Arthur's Spelling Trubble

Summary
Arthur is entered in the spelling bee, but becomes nervous when he makes it to the finals with the smartest kid in his class and last year's winner.

Plot
Arthur is hiding backstage of the Spellathon. He asks the audience if they have ever been nervous to do something that was important to them. He imagines himself as Benjamin Franklin doing his famous lightning and kite experiment.

Francine, as his wife supposedly, worries over him. But he is determined to do so. A lightning bolt strikes the kite, causing it to travel down to Arthur, shocking him.

In present day, Arthur admits he shouldn't be afraid of something so little, but then Mr. Haney calls Arthur to stage. Arthur becomes nervous again.

Arthur's Spelling Trubble

Arthur, Francine, and Prunella are walking down the hall and greet Mr. Haney, who is polishing the Spellathon trophy. Prunella boasts about how she won last year's contest with the word endurance.

She asks Arthur if he can spell it. He attempts to, but fails to do so. Class begins and Mr. Ratburn gives the announcement to the students that they will have a spelling bee.

He asks them to study thoroughly, for whoever wins gets a surprise. After school, Arthur, Buster, Francine, Brain wonder what the surprise is going to be. Buster guesses that it will be less homework.

This inspires the others to study hard. Francine studies at home with her movie star glasses. Brain attempts to memorize how to spell antidisestablishmentarianism, but keeps forgetting how many i's are within it. His dad advises him to skip it. Muffy uses a computer spelling simulator and spells dog. Buster is sitting in his chair studying but eventually becomes bored.

He gets an idea and buys a lucky charm. Arthur shows his dad, who is making a model of a bodybuilder out of meat, a song about the first word in his spelling book which is aardvark.

Arthur goes to his treehouse and studies, although he is just singing the rap of one word over and over. D.W. arrives, but Arthur tells her to not bother him and that he's studying. D.W. thought that he had ants in his pants, due to his leg movements.

He tells her again to leave. She does so, thinking that he is a grouch. Arthur resumes studying and is interrupted by Buster. Arthur asks him if he is done studying. Buster claims he doesn't need to, for he has his good luck charm, and asks Arthur if he wants to go to the arcade.

Arthur isn't sure and thinks he should study more. Buster tempts him by telling him that he is not the spelling type and that they have a new game that flips you all around. Arthur eventually agrees.

At the day of the spelling bee, Buster asks Arthur if he's ready, but this rather has Arthur worry, for he forgot about studying. Mr. Ratburn has the spelling bee begin, and so far all the students so far, except for the Brain, have spelled incorrectly.

Arthur thinks he could get closer to the heater so that he could go to the nurse, but it's too late, it's his turn and Mr. Ratburn asks him to spell aardvark, Arthur then briefly does the rap of the word. Francine's turn comes and has to spell pleasant, but she spells it incorrectly as pleasent, discouraging her.

The bee is over and only the Brain and Arthur have won. Mr. Ratburn announces that the surprise is that they will participate in the Spellathon, this shocks Arthur. After the bell rings, Arthur suggests to Ratburn that he himself should not be in the contest and admits that "aardvark" was the only word he studied.

Mr. Ratburn encourages Arthur to give more effort if he wants to do well in the Spellathon. Back at home at dinner, Arthur's family volunteers to help Arthur in any way they can, although D.W. doesn't apply. Later, Arthur is studying in his room, and D.W. prepares to annoy him, but their Mom stops her and bribes her with ice cream.

The next day, Arthur is again studying in the treehouse, Buster comes and asks if he wants to play football. But this time, Arthur declines this and spells "sorry".

At home again, Mom and Dad try to feed Baby Kate, while Arthur is studying, but he thinks he isn't getting any better. His dad tells him that he probably is getting better without realizing it.

He asks if he wants something to eat. Arthur answers and spells absolutely, he checks his book and is happy to see that he spelled it correctly. He continues studying. Just then the doorbell rings. D.W. answers it and it turns out to be Buster and Francine wanting to know if Arthur can play.

