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Rocks and Rolls
Holiday Special
Meets Molly Cule

"Funny thing about doing something nice is the kind of thing that's easy to recycle."
Wanda, leading to "The Gift That Keeps on Giving"

The Holiday Special (Recycling) is the thirteenth episode of the third season of The Magic School Bus. It first released on all PBS stations in the USA on December 25, 1996.

When it was presented following Behind the Wheel of the Magic School Bus, it was known as the Family Holiday Special. This version of the special aired during its United States premiere in 1996, and it was later uploaded to Dolly Parton's Vimeo channel in 2015.

The Family edition is also the third of the seven Magic School Bus television specials, preceded by In the Haunted House and Going Batty (A Magic School Bus Halloween) and followed by Kids in Space, The Frizz Connection, Goldstealer, and In the Zone.

Plot[]

Episode segment[]

The last day of school before winter break is spent sorting recycling items to send to the recycling center, thanks to a suggestion from Arnold. Wanda isn't as enthusiastic, wanting to hurry so she can go see The Nutcracker, which is offering free entry if a toy to be donated is brought. She plans to give her favorite toy soldier. Ms. Frizzle then comes around and assists the class with their recycling spree.

Once Arnold arrives, she shows Wanda an early Hanukkah present he got from his mother: a rock, which Wanda takes a liking to. Ms. Frizzle takes the class to the recycling center, which her cousin, Katrina Eloise "Murph" Murphy, owns and runs. Ms. Frizzle introduces the class to her cousin and the class begins sorting. During the chaos of the sorting, Arnold accidentally throws in Wanda's soldier, which she witnesses getting recycled. Wanda tries to warn Murph, but the latter can't hear her due to having on earmuffs. Wanda is then forced to watch in horror as her soldier ends up getting compacted along with the rest of the junk.

Wanda is seen sadly holding the plastic pellets of her soldier and her sadness turns to anger as she yells at Arnold, saying she didn't blame him, but rather, blames his "crummy idea". A remorseful Arnold tries to make amends with his good intentions, but Wanda refuses to listen, complaining that she will now have to miss the ballet. Phoebe tries smooth things over and suggests a sullen Wanda think of the good things recycling does. She snaps at her, "Okay, Phoebe, name three," which she can't; Phoebe just feels sure it's a good thing. In her fury, Wanda wishes recycling had never been invented. When Ms. Frizzle contemplates granting Wanda's wish, Murph immediately advises against it, warning, "It won't be a purty [sic] sight." Still, she follows along and Liz activates the Un-Recycler, which fires a laser beam that causes the recycle center to transform into a huge pile of trash. As Ms. Frizzle drives the Bus, the Un-Recycler gets rid of the trees and newspapers. Since newspapers have to be made with wood, all the trees have been cut down, which Phoebe tells Wanda is the first reason recycling is good. Wanda, however, is relieved that her favorite soldier probably didn't get cut into pellets. The recycle bins also disappear and more garbage has to go back to the city dump, which can only accommodate so much garbage. The Bus stops to the park, and to the class's surprise, the Un-Recycler trashes the playground material into tin cans and cartons.

As the Bus approaches Walkerville Elementary School, the Un-Recycler takes aim, transforming it into a trash dump. Tim also tells Wanda that more garbage is the second reason why recycling is vital. Wanda decides to just forget about her soldier and apologizes for messing up the town. When Wanda laments her wish and asks why she ever contemplated getting rid of recycling was such a good idea, she inadvertently sets off the Un-Recycler, which converts the Bus into all the recyclables that made it what it is. Wanda is now seriously regretful of what she has done.

The class asks what the Bus has to do with the recyclable junk (as well as the swing sets and benches), and they try to figure out how to rebuild it into the junk it transformed into. Ralphie learns that the bottles are made of glass like Bus's windows, Dorothy Ann learns that the cans are aluminum like its chassis, and Phoebe finds that the green bottles are plastic, like everything else on the Bus (such as the seats, dashboard, and even some of the MagicWare materials, like the Portable Shrinkerscope and the Dew Dinger alarm). Wanda then figures out that it takes glass, aluminum, and plastic to rebuild the Bus, and Murph tells the class to melt the bottles to make new things out of old material, similar to how the plastic melted in the recycling plant. The class collaborates and melts the material in the cousins' portable recycling vat.

