So Long, Spanky

"So Long, Spanky"
Season/Series:	1
Number in season:	13a
Original Airdate:	December 2, 1996
Credits
Written by:	Peter Hirsch
Storyboard by:	Jean Lajeunesse
Episodes
Previous "Arthur's Lost Dog"	Next "Buster's New Friend"
Read transcript

"So Long, Spanky" is the first half of the thirteenth episode in the first season of Arthur.

Summary

D.W. suffers through the death of her beloved bird, then has to decide whether to risk her heart again by adopting a lonely toad.

Plot

The episode begins with Arthur quietly introducing D.W.'s pet, Spanky, who is sleeping. Arthur also reveals Spanky's past as a pet of D.W., from meeting him at the petshop (where Spanky bites Arthur's finger), to taking Arthur's shoelace (in which Arthur would wish Spanky would go south for the winter and stay there). Though, Arthur does feel sorry for him at times (especially when D.W. dresses him up). Arthur also admits that he 'sorta' likes him, when his beak is closed of course, when he is not making any annoying sounds.

After the title card, the next scene starts off with a nest of baby birds chirpping, then shifts to a sickly Spanky looking out the window. D.W., seeing this, then decides to get Spanky a nice cup of tea. While she is gone, Spanky passes away. When D.W. sees this, she doesn't know what has happened.

D.W. takes Spanky to her dad, who is cooking pastries. D.W.'s dad decides that Spanky has passed away. D.W., not knowing what dead means, asks when Spanky will stop being dead. Arthur enters, asking both of them if something has died. D.W. replies to him that Spanky is sleeping and won't wake up, and asks if Spanky will ever wake up.

Her dad tells her that he won't wake up, but suggests that they can give him a nice funeral. The scene cuts to Spanky's funeral, with the Read family remembering the times with Spanky. After this, D.W. tells the rest of the family that she would like to spend some time with Spanky, but Arthur hides behind a tree, watching D.W. take a can and put the flowers the Read family put on Spanky's grave. Though, the can shakes, making D.W. very angry towards the toad who was hiding in the can.

D.W. then gets the toad to leave, but Arthur introduces her to number of pet animals at the pet store, ranging from birds (who look like Spanky) to a parrot (who D.W. says speaks good English). D.W. returns to the grave of Spanky with more flowers. She told him that some of the birds were cute, but not cute like Spanky and not even the parrot but she said that its English was good. Before she can put the flowers in the can, it encounters the same toad who inhabits the can. She encounters the toad many more times, including school, where the toad scares the kids and Ms. Morgan. Coming home from school, the toad saves D.W.'s purse when it falls into the storm drain, but instead gets scolded instead of praise because she thought it was stealing it.

The same toad enters D.W.'s room, eventually wrecking her room until D.W. cannot find it. She then goes to sleep, saying that there will be trouble the next morning. Though the next morning, D.W. cannot find the toad, eventually figuring out that the toad must be in the washing machine, prompting her to cry. Then, Toady (as D.W. calls it) enters the room, making D.W. chase her throughout the house, where the toad jumps out the living room window, and runs toward a neighbor mowing his lawn with a lawn mower. D.W. stops the lawn mower, and begs her parents to keep the toad as a pet. They agree, only to go to the library to see how to take care of a pet. Toady then eats a fly, much to Mrs. Read's digust. The episode ends with Toady smiling in D.W.'s hands.

Characters

Major Characters

• D.W. Read
• Spanky
• Toady
• Arthur Read
• David Read
• Jane Read

Minor Characters

• Kate Read
• Billy and Bobby
• Ms. Morgan
• Mary Ann
• Amanda
• Buster (mentioned)
• Jack Weasel

Trivia

• Toady was initially adopted as D.W.'s pet toad in the episode, but is no longer a pet in the following episodes, but still seen on title cards. Toady was referred to a male in this episode, but in her later appearance in "The Great Sock Mystery" where she lives in the Read family's yard, she was revealed to be a female.
• This episode is where Mary Ann and Amanda's names are revealed.
• When D.W. begins calling and looking for Toady, she whistles for him, but you don't see her whistling mouth or lips in this episode.
• Although the title is not read on BBC Kid's The Spot, Francine says the title when it aired on PBS Kids.
• DW feeds Spanky tea, but in real life tea is poisonous to parakeets. Since Spanky dies shortly afterwards, it means that DW accidentally killed, or at least sped up Spanky's death.
• This episode is notably the first Arthur episode to feature an on-screen death, or at least show a deceased body.

Errors

• The door frames on the doors that go between the hallway and D.W. and Kate's room and for the closet in their room are brown; although in other episodes, they are white.
• After Jane starts the washing machine, the washing machine tumbles; but washing machines actually tumble when they're on the spin cycle where the water drains out.

Home Video

VHS:

• Arthur's Pet Follies

DVD:

• Arthur's Pet Follies
• Arthur: The Complete Series One

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Turkish	Çok Uzun, Sparky	So Long, Sparky
Hungarian	Isten Veled Csőri	Farewell Sparky

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