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The Busasaurus |
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- "Leave no stone unturned: that's my motto."
- —Carmina Skeledon
The Busasaurus (Dinosaurs) is the third episode of the second season of The Magic School Bus. It first released on all PBS stations in the USA on September 23, 1995.
Recap[]
The class is visiting Ms. Frizzle's old friend, Dr. Carmina Skeledon at a dinosaur dig site. She lets a fascinated Arnold see a fossilized dinosaur egg that Ms. Frizzle finds as they are leaving, and he still has it when they suddenly go back in time.
The class watches as they enter and exit the Ice Age and finally arrive in the late Cretaceous Period. Having gone back "67 million years, give or take a month or two," Arnold is startled to find that Dr. Skeledon's rock has "unfossilized back into an egg." The class is also frightened by the sudden appearance of large, long necked dinosaurs called Alamosaurus.
Keesha exclaims, "Oh, bad! Oh, bad! Oh, bad, bad, bad!" as an Alamosaurus lifts her into the air.
They separate and scatter, Arnold running after Phoebe and Liz. Arnold trips on a rock, and the egg goes flying, Liz barely managing to catch it in time. Arnold lets Phoebe see it, but an Ornithomimus suddenly appears out of nowhere and steals it from her. Arnold runs after it yelling, "Come back with my egg, you thief! It doesn't belong to you! Come to think of it...it doesn't belong to me either!" Phoebe runs after him, Liz quickly running to tell Ms. Frizzle.
The rest of the class and Ms. Frizzle regroup, Liz explaining in sign language to Ms. Frizzle that Arnold and Phoebe ran off after the Ornithomimus. Carlos, being paranoid about getting eaten by dinosaurs, misinterprets Liz's message and exclaims, "See!? I knew this would happen! The dinos did them in!" The class hides out on a riverbank, looking out for Arnold and Phoebe, and Ralphie spots them. They cross a river filled with a herd of Parasaurolophus. Ms. Frizzle sings a variation of Over the River and Through the Woods (singing it as "Over the River and Through the Woods. To Arnold and Phoebe's rescue we go...!"). Unfortunately, they land in an Maiasaura nest. Carlos is grossed out, while the rest of the class is fascinated when the Maiasaura mother vomits up pre-chewed berries for the babies.
Arnold and Phoebe wonder aloud, "Do you think he's a plant eater or a meat eater?" as the Ornithomimus hisses menacingly at them.
Meanwhile, Arnold and Phoebe continue to chase the Ornithomimus, but they stop when it does. Both wonder if it eats plants or meat, but most likely, it only eats eggs. Phoebe tries to get Arnold to forget about it, "it's just an egg," but Arnold points out it belongs to Dr. Skeledon. He steps away from her and says, "And it's up to me to get it back to her!" He runs off, leaving a stunned Phoebe, who then smiles and says, "Gee, what a guy!" before she follows.
"Gee, what a guy!"
The class continues on their way, only to stumble upon a Triceratops herd in a field. Keesha handfeeds a baby Triceratops. A pack of carnivorous Troodon ambush the baby Triceratops, but the smaller Troodon are scared away by the larger Triceratops. When the Troodon turn on the class, Ms. Frizzle hands them "Tricera-shields" (shields with a Triceratops head) to scare them off.
Arnold and Phoebe are still chasing the Ornithomimus. It stops again and sniffs the air, dropping the egg before running away as it realizes there is a sleeping Tyrannosaurus rex nearby. Arnold and Phoebe are unaware, and as they look, Arnold finds the egg near the T. rex, mistaking it for a large rock.
The frightened class screams as the Tyrannosaurus rex attacks the bus, while in the background, Ms. Frizzle is looking over her insurance policy to see if it covers dino damage.
Phoebe helps him pull it free saying, "Something tells me we shouldn't be here". As Arnold asks, "Like what?", they accidentally wake the T. rex and Phoebe exclaims, "Like that!" They run for their lives as the T. rex chases them, and the approaching T. rex scares the Triceratops herd away, causing a stampede and for the students to take cover. Arnold and Phoebe find themselves in the same field as the class. Arnold trips into a mud puddle, losing the egg. Phoebe cries out for him before she runs on the bus, and he runs to hide under The Magic Triceratops Bus.
