episodes of the Rides Again series (9 Story era), and the menus for the 2020-22 Region 1 DVDs.
• For the 9 Story opening sequence, the Bus' parachute and raft are orange in the sequence, and yellow in "Monster Power".
• In most dubs of Rides Again that are not English, the "Octopus in the neighborhood" line is sung rather than spoken. The music that it is sung in stays the same throughout each dub.
• An instrumental version of the theme (without guitar) plays in the TLC airings and some dubs during the original end credits.
• On the PAL version of the song in the original series, due to some kind of error in the PAL speeding-up process, the music is slightly louder than the voices, and there is a slight delay on both tracks.

Differences between versions

• In the original version, the biggest difference is that Wanda says "with the Friz?". In the Rides Again version, Dorothy Ann instead says the line, probably due to her absence in the original "no way!" (she was in fact not seen until 16 seconds later in the MSB sequence).
• In the MSB opening sequence, the kids are saying "Yeah!". In the Rides Again sequences, they say "Uh!".
• During the line "Navigate a nostril", Ralphie sneezes in the original version. Carlos sneezes in the Rides Again version (probably due to them sneezing in their titular episodes).
• During the line "Surfin' on a soundwave", Liz spins a turntable in both the 9 Story and Brown Bag versions of the RA opening, and a rock musician plays an electric guitar in the original sequence.
• In the MSB sequence, Wanda says "Take that!". In both Rides Again versions, Jyoti says it instead.
• In the Rides Again version, the lines "Strap your bones right to the seat/come on in and don't be shy" have a alternate melody than in the original version.
• In the original, Tim says "C'mon". In the Rides Again version, like foreign dubs of the original series which use the English theme, his line is not added in the theme.
• During the line, "You might get baked into a pie", the Bus comes out from the baker's pie in the Nelvana sequence, from a school secretary's pie in the 9 Story sequence, and from Angela Franklin in the kitchen at Keesha’s house in the Brown Bag sequence.
• In the original series, a title card appears at the end of the theme song that reads the episode's title. Title cards for the episodes never appear in Rides Again. However, in the Greek dub of Rides Again, an announcer reads the episode title.
• In the Nelvana sequence, as the Bus pulls up to pick up the class, Wanda is not at the bus stop with her classmates because she is already on the Bus. Wanda hasn't been picked up yet in the 9 Story version, so the whole class can be at the bus stop.
  • The bus stops are also different. In the Nelvana version, it's in front of Walkerville Elementary School, while in the 9 Story version, it's in a neighborhood.

Errors

The Magic School Bus (Nelvana sequence)

• When Professor Frizzle is driving into the ocean, the Bus' tires change colors slightly.
• When the professor pulls the Mesmerglober in the Bus, Ralphie is shown in the background.
• When the close up of the Bus is shown during the line "Next thing that you know, you'll see an octopus in the neighborhood", Ralphie is never inside. In fact, only Arnold, Phoebe, and Keesha are on the Bus, the rest of the class is not there.
• During the line "Navigate a nostril", the Bus' back wheel flickers when it is up Ralphie's nose. This is due to the wheel's being missing in a few frames, and then visible in the next.
• During the line "Surfing on a sound wave", Carlos is missing in one frame.

The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Brown Bag sequence)

• Despite Dorothy Ann's saying "With the Frizz?" in this sequence, which also uses Lin-Manuel Miranda's recording of the theme, the subtitles for "Kids in Space" and "In the Zone" erroneously credit Jyoti for saying the line. However, her "take that" is unchanged in those episodes.

List of songs