D.W. Blows the Whistle

Summary
Deputized as a Junior Safety Officer, D.W. sees it as a license to tattle.

Plot
In a fantasy sequence, we see Arthur and The Brain road race against Muffy and Francine. Muffy and Francine pass Arthur and The Brain to take the lead. But when they are on top of the canyon, Arthur and The Brain regain the lead, causing Muffy and Francine to crash into a rock. While they are still racing, Arthur and the Brain are pulled over by D.W. (dressed in a police uniform), which causes Muffy and Francine to win the race. She tells them that they got a ticket for no license plate, no turn signals, and that the numbers on the car create a distraction. Arthur protests and says that it's a race course, but he and the Brain are sent to jail. Brain can't believe how strict D.W. is, but Arthur says that she gets carried away.

---Title Card---

At the Elwood City Public Library, Officer Safety gives a lesson on the ABC's of safety, "Always Be Careful" to D.W. and her classmates. After the presentation, Ms. Turner tells the children to line up because there is something special that they will receive. D.W. is given a safety whistle along with her friends. Then she fantasizes about being dubbed and sworn in as "The Princess of Safety". She is also given a safety pony, which makes her so overjoyed that she hugs him. Following the fantasy sequence, Officer Safety tells the children, "Safety is everybody's responsibility!" Without worry, D.W. promises him that she will be safe.

We now see D.W., Kate, and Jane walk out of the library. D.W. asks Jane if she can bring her safety whistle with her when they go see Mary Moo Cow on Ice. She says yes, but she warns her not to blow it while at the show. When walking down the street, a mother is closing the car door with groceries in her hands while a boy named Matthew is playing with a ball. However, the ball bounces in the street and he tries to go after it. D.W. notices the situation right away and blows her whistle to warn the mother. Just in time, Matthew's mother grabs him before he gets hit by a car. Afterwards, she thanks D.W. for saving his life. D.W. is proud that she used the whistle to stop Matthew in time.

Arthur, on the other hand, is in shock about what happened. He is so shocked that he accidentally drops a wrench on his foot. D.W. believes that she is now the Junior Safety Officer. Arthur and The Brain are building a car for the Ratburn Rally Race. D.W. becomes a critic of the car and states it as "a pile of junk" with wheels. Arthur, in anger, replies, "Who asked you?" Jane tells them to calm down, but D.W. blows her safety whistle claiming that the car is unsafe and has no seatbelts. Both Jane and even Brain note that D.W. has a point in what she's saying and feel it would be a good idea to add some seatbelts, and D.W. notes, "Better to be safe than sorry."

Later in the evening, Arthur is playing with two toy race cars in the bathtub. D.W. blows the whistle multiple times and states little things that could be dangerous and unsafe, which annoys Arthur and even their parents.

At school, while setting up dominoes, Francine believes that D.W. has become a "safety monster". Muffy claims that D.W. blew the whistle at her because "long hair is a safety hazard" and Binky says that he got in trouble just for saying "Hi" to her, and D.W. apparently justified this by claiming that Binky shouldn't talk to strangers (even though he already knows her). Arthur, tired of his sister's whistle-blowing, wishes that they could find her doing something unsafe so they could blow the whistle on her—Brain suggests following her around to do so. Arthur agrees to this and Binky then pushes the dominoes over.

After school, Arthur and his friends spy on D.W.. Binky sees that her shoe is unbuckled, but she buckles it back up anyways. In Muffy's limo, Francine and Muffy watch the monitor screens. Muffy claims that D.W. is skipping on the sidewalk without a helmet. Francine tells her that she does it all the time. Then Muffy and Francine notice D.W. and hide. D.W. looks for a second, then keeps walking. The Brain notices that she is coming to an intersection. Arthur is hiding in a trash can and ask what's going on and the Brain says that she is heading towards them (and trips). An ice cream cone is lying on the street, which is unsafe. Arthur then tells everyone to get their whistles just in case she picks it up and eats it. When D.W. picks up the cone, she states that it could be dangerous and puts it away in the trash can. Little does she realize that Arthur is inside the trash can hiding. Afterwards, D.W. visits Mrs. Tibble. Arthur, now covered in chocolate ice cream, says that the plan is not working and says that she's the safest person in Elwood City. Francine says that thankfully she won't be at the Ratburn Rally, but Arthur is afraid about that.

He fantasizes about the race. Just before Mr. Ratburn starts the race, D.W. blows her whistle and commands to stop the race with her megaphone. She then says that the Rally is unsafe and tells everyone to remain calm and to have the fire department come to make sure the cars are safe. Afterwards, flat tires are put on with pillows and now D.W. says that they can begin the race. They move at a very slow place. Coincidentally, two snails are by Brain's car. One of the snails says, "This is my kind of race!" D.W. also tells the snails to slow down.

