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Liz Ard (since In a Pickle) or Liz the (Green) Lizard (descriptive audio dub) is the anthropomorphic pet lizard of the Frizzles and the producer. She is a Jackson’s chameleon and one of the mascots of the Magic School Bus franchise, along with the Bus and the Frizzle sisters. In the video game series, Liz is able to talk and is voiced by Catherine Thompson.

Physical Appearance[]

Liz is an anthropomorphic Jackson's chameleon with blue eyes and three striped horns, though it is notable that only male chameleons have horns. Liz is mostly light green with a dark green belly. Her back and tail are lined with spiked protrusions. Being anthropomorphic, she has a few humanlike features, such as humanlike eyes and limbs. She, like her human friends, also wears special space suits or scuba gear.

Personality[]

Liz is shown to be very helpful to her human friends, and she serves as the driver of the Bus when one of the Frizzles are absent. Liz really likes to transform or shrink the Bus, and she does so when she is instructed to "hit it". She understands human speech, but cannot canonically speak, instead pantomiming to communicate (as seen in "The Busasaurus"). She is very friendly, and she is shown to be great friends with anyone, natural and artificial, as seen in "Three in One" when she befriended Jyoti's robot, Naniben.

International Names[]

In the original English, Liz comes from Elizabeth (which can be shortened to Liz) and lizard.

Language Name/Title Meaning
Arabic لين Leen (Saudi MSB dub) From the given name "Leen."
French Lisa Similar to her English name. It can also come from lézard (lizard).
German Echsy From Eidechse or Echse (lizard) and the English diminutive -y.
Spanish (Latin America) Lag A calque of their English name, from lagarto (lizard).

Trivia[]

  • She is the most seen class pet. Other pets are the hamster from "Hops Home" and "In a Pickle", Goldie, the fish from Claw and Order, and Carlos' rat, Ratney.
  • In the descriptive audio dub for season 1 episodes of The Magic School Bus, she went by he/him pronouns, probably due to her horns.
  • In the Original Series episode, "In a Pickle", her surname is mentioned to be Ard, because her first name is Liz. (Together these syllables form the word "lizard", her species).
  • Although she is mute, she has a "voice" in the Modern Standard Arabic and international French dubs of the original series[1]. In these dubs, she is heard making squeals sometimes. Like the Bus, she is incapable of talking in the series, but makes purring noises.
    • In "Revving Up", she's heard panting and groaning regardless of the language The Magic School Bus is being heard in.
    • In some of the PC games, Liz demonstrates the ability to talk, albeit very briefly and in very few instances.
  • Her eyes are humanlike in the The Magic School Bus TV series and The Magic School Bus Rides Again, showing her anthropomorphic characteristics, but in the book series, her eyes are akin to a chameleon's.
  • Even though she is reference as a female, her physical appearance is that of a male Jackson's chameleon (females don't have horns at all). This is probably due to an animation drawing error that was overlooked.
  • In the books, she is shown to like electrical appliances. (The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge)
  • She likes to eat bugs of any kind, but when she is shrunk along with the rest of the class, she develops a fear of insects.
  • She is seen in every "Producer Says" segment in the original series. The only one she appeared in in Rides Again was the first episode of its third season, "Kids in Space". In previous Rides Again episodes, Prof. Frizzle's pet monkey, Goldie, replaced her in the segments.
  • She was the first character to appear onscreen in the original TV series, not counting the Bus in the opening.
  • Despite being a chameleon, Liz only changed colors once ("Hides and Seeks").
  1. Arabic dub of the original series: https://eyoon.co/cat/magic-school-bus/
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