Arthur's Tooth (episode)

"Arthur's Tooth"
Season/Series:	1
Number in season:	24a
Original Airdate:	November 7, 1996; February 6, 1997; January 15, 2002;
	Credits
Written by:	James Greenberg
Storyboard by:	Jean Charles Fink
	Episodes
Previous; "Misfortune Teller"	Next; "D.W. Gets Lost"
	Read transcript

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the book, the VHS, or the DVD.

"Arthur's Tooth" is the first half of the twenty-fourth episode in the first season of Arthur. It is based on the book Arthur's Tooth.

Summary[edit]

Arthur tries everything to get his loose tooth to come out.

Plot[edit]

Arthur has a loose tooth, and is trying to make it fall out by using the trick that involves the bathroom door with string tied to the tooth; however, the technique is not working for him at all. David is annoyed from the slamming of the door. Jane tells him that his loose tooth will fall out when it's ready. David tells Arthur to cease horseplay. D.W. realizes that he is acting weird. Arthur agrees, and then tells all the viewers that if they were 8 years old and still had their baby teeth, they would be desperate as well.

Arthur's Tooth

One very early morning, Arthur is sleeping. When he bites down, he feels it becoming more loose. He gets up and wakes his parents up. He tells his parents that his tooth is about to fall out soon.

One day at school, Arthur tells Buster that he has a loose tooth. Francine sneezes and loses a tooth. Mr. Ratburn comes in and realizes everybody has lost a tooth except Arthur. He turns on a TV to show a video about teeth.

The TV Show.

At lunch, Francine demonstrates some tricks she can do at lunch, including placing her drinking straw through the gap and whistling through her teeth while closed. Francine demonstrates another trick, by doing a spit-take by squirting out juice from the gap of her teeth. Buster, Sue Ellen, Muffy, and Binky do the same as well. Arthur tries, but the juice fall out of his mouth instead.

As Arthur gets home, David asks if he would like some milk and cookies. Arthur initially declines, but soon changes his mind when he finds out that the cookies are crunchy kinds. Arthur also makes a request for dinner. At dinner, Arthur's request is revealed; He eats some extra well-done steak. Arthur notices that his loose tooth was still there. Arthur then eats some corn on the cob. Arthur decides to have a couple of things for dessert; peanut brittle and rock candy.

D.W. tells Arthur to turn into shark to attempt to get rid of the loose tooth instantly. D.W. says she learned about it at an aquarium.

The next day, Arthur arrives and some of his friends tease him. Arthur plays a trick on them by revealing a necklace he borrowed from D.W. During art, Arthur wants a physical punch but Buster refuses to do that. During gym, Arthur tells Binky to do it, but is unable to do it.

Later that day, Brain shows Arthur an experiment to remove a tooth that runs away easily. Brain self-destructs the machine and notices that it isn't 100% perfect.

That night, Arthur tries to get the tooth out but the doorknob falls off with such amount of force. He spreads the word to his parents who tell him to go to the dentist.

At school, Arthur spreads the word about going to the dentist to Mr. Ratburn. Francine and Muffy feel sorry for Arthur. Francine tells Arthur that if they are unable to fall out, they have to be yanked. Buster tells Arthur that it was actually going to be fine.

Later, at the dentist, Arthur is called for his appointment. He tells the dentist that he still has all of his baby teeth. The dentist notices a stubborn loose baby tooth. He tells Arthur that having baby teeth doesn't actually make him a baby literally, and that he didn't loose his first tooth until he was nearly nine: “Everyone is different.”

The next day at school, Arthur tells his friends that some people don't even lose their baby teeth until they're 9 years old, and everyone is actually different. Francine plans to play a game of "Tooth Fairy" where Francine poses as the Tooth Fairy. She decides to not invite Arthur in the game. Arthur tells Francine, "If you ask me, now you're being the baby." Buster and Sue Ellen agree with Arthur. Fed up with how she's been behaving, Arthur and his friends walk off, except Francine, who tells them she is posing as the Tooth Fairy, and they can't leave her. Disgusted, she throws the ball at the monkey bars, which bounces back and hits Arthur in the face. As a result, Arthur has now lost his tooth. Francine realizes her mistake and apologises, and an impressed Arthur notices that it was just as what he wanted and gives her his lost tooth. Francine asked about this and Arthur reminds her that she's a tooth fairy and requires 25 cents to keep it, much to Francine's surprise. Francine then smiles, and the episode finishes.

Characters[edit]

Trivia[edit]

The anguished sounds Binky makes when he can't go through with punching Arthur are recycled in several subsequent episodes, mostly when Binky falls down or gets hit by something.
Even though the title was not spoken on the video and DVD releases, Francine says it during television airings.
On the front cover of Arthur's Tooth on VHS and DVD, Arthur was illustrated to have lost a top incisor like the book, instead of a bottom one like in the actual episode.
At the end of the 2000 rerun intro on PBS Kids before this episode, Arthur’s crashing sound changes to the Season 5 version.
This is the second and last episode written by James Greenberg.
This episode and the next episode were encoded to work with ActiMates Arthur and D.W. on June 29, 1998
Karma: Francine made fun of Arthur, so she has no one to play with.
Timeline:
- Arthur mentioned the events of this episode in the earlier episode "Locked in the Library!" It is possible that this episode chronologically takes place before the latter.
- D.W. mentions her trip to the aquarium in “D.W. All Wet”. Her shark tooth comes up again in “D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy”, when she wants to fool the tooth fairy with it.
Moral: Don't make fun of people that haven't lose her/his tooth.

Cultural references[edit]

The Flighty Fluoride Scour Rangers are a parody of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Errors[edit]

2 Arthurs.

When Arthur smiles to show the missing tooth, Buster is colored like Arthur in the background.
When Arthur sits in the dentist chair, Dr. Sozio's desk is missing. A few seconds later, it reappears right next to the chair.
Jean Charles Fink's last name was spelled incorrectly during the title card of this episode.
When Arthur tries to pull his teeth the second time on the bathroom door, the door handle falls but when he goes to his parents room its still there.

Differences from the book[edit]

This story took place in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class; although in the book, it was a flashback event that took place in Mr. Marco's second grade class, and that Arthur would happen to have already lost a tooth when starting third grade. Because of this the following changes were made to the televised adaptation:
- In the episode, Arthur says he is 8 years old but in the book he says he is 7 years old.
- In the episode, Dr. Sozio says he didn't loose his first baby tooth until he was nearly 9 but in the book he says that he was 8 before he lost his first baby tooth.
The kids all lost a bottom incisor; although in the book, Arthur and some kids lost a top incisor, while some lost a bottom incisor.
Francine's "tooth fairy" game in the book involves her twirling around and whomever she touches loses a tooth, and whoever loses the most teeth wins. In the episode, she says whoever she hits with a soccer ball loses a tooth.
The "literal" tooth fairy was shown in the book; she didn't actually appear in the TV series until D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy.
In the episode, Arthur gave his tooth to Francine after losing it, in the book he kept it.
In the episode, no one wants to play tooth fairy and follow Arthur to play softball. In the book, everyone but Arthur played and only Arthur left to play softball.