In reality, Arthur's friends are in shock. He reassures them by saying that D.W. won't be there. Back at home, D.W. blows the whistle because the saucepan on the stove has its handle sticking out. This prompts Dave to turn the saucepan handle inwards. Arthur's parents tell him that he has to bring D.W. to the race with him, as they have to drop Kate off at Grandma Thora's house. Arthur suggests getting a babysitter, complaining that she'll just blow her whistle at everything. When D.W. denies this and claims that she'll only be blowing whistle if she sees somebody doing something that's unsafe, David sides with Arthur by way of noting that D.W. has been getting pretty carried away with her whistle-blowing. Though D.W. tries justifying her actions by claiming that she's just doing what Officer Safety said to do, Jane sides with David and Arthur by way of noting that she's missing the whole point of Officer Safety's lesson: he didn't mean for D.W. and the other preschoolers to be tattletales, he just wants them to let people know when someone's about to do something dangerous. D.W. accepts this and David finishes the discussion by saying, "Arthur, you'll bring D.W. to the race with you and D.W., you will not bother Arthur." Arthur then gives his sister a dirty look when she looks over at him.

At the race, D.W. observes the course while Muffy questions why she's there and Francine initially gets mad at Arthur for bringing his sister—however, Arthur defends himself by explaining that he never wanted to bring her in the first place and that his parents forced him to bring her to the race with him. Francine claims that if she hears one blow from D.W.'s whistle, D.W. will be "one sorry little tattletale." When D.W. notes how steep the hill is, Arthur comes over with Muffy and Francine and tells D.W. to go away, sit down and not cause any distraction. D.W. then tells him that he's not the boss of her before walking away.

Mr. Ratburn then steps onto the podium and welcomes everyone to the Ratburn Rally. He tells the crowd he really likes the creativity of the cars and let the races begin. D.W., way in the back of the crowd, complains that she can't see anything and questions how she'll be able to tell if people are being safe or not. She looks up at a nearby tree and decides to climb it to get a better view of the race. Eventually, she climbs to the highest part of the tree—but just as she's about to blow her whistle after she sees a tire from a car spring loose, she drops her whistle. D.W., realizing just how (genuinely) dangerous her situation is, starts screaming for help, which gets the attention of Francine. When Francine gets Arthur, he tells his sister to stay put while Muffy goes to get Mr. Ratburn. The kids' teacher calls the fire department, who help D.W. get down safely to the ground. Then the firefighter gives D.W. her whistle, who ironically turns out to be Officer Safety after he tells her to be safe.

Arthur's parents arrive and ask what the commotion is about. Arthur, not wanting his parents to get mad or worried, simply tells them that "some girl" got stuck in tree, not specifying that it was D.W. was that girl. David and Jane both hope that she was alright. But then D.W. admits by saying she was the girl who got stuck in the tree. She gets upset and admits that she knows that she shouldn't have climbed that high even though she did so anyway. Jane asks why she would do something dangerous like that. Arthur then admits that the situation was partly his fault, as he had told D.W. to go away and not bother him and his friends. Thankfully, they were safe and that they should know better. Afterwards, it is Arthur and the Brain's turn to race against Muffy and Francine. Before the race starts, D.W. notices Arthur's helmet strap is loose. Just as she's about to blow her whistle, she reconsiders and runs up to Arthur to tell him. Arthur thanks her for the reminder and fastens his helmet. Then Mr. Ratburn waves the green flag and the race goes on.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Binky Barnes
 * The Brain

Minor

 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Kate Read
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Paige Turner
 * Thora Read

Cameo

 * Emily
 * Officer Safety
 * Alex
 * Maria Pappas
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Maryann
 * Kyle
 * Mary
 * Brian
 * Kenny
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * Matthew
 * Matthew's mother
 * Francis Haney
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Fern Walters
 * George Lundgren
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Jenna Morgan
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat

Trivia

 * This is the first episode when D.W. learns about fire safety. Fire safety will be discussed again in "D.W. All Fired Up".
 * David and Jane could've done at least one of two things to ensure D.W. wouldn't disturb anybody at the Ratburn Rally:
 * Dropped D.W. off at Grandma Thora's alongside Kate.
 * Make D.W. leave her whistle at home.

Errors

 * Mom and Dad were gonna drop Kate off at Grandma Thora's. In the scene where Mr. Ratburn says, "Will the first racers please approach the starting line?", Grandma Thora is seen in the crowd with her back to the camera. Also later on when Arthur tells D.W. they'll get her down their Dad is seen in the crowd looking worried.

Production Notes

 * This is the first episode to use Arthur Taking A Bath as a title card.
 * Many program scheduling systems mistakenly label this episode as the previous episode, "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day/Fern's Slumber Party".