D.W. Blows the Whistle

Summary
Deputized as a Junior Safety Officer, D.W. sees it as a license to tattle.

Plot
In a fantasy sequence, we see Arthur and The Brain road race against Muffy and Francine. Muffy and Francine pass Arthur and The Brain to take the lead. But when they are on top of the canyon, Arthur and The Brain regain the lead, causing Muffy and Francine to crash into a rock. While they are still racing, Arthur and the Brain are pulled over by D.W. (dressed in a police uniform), which causes Muffy and Francine to win the race. She tells them that they got a ticket for no license plate, no turn signals, and that the numbers on the car create a distraction. Arthur protests and says that it's a race course, but he and the Brain are sent to jail. Brain can't believe how strict D.W. is, but Arthur says that she gets carried away.

D.W. Blows the Whistle

At the Elwood City Public Library, Officer Safety gives a lesson on the ABC's of safety, "Always Be Careful" to D.W. and her classmates. After the presentation, Ms. Turner tells the children to line up because there is something special that they will receive. D.W. is given a safety whistle along with her friends. Then she fantasizes about being dubbed and sworn in as "The Princess of Safety". She is also given a safety pony, which makes her so overjoyed that she hugs him. Following the fantasy sequence, Officer Safety tells the children, "Safety is everybody's responsibility!" Without worry, D.W. promises him that she will be safe.

We now see D.W., Kate, and Jane walk out of the library. D.W. asks Jane if she can bring her safety whistle with her when they go see Mary Moo Cow on Ice. She says yes, but she warns her not to blow it while at the show. When walking down the street, a mother is closing the car door with groceries in her hands while a boy named Matthew is playing with a ball. However, the ball bounces in the street and he tries to go after it. D.W. notices the situation right away and blows her whistle to warn the mother. Just in time, Matthew's mother grabs him before he gets hit by a car. Afterwards, she thanks D.W. for saving his life. D.W. is proud that she used the whistle to stop Matthew in time.

Arthur, on the other hand, is in shock about what happened. He is so shocked that he accidentally drops a wrench on his foot. D.W. believes that she is now the Junior Safety Officer. Arthur and The Brain are building a car for the Ratburn Rally Race. D.W. becomes a critic of the car and states it as "a pile of junk" with wheels. Arthur, in anger, replies, "Who asked you?" Jane tells them to calm down, but D.W. blows her safety whistle claiming that the car is unsafe and has no seatbelts. Jane and even Brain note that D.W. has a point in what she's saying and feel it would be a good idea to add some seatbelts, and D.W. notes, "Better to be safe than sorry."

Later in the evening, Arthur is playing with two toy race cars in the bathtub. D.W. blows the whistle multiple times and states little things that could be dangerous and unsafe, which annoys Arthur and even their parents.

At school, while setting up dominoes, Francine notes that D.W.'s become a "safety monster" and Arthur's friends complain that D.W.'s been blowing her whistle at them for ridiculous reasons: Brain eventually suggests he, Arthur and the others follow D.W. around to try and catch her doing something unsafe—Arthur thinks this is a great idea, because then they could all blow the whistle on his sister. After school, Arthur and his friends spy on D.W.. Binky sees that her shoe is unbuckled, but she buckles it back up anyways. In Muffy's limo, Francine and Muffy watch the monitor screens. Muffy claims that D.W. is skipping on the sidewalk without a helmet. Francine tells her that she does it all the time. Then Muffy and Francine notice D.W. and hide. D.W. looks for a second, then keeps walking. The Brain notices that she is coming to an intersection. Arthur is hiding in a trash can and ask what's going on and the Brain says that she is heading towards them (and trips). An ice cream cone is lying on the street, which is unsafe. Arthur then tells everyone to get their whistles just in case she picks it up and eats it. When D.W. picks up the cone, she states that it could be dangerous and puts it away in the trash can. Little does she realize that Arthur is inside the trash can hiding. Afterwards, D.W. visits Mrs. Tibble. Arthur, now covered in chocolate ice cream, says that the plan is not working and says that she's the safest person in Elwood City. Francine says that thankfully she won't be at the Ratburn Rally, but Arthur is afraid about that.
 * Muffy says that just yesterday, Arthur's sister blew the whistle at her for having long hair, claiming that "long hair is a safety hazard."
 * Binky claims that he got in trouble just for saying "Hi" to her, with D.W. justifying it by claiming that he shouldn't talk to strangers (even though he already knows her).

He fantasizes about the race. Just before Mr. Ratburn starts the race, D.W. blows her whistle and commands to stop the race with her megaphone. She then says that the Rally is unsafe and tells everyone to remain calm and to have the fire department come to make sure the cars are safe. Afterwards, flat tires are put on with pillows and now D.W. says that they can begin the race. They move at a very slow place. Coincidentally, two snails are by Brain's car. One of the snails says, "This is my kind of race!" D.W. also tells the snails to slow down.

