Arthur's Family Vacation (episode)

Summary
Instead of going with Buster to Camp Meadowcroak this year, Arthur has to go on a road trip with his family. After a series of misfortunes, the vacation may turn out better than he expected.

Plot
Arthur wants to go back to Camp Meadowcroak with Buster for the summer and tries to get out of the family vacation to the beach. He has second thoughts with the mention of lobster and after several impediments, including stinky diapers, traffic jams, and unpleasant pit stops, they finally make it to the beach.

The Reads lose their hotel reservation and stay in a leaky rundown hotel. It also rains a lot. However, matters eventually start to get better when Arthur gets an idea from looking in a rolled-up newspaper (which he had originally planned to go after D.W. with, as she had accidentally hit him on the head while trying to smack a fly). They go to a cow festival and on a safari, take a tour of Flo's Fudge Factory and go to see a movie called JAWS.

Arthur has not been scared of thunderstorms, lightnings, and statics. On their last day the sun comes out and David takes a picture of Arthur burying D.W. in the sand. When Arthur gets home, he asks Buster how camp was and Buster says that camp was okay until the hurricane hit and pretty much ruined everything.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Kate Read

Minor

 * Sharky (debut)
 * Buster Baxter
 * Waitress (Diner) (debut)
 * James MacDonald
 * Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 3) (speaking debut)

Cameo

 * Waiter (Lobster Shack) (debut)
 * Bill (dog)
 * Police officer
 * Mr. Sipple

Trivia

 * The man in the JAWS movie that the Read Family go to see at the movies looks like Arthur's former neighbor Mr. Sipple.
 * This is the only episode written by Thomas LaPierre.
 * A hurricane did hit Elwood City in Shelter from the Storm.

Cultural references

 * Flo's Fudge Factory could be a reference/play on Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory or .
 * The movie shown in the theatre is a reference to the 1975 film Jaws.

Episode connections

 * Arthur previously went to Camp Meadowcroak in "Arthur Goes to Camp".

Differences from the book

 * This story takes place shortly after the events of "Arthur Goes to Camp", which also takes place before Arthur starts third grade. In the book, the story started out as Arthur's last day of school in third grade.
 * In the book, they went to Gatorville; in the episode, they didn't.
 * In the episode, they went to the diner for lunch; in the book, they didn't.
 * In the book Buster says that camp was great and that he missed Arthur, while in the episode, Buster says camp was okay until they got hit by a hurricane.
 * In the book, Kate cried when D.W. announced the next morning that the family can't go to the beach because of the rain. In the episode, Kate didn't cry.

Errors

 * While the Read family was leaving the diner, David was holding a candy bar in one hand while he was driving. In the next few seconds, the candy bar is gone and he has both of his hands on the steering wheel.
 * Sharky's fins change different colors in different scenes.
 * For one second while Arthur said the word "No," his father had the same clothes like him.
 * At the scene were Arthur imagines him in the swimming pool, and D.W. and Sharky at the beach, D.W. is wearing her regular clothes instead of her swimsuit.
 * In the closing scene such as where we see Arthur and Buster in the window, Buster is in his regular clothes instead of his camping outfit.

Home Video
VHS:

DVD:
 * Arthur's Family Vacation (DVD)
 * Arthur's Travel Adventures
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One

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