The class and Frizzles finally fix the Magic School Bus, and Wanda then learns that certain materials made out of glass, plastic, and aluminum wouldn't be made without recycling, being the third reason why recycling is important. She also learns that recycling something to make something old or new saves the natural resources. Ms. Frizzle tweaks The Magic School Bus so it could undo what Wanda has wished. Everything is now back to where it was before, and the recycling plant is back. Arnold then suggests that the plastic pellets should be used to make new toy soldiers. So Wanda helps Murph make new toy soldiers and everyone gets one each. Arnold says he has to take care of his sick grandmother for the first night of Hanukkah, and won't be able to make it to the The Nutcracker with the rest of the class. Wanda is also offered her bag back and notices Arnold's rock, given to her as a gift by him. The rest of the class, along with Murph, make it on the train with Arnold to celebrate Hanukkah, and had decided not to go to The Nutcracker. Wanda also thanks Arnold for the rock and offers him plastic pellets as a gift. Arnold thanks Wanda, and Murph dedicates a song to recycling as the class sings along with her. The Bus, attached to the train, rides along, as the class breaks the fourth wall and wishes the viewers a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy Kwanzaa.

Is This the Magic School Bus?[]

Behind the Wheel of The Magic School Bus[]

Trivia[]

  • The episode begins much like Plays Ball, where it starts in a student's fantasy, and another student has to wake them up from it.
  • In the behind the scenes segment, Paul Winfield (Mr. Ruhle) forshadowed "Making Magic", mentioning Mr. Ruhle "tagging along".
  • 24 years and a day later, the New Year's special would release on Netflix.
  • James C. Wright, the editor for the live action sequences, was the editor for Reading Rainbow from 1983-1994
  • This is the first time that Wanda is shown crying. Her second time was in Gets Charged, and third time is in In the Zone.
  • This the only time when someone other than Wanda doesn't cry in.
  • Dolly Parton (Murph) and Lily Tomlin (Prof. Frizzle) costarred alongside Jane Fonda in the 1980 comedy 9 to 5. Dabney Coleman played their boss, and he guest starred in "Sees Stars".
  • When Arnold mentions that he got a rock as a Hanukkah present, it is revealed that he is Jewish.
  • This episode was aired on Christmas Day, and so far, the only original episode in the series not to air a week after any previous episode within the season. The previous episode "Rocks and Rolls" was the last in this season to air a week after another.
  • Instead of The Producer answering the phone, Murph appears in Is This the Magic School Bus?. However, this segment is not on the Cinedigm version, which uses the Qubo airing.
  • This episode (as the home video version) is the twelfth episode to be switched back to its production spot in streaming order.
  • On the end credits of this episode, the background is different. It does not feature a screenshot from the episode. It differs from Arnold opening the cart doors to see Wanda in the front middle of the class to surprise him, to the background {end credits} where he ends up standing next to Wanda, as snow, gifts, a chess game (on Tim), Christmas wreath around Liz, Hanukkah candle beside Keesha, Presents everywhere, a basket of fruit on top of one of the presents in front between Tim and Wanda. Almost at the end of the episode, there were no lights decorated on The Magic School Bus, but in the end credits, there is.
  • Everyone at the end of the episode has remained in their seated position when surprising Arnold. The only difference is Liz is seen during the end credits while during the "surprise visit" for Arnold, she wasn't in front of The Magic School Bus. Another difference is the green vertical thing, could look like another wreath but whatever that was, it wasn't shown in the background in the end credits.
  • Wanda is implied early on to be a self-taught ballet dancer, as she performs a series of couru steps, an arabesque, and a pirouette, in that order, while describing the show she plans on going to later in the day.
  • This is the first time the entire class (save Arnold) is in formal attire. They wear their formal attire again in "Goes Cellular" (this time including Arnold).
  • The class except for Ms. Frizzle is in their winter clothes from Rocks and Rolls.
  • Despite the episode's topic being on recycling and that this is a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa special, the special day that focuses on recycling is Earth Day which is held on April 22 every year, yet recycling is important no matter which day of the year.
    • On the other hand, the episode "In the Rainforest" is set on Earth Day, but focused more precisely on rainforest ecology.
  • The special parodies "It's a Wonderful Life." Very similar to George Bailey wishing he was never born, Wanda wishes recycling had never been invented.
    • The special's French title in Le Bus Magique alludes to this: "Une nouvelle vie" means "A New Life".
  • When the episode first aired in 1996, it was followed by a behind the scenes segment, hosted by Malcolm-Jamal Warner. It also showed the first shot of the Producer Says segment from Cold Feet.
  • It is viewable here on the wiki, courtesy of Dolly Parton.
  • Arnold doesn't say "I knew I should've stayed home today" in this episode.
  • In the Is This the Magic School Bus? segment, Murph fills in for the producer.

Goofs[]

  • In one scene, Ralphie's hat is missing when he gets on the bus.
  • This episode is, for no reason, on the master tape for "Shows and Tells".
  • The master tape for this special does not feature "Behind the Wheel of the Magic School Bus", despite being a master. It instead features the rerun version from 1997, which would later be the version used on digital and the special's self-titled Region 1 DVD release on October 8, 2002[1].
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