The Short, Quick Summer/Transcript

Introduction

It is 2:54 on the day before summer vacation. The kids sit in the classroom in summer clothes and watch the clock.

Arthur: It's the last day of school. When that bell rings, summer starts!

In the next room, Mrs. Fink is singing with her students.

Mrs. Fink's Class: “Summer's fun! It's just begun! There's lots of sun! We’ll play and run! Summer’s number one! La la la-la-la…”

Mr. Ratburn: Two minutes left in the school year! There's time for one last math problem.[

He writes on the blackboard. Arthur takes out a list.

Arthur: This is my list of all the great things I plan to do this summer!

He looks at flowers on the June page of a calendar on the wall. The flowers turn into real flowers in the Reads’ yard where Arthur and Buster play badminton. A ball hits Buster on the head.

Arthur: Ow! Hey, watch the birdie!

Buster: Sorry, Buster!

They turn into a calendar page. The calendar changes to July and the picture of a lighthouse. The lighthouse becomes real. Arthur and Buster play beach volleyball, while Sue Ellen, Binky and Francine perform on a stage.

Binky: “Rockin' on the beach / Rocking on the beach...”

The calendar changes to August, now showing a green hill and clouds. Arthur, Buster and Francine look up at the clouds.

Arthur: I see a hippo.

Buster: I see a train racing an octopus.

Francine: That is the most ridiculous... Hey! He's right!

Two clouds actually look like a train racing an octopus.

The fantasy ends. Mr. Ratburn has just completed a complicated math problem when the bell rings.

Mr. Ratburn: The answer is seventeen and a half! Have a good summer!

The kids run out of the school.

Kids: (cheer)

Arthur: Summer is here!

Title Card: Arthur With Umbrella

Near the end of summer vacation, Arthur and Pal get up in the morning.

Arthur: It's another perfect summer day, Pal. What should we do? We could go to the park, or go swimming or play...?

Mrs. Read: How about shopping for back-to-school clothes!

Arthur: Yuck! Why do I wanna do that?

Mrs. Read: Because you start school next week!

Arthur: Huh?! It's the last week of summer already? He looks at the calendar. It can't be! It's impossible! It feels like summer just started and it's already over!

A brown leaf falls from a tree.

***

Later that day, Arthur searches under the living room couch. D.W. sticks her head under the couch as well.

D.W.: Are we playing cave?

Arthur: We’re not playing anything! I'm looking for my list.

He removes the couch cushions.

D.W.: What list?

Arthur: The list I made when summer started of all the things I wanted to. And I don't think I did any of it!

D.W.: Was losing the list on the list? You did that!

***

Pal walks into Arthur’s room, where Arthur and D.W. are searching through Arthur’s closet with a flashlight.

Arthur: I only have one week left to do all those things!

They crawl into the closet and Pal follows them.

D.W.: Augh! A ghost! A hairy ghost! Oh, it's just your dopey dog.

***

D.W. plays in the sprinkler in the yard while her mom and Kate watch.

D.W.: Yeah! Haha! Whee!

Kate crawls towards the sprinkler, then comes back to her mom.

Kate: (giggles)

Mrs. Read: Where's Arthur? He's missing all the fun!

Arthur is searching the trashcan outside.

Arthur: If I were a list, where would I be?

Arthur falls in the can and the can falls down and rolls down the driveway.

Arthur: Whoa! Whoa!

Mr. Read stops the can.

Mr. Read: Arthur, you can get hurt playing like that!

Arthur: Who's playing? I'm not having any fun at all!

***

Arthur and Buster sit in the treehouse. Arthur searches through a pile of books and games.

Buster: Come on, Arthur. Let's play “Kangaroo Court”. “Sue the kangaroo cavorts in a ca-razy courtroom!” And it's just fun, not educational. Can't beat that!

He puts a clockwork kangaroo on the gameboard and it starts hopping.

Arthur: I gotta find it. Summer's almost over and I haven't done anything!

Buster: Sure you did! What about the carousel?

***

Flashback: Arthur and Buster ride their bikes in the park and see a man attach a “Closed” sign on an old carousel.

Buster: What are you doing, Gunky?

Gunky: This old carousel is on its last go-around, boys. I'm out of business.

Arthur+Buster: Huh?!

Buster: Why? Everybody loves the carousel!

Gunky: Mr. Crosswire's bought it and I hear he's ripping it down!

Arthur+Buster: (gasp)

***

Mr. Crosswire sits in his office with a flipchart showing the carousel below a cent sign and a garage under a dollar sign. He crosses out the carousel.

Mr. Crosswire: This is where I want the new grease-pit.

