Lost!

"Lost!" is the first half of the 9th episode of season 2 of the animated children's series Arthur. It originally aired on December 8th, 1997. It was written by Kathy Waugh and the storyboards were done by Gerry Capelle.

Summary
After school Arthur is supposed to take the bus to the public pool for his swimming lesson, but he falls asleep on the bus and misses his stop. Arthur ends up at the edge of town, but luckily, the bus driver helps him find his way home.

Plot
Arthur is missing, Jane assumes that he didn't show up for his swimming lessons. David decides to drive to his school to see if he is there, and Jane decides to call the bus company. D.W. is told to stay in one spot outside to avoid two lost children. D.W. eventually booms, "OH, ARTHUR, WHERE ARE YOU?!".

Title Card

One night, Arthur comes home, who seems alright despite being late. D.W., Jane, and David had been very worried about it. David is curious to know the story of why Arthur is missing. D.W. had a story when she answered the phone. Jane allows Arthur to explain the story.

The story begins with Arthur getting out of school. Buster offers Arthur to go ride bikes, but Arthur refuses and states that he has to take the bus to the pool for his swimming lessons since he had no carpools available to take him there. He explains that D.W. is in the Pageant of Foods, being the "mashed potatoes", a school play. Arthur then tells Buster that he is taking a public bus that goes to the edge of town. Fares are simply paid and passengers are allowed on the bus. Buster explains to Arthur that someone got on a bus that was going nonstop.

Arthur poses as the passenger who asks the bus driver the next stop, who tells Arthur that he has the wrong bus that doesn't make any stops (which is never possible to happen). The bus transforms into a spaceship and flies off.

Francine remembers the time that happened, which was actually a movie scene on a recent TV show. Francine tells Arthur that he'll be fine, but she tells Arthur that she heard of a kid that had inadequate amount of bus fare, and therefore wasn't allowed off by a not-so-nice bus driver. He pleads to leave, that he was on the bus for a long time and is not able to leave until he pays his fare. The demonic bus driver tells him he should have thought of bringing money with himself, and bursts out a wild sinister laugh.

Cut back to the present story, the bus arrives. The bus driver allows Arthur on the bus and pays his exact change fare. Arthur finds a seat and reads a book about squids. Eventually, he doesn't pay attention to his destination and faints and therefore does not get off at the pool for his swimming lessons.

Cut back to the present, Arthur tells D.W. that he was tired and fell asleep on the bus because he was up all night due to having a tremendous amount of reading the night prior to the day of getting on the bus.

Cut back to the story, Arthur is surprised and then a passenger tells him that the bus is heading for the edge of town. Arthur was thinking about telling the bus driver, but gives up on the idea and gets off anyway. He decides to walk home but unsure where to go and realizes that he has an inadequate amount of bus fare. Arthur then wonders what to do instead, he looks inside Manny's Diner and notices a payphone. He assumes Grandma Thora will pick him up.

Arthur imagines that Grandma Thora may get the call. She then speeds up, jumping a gap on the bridge and eventually arrives where Arthur is waiting and picks him up.

Cut back to the story, the coin drops from the payphone, he realizes it doesn't work. He asks if there is another one, the waitress says that there isn't. She allows Arthur to be seated, he does so and orders a drink of milk there.

Meanwhile, Jane and D.W. are working on putting groceries away until the phone starts ringing. D.W. picks it up and then gets word from someone at the pool saying that Arthur was not present for his swimming lessons.

Cut back to the present, Jane explains that she did call the bus company to diagnose the problems about Arthur. D.W. also states that Jane and David were thinking about calling the police, sending a search party, and then getting another phone call.

Cut back to the story, the unnamed waitress gets word from Arthur that he goes to Lakewood Elementary, and then states that she actually lives near the school. Arthur wonders if she didn't have any bus fare. The waitress decides to offer Arthur money, but politely refuses due to stating that he had known that he should never take any money from strangers. The waitress agrees this as good advice. She advises Arthur to talk to the bus driver, and assumes that it wouldn't be as bad as Arthur thinks. She tells Arthur that the bus is now heading back to town.

As soon Arthur leaves, he finally sees the bus and dashes for it. He explains his problems to the bus driver. He tells the bus driver that he got off on the wrong stop mistakenly, no bus fare, and not being able to walk home. The bus driver notices what's happening, and thinks it happens once in a while. The bus driver introduces himself as Sam, and Arthur does the same. Sam decides to get in touch with his family in case of anxiety. The bus then takes Arthur back to town and brings him to a local bus stop.

Cut back to the present, Jane and David are impressed once Arthur goes to bed. D.W. comes into his room and tells Arthur that she could have been scared, and Arthur eventually promises that he will never get lost again.

Trivia

 * This is one of the few times Arthur is shown to cry.
 * Lost! became adapted into a book in the Arthur Adventure series and re-titled as Arthur Lost and Found.
 * It is interesting that Arthur's dad says not to accept money from strangers, but Arthur is fine with eating food from a stranger. Then again, it is a restaurant.

Goofs

 * The Photographer can be seen sitting next to Arthur on the bus, but when the Manny's Diner worker is shown, he is also seen sitting next to her.
 * During the time Arthur is on the bus, the bus goes past the same buildings multiple times. This is likely because backgrounds were reused.

Home Video
DVD: VHS:
 * Arthur Gets Lost
 * Arthur Gets Lost