D.W. Gets Lost

Summary
D.W. gets lost in a huge department store. But instead of being scared, she wreaks havoc while trying to find her way home.

Plot
We first see Nadine on a stage telling the viewers about the story of D.W. who wanted to be a grown up girl. She describes some events, such as the time she was grown up enough to help her father with the cakes. Just before Nadine warns the viewers that the story may be shocking and thrilling, D.W. enters the stage with her mother's makeup and clothes on and carries a briefcase. Nadine warns D.W. not to hurt her mother's suit, but she doesn't listen and falls off the stage. Then Nadine tells the viewers, "We warned you!"

---Title Card--- We now see earrings that Emily shows to D.W.. She admires the earring very much because of the way it sparkles. Emily tells D.W. that the earrings are made of actual stone.

Back home, Arthur takes a piece of chocolate cake from the fridge, but quickly shoves it in his mouth when he notices D.W. enter the kitchen. She asks him what a stone is, but Arthur stops to drink some milk, since his mouth was too full. He then says that stones are rocks, and D.W. asks him if he means a rock like the ones that are dug up in the yard. Then D.W. tells her mother that Arthur ate a whole piece of chocolate cake, before asking what a stone is; Arthur, unfortunately, coughs after drinking all that milk and eating the cake. When Mom asks why Arthur didn't have an apple instead, Arthur said he would've, but he was too weak from hunger to chew it, and that he needed something soft. After Mom rolls her eyes, she then asks what type of stone D.W. means. She says she wants stones like the ones she saw in Emily's earrings. However, Mom denies D.W.'s plan.

While Mom takes out the trash, D.W. asks her why she said no because she didn't ask, she just told her. When D.W. questions why she can't have earring, Jane explains that she feels D.W.'s too young to have her ears pierced and adds that they'll turn her ears green. Later that evening, while Dad is preparing a salad and Mom gets the plates, D.W. says that she doesn't care if she'll have green ears. Then Dad picks up two lettuce pieces and puts it up against D.W.'s ears. He then says that green ears aren't her style. While Kate and D.W. are sleeping, D.W. dreams about earrings.

The next morning, D.W. has her mother's earrings glued to her hair. Mom gets surprised and asks how she got them on her ears. D.W. says that she did not put holes in her ears, but just glued them to her hair. Then Mom cuts off the glued earrings which is a painful process for D.W.. Then Dad asks D.W. what he and Mom always telling her  about glue. She replies with, "Glue is for paper, not for skin, and never put it in your soup." All D.W. wanted was to see how beautiful she looked with the earrings on. While D.W. is in her room, Nadine warned her about not using glue. Then Jane comes in and makes a deal with her daughter: while shopping at the All-in-One Mart, she'll take D.W. to the jewelry department to look at the earrings, and if Jane decides that D.W. has to wait until she's a little older to have her ears pierced, D.W. will wait.

At All in One Mart, the mother and daughter run into Mr. Crosswire, who needs to talk to Jane about some financial stuff. D.W. is surveying the store and then notices the earring. She tries to get her mother's attention, but she is too busy listening to Mr. Crosswire. Then Nadine reminds D.W. that she has to be patient in order for her to be grown up. But D.W. says that Mr. Crosswire talks a really long time and her mother probably won't notice that she is gone. Then she escapes from her mother and goes running around the store. At the center of the store, D.W. notices a pig statue. She thinks the statue reminds her of Arthur due to the fact that the pig is eating the chocolate cake, just like he did. Nadine and D.W. laugh about the statue, but then Nadine suggests that they should return to Mom and Mr. Crosswire. D.W. agrees with Nadine.

Then D.W. looks around the store worried. Nadine then asks if they're lost, but D.W. says no and guides her one way. However, they passed the pig statue three times. D.W. then gets on top of the pig statue to survey the entire store. Then D.W. and Nadine go to level 2 of the store to go to the security camera room. D.W. tells Nadine to watch the screens carefully because her mother could be on there. She starts pushing buttons and moving the joysticks causing havoc in some departments. D.W. then states how clumsy those people were in the Sporting Goods department, but then notices the earrings in the Jewelry department on the screen. However, Nadine notices her mother on the screen. Then the security camera operator comes in and tells her that she doesn't belong in there and runs off.

