I'd Rather Read It Myself

"I'd Rather Read It Myself"
Season/Series:	3
Number in season:	2B
Original Airdate:	November 17, 1998 September 7, 1999 February 22, 2002
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Robert Yap
Episodes
Previous "D.W. All Fired Up"	Next "Arthur Goes Crosswire"
Read transcript

"I'd Rather Read It Myself" is the second half of the second episode in the third season of Arthur.

Summary

Tired of the Tibble twins always being ahead of her, D.W. tries to convince them that she's already learned how to read.

Plot

(NOTE: The Pink Text is D.W.'s made up story)

The episode starts with Arthur telling the audience about how Timmy and Tommy Tibble drive D.W. crazy. He explains about how they want to prove they're better at everything. The Tibbles said to D.W. that they can scream louder than D.W. D.W. said she does not care. But the Tibbles ignored her and started their screaming contest with each other. Plus, they could ride two-wheeler bicycles before D.W. could, and they claimed they could even tell time (though in reality, they were just making it up.) If only D.W. could be the first to do something before the Tibbles...

The Tibble Twins build a Burmese tiger trap, or as they call it, a "Burma-ese tiger trap", using a peanut butter cup as bait. It manages to successfully capture Mr. Haney, although the twins are disappointed that he "broke" their trap, and Grandma Tibble isn't that pleased that the Tibbles dug such a deep pit in her yard. Now she'll have to go and buy sod, while the Tibble Twins stay at the Read family's house for the afternoon. D.W. plans to keep them distracted with playing soccer, but just as she says it, a thunderstorm begins, rendering playing outside out of the question. D.W. will have to find some way of entertaining them inside. She suggest they color, but the Tibbles just scribble really fast into her favorite coloring book, which upsets her. Arthur's up in his room, doing 207,000 math problems for homework, and D.W. goes to him for advice, since he's had experience dealing with them as a babysitter. Arthur says the last time he babysat them, he found something that worked, by telling them a story. That could work for D.W., except that she can't read stories, since she can't read anything. But then, neither can the Tibbles. D.W. returns to the den, where the Tibbles are tracking mud on the ceiling. She announces to the Tibbles that she will read ot them, but the Tibbles say that that's impossible. Anything D.W. can do, they can do. They can't read, and neither can she. The Tibbles find something for her to read, to prove (or better yet, disprove) her claim. They point to the nameplate on the television in the den. The manufacturer of this television is "Elbozonic" according to the nameplate. D.W. claims that it just says "television," but the Tibbles can't prove she's right, since they can't read either. However, they're still not completely convinced. They find a book in the den for her to read to them; "Little Red Riding Hood," with lots of illustrations, so they'll know if she's reading it right. D.W. sounds uncomfortable with that, and picks a book that has all words in it. The Tibbles are unsure, but D.W. tells them not to worry. They sit down, and D.W. starts reading. She flips to a random place in the book, and starts to "read".

This is the story of... B.W.! (The Tibbles are suspicious at first, as it's close to "D.W.," but remain quiet so D.W. can "read" the rest)

B.W. was a "smart, great, perfect girl", whom was a princess, a genius, and a cool person, but too polite to brag, and she had her own pony as well, and it would sleep in her room with her, and her parents were cool with that. Just one thing keeps B.W.'s life from being perfect... Her big brother (Arthur), whom is also a "mega transformalizer". He can turn into a robot form, an airplane, a helicopter, even a lima bean can! He also has an evil partner: Bust-Trantor, a large robot (Buster) whom is always hungry and loves eating. Their most recent crime: stealing the world's most valuable snowball! B.W. is also an agent with a transporting car, and enlists in the aid of her deer friend Walter, whom zaps her to her brother's hideout. Once there, she manages to escape them by doing flips on a balance beam, and then she begins to escape on her two-wheeler bicycle, and surprises the two robots that she can also ride a "no-wheeler," by jettisoning the wheels from her bike and flying off on it, successfully making it over the octopus-infested lake.

That night. B.W. goes to a fancy restaurant with her parents, avoiding eating the spinach as it turns everyone, even her parents, into "spinach heads!" To cure them, she must use the Power Ring of Power, which is being used at her Aunt Lucy's wedding, where she manages to retrieve it from a pipe organ and before the Ring of Power is lost inside the center of the Earth. But without her magic blankie, the ring is powerless, so she enlists on the help of Secret Agent Nadine, whom is so secret, she can turn invisible. They trace it into the super-confusing All-in-One Mart, which is built like a maze, and are initially lost, but B.W. finds what appears to be her lost snowball, which can show the way out. They locate the blankie in what looks like Crazy Bus, with Pickles the Clown in the drivers' seat. B.W. is sure things are all worked out, but the "Crazy Bus" turns out to be her transforming robot brother, and Pickles is Bust-Trantor in disguise! B.W. is captured. Arthur admits that he put the snowball in the freezer section of All-in-One Mart. They have successfully tricked B.W., but her faithful eagle Spanky comes to the rescue, ending up with imprisoning the bad guys in a big cage by pushing the big brother's red button which makes B.W.'s brother crying, but then Spanky dies after doing so, and she and her good friend the President of the United States hold a big funeral for the eagle.

