D.W.'s Deer Friend/Transcript

Introduction

The Reads sit at the dinner table.

Arthur: Wow! Double decker carrot cake? My favorite!

Mrs. Read:  Well, everyone, it’s time for another weekend trip.

Arthur: Oh no.

Mrs. Read:  What’s wrong? I thought you’d be excited about a trip.

Arthur: It’s D.W.’s turn to choose. That probably means… Ponyland.

Mr. Read:  How bad could Ponyland be?

Arthur: Em…     In his imagination, preschoolers and ponies sing and dance around his chair.   Augh! My brain is melting!    The fantasy ends.    Suddenly I’m not hungry.

Mrs. Read:  We’ll all have fun. I promise.

Mr. Read:  It’s your choice, D.W.

D.W.: Hm. Where do I want us all to go? I’ll have to think about it.

Arthur: Come on, D.W. We know where you want to go.   D.W. starts pacing the room.

D.W.: Whatever place I name is where we’re all going to go. Mommy, Daddy, Kate and Arthur.

Arthur: Say it! Go ahead and say it!

D.W.: I choose that we all go…

Title Card: D.W. Chasing Frog

Arthur: Say it! Go ahead and say it!

D.W.: I choose that we all go… camping!

Arthur: I knew it!! I… What did you say?

D.W.: Camping. Camping in the great outdoors.

Arthur: Really? Why?

D.W.: I don’t know. I just want to go camping.

Mr. Read:  That’s a good choice. I haven’t been camping in years. It’ll be fun.

Later, Mr. and Mrs. Read are doing the dishes.

Mrs. Read:  I'm so proud that, even though she sees Ponyland on TV all the time, D.W. chose camping.

Mr. Read:  It proves that our limiting her TV time to educational channels has helped her learn to think for herself and not just parrot what the TV says.  

They walk to the living room. Arthur and D.W. are watching TV.

D.W.: Arthur, I think it's time we experienced the wonders of nature in the great outdoors.   The parents smile proudly.

TV announcer: It's time to experience the wonders of nature in the great outdoors here on the great outdoors channel.    The parents are taken aback.

D.W.: Wow!

TV announcer: Go out to our great national parks and see the wild things in their habitat.

D.W.: I wanna go! Let's go now!             The parents exchange looks.

Mr. Read:  Camping is still a good thing.

Mrs. Read:  I’ve got to buy her more books.

#

On the car ride.

D.W.: (sings:) One hundred bunches of bears in the woods, one hundred bunches of bears. If one bunch of bears comes to live in our house, then ninety-nine bunches of bears in the woods

D.W. looks out of a car through binoculars.

D.W.: There's a doe and a deer! Aren't those eagles beautiful? And look at that penguin go!

Arthur: D.W., there are no penguins in the woods.

D.W.: Uh-oh! It's a lost penguin. We'd better give it a sandwich and some juice. Oh, and see if we have  a spare map for it.

#

D.W. Read: Yeah!

Walter (deer): She watched me all weekend from the bushes! I wish I could have brought her to live with us.

Walter's father: Now you know those animals never stay very long, and they live in those metal rolling things. She'd never have been happy out here.

Walter: Yeah, I guess you're right.

(they leave)