Happy Anniversary

Summary
''While they are on their way to celebrate the tenth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Read, the Reads' van breaks down, stranding the entire family. Arthur and D.W. get locked in a diner storeroom, where they hear the inspiring radio tale of Crooning Cowboy Kid Carter and his little-sister sidekick.''

Plot
Mr. Ratburn shows a video on perspective in school. The class has to write essays on how the way you look at something changes the way you think about it.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Arthur and Buster are looking forward to the Bionic Bunny tenth anniversary special, which is supposed to reveal the connection between Bionic Bunny and Dark Bunny. They vow to have their essays finished before the special.

The day of the special is also the day of the Read parents' tenth (that is “tin”) anniversary. Arthur has bought his parents a card while D.W. has painted a picture on a pie tin. She is disappointed when Arthur informs her that pie tins are made of aluminum.

The parents are happy about both gifts, but D.W. promises them an official tin gift. The parents are planning to eat at a French restaurant in the evening, while D.W. will stay at grandma Thora's house and Arthur will stay with Buster.

D.W. trades the Tibbles her Mary Moo Cow doll for a tin soldier.

Meanwhile Arthur works on his essay at Buster's but he does not have a good idea. Buster wants to write about hunger making bland food seem tasty. He ends up eating his prop.

Brain tells D.W. that her tin soldier, though valuable, is actually made of iron.

Arthur works on his essay at home, but he still lacks inspiration. He has a dream in which he and Buster fight a huge origami figure made of his unfinished essay.

Just as the Reads are dropping D.W. off at Grandma Thora's, Grandpa Dave phones to tell them that his car broke down and he needs a lift to the volunteer firemen's ball.

The whole family drives in Mr. Read's van. First they get lost, then the car breaks down in an area with no cell phone reception. Mr. Read, D.W. and Arthur walk back to a diner. It is closed, but a young employee named Jay lets Mr. Read use the phone. Meanwhile Arthur and D.W. try out an old jukebox. The dime they meant to drop in rolls into a storeroom. The kids run after if, the door falls shut and they are trapped.

Mr. Read and Jay hear them, but only Jay's boss has a key to the storeroom. Jay fetches the other Reads, then leaves to get the key. He allows the Reads to help themselves to food.

D.W. starts to panic. Arthur tries to calm her down by telling fairy tales, but D.W. already knows them all. Instead she tells a Bionic Bunny story, in which Bionic Bunny and Dark Bunny are twins who were separated at birth by a witch and an evil robot. Arthur tells her to stop, because the idea is so dumb.

Just then D.W. accidentally turns on an old radio. The kids hear a radio play about “Kid Carter and his Sidekick Mistral”. In the play -which is shown with Arthur characters- Carter (Arthur) and Mistral (D.W.) chase the Burlap brothers (Tibble twins), who are in leage with a corrupt mayor (Mr. Ratburn). The brothers trap Carter and Mistral in a mine. Carter finds a miner's hat with a lamp and they start looking for tools, when they discover something, but just then the program ends.

Arthur uses lamps from his Bionic Bunny costume to look for tools and the kids manage to loosen the lock and get out of the storeroom. D.W. hands her mother a tin can, which is actually made of tin.

Just then Mr. Read calls everyone for a dinner which he has created from leftovers. They eat and dance to music from the jukebox.

In school Arthur reads his essay about the anniversary adventure, concluding that perspective means realizing that you are part of something larger, like a family.

Arthur asks Buster about the Bionic Bunny special. The revelation about Bionic Bunny and Dark Bunny turns out to be exactly what D.W. said.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Arthur Read
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Jay

Minor

 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * The Brain
 * Thora Read
 * Dave

Cameo

 * Rattles
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Alex
 * Maria Pappas
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * George Lundgren
 * Fern Walters
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Kate Read
 * Ms. Albright
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * Mary
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * Wilbur Rabbit

Trivia

 * D.W. mispronounces Bionic Bunny's name twice.

Episode connections

 * Buster mentions saving a cat, which he did in Buster Baxter, Cat Saver.

Cultural references

 * In the beginning of the episode, the video shown in class may be a parody of the film .
 * A tenth wedding anniversary is traditionally called a tin anniversary (just like twenty-fifth is silver and fiftieth is gold).
 * Modern “tin cans” are at best made of tinplate (iron or steel with a thin tin coating to prevent rusting). Many are made of aluminum. In the manufacture of “pie tins” and “tin foil”, aluminum had completely replaced actual tin by the mid-twentieth century. As Brain says, tin is rare and also expensive.
 * “Auberge d'Aubergine” (correct: “Auberge de l'Aubergine”) is French for “Eggplant Inn”.
 * Buster's Formaggio Falcon may be a parody of the, a spaceship from . Formaggio is Italian for "cheese".
 * Origami is the Japanese art of making figures by folding sheets of paper.

Errors

 * Right before the Read family car comes to a complete stop, D.W.'s pantyhose turns the same color as her skin.

Production notes

 * This episode officially marks the 10th anniversary of Arthur on PBS TV stations and the 30th anniversary of Marc Brown writing and illustrating the Arthur books.
 * Michael Yarmush, the original voice of Arthur, has a role in this episode as the waiter at the Ten Spot Diner.
 * During the interstitial, Buster reads ten selected responses from fans telling him why they like the ''Arthur TV series.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur: Season 10