Back in reality, just after D.W. reads that, the doorbell rings, and Grandma Tibble is back to pick up the twins. When D.W. leaves the room, the twins tell Arthur how D.W. read to them from one of his books, and asks if they can borrow it. Arthur says sure, and they do so, telling D.W. that Arthur gave them permission. Once they leave, Arthur tells D.W. they will find out the truth, but D.W. doesn't mind, saying for one day, she could do something they couldn't do. At the Tibble's house that night, Grandma Tibble begins to read to the twins where D.W. left off, but the book is actually about Leonardo da Vinci! The Tibble twins figure that the book is magic, and that every time you read it, it tells a different story!

Characters

• Arthur Read
• D.W. Read
• Timmy and Tommy Tibble
• Mrs. Tibble
• Francis Haney
• Jane Read
• Buster Baxter (appeared in fantasy)
• Cora (Appeared in fantasy)
• Walter (appeared in fantasy)
• David Read (appeared in fantasy)
• Lucy's husband (appeared in fantasy)
• Jessica (appeared in fantasy)
• Nadine Flumberghast (appeared in fantasy)
• Pickles (appeared in fantasy, as a disguise)
• Spanky (appeared in fantasy)
• The President (appeared in fantasy)

Trivia

• This is the first episode to use Octopus Arms as a title card.
• Arthur says he has 207,000 math problems for homework from Mr. Ratburn; this is an insane amount of work even for Mr. Ratburn to pass out. This definitely could be an exaggeration.
• Spanky as D.W.'s pet bird appears in this episode but only in the story she's telling but he's not the same bird he was in So Long, Spanky, he's an eagle.

Errors

• Plot Hole: In "D.W. Thinks Big," Arthur says that the ring bearer is always a boy. In D.W's fantasy, Cora is the ring bearer.
• In the wedding scene that is based upon D.W. Thinks Big, the bride who may or may not resemble Lucy is not shown at the wedding and only the look-alike of Lucy's husband was shown there; and the Cora-like girl was being the ring-bearer instead of any male, although being a ring-bearer is a job for males.
• In the scene where the Crazy Bus is actually the evil Arthur-like mega-transforbalizer, the Blankie is shown to be blue; although it is pink in all of its other appearances.
• D.W. states in the story she made up that the lake had 7,000 octopuses in it, but it was a giant sea creature with eleven tentacle legs, which is three more legs than an actual octopus has. However, it might be likely that she cannot precisely determine multiple quantity due to her young age.
• When D.W. says that she can read before the Tibbles, there is no table. But when she says that she's read books since last Thursday, a table full of books appears beside her.

Episode connections

• This episode combines events from episodes of Season 1 and 2, such as: D.W. All Wet, D.W. Flips, D.W. Rides Again, D.W.'s Snow Mystery, D.W. Thinks Big, D.W.'s Blankie, So Long, Spanky, D.W., the Picky Eater, Play it Again, D.W., D.W. Gets Lost, D.W.'s Deer Friend, and D.W. Goes to Washington.
• Numerous incidents from the first two seasons are prominently featured in this episode:
  • D.W.'s friend Walter the deer.
  • D.W. and the balance beam.
  • D.W. learning to ride a two-wheel bicycle.
  • D.W.'s fear of octopi at Bear Lake.
  • D.W.'s hatred for spinach.
  • Aunt Lucy's wedding.
  • D.W.'s missing blanket.
  • Getting lost in the All-in-One Mart.
  • Crazy Bus as a disguise by Arthur robot brother.
  • The death of D.W.'s bird Spanky.
  • D.W. meeting the President.
• The snowball incident is a central plot element in D.W.'s story, in which Arthur really does steal it.

Cultural references

Bust-Rantor

• This episode contains numerous references to Japanese anime:
  • Arthur's ability to transform into whatever he pleases in D.W.'s story may be a parody of Transformers.
  • "Bustrantor" is based on Gigantor, the American adaptation of the Japanese anime Tetsujin 28-gō, with similar suit and theme music.
  • Walter in this episode has the role of 7-Zark-7, who is a dispatcher on outpost which controls the Transformations by speaking "3, 2, 1, Transmute!" This saying is identical to Battle of the Planets, a 1978 TV series which is inspired from a 1972-1974 and 1977-1978 series called Gatchaman. "3, 2, 1, Transmute!" was originally spoken as "Bird, Go!" and "Bird, Out!" to activate and deactivate the transformations, respectively. The phrases were spoken in English in the Japanese audio and in the 2005-2006 dub.
  • Battle of the Planets would itself inspire Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which "The Power Ring of Power" is inspired from. The rings are able to control parts of the Earth. The name "Power Ring of Power" itself is derived from Captain Planet's phrase "The power is yours!"
• The brand name Elbozonic on Arthur's family's TV is likely a play on the electronics brand name and manufacturer Panasonic.
• The book is about Leonardo da Vinci.

Home Video

• DVD:
  • Arthur Writes a Story
  • Arthur: The Complete Series 4

Gallery

:Main article: I'd Rather Read It Myself/Gallery

References