Just Desserts

Summary
Overindulging in sweets leads to a night of very strange dreams for Arthur.

Plot
Arthur is shown reading a book called "Fairy Tales". He tells the viewers that these (fairy tales) "are some of the weirdest, scariest, most exciting stories ever". "There are talking pigs... two-headed trolls..." He states that he didn't always like fairy tales, and used to think they were really babyish.

Arthur then opens another book (which happens to be a journal of sorts) and begins at the beginning: "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Arthur, whose dad was an amazing cook..."

Just Desserts

David Read was finishing decorating a cake. Arthur wants to have a taste, but his dad tells him no because it's for a wedding that he and Jane are catering for tonight. He then tells Arthur that Grandma Thora might give him some of her chocolate chip cookies, which Arthur fears about.

During school, Mr. Ratburn's class was watching a film about life in the ocean when Arthur daydreams about the wedding cake. After school, Arthur tells Buster about the cake his dad made and also told him that Grandma is making dinner, probably the cheesy tuna noodle thing she made before. Buster suggests that Arthur buy some candy since he states it's real food.

Arthur buys some candy from Gula's Candy Emporium and ate them after he came home. But to his surprise, Grandma Thora prepared the food their dad left. D.W. comes in and is enthusiastic, but covers it by saying, "How nice. You don't have to do any work, Grandma". Grandma thanks her, and tells them that if they both clean their plates, she has a big surprise for them. After dinner, Arthur and D.W. say what they think the surprise is. Grandma Thora reveals that the surprise is some leftover slices from the wedding cake David made. Arthur feels his stomach gurgling, so he decided to take a tiny bite from it. But instead, he ate two slices of the cake and started having an upset stomach.

Grandma Thora suggests to Arthur that she'll read a story to cheer him up. D.W. also wholeheartedly agrees with that idea. But Arthur doesn't want to hear fairy tales; in his opinion, they're boring. He suggests that Grandma reads the new Scare-Your-Pants-Off book, "Blood-Sucking Beavers of Bavaria", instead. Regardless, Grandma decides to read from the book of fairy tales, stating the the stories in the fairy tale genre are just as exciting and frightening as the Scare-Your-Pants-Off book. She then proceeds to tell the story of Hansel and Gretel.

Arthur then dreams of himself and D.W. as the main characters of the fairy tale. They were first lost in the woods, but then find their way out and discovered a gingerbread house. They then meet the witch (played by Mr. Ratburn) who lives in their. He and the kids went to the mall to buy an oven so he can cook them for dinner. Trapped in a cell, Arthur and D.W. are yelling to let them out. D.W. notices that the bars are made of candy cane and they can lick their way out. But Arthur didn't want to help because of his stomach ache. However, they were saved by the seven dwarfs (played by the Tibble Twins), who then take D.W. to give them their nap time. D.W. asks Arthur to get Grandma. On the way, Binky teases him, prompting Arthur to put on a red cloak. Once he reaches Grandma's, he saw that she was a cake and Grandma throws herself into Arthur's mouth before D.W. arrives and scolds him. Then Buster arrives as a woodcutter and prepares to chop Arthur's stomach, which makes Arthur wake up from his nightmare. Grandma then gives him tablets to help his upset stomach.

Later that night, he has another dream where D.W. scolds him for selling her Mary Moo Cow CD for beans. Arthur explains they're magic beans which were planted by D.W. and turns into a beanstalk. Arthur climbs it and sees a castle and a goose which belongs to a food giant. Arthur escapes from the giant, but the giant is chasing him. Then Buster shows up as a beanstalk cutter and chips down the beanstalk, making Arthur wake up from his dream, stating that fairy tale helped.

The scene shifts to the library scene where Arthur ends the story and eats a candy bar, ending the episode.

Major characters

 * Arthur
 * Buster
 * D.W.
 * Grandma Thora

Minor characters

 * David Read
 * Mr. Ratburn
 * Tibble Twins
 * Binky
 * Food Giant

Background characters

 * Brain
 * Francine
 * Muffy

Mentioned characters

 * Jane Read

Production Notes

 * This is the first episode to use the Fairy D.W. title card.
 * This parodys Hansel and Gretle.
 * This also parodys Snow White.

Home Video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur's Storybook
 * Hooray for Health

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