Desperately Seeking Stanley

Summary
On his third birthday, 's favorite present was, 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
Arthur’s Woogle (from “Arthur Rides the Bandwagon”) tells Stanley the teddy bear that he’s falling apart and both will be thrown away soon. Pal and Kate cheer Stanley up.

Desperately Seeking Stanley

Arthur and Brain build a diorama for school. Brain wants to use cotton, that fell out of Stanley, to make clouds. He notices that Arthur is still attached to his teddy.

Arthur's mother threatens that, if she has to sew him one more time, he will become Pal's new chewtoy. Stanley. D.W. wants to sells her singing fish Thelma and some other toys at the family’s garage sale. She teases Arthur for wanting to keep Stanley. Arthur offers Stanley for the sale.

Vicita Molina wants to buy the singing fish, but D.W. has priced it at $1,000. D.W. suggests buying Stanley instead, and Arthur sells him for five dollars. Vicita renames the teddy “Chico”. Arthur has flashbacks of getting Stanley for his third birthday, introducing him to baby D.W., and being less afraid of the dark thanks to Stanley. He tells himself that Stanley will be better of with a little kid.

Later he sees that Vicita, being only three, is not taking good care of Stanley.

When Brain brings the finished diorama, they talk about giving away toys. Brain mentions giving away a stuffed pig named Plato (possibly to Mrs. Tibble, see trivia section).

Arthur offers Vicita seven dollars to get Stanley back, but she traded him to Timmy Tibble for a sticker. Arthur has a fantasy of the Tibbles removing Stanley’s stuffing. Horrified, he runs to the Tibble’s house.

When Arthur tells Mrs. Tibble about Stanley, she shows him a room full of old stuffed toys. She has repaired Stanley (far better than Mrs. Read did) and made a raincoat for him. She offers Arthur to visit Stanley whenever he likes. Stanley says: “Goodbye, Arthur”, as the screen goes black…

…and opens again to show Arthur taking Stanley home “for the weekend”, finishing the episode.

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 is a rare episode where babies, pets and toys can talk (even outside the introduction), but are not the main characters.

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 Toy Story where the toys come to life when Andy's not around.
 * D.W.’s “Larry the Lemon” doll looks a lot like “Bananas in Pajamas”, except the stripes on the pajamas are red instead of blue.
 * Stanley’s blue raincoat is a reference to Paddington Bear.

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.

Character ages from “Arthur’s Third Birthday Flashback”

 * Arthur Read (3 to 6)
 * D.W. Read (6 months old / 1)
 * Buster Baxter (3)
 * Francine Frensky (4)