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| {{Episode infobox | | {{Episode_infobox |
| |ep. name = The Fright Stuff | | |ep. name = The Fright Stuff |
| |image = Arthur and pumpkin head.png | | |image = The Fright Stuff.JPG |
| |season = [[Season 4|4]] | | |season = 4 |
| |code = 66A | | |airdate = September 20, 1999 |
| |prev. episode = [[Buster's Breathless]] | | |prev. episode = Buster's Breathless |
| |next episode = [[The Contest]] | | |next episode = The Contest|prod. code = 40302}}'''The Fright Stuff '''is the second half of the 3rd episode [[Arthur (season 4)|Season 4]]. It first aired on September 20, 1999 with [[Buster's Breathless]]. |
| |writers = [[Bruce Akiyama]] | |
| |storyboarders = [[Jeremy O'Neill]] | |
| |number = 3B
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| |titlecard = The Fright Stuff Title Card.png
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| |us = October 7, 1999<ref>http://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000403/</ref>
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| |uk = August 1, 2001<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150409040512/http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0085fp5/arthur-series-5-3-buster-and-breathlessthe-fright-stuff</ref>
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| |can = January 19, 2000<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur</ref>}}
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| {{Cquote|Binky? Brain? Buster?|[[Arthur]]}}
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| {{EpisodeHeader|2|3|4}}
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| ==Summary== | | ==Summary== |
| The kids learn a lesson about carrying practical jokes too far when a boys-vs.-girls prank contest gets a little out of hand.
| | [[Muffy Crosswire|Muffy]] and [[Francine Frensky|Francine]] play several pranks on [[Arthur Read|Arthur]], [[Buster Baxter|Buster]], [[Binky Barnes|Binky]], and the [[Alan Powers|Brain]] and they invite them to a party at a haunted house. The boys decide to retaliate at the party and Muffy and Francine are ready with another prank. But they call off all pranks when they discover a real ghost. |
| ==Plot== | | ==Plot== |
| Arthur, Brain, Binky and Buster are all pranked by an unidentified prankster. Brain mistakes jelly worms in his lunch for real ones, Arthur finds a fake spider in his locker and Binky finds a skull. Each prank comes with an invitation and they are invited to the library, where Muffy wears a fake tentacle and pretends to strangle Francine, which frightens them. | | Arthur, Brain, Binky and Buster are all given pranks. Brain mistakes jelly worms in his lunch for real ones, Arthur finds a fake spider in his locker and Binky finds a skull. Each prank comes with an invitation and they are invited to the library, where Muffy wears a fake tentacle and pretends to strangle Francine, which frightens them. Arthur asks what the whole thing is about and Muffy says she's having a costume party for a new book. E A Depoe, the famous writer, will be reading her book aloud at the party but that name is revealed as a pseudonym, alias Ms Mcword, Ed Crosswire's old teacher. Muffy also says the boys will be her "extra special guests (due to a prank on April Fool's Day). The party will be held in Castle Manor, which is supposedly haunted (which is why the party is being held there). The guys decide to get back at the girls and stage a prank whilst Francine and Muffy concot a prank of their own. The kids go to the party in costumes, Arthur Bionic Bunny, Francine a vampire , Muffy a witch, Brain and Buster pirates and Binky a pumpkin-head monster. During the festivities Arthur tells Buster and Brain they can set up in the upstairs library (which is where the girl' prank is). However, Binky is nowhere. A pumpkin-head arrives at the punch bowl and Arthur thinks it's Binky. Arthur tells him to go up to the library. Arthur gets Francine and Muffy to come up to the library but the tape recorder they had is gone. Suddenly, the pumpkin-head appears floating and then vanishes, and the girls run screaming. The girls are upset and accuse Arthur of stealing their prank. Arthur calls for the guys but Brain and Buster emerge from the playroom. because the library was locked. Arthur said it wasn't and the prank went perfectly, but Brain said they didn't to it. Buster points out that the balloons and tape recorder from the girl's prank were in there, but Francine didn't put them there. The pumpkin-head appears and Arthur asks for an explanation. Suddenly, Binky enters in a cyclops costume because he broke his pumpkin. Everyone find out the pumpkin-head is really a ghost. They run downstairs and try to tell what happened. Whilst Muffy's father reprimands her about pranks, the ghost girl's dad does the same. Then the friends decide to take a break from pranks. While the ghost and her family come to the party. |
| | | ==Costumes== |
| Arthur asks what the whole thing is about and Muffy says she's having a costume party for a new book. E.A DePoe, alias Ms. McWord, Ed Crosswire's old teacher from ''The Scare Your Pants Off Club'', will be reading her book aloud at the party. | | * [[Arthur Read|Arthur]] - [[Bionic Bunny]] |
| | | * [[Francine Frensky|Francine]] - Vampire |
| Muffy also says the boys will be her "extra special" guests, due to a prank the boys pulled on her on April Fool's Day. The party will be held in Castle Manor, which is supposedly haunted (which is why the party is being held there). | | * [[Muffy Crosswire|Muffy]] - Witch |
| | | * [[Buster Baxter|Buster]] and the [[Alan Powers|Brain]] - Pirates |
| Arthur and the other three boys decide to turn the tables on the girls. They come up with several prank ideas centered around popular tales (''The Tell-Tale Heart'', ''The War of the Worlds'', and ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow''), but they can't decide on which one to do.
