D.W. Gets Lost

Summary
D.W. gets lost in a huge department store. But instead of being scared, she wreaks havoc while trying to find her way home.

Plot
We first see Nadine on a stage telling the viewers about the story of DW who wanted to be a grown up girl. She describes some events such as the time she was grown up enough to help her father with the cakes. Just before Nadine warns the viewers that the story may be shocking and thrilling, DW enters the stage with her mother's makeup and clothes on and carries a briefcase. Nadine warns DW not to hurt her mother's suit, but she doesn't listen and falls off the stage. Then Nadine tells the viewers, "We warned you!"

---Title Card--- We now see earrings that Emily shows to DW. She admires the earring very much because of the way it sparkles. Emily tells DW that the earrings are made of actual stone. Back home, Arthur takes a piece of chocolate cake from the fridge, but quickly shoves it in his mouth when he notices DW enter the kitchen. She asks him what a stone is, but Arthur drinks milk since his mouth was too full. He then says that stones are rocks. Then DW tells her mother that Arthur ate the chocolate cake and then asks what a stone is. Arthur, unfortunately, coughs after drinking all that milk and eating the cake. Mom asks why Arthur didn't have an apple instead, but he said he was too weak from hunger to chew it. He said he wanted something soft. Then Mom asks what type of stone DW is looking for. She says she wants stones like the ones she saw in Emily's earrings. However, Mom denies DW's plan.

While Mom takes out the trash, DW asks her why she said no because she didn't ask, she just told her. She then asks why she can't have earrings and Mom says that she isn't old enough and her ears will turn green. Later that evening, while Dad is preparing a salad and Mom gets the plates, DW says that she doesn't care if she'll have green ears. Then Dad picks up two lettuce pieces and puts it up against DW's ears. He then says that green ears aren't her style. While Kate and DW are sleeping, DW dreams about earrings.

The next morning, DW has her mother's earrings glued to her hair. Mom gets surprised and asks how she got them on her ears. DW says that she did not put holes in her ears, but just glued them to her hair. Then Mom cuts off the glued earrings which is a painful process for DW. Then Dad asks DW what he and Mom always telling her  about glue. She replies with, "Glue is for paper, not for skin, and never put it in your soup." All DW wanted was to see how beautiful she looked with the earrings on. While DW is in her room, Nadine warned her about not using glue. Then her mother enters and tells her that they'll be going to All in One Mart because she wants to look at earrings. The deal that Mom makes with DW is that if she waits until she is more grown up, she'll have the earrings. DW immediately promises the deal.

At All in One Mart, we see Mom and Mr. Crosswire talk. DW is surveying the store and then notices the earring. She tries to get her mother's attention, but she is too busy listening to Mr. Crosswire. Then Nadine reminds DW that she has to be patient in order for her to be grown up. But DW says that Mr. Crosswire talks a really long time and her mother probably won't notice that she is gone. Then she escapes from her mother and goes running around the store. At the center of the store, DW notices a pig statue. She thinks the statue reminds her of Arthur due to the fact that the pig is eating the chocolate cake, just like he did. Nadine and DW laugh about the statue, but then Nadine suggests that they should return to Mom and Mr. Crosswire. DW agrees with Nadine.

Then DW looks around the store worried. Nadine then asks if they're lost, but DW says no and guides her one way. However, they passed the pig statue three times. DW then gets on top of the pig statue to survey the entire store. Then DW and Nadine go to level 2 of the store to go to the security camera room. DW tells Nadine to watch the screens carefully because her mother could be on there. She starts pushing buttons and moving the joysticks causing havoc in some departments. DW then states how clumsy those people were in the Sporting Goods department, but then notices the earrings in the Jewelry department on the screen. However, Nadine notices her mother on the screen. Then the security camera operator comes in and tells her that she doesn't belong in here and runs away.

Nadine tells DW that she should've figured out where her mother was instead of looking at the earrings while they continue to walk around the store. Nadine gets really worried that they'll never find Mom. DW then fantasizes her parents mourning the loss of DW while Arthur eats another piece of cake. Then DW wonders if her mother won't even miss her and fantazises about twenty years later when her parents and Arthur are older. Arthur eats a piece of chocolate cake and drinks soda while Mom and Dad reminisce about DW being lost, but the house itself being peaceful. Then Nadine and DW get hungry and try to find some food. At a sample table, we see people taking one sample of cheese at a time. Nadine and DW are relieved that they found the sample table, but they have trouble making their way through the people. In order for the crowd to clear, DW picks up a cone, uses it as a megaphone and announces to everyone that there are free desserts on aisle 12. However, there are no more cheese samples left.

Nadine is now really worried that they will never leave All in One Mart. DW says that it wouldn't be so bad if there is food everywhere in the store. Then she fantazises about being "The Phantom of the Store" by taking all the food and keeping it up in the attic. However, she misses her family, but then realizes that she and Nadine are freezing in the frozen food section of the store. Nadine suggests moving away from the frozen food section so they won't be freezing. Then DW sees Emily and asks if she is getting earrings. However, Emily says no and that she is returning hers since her ears turned green. DW gets shocked while Emily says goodbye to her. Nadine then suggests to DW that she should ask Emily where her mother went. She then runs up to Emily and asks where her mother went. Emily says that her mother is still talking to Mr. Crosswire by the front. Then Nadine and DW finally find Mom and Nadine says that it was easy to do. Mr. Crosswire then ends his long discussion and Mom thanks DW for being so patient. Then she asks if DW is ready to get earrings. DW says that she really doesn't need earrings, which impresses her mother since that decision she made was very grown up. Then DW asks if she and her mother can go out to lunch instead. The episode concludes with Emily looking behind herself and then walking out of the store.

Major

 * D.W. Read
 * Nadine Flumberghast
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Arthur Read
 * Emily

Minor

 * Kate Read
 * Ed Crosswire

Cameo

 * Emily's mother
 * Oliver Frensky
 * Laverne Frensky
 * Mrs. Wood
 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Mr. Powers
 * Mrs. Lundgren

Trivia

 * A running gag in this episode is Arthur eating cake. Initially, D.W. catches Arthur shoving a whole piece of cake into his mouth. Later, while she is lost, she sees a statue of a pig eating cake, and it reminds her of Arthur. And in her fantasies when she thinks about what could happen if she is never found, Arthur is always eating cake (and doesn't seem to notice that his sister is missing).

Errors

 * When D.W. and Nadine say "Food" D.W.'s mouth doesn't move. Also D.W. looks taller than Nadine when they say that.


 * In one scene, when "The Phantom Of The Store" swoops down, she only has one earring, but in the next scene, she has two earrings.

Cultural References

 * Nadine's introduction to this episode ("...this is a story to thrill you and shock you...") is taken from the intro to James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff.

Home video
DVD:
 * Hooray for Health!
 * Arthur Gets Lost

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