Arnold yells, "Hey, you big bully! Leave my class alone!" in defense of the class.
As the T. rex viciously attacks The Magic Triceratops Bus, Ms. Frizzle suggests the class study its digestive system, but the terrified class begs her to "DO SOMETHING!" and she says, "Okay, class! Think big!". Growing Arnold into a giant 20 foot tall human, she helps him intimidate the T. rex away, making the class learn that the predator only wanted "a quick meal without getting hurt." With that, Carlos finally admits that dinosaurs even the predators are not so bad after all.
When Arnold recovers the egg from the mud puddle, Ms. Frizzle shrinks him back to normal size. Phoebe runs up to him and tells him, "It's a good thing you didn't stay home today, Arnold," to which he awkwardly replies, "Well, I should sure be glad when this is a rock again. It's a lot safer." The class returns to the present day, where they find a fossilized footprint of the giant Arnold's sneaker. Carlos, seeing some mud on Arnold's sneakers, then says, "I'd say it was a Sneakersaurus!"
Trivia[]
- This is the main series' adaptation of The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs (from the classic series books). However there are differences from the book:
- In the book version, all three periods of the Mesozoic Era are visited. This version focuses with only the Cretaceous Period. That was due to time constraints. (Time constraints forced the episode to show just the Cretaceous so the episode could be up to 30 minutes like all episodes of the TV series. And while it could have been an exception --so it could show all the time periods-- PBS --which originally aired the Magic School Bus TV series-- wanted to this episode and all other episodes to be 30 minutes.) In summary: "Time constraints forced the cartoon adaptation to be 30 minutes". This was also discussed by Dr. Skeledon in her producer segment.
- In the software adaptation Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs (which is loosely adapted from both the book and its TV adaptation), that version (adapted from the book) however shows all the time periods (like in the book). But the bus transforms into three different prehistoric animals instead of a time machine (unlike the book and its TV adaptation). It transforms into a Coelophysis (for the Triassic period), Stegosaurus (for the Jurassic), and Pteranodon (for the Cretaceous).
- While the time machine is one of the bus's transformations in the TV adaptation (loosely adapted from the book), the bus transforms into mechanical versions of dinosaurs in this version (like the book's software adaptation --Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs). In this version (the TV adaptation), aside from a time machine, it briefly transforms into two other prehistoric animals depending with what dinosaurs/prehistoric animals the bus, the Friz, and the class sees (Parasaurolophus and Triceratops from the Cretaceous period). While seeing the Parasaurolophus, Triceratops, Troodon, and Tyrannosaurus rex, the Bus takes on the form of Parasaurolophus and Triceratops. The bus`s time machine form is still seen in the episode though, only unlike in the book, the bus is not a time machine for the entire field trip.
- And by extension, despite the bus showing its time machine form in the video cover on the VHS tape of the TV episode (while being near the Tyrannosaurus rex --also seen in the actual episode), the bus was in its Triceratops form in the episode when near the T. rex.
- In the adaptation, the only time the Bus uses its time machine form is in the beginning of the field trip, seeing the Alamosaurus, and at the end of the field trip. But it's in the form of Parasaurolophus and Triceratops while seeing the other dinosaurs (Parasaurolophus, Triceratops, Troodon, and Tyrannosaurus rex).
- Still though, aside from the Parasaurolophus and Triceratops forms, the bus (in this version) correctly transforms into a time machine like in the book. This is one of the similarities --at least for bus's transformation forms.
- And by extension, despite the bus showing its time machine form in the video cover on the VHS tape of the TV episode (while being near the Tyrannosaurus rex --also seen in the actual episode), the bus was in its Triceratops form in the episode when near the T. rex.