In reality, Arthur's friends are in shock. He reassures them by saying that D.W. won't be there. But while having dinner later that evening David and Jane inform Arthur that he has to bring D.W. to the race with him tomorrow and keep an eye on her because they have to drop Kate off at Grandma Thora's house, which Arthur protests, questioning on why they can't just get someone else to watch her. When Arthur claims that D.W. will just end up ruining the Ratburn Rally by blowing her whistle at everything, D.W. denies this and claims that she'll only be blowing her whistle if she sees someone not being safe. However, David and Jane end up siding with Arthur, starting off with David noting that D.W. has been getting pretty carried away with all of her whistle-blowing. D.W. tries justifying her actions by claiming that she's just doing what Officer Safety taught her and the other preschoolers to do, but Jane claims that she's not making thing safer for the people around her, she's just being a tattletale. Jane elaborates by explaining to her oldest daughter that the point of Officer Safety's lesson to her and her classmates was to just let others know when someone's about to do something that's actually dangerous. David ultimately finishes the discussion by saying, "So tomorrow Arthur, you'll bring D.W. to the race with you and D.W., you will not bother Arthur." Arthur then gives his sister a dirty look when she looks over at him.

The next day at the race, D.W. observes the course while Muffy questions why she's there and she and Francine initially get mad at Arthur for bringing his sister—however, Arthur defends himself by explaining that he never wanted to bring her in the first place and that his parents made him do so. Francine claims that if she hears one blow from D.W.'s whistle, "[D.W.'s] gonna be one sorry little tattletale." When D.W. notes how steep the hill is, Arthur comes over with Muffy and Francine and tells D.W. to go away, sit down and not cause any distractions. D.W. then tells him that he's not the boss of her before walking away.

Mr. Ratburn then steps onto the podium and welcomes everyone to the Ratburn Rally. He tells the crowd he really likes the creativity of the cars and let the races begin. D.W., way in the back of the crowd, complains that she can't see anything and questions how she'll be able to tell if people are being safe or not. She looks up at a nearby tree and decides to climb it to get a better view of the race. Eventually, she climbs to the highest part of the tree—but just as she's about to blow her whistle after she sees a tire from a car spring loose, she drops her whistle and quickly realizes that she can't climb down. Realizing just how (genuinely) dangerous her situation is, D.W. starts screaming for help—this gets the attention of Francine and Arthur, the latter of whom advises D.W. to stay put while Muffy runs to get help from Mr. Ratburn. Mr. Ratburn calls the fire department, who get D.W. down to the ground safely. Then the firefighter gives D.W. her whistle, who ironically turns out to be Officer Safety after he tells her to be safe.

Arthur's parents arrive and ask what's all the commotion about. Arthur, not wanting his parents to get mad or worried, simply tells them that "some girl" got stuck in tree, not specifying that it was D.W. After David and Jane both hope the girl is alright, D.W. (feeling guilty) admits that the girl was her, and acknowledges that it was really stupid of her to have climbed the tree that high (even though she did so anyway). Realizing the danger that their daughter put herself in, Jane questions why she did so—Arthur admits that the situation was partly his fault, as he had told D.W. to go away and not bother him and his friends. David and Jane are at least glad that the kids are safe.

Afterwards, it's time for Arthur and Brain to race against Muffy and Francine—just before their race is about to start, D.W. notices that Arthur's helmet strap isn't fastened. Just as she's about to blow her whistle, she reconsiders and runs up to Arthur to tell him. Arthur thanks her for the reminder and fastens his helmet. Then Mr. Ratburn waves the green flag and the race goes on.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Binky Barnes
 * The Brain

Minor

 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Kate Read
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Paige Turner
 * Thora Read

Cameo

 * Emily
 * Officer Safety
 * Alex
 * Maria Pappas
 * Amanda Hulser
 * Maryann
 * Kyle
 * Mary
 * Brian
 * Kenny
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * Matthew
 * Matthew's mother
 * Francis Haney
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Fern Walters
 * George Lundgren
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Jenna Morgan
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat

Mentioned

 * Mary Moo Cow

Trivia

 * Irony: Dad and Mom could have done at least one of two things to ensure D.W. wouldn't disturb Arthur or anyone else at the Ratburn Rally:
 * 1.) They could have dropped her off at Grandma Thora's house alongside Kate.
 * 2.) They could have just made D.W. leave her whistle at home, so even if Arthur was still forced to bring D.W. to the race with him, there would have been a better chance of her not disturbing anyone.

Episode connections

 * D.W.'s whistle appears again in "D.W. Aims High."
 * Fire safety is discussed again in "D.W. All Fired Up."
 * D.W. mentions she actually climbs the tree in Arthur's Knee, even though this episode never even aired yet since then.

Errors

 * Mom and Dad were gonna drop Kate off at Grandma Thora's. In the scene where Mr. Ratburn says, "Will the first racers please approach the starting line?", Grandma Thora is seen in the crowd with her back to the camera. Also later on when Arthur tells D.W. they'll get her down their Dad is seen in the crowd looking worried.
 * While at the race, Arthur is wearing his racing clothes known as his black pants and blue racing shirt with the number 29 on it, but after D.W. climbs the tree and a racer's race car that looks like an airplane breaks down just as everyone gasps, as well as D.W. dropping her whistle and calling for help, he's seen wearing his regular clothes a few times.

Production Notes

 * This is the first episode to use the Arthur Taking a Bath title card.
 * Many program scheduling systems mistakenly label this episode as the previous episode, "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day/Fern's Slumber Party".

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur: The Complete Series 3