Arthur's Missing Pal

"Arthur's Missing Pal"
Original Airdate:	August 18, 2006 (PBS Kids GO!) August 22, 2006 (DVD) June 2021 (Starz) TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA
Credits
Written by:	Ken Scarborough
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“	Pal!	”
—Arthur

Arthur's Missing Pal is the CGI movie, featuring the characters from Arthur. It was released to DVD on August 22, 2006.

Summary

Pal goes missing after Arthur leaves for his friends' water balloon fight because Arthur has forgotten to feed Pal. However, he and Buster are certain that D.W. did it, but D.W. denies any involvement. Arthur and his friends mount a search throughout Elwood City for the missing dog.

Plot

Arthur is going to feed Pal when Buster comes and crashes into everything. D.W. is trying to go to the Mary Moo Ice is Nice Extravaganza. Arthur and his friends have a balloon fight and Pal waits to get fed. He drinks his water bowl Arthur told him about. He needs to pee, but no one knows. He tries to pee on the carpet but remembers that Arthur told him not to do so. He runs upstairs to D.W., but she shuts the door on him. Pal cries and whines to Arthur at the window but he gets hit by a water balloon from Francine, which distracts him from Pal. Arthur and his friends leave to the Sugar Bowl. Pal runs to the bathroom, where he tries to pee in the toilet like a person. He tries to step carefully but he flushes the toilet with his paws and falls into the toilet. Arthur says "It just wasn't fair. Francine was right there. Pal started to scratch the glass!" He remembers that he needs to walk Pal. He searches everywhere but doesn't find him. That's when the search starts. They all split up and look for Pal all over town. However, none of them find any sign of Pal. Then Arthur and Buster find Pal's pawprints, which Buster makes a cast of. At that moment, D.W. announces that Pal has gone missing and insults him. Arthur and Buster get suspicious and start questioning D.W. They find out that Pal was in the bathroom trying to get out of the toilet and use lost dog posters. Meanwhile, Pal is traveling all over town and then into the park walking around a fountain as well as licking an ice cream cone, unbeknownst to Arthur and Buster. Outside of the Sugar Bowl, Buster and Arthur are sitting on a bench when Muffy and Prunella walk by, while Pal chases a butterfly, when it lands on a pipe that he gets his collar stuck and the lawnmower approaches him but is able to free himself as they both find evidence when they found his collar. Back at Arthur's house, D.W. won her Mary Moo Cow ticket. When Buster walks over to an ice cream cone, he finds more pawprints and both he and Arthur see an ice cream truck pass by that belongs to Mr. Kone where Pal is in and try to catch up, but it speeds up, so Mr. Read calls the ice cream company that it is just the answering machine that he will have to call them in the morning to find out where they park their trucks. D.W. squeezes her Mary Moo Cow doll, but Arthur doesn't want it. Later that night, Arthur looks sad and that he will try his best to find Pal. Meanwhile, Pal is in the ice cream truck that arrives at Mr. Kone's Ice Cream headquarters. Pal eventually escapes the truck on his own and heads for the gate. But, two guard dogs named Sugar and Spice then see him, and begin to growl and chase him. He escapes them. Then, the next day, back in Arthur's room, he days that he doesn't have time to go to the Mary Moo-Cow "Ice is Nice" 'stravaganza with D.W. and that he, Buster and Mr. Read go to Mr. Kone's Ice Cream where they help Pal escape from Sugar and Spice. Back at the Mary Moo Cow show, when D.W. hears Pal barking and that she and Mrs. Read have to get home, with the employee saying that they checked everywhere and says if she heard barking and Rosie is now driving the zamboni in the ice rink. Unbeknownst to D.W. and Mrs. Read, Pal is in the truck with her. where Arthur packs Pals things, he finds his heartworm medicine and says that is he doesn't get it, he will get sick. Arthur then sees the MMC brochure and knocks it off the table. But unbeknownst to him, the show is being held at all the cities Buster just mentioned, Tangleberry and Washington D.C. When the phone rings that Mr. Read answers it, Buster accidentally steps on the Mary Moo Cow doll. Back at the ice rink, Pal gets dizzy riding in the zamboni where Rosie thanks him for taking a spin. Arthur and Buster watch the television to examine the cities and as the Mary Moo Cow show ends Arthur contacts D.W. on the walkie talkie saying that the truck is on the road. He and his friends get on their bikes to find him when the truck drives up and is reunited with Arthur, who apologizes him and as the film ends they chase him into the yard.

Characters

• D.W. Read
• Arthur Read
• Buster Baxter
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Pal
• Unnamed Woman
• Prunella Deegan
• Binky Barnes
• Brain Powers
• Timmy Tibble
• Tommy Tibble
• Jane Read
• David Read
• Kate Read
• Pal Read

Trivia

• This is, to date, the only feature-length production from the Arthur franchise.
• This is one of the few Arthur productions not to be produced by its main production company Cinar/Cookie Jar. The film was produced by WGBH Boston, Lionsgate, and Mainframe Entertainment, with the animation/production services being handled by RichCrest Animation. (or Crest Animation, as they were later known as) It is also the only production from the series to be produced direct-to-video.
• Most of the cast in this movie used pseudonyms instead of their real names as this production was non-union in contrast with the TV series which is union-contracted under ACTRA and occasionally SAG-AFTRA.
• This movie's plot is similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Have You Seen This Snail in which Gary runs away after SpongeBob forgets to feed him.
  • The plot and moral is similar to a Big City Greens episode
  • The Louds also lose their Pet(s) in Pets Peeved
  • Pal also runs away from Arthur in Arthur's Lost Dog.
  • The Casagrandes lose their pet bird in This Bird Has Flown
• In 2007, this film was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Quality Picture, Sound, and Animation. It was beaten by Disney and Pixar's "Cars".
• Mary Moo Cow is referenced in this movie (specifically, Mary Moo Cow on Ice from the World of Tomorrow introduction flashback).
• This is the first movie seeing all the characters in 3D form instead of 2D form.
• Pal is referred to Lucky by the zamboni/truck driver.
• This is the first special/movie not to feature the theme song at the beginning.
• Bruce Dinsmore and Daniel Brochu were the only actors from the original series to ever reprise their roles in this movie.
• Due to the movie using low budget mid-2000s 3D animation, some corners had to be cut when translating Arthur into a different medium:
  • Jane Read noticeably has much shorter hair than in the TV series probably because animating characters with long hair would be difficult.
  • Arthur is also conspicuously sleeping on top of his bed in the movie's opening. This is probably so the animators would not have to spend time animating Arthur in his bedsheets.
• Running Gag: Buster crashing into stuff.
• Foreshadowing: When D.W. is about to say where she saw Pal, she trails off. Arthur and Buster head over to interrogate her, but she soon changes the subject. This is a hint that she is the one who let Pal outside and go missing.
• Karma: Arthur was taking Pal for granted, so he ran away and Arthur was shocked.
• Moral: Dont take your pets for granted.

Goofs/Errors

• When Buster, Dad, and Arthur are in the Mr. Kone's ice cream factory, the background door is still locked.
• When Arthur was trying to give Pal his pill, he says, "Whoa!" his mouth does not move.
• At 54:13, Jane disappears out of nowhere.

Gallery

:Main article: Arthur's Missing Pal/Gallery