Employee: I'll have the designs ready by next week, Mr. Crosswire!

Arthur and Buster listen at the door.

Buster: (gasps)

***

Arthur and Buster have gathered Binky, Sue Ellen, Brain, Francine, Muffy and Prunella in the Sugar Bowl.

Binky: Grease-pits could be fun too!

Buster: We wouldn't get to play in them, they're for his car business.

Binky: Oh, that rots! We’ve gotta do something!

Buster: We need to band together!

Kids: (Yeah!)

***

Mr. Crosswire arrives at the carousel on a bulldozer. Musicians are riding on the carousel and people are holding signs saying “Stop” and “Save the Carousel”.

Mr. Crosswire: What's going on here?

Buster: I banded together the band to save the carousel! We don't want grease-pits!

Binky: Not unless we can play in ‘em!

Grandma Thora approaches with a photo album.

Grandma Thora: Everyone grew up on this ride. Including this young boy.

She hands him a photograph of himself at about two years old.

Mr. Crosswire: Why...that's me! And Daddy! I'm so cute!

He wipes away a tear and blows his nose.

Mr. Crosswire: Okay. Okay, it stays.

People: (Yeah!)

Gunky: Your idea worked, Buster. You saved the carousel!

***

The flashback ends. Arthur and Buster still sit in the treehouse.

Arthur: That was something you did, not me!

Buster: Yeah... Boy, I had a great summer!

Arthur: Aw…

***

Arthur talks to Binky in the Barnes’ backyard..

Binky: What kind of a goof wastes his whole summer?

Arthur shrugs.

Binky: I didn't waste one minute! On the first day of summer, I took my bike apart and cleaned all the pieces.

He points to the pieces lying in the grass.

Arthur: But you never tried to put it back together.

Binky: Not true. I tried everyday. Plus, I invented the mud sled!

Flashback: Binky stands in the park in the rain with a sled. The other kids watch him.

Binky: Ladies and gentlemen, the Binky Barnes official mud sled! Sleds ain't just for snow anymore! Wha-hoohoo!

He tries to slide and lands headfirst in a puddle.

Kids: (Eugh! Yuck!)

The flashback ends.

Binky: (sighs) That was great!

Arthur: It didn't even work!

Binky: But it was muddy and gooey. (sighs) This was the best summer ever.

Arthur: (groans)

***

Arthur paces in his room with a new list while D.W. watches him.

D.W.: You're gonna wear a hole in the floor and fall into the living room and Mommy will be really mad!

Arthur: Quiet! I'm thinking!

D.W.: Why?

Arthur: Only three days left. If I don't find my list, I've wasted my whole summer!

D.W.: Even Kate did something great this summer. She said her first word.

Flashback: Kate lies in her crib and watches a mobile.

D.W.: Goodnight, Kate!

Kate: Bloodge agwa!

D.W.: Mommy! Daddy! Kate said her first word! Mommy! Daddy!

The parents come running up the stairs.

Mrs. Read: What did she say?

Mr. Read: I bet it was “Daddy”. It was "Daddy", wasn't it?

D.W.: She said, "Bloodge agwa!"

The parents look disappointed.

D.W.: She said it clear as a bell: "Bloodge agwa!"

The parents walk down the stairs.

D.W.: Where are you going? She might say it again!

The flashback ends.

D.W.: What's “bloodge agwa” mean, anyway?

Arthur: Mom, D.W.'s bothering me while I'm trying to think.!

***

Arthur is at the Sugar Bowl with Buster, Fern and Sue Ellen.

Fern: What could be dumber than wasting an entire summer? / I went to poetry camp. I was the poetry champ. / This ribbon on my chest means that I'm the best. / And now it's hard to stop making rhymes. I must have tried a thousand times.

Sue Ellen: You must have done something, Arthur. Even Mr. Ratburn did something special this summer. He worked in Jack's joke shop.

Flashback: In the joke shop, Sue Ellen holds a small box labelled “Magic Trick”.

Mr. Ratburn: You don't want that trick.

Sue Ellen: I don't?

Mr. Ratburn: It's too easy. Now, here is a challenge worthy of a true magician.

He holds out some playing card. Sue Ellen takes them and drops them.

Mr. Ratburn: It'll take a lot of practice.

Flashback: Sue Ellen sits on her bed with the cards.

Sue Ellen: I wanted to give up, but I knew Ratburn wouldn't give my money back if I quit, and eventually...

Flashback: Sue Ellen shuffles cards at the joke shop. She makes them disappear in her hands and fall down from the ceiling. Then she takes one card out of the deck.

Sue Ellen: Was your card the nine of clubs?

