D.W. All Wet (episode)

"D.W. All Wet"
Season/Series:	1
Number in season:	3a
Original Airdate:	October 9, 1996;
	Credits
Written by:	Kathy Waugh
Storyboard by:	Sylvain Proteau
	Episodes
Previous; "Arthur's Spelling Trubble"	Next; "Buster's Dino Dilemma"
	Read transcript

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the book.

"D.W. All Wet" is the first half of the third episode in the first season of Arthur. It is based on the book D.W. All Wet.

Summary

The Reads goes to Bear Lake to escape from the summer heat and everyone's having a wonderful time, except for D.W. who won't swim because she thinks there are octopi in the water.

Plot

The episode starts with the Reads, along with Buster, at Bear Lake. David carries D.W., who is crying, screaming, yelling, and kicking at him to put her down. Arthur tells Buster that she has been acting strange and weird after her field trip to the aquarium. The prologue ends with her begging Arthur to save her immediately.

---Title Card---

D.W., along with her classmates, are sitting at a bench, being entertained by seals and dolphins at the aquarium. The host says that they will be taking a bathroom break and then will see the sea monsters inside the aquarium. Inside the girls bathroom, the girls are taking long inside the stall where the toilet flushes by itself. Then, the host announces that they are reading to see the sea monsters. Everyone runs out with excitement.

As the group watches the sea creatures, they get scared, except D.W. But when a "giant octopus" shows, D.W. backs away, screaming with fear, while everyone else is amazed. Back at the Reads' house, D.W. tells a made-up story of how she attacked the octopus that she saw back in the aquarium to Arthur and their mother. Jane says that it's getting dark and that it is almost time for bed. Arthur teases D.W. saying that she got scared when she saw the octopus. She denies it, but is startled by Pal licking her leg, who jumps up and panics.

The scene changes to D.W., who is taking a bath in the bathroom. The door opens, that frightens her, and when she was not looking, Arthur scares her with a plastic toy spider, hanging by a string on a stick, yelling that it's an octopus. She screams, running out of the tub naked, except for well-placed suds, and hides in her parents' closet. They punish Arthur and tell him to go to his room. D.W. dreams he is being attacked by the octopus.

The next morning, the temperature rises up, Arthur and Buster play soccer in the house, but got in trouble by the Reads and the old air conditioner went haywire and blows up because it wasn't built to last forever. David says they can't take it anymore and Jane says that they had enough. D.W. says they are in really big trouble, but David says they can't take the heat. So they decided to pack their things and head off to Bear Lake much to D.W.'s surprise.

D.W. refuses to go because she doesn't want to go in the water since she's afraid that octopi swim there. Arthur tells her that they live in oceans, not lakes. But she says she is not going. But she is forced to come anyway. David says that he doesn't see any octopuses. She looks and she sees everyone turning into octopuses, especially Kate, but is just her imagination. David says she can just stay.

Jane finds D.W. hiding in a tent, saying that there are no octopi on the beach, and she says she is bored. Jane says that Buster and Arthur have 10 minutes to play with D.W. They play a game to save the princess, who is D.W., and they are both embarrassed. 10 minutes passed and they went back to the water.

D.W. asks David if they can stay on the beach, but he says it would be easier it she went in the water. But she doesn't want to. Francine finds Buster's bathing cap and pretend to have an octopus attack Arthur. D.W. freaks out and the lifeguard gives her a ride to Arthur and his friends. The lifeguard says there are no octopi here, which makes D.W. feel better. The children get in trouble by the lifeguard who says it's dangerous to yell for help unless they really need it, and she demands Buster to put on his bathing cap.

In the last scene, D.W. rides on Arthur's back as the sun sets. Jane tells them it's time to go, but D.W. doesn't want to leave because she is having fun, but it is almost dark so they have to. D.W. tells her mother how her day went and she falls asleep in her arms. As they leave, the scene ends with the view of the beach in the evening.

Characters

Major

Minor

Francine Frensky
Muffy Crosswire
Ms. Albright (debut)
Ms. Morgan (debut)
Emily (debut)
Marie-Hélène (debut)
Timmy and Tommy Tibble (Timmy's debut)
Pal (debut)
Kyle (debut)
Lucy (debut)
James MacDonald

Cameo

Molly MacDonald (debut)
Fletcher (debut)
4th Grade Male Rabbit (debut)
4th Grade Male Dog (debut)
Kiefer (debut)
Brian
Amanda Hulser (debut)
Maryann (debut)
Liam (debut)
Unknown Male Adult Rabbit (Number 3) (debut)
Unknown Female Adult Rabbit (Number 4) (debut)
Edwin (debut)
Sarah (debut)
Lisa (debut)
Lisa's unknown relative

Production

Trivia

This episode marks the first appearances of D.W.'s classmates and Ms. Morgan.
This episode also marks the appearance of the Bear Lake lifeguard as well as some members of the Tough Customers, who will become prominent characters in future episodes/seasons.
This is the first appearance of Bear Lake.
This is the first time Buster wears a bathing cap.
This is the first episode where the setting takes place in summer.

Running Gags

Kate's first word is "Go" in this episode.

Errors

If it was hot, D.W. was supposed to wear summer clothes. Though, at night, she was wearing her nightgown.
The master bedroom at the Reads' house had a dormer window in this episode, but was removed in subsequent episodes for unknown reasons.
When Kate grabbed D.W.'s leg, she was shirtless. But when Arthur and Buster raced into the water, she was wearing a red shirt.
After D.W. tells her story about the octopus she saw at the aquarium for her field trip, it wasn't evening outside due to the fact it was still sunny outside.

Differences from the book

In this episode, D.W.'s refusal to swim in the lake is due to her fear of octopuses. In the book, the whole story took place at the beach and she refused to get wet.
Arthur's friends including Buster, Francine, and Muffy, plus Molly and other Lakewood Elementary School students are seen in this episode. Neither one of them nor any other schoolmates appeared in the book, since it focused on D.W..

Other Production Notes

This is the first episode to use "Super D.W." as a title card.
Although the title card has not been narrated when this aired on television, Binky narrates the title when this was on the home video, DVD releases and television reruns.