Francine and the Feline

Francine and the Feline is the second half of episode 13 of Season 3. It first aired on April 26th, 1999 along with Arthur's Dummy Disaster.

Summary
Francine's father Oliver finds a cat abandoned in the dump and adopts him as a pet. Catherine names the cat Rose Petal, until she learns he is more interested in Francine, leading him to be renamed Nemo. Arthur is a dog person and throws tantrums about cats, making up ridiculous stories about them being evil and wanting to bite off people's ears. When Pal and Nemo play around, Arthur claims that Nemo is threatening to kill Pal. Arthur dislikes Nemo so much that Francine might decide to stop being friends with him.

Plot
Opening scene Francine goes on to decide which pet she would like, first a Komodo Dragon, then a Narwhal. Buster then goes on to say that he wants a Pterodactyl. Arthur claims the only pet to have is a dog before he's interrupted by Binky, who claims to want an Omeba, Arthur tries again but Brain wants to talk about virtual hamsters. But both are interrupted by Francine who claims its her intro. Episode At the junkyard where he works, Francine's dad is "attacked" by a mysterious creature during lunch. He comes home later to reveal his surprise, a kitten! Francine goes to pet it back Catherine interrupts and grabs it, nuzzling it and hugging it and so fourth. Both girls go on to argue about the cat and later Francine tells the guys about her new cat. Arthur claims they're smelly and mean, Brain thinks they're too cute, and Arthur tries to convince her that Pal, a dog is the perfect pet. Who then proceeds to steal D.W.'s cookie and wrecks her tea party.

Later Francine comes in to see Catherine dressed up the kitten, who particularly didn't seem to like it very much. She then reveals its name "Rosepetal". Catherine then sees Rosepetal laying with Francine the following morning and accuses her of trying to steal Rosepetal's affection. The cat is a bit wound up and Catherine does not understand as she tries to feed it. Francine however seems to be enjoying this behavior as she tries to catch up and play with it.

Later, Francine plays cards with the guys and Brain compliments the intelligence of the kitty, while Arthur manages to upset/frustrate Francine to the point of leaving. Arthur does not plan on changing his mind anytime soon though, and keeps calling the cats stupid while beginning to worry that she may end up getting a lot more cats. Eventually he imagines it and the cats licking his ears until seeing Francine suddenly turn "cat-like" when he snaps out of it. Later, Francine comes over and has Pal and Nemo meet. Arthur tries to convince her that Pal doesn't need a cat for a friend but he won't listen and keeps yelling at Francine because he thinks Nemo was trying to kill Pal. But he suddenly notices Pal is behaving weirdly...

Later, he goes over the story with Buster. Who claims Pal looks fine to him...

The next morning, Francine shows Nemo to their friends at school. Arthur is even more spiteful of Nemo, now that it ate his lunch...

After school Arthur still notices that Pal is behaving weirdly when the doorbell suddenly rings. Francine lets Nemo go play with Pal before asking Arthur what they should study for first. It's then Francine and Arthur begin to argue and fight. The pets listen before Francine angrily storms out and slams the door. Arthur tries to figure out why Pal is so upset when he tells his dad what they were doing earlier and his parents reveal that the animals were playing, not trying to fight. And so Arthur, who refuses to listen, then goes to take Pal on a walk when he sees Nemo and Francine.

Nemo and Pal then proceed to un-hook themselves from their leashes and run around, making Francine and Arthur chase the both of them suddenly Arthur gets knocked over! He begins to laugh as Nemo licks his ear and the two animals continue on playing. Francine and Arthur resume arguing about which species of pet is better as both pets smile and simply watch their owners...

Trivia
This is episode is a reference/parody of "Beauty & the Beast"

Goofs

 * In Arthur's dream about Francine having more cats in her apartment, Francine first had her true monkey nostrils but later had a cat's nose and whiskers (although this makes Arthur think Francine is turning into a cat due to her obsession with them).
 * Arthur saying that all cats are stupid would be especially insolent about Sue Ellen and Jenna who are both cats, but anthropomorphic; even though he is good friends with them. However, must bear in mind that when animals are referred to on Arthur, they usually refer to actual pets, not the characters despite being anthropomorphic animals.

Home video
VHS and DVD: Arthur's Pet Follies