World Girls (episode)

Summary
The girls anticipate the grand opening of World Girl World, which sells dolls from every country.

Plot
Muffy has become obsessed of Worlds Girls dolls. Each doll is dressed in the national costume of a particular country, and comes with accessories related to that country, along with a book accompanying each doll. Sue Ellen has one World Girl doll, Pema from Tibet. When they discover a World Girl World store is opening, Muffy and Sue Ellen invite Francine to come along with them.

However, nothing really works out. Sue Ellen is interested in purchasing an accessory for her doll, but when it becomes discontinued (including its whole territory), she decides on another solution. Francine ends up buying a doll at the World Girl Sports Hall of Fame (so she can get the book she came with), and a new "country" is opened every time the girls turn their backs. Later, they discover that the "Doll Hospital" leads to a secret factory where a machine copies each World Girl doll and just changes the outfits, exposing World Girl World as "a scam to sell worthless dolls".

In the end, Muffy decides to donate half of her World Girls-collection to charity and during that, she discovers a Pema-doll that has the accessory that Sue Ellen was looking for before. However, Sue Ellen (after consulting the book that comes with Pema) realizes that the accessory is the wrong color, and realizes that all the grief she went through trying to get the accessory was for nothing (though she doesn't seem too upset).

During a slumber party at Muffy's house between her, Francine and Sue Ellen, the girls are making their own accessories for the World Girls-dolls that they still have: Sue Ellen paints her accessory the correct color, Francine (who bought a doll of Babe Didrikson Zaharias) makes a mini-putting green for her doll and Muffy's making a dress for her doll. While they're doing this, Muffy suggests that the three of them could start their own line of dolls called "Universe Girls" and make a fortune. Francine and Sue Ellen then instigates a pillow fight with Muffy, ending the episode.

Major

 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Francine Frensky
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong

Minor

 * Dave
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 6)
 * Bailey

Cameo

 * Luke
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 12)
 * Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 5)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 4)
 * Unknown Female Dog
 * Technician
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 10)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 9)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 3)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 8)
 * Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 7)
 * Unknown Female Dog (Number 3)
 * Rae
 * Rae's father
 * Rae's mother
 * Czech student
 * Unknown Female Cat
 * Steve
 * Lisa
 * Unknown Female Dog (Number 2)
 * Unknown Female Adult Dog (Number 2)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 5)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 14)
 * Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 4)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 13)
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 10)
 * Unknown Female Rabbit (Number 11)
 * Slink's mother
 * Brain lookalike

Trivia

 * D.W. is seen in the back train car at point 4:08.
 * This is one of the nineteen episodes Arthur doesn't appear in.
 * In the opening teaser Melissa Altro, Jodie Resther and Jessica Kardos provide the voices of the World Girl dolls.

Cultural references

 * World Girls are a parody of the dolls or  Dolls.

Episode connections

 * This is Francine's second doll, her first doll was in "Prunella Gets it Twice".

Errors

 * Even though Muffy says she does not even have the Estonian doll, she somehow has the book.
 * Although there is a Hawaiian doll, Hawaii is like a country, it is a state of The United States since August 21, 1959.
 * However, the Hawaiian doll might specifically represent a Native Hawaiian girl. As Pema, the Tibetan doll, is from Tibet, which is part of China, World Girls might also do dolls for ethnic minorities found in certain countries.
 * There is a World Girl doll from Antarctica, but Antarctica is not a country, nor does it have any permanent or indigenous population. Sled dogs are also come with the doll, but dogs in Antarctica are only used by explorers and scientists, and are not actually native to Antarctica.
 * As seen in the very beginning of the World Girl World scene, D.W. Read is seen on the roller coaster without her parents.

Production notes

 * The song used in the World Girls TV comercial is re-used again as the song played outside the Yumbobo ice-cream shop in Brain Freeze.

Home Video
DVD:
 * D.W., Bossy Boots (DVD)
 * Arthur: Season 10
 * What's Cooking?