Nadine tells D.W. that she should've figured out where her mother was instead of looking at the earrings while they continue to walk around the store. Nadine gets really worried that they'll never find Mom. D.W. then fantasizes her parents mourning the loss of D.W. while Arthur eats another piece of cake. Then D.W. wonders if her mother won't even miss her and fantazises about twenty years later when her parents and Arthur are older. Arthur eats a piece of chocolate cake and drinks soda while Mom and Dad reminisce about D.W. being lost, but the house itself being peaceful. Then Nadine and D.W. get hungry and try to find some food. At a sample table, we see people taking one sample of cheese at a time. Nadine and D.W. are relieved that they found the sample table, but they have trouble making their way through the people. In order for the crowd to clear, D.W. picks up a cone, uses it as a megaphone and announces to everyone that there are free desserts on aisle 12. However, there are no more cheese samples left.

Nadine is now really worried that they will never leave All in One Mart. D.W. says that it wouldn't be so bad if there is food everywhere in the store. Then she fantazises about being "The Phantom of the Store" by taking all the food and keeping it up in the attic. However, she misses her family (including Arthur), but then realizes that she and Nadine are freezing in the frozen food section of the store. Nadine suggests moving away from the frozen food section so they won't be freezing. Then D.W. runs into Emily and her mom--D.W. asks if Emily's buying more earrings, but Emily explains that she's returning the ones she showed to D.W. earlier in the episode, which turned her ears green (which shocks D.W.). Nadine suggests to D.W. that she should ask Emily if she knows where Jane is--D.W. initially refuses, but Nadine points that grown-ups probably ask for help sometimes too. D.W. then asks Emily if she saw Jane, and Emily explains that she and her mom saw Jane talking to Mr. Crosswire at the front of the store and gives her directions on where to go. D.W. and Nadine finally return to Jane, who was so busy talking to Mr. Crosswire that she didn't even notice that D.W. was gone. After Mr. Crosswire leaves, it turns out that D.W. was only gone for five minutes--when Jane asks if D.W.'s ready to go look at the earrings, D.W. (after seeing what happened to Emily) tells her mom that she's thought it over and decided that she would rather wait until she's a little older to potentially have her ears pierced. Jane's impressed and tells D.W. that's a very grown-up decision to make, and the two go out to get some lunch. The episode finishes with Emily looking behind herself and then walking out of the store.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Nadine Flumberghast
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Emily

Minor

 * Kate Read
 * Ed Crosswire

Cameo

 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 2)
 * Emily's mother
 * Oliver Frensky
 * Mr. Powers
 * Laverne Frensky
 * Oliver Frensky
 * Wanda Deegan
 * Unknown Male Adult Poodle
 * Mrs. Wood
 * Cheryl Featherfoffer
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Mr. Powers
 * Mrs. Lundgren

Trivia

 * The video description describes Nadine as "an aardvark girl." Although Nadine's species has never been officially confirmed, it is widely believed that she is actually a squirrel.
 * The woman who yells "It's the Phantom of the Store!" is a recolored Ms. Morgan.
 * At the end of the episode, a couple of other girls are shown with green ears, implying that the earrings turning ears green are a frequent problem.
 * Running Gag:Arthur eating cake.
 * Initially, D.W. catches Arthur shoving a whole piece of cake into his mouth.
 * Later, while she is lost, she sees a statue of a pig eating cake, and it reminds her of Arthur. In her fantasies when she thinks about what could happen if she is never found, Arthur is always eating cake (and doesn't seem to notice that his sister is missing).
 * Some of the phrases the P.A. system in the All in One Mart says include:
 * "If you've lost your child, come to our lost child department, located behind the toy department, and on the way, why not buy a new toy for that poor, frightened child you lost?"
 * "Attention, smart shoppers! Free samples available all day at our water fountain!"
 * "Big sale in our book department! Books without vowels now half-price!"
 * "Don't forget today's sale on chocolate-covered cabbage! It's the dessert that makes you go 'Bleah!'"
 * This is the first episode D.W.'s imaginary friend Nadine is hosting.

Errors

 * When D.W. and Nadine say "food," D.W.'s mouth doesn't move.
 * In one scene, when "The Phantom of the Store" swoops down, she only has one earring, but in the next scene, she has two earrings.

Cultural References

 * Nadine's introduction to this episode ("...this is a story to thrill you and shock you...") is taken from the intro to James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff.

Home video
DVD:
 * Hooray for Health!
 * Arthur Gets Lost