Mr. Ratburn: Correct! Perfect! Like a real pro!

The flashback ends. Sue Ellen and Arthur stand outside Jack’s joke shop.

Sue Ellen: It took all summer, but now I can do the trick better than Ratburn. Pick a card!

Arthur sadly walks away.

***

Arthur watches Francine and Prunella dig a hole in front of the Deegans’ house.

Arthur: Only two days left! I flunked summer! When school starts, I'll probably flunk recess too!

Francine: You can help dig the hole. That's something.

Arthur: I’ve been meaning to ask you all summer why you are digging this hole. And I didn't even do that.

Prunella: We're trying to dig to the Earth's core where there are minerals that can predict the future. My sister Rubella says so.

She uses Francine’s head to get out of the hole.

Francine: Ah! We've been working on it for months! We're real close... I think!

***

Arthur talks to Brain who is setting up a model rocket.

Brain: If they get near the Earth's core, the heat will melt their shovels. They can't make it.

Arthur: What did you do this summer?

Brain: I was in summer school.

Arthur: But you're so smart! What did you have to learn?

Brain: Oh, I didn't learn anything. I was teaching. Science and soccer. Wanna launch the rocket? Arthur?

Arthur walks away. Brain launches the rocket.

***

Later, Arthur comes by the Deegans’ house and sees that the girls have filled in the hole.

Arthur: You filled in the hole??

Francine: Summer's over. We'll try again next year.

Arthur: Don't you feel like you've wasted your whole summer?

Francine+Prunella: No.

Francine: It was fun!

Arthur: Everyone had a great time except me.

***

Arthur walks into his room.

Arthur: I know I put that list for safekeeping!

He closes the door and lies down on his bed. Then he notices that the list is attached to the door.

Arthur: Huh! He takes it. I found it! I found it! But it's too late! Summer's over!

Arthur looks out at the evening sky. D.W. walks in.

D.W.: So that's all the great things you were gonna do? What's it say?

Arthur: "Have adventures." What a joke! I didn't have a single adventure!

D.W.: Especially not on the rainy days when all you did was sit around and read books.

Flashback: Arthur sits in the living room and reads while it rains outside. Suddenly, a hand reaches out of the book and pulls him in.

Arthur: Whoa!

Arthur lands next to Francine, who is dressed like a French Musketeer.

Francine: We ride, d'Artagnan!

Arthur realizes he is standing in Renaissance France. Buster and Brain raise their hats.

Francine: All for one...

All: ...and one for all!

They cross rapiers.

The four follow a coach driven by Binky with Mr. Ratburn as cardinal Richelieu inside.

Mr. Ratburn: Faster, driver! They're gaining on us!

Binky: Whoa!

In another fantasy, based on “Treasure Island”, Arthur is chased along a beach by a parrot, and a group of pirates. Mr. Ratburn as pirate captain watches them through a telescope.

Mr. Ratburn: Harr harr harr!

In another fantasy, based on Gulliver’s travels, the Lilliputians (all looking like Binky) have tied Gulliver (Arthur) to the ground. Arthur opens his eyes and sees some of them walking on his chest.

Binky: Get out of here! He's waking up!

Lilliputians: (scream)

The fantasies end. Arthur looks at his books.

Arthur: I did have some adventures!

D.W.: Okay, but what's next on the list...?

Arthur: "Explore space."

D.W.: You sure didn't do that!

Flashback: Arthur and Buster sit in the treehouse, pretending it is a rocket.

Arthur: Ready for lift-off?

Buster: Conditions are go go!

Arthur pulls a lever. In their fantasy, they really are astronauts flying out of Earth’s orbit.

The flashback ends. Arthur lies on his bed.

Arthur: "Learn to fly."

Flashback: Arthur, Buster and Francine ride their bikes over ramps in the park.

Francine: Yahoo!

Arthur imagines that they are flying jet planes.

The flashback ends.

Arthur: I did everything on this list. Thanks for asking me to read it, D.W.

He drops the list and leaves.

D.W.: I was trying to make him feel rotten and he feels great. I'm a failure as a little sister.

***

Arthur, Buster and Francine sit in the Reads’ yard roasting marshmallows over a barbeque.

Arthur: It's the last night of summer.

Buster: Yup.

In their imagination, they are cowboys sitting around a campfire at sundown.

Francine: There's a lot of places I'd like to see, and they're all just beyond that horizon.

Buster: But there's no more time. School starts tomorrow.

Arthur: Yup. School's going to be relaxing after all the adventures I had this summer.

Francine: Yup.

Arthur: Another marshmallow anyone?

Buster: Yup.

A coyote howls as the episode ends while fading to black.