Desperately Seeking Stanley

Summary
On his third birthday, Arthur's favorite present was Stanley, his teddy bear. Stanley protected Arthur when he was afraid of the dark...and even when his new baby sister, D.W. arrived. What will he do if he sells him out of peer pressure?

Plot
The story starts off with Stanley and a Woogle on the second shelf. Stanley looks old and worn and needs to be sewn. Arthur's mother sews him and then the Reads have a garage sale. D.W. thinks a penny is good enough. Arthur disagrees. She tries to sell her singing fish, Thelma, to Vicita Molina, but Ramon says it's too expensive (which was 1,000 dollars.) Soon, she hears from D.W. about Stanley and gets even more excited than she did with Thelma.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Stanley
 * Woogle
 * The Brain

Minor

 * Pal
 * Kate Read
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Vicita Molina
 * Ramón Molina

Cameo

 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Alex

Trivia

 * In Arthur's third birthday party flashback, Francine was seen there, but they didn't know each other until in the preschool flashback in the earlier episode "Locked in the Library!."
 * At the end of the episode, when Arthur is in the attic at the Tibble house, a pig wearing something similar to a toga can be seen. This is probably the Brain's old stuffed animal, Plato, meaning that who he gave it to was Mrs. Tibble.
 * This episode is probably named after the popular 80's movie "Desperately Seeking Susan" featuring Madonna.

Cultural references

 * The episode name is a reference to the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan.
 * Stanley and the Woogle coming to life when Arthur's not around is a reference to  where the toys come to life when Andy's not around.

Episode connections

 * Mr. Ratburn's class had previously studied clouds in "Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble".
 * Arthur's Woogle from “Arthur Rides the Bandwagon” makes another appearance.