To Eat or Not to Eat

Summary
A brand new candy bar is in town! But why is it making everyone behave so strangely? And what exactly is this ingredient called Tri-Enzomated Zorn Jelly, anyway?

Plot
Buster sees a commercial on TV for a new candy bar called Big Boss bars. He immediately starts seeing all of his friends eating the bars, including Binky, who buys large amounts of Big Boss bars from the Sugar Bowl in order to sell them to people and earn money. Buster plans to try the candy bar, but before he eats the candy, he notices that there are several ingredients on the nutrition label that he hasn't heard of before. Buster also notices that after his friends finish enjoying the candy, they become tired, sluggish and begin to have headaches. After going to the library and talking to the Brain to learn more about the ingredients, he finds out that some of the ingredients in the candy bar come from beetles and may be radioactive. When Buster tells his mother, she proclaims that they should take a tour of the candy factory.

When Buster and his mother visit the factory, they quickly discover that the ingredients in the candy are addictive. Mrs. Baxter writes the article in her newspaper about it, exposing the candy factory's secret and ending the sales of Big Boss Bars. While Binky tries unsuccessfully to sell the now unwanted Big Boss bars, Buster admits of being proud that he never tried the candy while he eats healthy food.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Binky Barnes
 * The Brain
 * Bitzi Baxter

Minor

 * George Lundgren
 * Fern Walters
 * Arthur Read
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Paige Turner
 * Supreme Dog

Cameo

 * Jenna Morgan
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * Luke
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat
 * Kenny
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * Otis
 * Alex
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit

Trivia

 * On the commercial for the Rabid Dog Big Boss Bars, when the kid on the advertisement is doing a cartwheel after being energized after eating the Big Boss Bar, the background looks like the sea in.
 * This is the last time in the U.S that the "Buster Arrives on a Spaceship" title card is used.
 * The picture on the newspaper at the end is recycled from Buster the Myth Maker, only recolored.
 * Moral: Don't ruin other peoples food fun  for the sake of eating healthy foods for your own personal benefit.
 * Karma: Surpreme Dog sold candy bars only to profit himself, so he got caught by the cops and sent to jail.
 * 4th Wall break:
 * Several Big Boss Bar ingredients refer to creators of Arthur:
 * Boudnikovium Oxide - Igor Boudnikov (animation)
 * Benadrihelenecossette - Helene Cossette (storyboard)
 * Butylated Hydroxydumoulin - Natalie Dumoulin (producer)
 * Catatonic Chiaravillarsulfite - Chiara Villar (production coordinator)
 * Chlorophyllum Ivantankushevellose - Ivan Tankushev (storyboard)
 * Cocoylkeithodonnell...cosimine - Keith O’Donnell (animation)
 * Toxi-RobclarkSB-sulfide - Rob Clark (storyboard)
 * XGbaileytriacid and sulfate - Greg Bailey (director)

Cultural references

 * The title of this episode is a parody of the line "To be or NOT to be", from the famous Shakespeare play, Hamlet.
 * This is the second episode whose title is a parody of that line. The first was "To Beat or Not to Beat."
 * Buster remarks the Big Boss Bars will last for centuries thanks to all the chemicals in them. This is a reference to the urban legend that have so many chemicals, they have an indefinite shelf life.
 * Cochineal, which is often used as dye, comes from beetles.
 * Oxylavamonotrine is fictional, but there is a red food dye called that is extracted from cochineals, a kind of bug.
 * Buster’s fantasies are very similar to, a type of crime movie genre popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

Production Notes

 * In current American prints, the scene where George buys a Big Boss Bar from Binky in the schoolyard is edited. In the original and international versions, George shoves the entire bar in his mouth without removing the wrapper. In the edited version, George is already chewing the bar when the shot changes. This was likely done to prevent children from trying to imitate eating candy wrappers. Despite the edit, the video description still mentions George eating the bar "with the wrapper on".

Episode connection(s)

 * Buster's detective persona previously appeared in "" and "."

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur Goes Back to School