- The class visits Ms. Frizzle's old friend in both the book and its TV adaptation. But both characters are different in each. In the book, it was Jeff who is a man. In this version, they visit Dr. Skeledon who is a woman. The students focused on the book were John and Wanda. The students focused in this version are Arnold, Phoebe, and Carlos. Between the book and its TV adaptation, most things are the same --the Bus transforming into a time machine (aside from the Parasaurolophus and Triceratops forms when seeing most of the dinosaurs except the Alamosaurus), the Friz and the class go to the fossil dig site and see the Friz's old friends (though it's Jeff in the book and Dr. Skeledon in this version), and both versions focus on specific students (though it's John and Wanda in the book and Arnold, Phoebe, and Carlos in the episode). The Bus transforming into a time machine, the fossil dig site, Ms. Frizzle's old friends, and centering with specific students are all seen in both the book and episode (aside from their differences).
- In the book version, all three periods of the Mesozoic Era are visited. This version focuses with only the Cretaceous Period. That was due to time constraints. (Time constraints forced the episode to show just the Cretaceous so the episode could be up to 30 minutes like all episodes of the TV series. And while it could have been an exception --so it could show all the time periods-- PBS --which originally aired the Magic School Bus TV series-- wanted to this episode and all other episodes to be 30 minutes.) In summary: "Time constraints forced the cartoon adaptation to be 30 minutes". This was also discussed by Dr. Skeledon in her producer segment.
- The game in the original software (Explores in the Age of Dinosaurs) is loosely the software adaptation of this TV episode.
- Dr. Skeledon hosts the Producer Says segment at the end of the episode.
- It is heavily implied Phoebe develops a crush on Arnold in this episode. This is applied again for a brief moment in "Goes Cellular".
- This episode is based on both The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs and Jurassic Park. A few references to the Jurassic Park franchise are Keesha feeding the Alamosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus rex chasing the Bus and biting it. This is the second episode with pop-culture references, after Inside Ralphie and Fantastic Voyage.
- In the Producer Says segment, Dr. Skeledon --in the end (and who does the "Producer Says" segment)-- reveals that even though Ms. Frizzle could not go back in time, it (time travel) looks like a good field trip. That is, if it were possible. "But of course it is not!", she says.
- This is the first time Arnold and Phoebe chase a thieving animal. The second is "Goes Cellular."
- Going by production order, this is the 4th episode of Season 2. This is the second episode to be switched in streaming order.
- Later, after this episode was made (and Jurassic Park), feathers were discovered on some dinosaurs (due to their relationship with birds). This is similar to how Gets Lost in Space and Out of This World mentioned Pluto as a planet, even though it loses its planet status in the 2000s. Coincidentally, Out of This World and this episode are both from the original Season 2.
- Unlike the book, the Maiasaura do not have their names mentioned.
- This is the first episode that doesn't open on or feature Walkerville Elementary School. The next few are Spins A Web, Works Out, Rocks And Rolls, Getting Energized, Gets Charged, Gets Swamped, In the City, Kids in Space, and The Frizz Connection.
- In the Is This the Magic School Bus? segment, Carmina Skeledon fills in for the producer, who is mentioned by a caller.
Goofs[]
- When the Tyrannosaurus rex moves its head, it changes colors from green to brown.
- This is the first time Arnold is seen without his glasses. He can be seen without them again for a split second.
- Ms. Frizzle says that T. rex was the largest meat eating dinosaur, when in reality this honor likely goes to Spinosaurus, which had already been discovered decades earlier but wiped off the map before it could be fully appreciated; it would be several more years before another reasonably complete specimen could be found and put together and more could be learned about this creature. Even before Spinosaurus's rediscovery, though, the episode had already been dated by the discovery of Giganotosaurus, which slightly exceeds T. rex in size.
- When the Bus transforms into a Parasaurolophus, the Bus is shown in bus form for the entire transformation sequence. Before this happens, Ralphie is shown in Carlos's color palette, skin tone and all.
- Along with Flexes Its Muscles and Taking Flight, this episode The Busasaurus did not have the funding credits at the end (for its VHS video release).