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Difference between revisions of "Fernkenstein's Monster"

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{{Episode infobox
{{Episode infobox
|ep. name = Fernkenstein's Monster
|ep. name = Fernkenstein's Monster
|image = Male_fern.jpg
|image = 0804ami.jpg
|season = [[Arthur (season 8)|8]]
|season = [[Season 8|8]]
|airdate =  
|airdate =  
|prod. code = 80401
|prod. code = 80401
Line 8: Line 8:
|prev. episode = [[Bugged]]
|prev. episode = [[Bugged]]
|writers = [[Stephanie Simpson]]
|writers = [[Stephanie Simpson]]
|storyboarders = [[Ivan Tankushev]]<br>[[Patricia Atchison]]|titlecard = Fernkenstens Monster Card.png|number = 4A|us = September 18, 2003<ref>http://www.ket.org/tvschedules/episode.php?nola=ARUR++000804</ref>}}{{EpisodeHeader|1|4|8}}
|storyboarders = [[Ivan Tankushev]]<br>[[Patricia Atchison]]
|titlecard = 0804atc.jpg
|number = 4A
|us = September 18, 2003<ref>http://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000804</ref>
|ger = December 20, 2007<ref>https://www.fernsehserien.de/erdferkel-arthur-und-seine-freunde/episodenguide/staffel-8/3906</ref>
}}{{EpisodeHeader|1|4|8}}
 
==Summary==
==Summary==
Fern's scary story is a little too scary — now the other kids are afraid of her. So she sets out to prove her skills as a writer by creating a story that's fun instead of frightening.
Fern's scary story is a little too scary — now the other kids are afraid of her. So she sets out to prove her skills as a writer by creating a story that is fun instead of frightening.
 
==Plot==
==Plot==
Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and Fern are bored in the school canteen one lunchtime, as outside it's raining. Fern suggests telling really scary stories and everyone else thinks it's a brilliant idea, so that's what they do!
On a rainy day, [[Fern Walters|Fern]] is telling the story of how [[Mary Shelley]] created ''[[Frankenstein]]''. Shelley participated in a scary story contest with her friends and won by writing, and telling, ''Frankenstein''. Fern says that she wants to "scare the world with [a] brilliant story" as well.
Each child tells their story. Muffy starts off by telling one about a girl who gets her dress dirty, Buster tells the next one about aliens (surprisingly!), and Arthur's is about a boy who's pants fall down. No one, other than the person who told the story, finds these scary! Then, it's Fern's turn...
 
Earlier in the episode, Fern is seen reading a report about Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. This is how she comes up with her story about "the thing". It's set in a lab, where Fern's uncle studies insects. It's a stormy night and her uncle's assistant has forgotten his umbrella so they search for one. They find an umbrella, but it turns out to be an escaped insect from one of the crates they had sent in. The 'thing' eats her uncle's assistant.
<center>'''Fernkenstein's Monster'''</center>
This story terrifies Arthur and his friends, and they were all scared of Fern.


The library has a book fair and Fern donates all her 'scare your pants off' books. Buster, Arthur, and Muffy turn up with garlic and Buster calls Fern the queen of darkness. Fern is outraged and says she isn't, but just at that moment, the lights cut out. They all run off, except Fern, who helps the librarian put the power on. The librarian said that she'd cut the power off when she'd plugged in the book sale sign.
[[Arthur Read|Arthur]], [[Buster Baxter|Buster]], [[Muffy Crosswire|Muffy]], and Fern are bored while eating lunch at school. Fern suggests telling really scary stories. Buster starts with a story about a "giant radioactive vampire lizard" and ends his story due to getting scared. Muffy tells a story about a girl getting punch spilled on her dress, which Arthur doesn't think is scary. Arthur tells his own scary story, which is about [[Arthur's Underwear (episode)|a boy who rips his underwear in front of the class.]]


At the end, Fern says to her friends that the 'thing' didn't have to be something scary. She says it could turn into a golden dragon, who knows the way to a cave of treasures (this satisfies Muffy). Or it turns into a friendly alien (for Buster), and finally it gives you flying powers and helps rid the world of evil (for Arthur). However, D.W, who was secretly listening, says that she'd ruined the 'thing'. She and Fern walk off together discussing what horrible things the 'thing' could turn into.
Fern describes her story as a true story that happened to her uncle, who is an entomologist and studies bugs. While unpacking insects from the Congo, he notices a box that has already been opened. Looking for an umbrella, he finds "the thing." It opens up and does something to Fern's uncle's assistant, whom was never heard from again, then flies off into the night. Arthur, Buster, and Muffy are horrified by this story.
 
On the playground, they recall being unable to sleep due to being scared of the story. Fern tells them that the story was made up, and that she does not even have an uncle, but Muffy is disturbed that Francine can even think of something that scary. Fern says that she can think of even scarier stories and starts telling one, but Arthur, Buster, and Muffy run away.
 
Fern's friends are now scared of her and run away when she approaches. She donates all her ''[[Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club]]'' books to the library for the book sale, having found them not scary after reading ''Frankenstein''. Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and D.W. arrive and are initially scared by Fern until she changes the story to make the thing not scary. Muffy wants it to be a platinum dragon that knows the way to a cave of treasure, Buster wants it to be a nice alien, and Arthur wants it to give him superpowers.
 
D.W. tells Fern that she's "ruining" the story, having heard about how scary it is from Arthur, and gives her ideas to make the thing even scarier. Arthur and Buster cover their ears and shout that they cannot hear her as D.W. says that the thing should split up into spiders or scorpions.