| | * [[Binky Barnes|Binky]] - Cyclops |
| | | * [[Ed Crosswire|Ed]] - King |
| Meanwhile, the girls come up with a prank that involves glow-in-the-dark balloons and a tape recorder in Castle Manor's upstairs library. The lights unexpectedly turn off by themselves after the girls rehearse their trick on the boys by scaring their pants off. Muffy tells Francine that she will tell her father about the lights requiring a repair.
| | * [[Millicent Crosswire|Millicent]] - Queen |
| | | * [[Fern Walters|Fern]] - Skeleton |
| Ultimately, Arthur comes up with a prank that involves Binky wearing a pumpkin head and crab claws and standing behind a curtain, so when the girls see his shadow (courtesy of Buster with a flashlight) making eerie sounds (performed by Brain), they will play a trick on the girls at the party. The boys agree to use Arthur's idea.
| | * [[George Lundgren|George]] - Doctor |
| | |
| During the party, the girls make a plan about playing their trick on the boys after Ms. McWord reads her own story. The girls introduce Ms. McWord's storytelling to the party attendants. Meanwhile, Arthur tells Buster and Brain they can set up in the upstairs library (which is where Francine and Muffy are doing their prank). However, Binky is nowhere to be seen. | |
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| A child in a sheet and wearing a pumpkin shows up at the punch bowl next to Arthur, who assumes that the child is Binky. Arthur tells him to go up to the library to meet up with Buster and Brain. | |
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| The girls tell Arthur he will miss out on Ms. McWord's reading of her newest book "The House of the Jack o' Lantern", but he talks them into coming up to the library. The girls try to play their trick on Arthur, but Muffy discovers that the tape recorder is missing when Francine asks her about the wait. Suddenly, the pumpkin-head kid appears in front of them and then vanishes. Both of the girls scream as they flee from the library.
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| Francine and Muffy are upset and accuse Arthur of stealing their prank, but Arthur calls for the boys to come out. Buster and Brain arrive and tell Arthur that their trick has been moved to the playroom because the library was locked.
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| Arthur points out that their trick went perfectly, but Brain says they did not do it. Buster points out that balloons and a tape recorder (from Francine and Muffy's prank) were in there, but Francine did not move them. The pumpkin-head child appears, and Arthur asks for an explanation. | |
| | |
| Suddenly, Binky enters in a cyclops costume. He apologizes for being late because he walked into the refrigerator and broke his pumpkin; Arthur is now bewildered. After asking "Binky, if you just got here..." Arthur turns to the pumpkin-head child and finishes with "then, who is—?" | |
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| When the boys and girls both look down and see that the pumpkin-head child is floating off the ground, the gang realizes that the pumpkin-head child is actually a ghost.
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| The children run downstairs and find Muffy's dad (who is dressed like a King). They try to explain what happened, but Ed does not listen and scolds them about pulling pranks on each other. In the attic, the ghost turns out to be that of a little girl, and that she was only trying to attend the party until she got caught up in the pranks.
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| Her father's ghost also scolds her for pulling pranks, but subsequently says that there are better ways to have fun at the party.
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| The gang decides to put off their pranks for good, but joins the party with everybody else. At that moment, George gives a compliment to the girl about her costume without being aware that she is a real ghost. The ghost girl and her parents secretly attend the party by concealing their actual appearances of being real ghosts.
