Editing The Contest

|season = [[Season 4|4]]

|airdate =  

|storyboarders = [[Robert Yap]]|number = 4A|titlecard = The Contest Title Card.png|us = October 8, 1999<ref>http://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000404/ ([https://web.archive.org/web/20161002012852/http://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000404/ archived page])</ref>

|can = January 20, 2000<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur</ref>}}{{EpisodeHeader|1|4|4}}

It all started when Arthur and his friends were outside in the park when they saw Buster writing something down, and it turns out it was the story that he writing for the [[Andy and Company]] contest.

Buster is waiting for aliens to come down to earth. The aliens don't come at first, and [[Buster Baxter|Buster]] gets frustrated. [[Francine Frensky|Francine]], [[Arthur Read|Arthur]] and the [[Alan Powers|Brain]] leave, thinking that Buster is just telling a lie. The aliens come after they leave, and the UFO crushes Buster. Francine comes back and says "Hey, you squished Buster!" The aliens come out of the UFO, and 2 of them carry Arthur into their UFO. They take of his clothes. The aliens did not want to eat Arthur, so they through him out of the UFO. The UFO flies away and then Arthur says "What the!" And Brain replies "It appears you have high cholesterol forming Arthur. These aliens must be health conscious!" Arthur, Brain, and Francine then scream "THE EARTH IS SAVED!" Buster then wakes up from being knocked out and asks his friends "What happened?"

<p style="text-align: center;">'''My Life As a TV Show (Beavis &amp; Butthead/{{W|MLAATR}})'''</p>

At a fashion show Muffy comes out on stage dressed as the green Teletubby Dipsy and in the audience Buster and Arthur make a comment about her and laugh to which Muffy hears this and goes back stage upset. Then D.W. appears on stage with a white and purple dress on and a purple hat on to which Buster and Arthur find her to be attractive and behind stage Muffy reveals that she knew that D.W. would be better than her and decides to switch to plan B, which is stink ball.

<p style="text-align: center;">'''THE END.'''</p>

.After Muffy's story, everyone argues until Brain interrupts with his story.

10 years into the future, Arthur (who is now 18 years old) visits his psychologist, and tells him that his sister D.W. has been troubling him. He then tells the psychologist a story of how last week Arthur had D.W. go and get his car while he went to get his new house. When D.W. gets to Arthur's new house Arthur asks "Where's my car?" And D.W. replies "Your car was just blah! I traded it in for something much nicer." The new car that D.W. bought for Arthur is a girl car with a pony on it, to which Arthur lets out a horrified scream.

After Arthur's story, everyone mails their story. Five years later, they heard the winner was [[Holly Holland]]. While they're in the park, Arthur says they could come up with more stories, and Binky replies, "Without a contest?" Arthur then asks if they remember how much fun they had, and Buster says that Arthur's right: "Who ''cares'' who won?"

 

 

 

 

 

The episode then ends with the characters thanking the people who came up with the stories throughout the episode.

*[[Alan Powers|The Brain]]

*[[Holly Holland]] (mentioned)

*As revealed at the conclusion of the episode, the idea for "The Contest" was by [[Holly Holland]]. She won TV Guide's "Create Your Own Arthur Episode!" contest in 1998.<ref>https://oklahoman.com/article/2669801/oklahoma-girls-arthur-tale-set</ref> Her entry was one of over 10,300 submitted story ideas. Five other entries, while not winning entries, were included in "The Contest" as the stories that Arthur and his friends send in to the [[Andy and Company]] contest. Holland is featured in the ''[[And Now a Word from Us Kids]]'' segment following the episode.

*The way [[Francine Frensky|Francine]] says that Andy is a mouse (Arthur correcting her of him being something else) may refer to the fact how people mistake Arthur as a bear or a mouse instead of an aardvark.

*In the scene from five years later, Arthur's skin tone is momentarily a lighter color.

===Cultural references===

*[[Andy and Company]] is a parody of ''Arthur'' itself. The art style is similar to {{W|The_Little_Lulu_Show|''The Little Lulu Show''}} which was also produced by Cookie Jar. (then called Cinar)

*'''Each of the kids' stories reference other shows that were popular at the time:'''

**Buster's story "The Day the Earth was Saved" parodies {{W|South_Park|''South Park''}}

*** The flying saucer falling on Buster and Francine yelling "Hey! You squished Buster!" is a family-friendly version of ''South Parks'' running gag of Kenny McCormick dying.

*** The aliens resemble the most common type of aliens found in ''South Park''.

** Muffy's story "My Life as a TV Show"'' ''parodies {{W|Beavis_and_Butt-Head|''Beavis and Butt-Head''}} with Arthur as Beavis and Buster as Butt-Head.

*** Buster calls Muffy the fifth Teletubby, as her dress resembles Dipsy from {{W|Teletubbies|''Teletubbies''}}

*** Arthur's AB/CD T-shirt parodies the {{w|AC/DC}} logo.

***The name ''My life as a TV show'' parody's ''{{W|My_Life_As_A_Teenage_Robot|My life as a Teenage Robot}}'' even though this episode was made in 1999 and the show was made in 2003.

** Brain's story parodies {{W|Dexter%27s_Laboratory|''Dexter's Laboratory''}} with Brain as Dexter and Muffy as Dee Dee.

*** The story briefly features the legendary Bigfoot.

** Francine and Binky's story "The Amazing Fight" is based on the real {{w|WWE}}. (then known as WWF) Except for Arthur, everybody is a fairly realistically drawn human.

*** {{w|Hulk Hogan}} is a professional wrestler and sometimes actor.

*** {{w|John L. Sullivan}}, {{W|Floyd Patterson}} and {{w|Barney Ross}} were famous boxers from various decades.

*** {{W|United Press International}} is a news agency that provides newswires, photos and films. It is usually cited as UPI.

** Arthur's story parodies {{W|Dr._Katz,_Professional_Therapist|''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist''}}

***The original was computer animated using a method called squigglevision, The ''Arthur'' segment uses normal animation, but imitates the wiggling lines.

*[[Arthur Goes to Hollywood (VHS)]]

*[[Arthur Goes to Hollywood (DVD)]]

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