D.W. says he's still 'exercising his brain' and that she's available. Arthur is then shown walking down the street still review his book. Brain greets him, and Arthur asks how his studying is going. He says that it's going well and that he is now getting computer equipment for a program he is making on his spare time which amazes Arthur.

That night, Arthur is brushing his teeth, and then D.W. walks up to him and asks him to spell "toothpaste" he does so correctly. The next day, he continues studying and hears Kate say "glooba". Arthur spells this once again correctly, which confuses Kate. The moment of the Spellathon has arrived. Grandma Thora helps Arthur with his suit. He is also very nervous, but Grandma Thora encourages him.

Backstage, everyone feels excited, except Arthur. Prunella is especially excited when the Spellathon torch is lit, beginning the contest. Mr. Haney welcomes everyone and presents the contestants.

He wishes them good luck and calls Brain to the microphone. Mr. Haney asks him to spell "fear", but Brain doesn't respond for he is very nervous, he eventually attempts to spell the word, but he incorrectly spells it as "fere".

Some time later into the contest, the cat girl attempts to spell "pieces", but improperly spells it as "peices". Prunella's turn comes and has to spell "champion". She claims this easy, for she sees her last year's trophy every day, and spells it correctly.

Arthur's turn comes, his word is "suggest", he spells this correctly. Prunella mocks Arthur, thinking she is unbeatable. Her turn comes again and is made to spell "preparation". She is uncertain and asks him for the definition.

He grants her request and defines it. She attempts to spell it, but spells it as preperation, she is shocked to see that it was incorrect. Arthur comes up again and is asked to spell preparation.

He spells it correctly and wins the Spellathon trophy. After the contest, Buster is very glad for Arthur, while Arthur is very relieved that it's over. Mr. Ratburn congratulates him and that he knew he could do it. D.W. comments that now 'Arthur' knows this.

Major characters

 * Arthur Read
 * Prunella Deegan
 * The Brain
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francine Frensky
 * D.W. Read
 * Herbert Haney
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor characters

 * Muffy Crosswire
 * David Read
 * Jane Read
 * Baby Kate (debut)
 * Mr. Powers (debut)
 * Grandma Thora (debut)
 * Benjamin Franklin (Arthur as Benjamin Franklin in his fantasy)

Background characters

 * Jenna Morgan
 * George Lundgren
 * Binky Barnes
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Fern Walters
 * Miss Tingley
 * Mrs. Fink
 * Miss Sweetwater
 * Mr. Marco
 * Billy
 * Frankie

Songs

 * "A-A-R-D-V-A-R-K"

Trivia

 * This is the first appearance of the Treehouse.
 * It is abnormal in this episode that Brain hopes to have less homework, yet in most other episodes, he likes homework.
 * Mr. Haney referred to the Brain by his nickname, who he is usually referred to by Arthur and his friends; although he refers to the Brain by his real name, "Alan," in all later episodes.
 * The word Arthur spells in his song references his species, "aardvark".
 * Brain strangely can't spell "fear", a second grade word. (They are in third). It's either Brain was nervous, or, he wasn't thinking.

Cultural references

 * This episode features the first reference to the popular English rock group, The Beatles. In Arthur's dictionary, it says "Abbey Road" on one of the pages. This is the name of the studio in which the Fab Four recorded most of their songs, as well as the title of their last studio recorded album.
 * The incorrect spelling of "pieces" refers to the saying, "i before e except after c, or when sounded as a as neighbor or weigh."

Episode connections

 * Francine wears her movie star glasses from "Arthur's Eyes".

Errors

 * When the contestants are first seen backstage, Brain is wearing his usual clothes, rather than his tan colored shirt for the Spell-a-thon. In the next shot, he is now wearing his formal tan-colored shirt.

Production notes

 * The word "trubble" from the episode title is intentionally misspelled from the word "trouble" as a joke for what Arthur can't spell.

Home video
DVD:
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One

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