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| ==Characters== | |
| ===Major===
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| *[[Arthur Read]] | |
| *[[Buster Baxter]]
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| *[[Alan Powers|The Brain]]
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| *[[Binky Barnes]]
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| *[[Muffy Crosswire]]
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| *[[Francine Frensky]] | |
| ===Minor===
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| *[[Ed Crosswire]] | |
| *[[Ms. McWord]] | |
| *[[Fern Walters]]
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| *[[Sue Ellen Armstrong]] | |
| *[[George Lundgren]] | |
| *[[Jenna Morgan]] | |
| *[[Ghost girl]] | |
| *[[Ghost father]]
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| *[[Ghost mother]]
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| ===Cameo===
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| *[[Prunella Deegan]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Male Dog]]
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| *[[Jenna Morgan]]
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| *[[Steve]]
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| *[[Nancy]]
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| *[[Mary (3rd grader)|Mary]]
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| *[[Norman Hedgehog]] | |
| *[[Brian (4th grader)|Brian]]
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| *[[Otis]]
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| *[[Helen]]
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| *[[Beulah McInnerny]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Male Rabbit]]
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| *[[Kenny]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Male Cat]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 2)]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Female Aardvark]]
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| *[[Alex]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Male Rat]]
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| *[[3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)]]
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| ==Trivia== | | ==Trivia== |
| *It is a Halloween-themed episode, though the holiday itself is never mentioned whatsoever.
| | *The title is probably a pun on the title of the movie The Right Stuff. |
| *Skull transitions are shown with a jack-o-lantern laughing sound effect.
| | *Skull transitions are shown with a Jack-O-Lantern laughing sound effect. |
| *The music playing at Muffy's party is recycled from "[[Poor Muffy]]". It also appears in "[[Buster the Myth Maker]]" and "[[Buster's Carpool Catastrophe]]".
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| *This episode, along with its sister episode, aired exactly three years after Arthur's Eyes and Francine's Bad Hair Day.
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| *'''Timeline:''' Arthur and Buster's costumes are the same ones they are seen wearing on Halloween in "[[Buster and the Daredevils]]" and "[[Water and the Brain]]."
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| *'''Irony:''' Mr. Crosswire gets rather stern with the kids by pointing out that they didn't have to spend the party trying to prank each other. They could have enjoyed Ms. Mcword's reading and the rest of the party without any dramatics.
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| *'''Karma:''' The kids pranked each other, so they got called out.
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| *'''Moral:'''
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| **Dont overreact over pranks for your own benefits.
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| **Dont ignore other people for your own benefits.
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| **Pranks are fun, Dont ruin it for your own benefits.
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| ===Cultural references===
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| *The title is probably a pun on the title of the movie ''{{W|The Right Stuff}}''. | |
| *Buster's idea/pain was based on {{W|H. G. Wells}}' novel ''[[The War of the Worlds]]''. | |
| *Brain's plan/idea was based on [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s short story "{{w|The Tell-Tale Heart}}".
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| *Binky's plan/idea was based on {{W|Washington Irving}}'s short story "[[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]".
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| ==Home Video== | | ==Home Video== |
| '''VHS:''' | | '''VHS:''' |
| *[[Arthur's Scary Stories (VHS)|Arthur's Scary Stories]] | | *[[Arthur's Scary Stories]] |
| '''DVD:''' | | '''DVD:''' |
| *[[Arthur's Scary Stories (DVD)|Arthur's Scary Stories]] | | *[[Arthur's Scary Stories]] |
| ==Gallery==
| | [[Category:Episodes]] |
| <gallery>
| | [[Category:Season 4 episodes]] |
| Arthur and pumpkin head.png|THE PUMPKIN HEAD!!!
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| Headlesshorseman.png
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| Waroftheworlds.png
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| War_of_worlds.jpg
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| Castle manor library.png|The upstairs library
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| Castle manor main room 1.png|Part of the main room
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| Castle manor main room 2.png|Another part of the main room
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| Halloween Party.JPG|A PARTY!
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| Castle manor main room.png|An overhead view of the main room
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| Castle manor upstairs hallway.png|The upstairs hallway
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| King Ed.jpg
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| Castle manor attic.png|The attic
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| Ghostfamilycostumes.jpg|Costume
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| Ghostgirlandgeorge.jpg
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| The Fright Stuff.JPG
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| The Fright Stuff Title Card.png|Title Card
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| 057.jpg
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| TheFrightStuff3.jpg
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| TheFrightStuff2.jpg
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| TheFrightStuff1.jpg
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| </gallery>
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| ==References==
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| {{Reflist}}
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| {{EpisodeNav|4}}
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| {{TitleSort}}
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| [[Category:A to Z]] | |
| [[Category:Arthur episodes]] | |
| [[Category:1999]]
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