==Characters==
==Characters==
===Major Characters===
===Major===
*[[Fern Walters]]
*[[Fern Walters]]
*[[Arthur Read]]
*[[Arthur Read]]
*[[Muffy Crosswire]]
*[[Muffy Crosswire]]
*[[Buster Baxter]]
*[[Buster Baxter]]
 
===Minor===
===Minor Characters===
*[[D.W. Read]]
*[[D.W. Read]]
*[[Paige Turner]]
*[[Paige Turner]]
===Background characters===
===Cameo===
*[[Nigel Ratburn]]
*[[Nigel Ratburn]]
*[[Maria Pappas]]
*[[Alan Powers|Brain]]
*[[Francine Frensky]]
*[[George Lundgren]]
*[[Binky Barnes]]
*[[Sue Ellen Armstrong]]
*[[Prunella Deegan]]
*[[John]]
*[[Jenna Morgan]]
*[[Francis Haney]]
*[[Alex]]


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
===Cultural References===
*'''Timeline:''' Arthur's story references "[[Arthur's Underwear (episode)|Arthur's Underwear]]," which Muffy says happened months ago.
*Fern references [[Mary Shelley]] multiple times.
*When the title is read by [[Binky Barnes|Binky]], [[Arthur Read|Arthur]] can be heard faintly saying "Yeah!"
===Episode connections===
===Cultural references===
*"[[Arthur's Underwear (episode)|Arthur's Underwear]]" is mentioned again, and is said to have happened months ago. This is one of several episodes to reference that incident. However, in this one, Muffy tells Arthur to forget the incident and move on with his life, acting as a nod to how much it had been referenced.
*Fern references [[Mary Shelley]] and ''[[Frankenstein]]'' multiple times.
*Fern begins her second story with "It was a dark and stormy night". That is how Snoopy (another cartoon dog with floppy ears and literary ambitions) begins most of his stories.
*The book titles that [[Paige Turner]] mentions to Fern include ''[[Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman]]'' and ''[[Old Yeller]]''.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
{{CollapsingGallery|
===Screenshots===
<gallery>
<gallery>
Male_fern.jpg
Male_fern.jpg
Arur804a episode 480x360.jpg
Arur804a episode 480x360.jpg
Tumblr mdezyaHqPs1qf25e0.png
</gallery>
</gallery>}}


==References==
==References==
{{Refbar}}{{EpisodeNav|8}}
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Episodes]]
{{EpisodeNav|8}}
[[Category:Season 8 episodes]]
[[Category:Season 8 episodes]]
[[Category:Episode pages without home video]]
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Arthur episodes]]
[[Category:2003]]

Latest revision as of 15:44, 29 June 2022

"Fernkenstein's Monster"
0804ami.jpg
0804atc.jpg
Season/Series: 8
Number in season: 4A
Original Airdate: United States September 18, 2003[1]
Germany December 20, 2007[2]
Credits
Written by: Stephanie Simpson
Storyboard by: Ivan Tankushev
Patricia Atchison
Episodes
Previous
"Bugged"
Next
"D.W., Dancing Queen"
Read transcript
"Fernkenstein's Monster" is the first half of the fourth episode in the eighth season of Arthur.

Summary[edit]

Fern's scary story is a little too scary — now the other kids are afraid of her. So she sets out to prove her skills as a writer by creating a story that is fun instead of frightening.

Plot[edit]

On a rainy day, Fern is telling the story of how Mary Shelley created Frankenstein. Shelley participated in a scary story contest with her friends and won by writing, and telling, Frankenstein. Fern says that she wants to "scare the world with [a] brilliant story" as well.

Fernkenstein's Monster

Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and Fern are bored while eating lunch at school. Fern suggests telling really scary stories. Buster starts with a story about a "giant radioactive vampire lizard" and ends his story due to getting scared. Muffy tells a story about a girl getting punch spilled on her dress, which Arthur doesn't think is scary. Arthur tells his own scary story, which is about a boy who rips his underwear in front of the class.

Fern describes her story as a true story that happened to her uncle, who is an entomologist and studies bugs. While unpacking insects from the Congo, he notices a box that has already been opened. Looking for an umbrella, he finds "the thing." It opens up and does something to Fern's uncle's assistant, whom was never heard from again, then flies off into the night. Arthur, Buster, and Muffy are horrified by this story.

On the playground, they recall being unable to sleep due to being scared of the story. Fern tells them that the story was made up, and that she does not even have an uncle, but Muffy is disturbed that Francine can even think of something that scary. Fern says that she can think of even scarier stories and starts telling one, but Arthur, Buster, and Muffy run away.

Fern's friends are now scared of her and run away when she approaches. She donates all her Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club books to the library for the book sale, having found them not scary after reading Frankenstein. Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and D.W. arrive and are initially scared by Fern until she changes the story to make the thing not scary. Muffy wants it to be a platinum dragon that knows the way to a cave of treasure, Buster wants it to be a nice alien, and Arthur wants it to give him superpowers.

D.W. tells Fern that she's "ruining" the story, having heard about how scary it is from Arthur, and gives her ideas to make the thing even scarier. Arthur and Buster cover their ears and shout that they cannot hear her as D.W. says that the thing should split up into spiders or scorpions.

Characters[edit]

Major[edit]

Minor[edit]

Cameo[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • Timeline: Arthur's story references "Arthur's Underwear," which Muffy says happened months ago.
  • When the title is read by Binky, Arthur can be heard faintly saying "Yeah!"

Cultural references[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]