Elwood City Turns 100!

Elwood City Turns 100! is the 100th episode of Arthur.

Plot

The episode begins in 1903, at the ceremony where Elwood is made an official city. President Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, and town founder Jacob Katzenellenbogen, a wealthy lumber magnate, were all in attendance. Katzenellenbogen was not happy because he wanted the town to be named Elmwood, not Elwood, and he was even more upset over the statue that Morgan and Ford had donated to the city. Then the episode forwards to the present where Mr. Ratburn announces to the class that Lakewood Elementary was chosen out of 15 schools in the city to stage a musical production about the town's history, and then he has the class pick roles for the show. Arthur is the narrator, Brain is the writer, and Buster is the director. After the parts were picked, Muffy talked to Mr. Ratburn about doing the publicity for the musical. However, during rehearsals, everything was in chaos, so Muffy blew on one student's recorder to get their attention and gives a speech to tell them to get their act together. Arthur was having trouble getting the narrator's singing part right, so he trades parts with Francine one week before the show. On opening night, everyone was there except for Francine, who was running late, so Arthur had to go onstage in her place as the Narrator. At first, everything was going okay until it was almost time for the UFO scene, since the flying saucer that was going to be used was crushed by the garbage truck, and that made Buster so upset that he locked himself in the janitor's closet. Then Brain changes the scene at the last minute to write the flying saucer out of the show, and when Buster realized that they were going on without him, he goes onstage as Dr. Ector, and sings a song about flossing your teeth to the tune of Yankee Doodle until his hook tears a hole in the set, forcing an intermission. When everyone realizes that the show is ruined, Francine appears and has a plan to tell about the modern Elwood City, and the show ends well for everyone.

Oh Elwood! Cast and Crew

• Arthur Read/Francine Frensky - Narrator and themselves

• Alan Powers - Jacob Katzenellenbogen and himself

• Fern Walters - Green-Tailed Grebe and herself

• Buster Baxter - Dr. Ector the Alien and himself

• Binky Barnes, Jenna Morgan, George Lundgren, Sue Ellen Armstrong - Ensemble themselves
• Mrs. Morgan and Jenna- Costumes
• Mr. Lundgren and George- Props
• Buster Baxter- Director
• Alan Powers- Writer
• Ms. Krasny- Musical Direction
• Muffy Crosswire- Stage Manager and Publicity
• Mr. Rathburn- Supervision
• Assorted Lakewood Students- Band

Songs

• Jacob Katzenellenbogen by The Brain, Binky, George, Jenna, & Sue Ellen
• The Long-Lost Green-Tailed Grebe by Fern
• Dr. Ector (Tune of Yankee Doodle) by Buster
• That's Elwood City (Finale) by Arthur & The Gang

Quotes

• Mr. Ratburn: (Knocks the door) Buster, Open this door right now! You're behaving very unprofessionally!
• Buster: (To Mr. Ratburn) I don't care! I'm not a professional!
• (Arthur, The Brain, & Muffy all urging Buster to come out of the Janitor's closet at once)
• Muffy: (Gasps) Fern's scene is almost finished! What are we going to do?
• Brain: I'll just have to write the flying saucer out. Quick! Hand me those napkins.
• Arthur: What about Francine? The narrator's singing part is coming up.
• Muffy: (To Arthur) Don't worry. She's on her way.

Trivia

Notes

• This was the first time the story breaks in half as there's an intermission in between.
• When Buster was upset about the flying saucer, He started to get locked in the Janitor's closet.
• This was the last appearance of Mister Rogers.
• This is the second time that Muffy is seen wearing a businesswoman's outfit, the first time is in Arthur, It's Only Rock and Roll.

Goofs

• Binky's pants ripped again in Arthur's Underwear which made Jenna frustrated at him.
• The car that Francine & her father took a ride on was either from UK or India.

Acts

1. 1,000,000 Trees
2. The Long-Lost Green-Tailed Grebe
3. The Year 1952
4. Finale