Kung Fool

"Kung Fool"
Season/Series:	13
Number in season:	2b
Original Airdate:	October 13, 2009; February 24, 2010; May 1, 2009; December 10, 2012;
	Credits
Written by:	Claudia Silver
Storyboard by:	Robert Yap
	Episodes
Previous; "The Silent Treatment"	Next; "Arthur's Number Nightmare"
	Read transcript

"Kung Fool" is the second half of the second episode in the thirteenth season of Arthur.

Summary[edit]

Fern helps an elderly neighbor, who was once a kung-fu star, with his household chores.

Plot[edit]

Arthur starts the show by saying you think you know someone, but suddenly they do something that surprises you. Arthur gives out two examples: how D.W. liked Mr. Read's green Turkish food to Arthur's surprise the other night, and Mr. Haney who performed the theremin while balancing plates at the faculty talent show. He is about to give a third example, when Fern shows up doing kung fu. Arthur was surprised at Fern being into martial arts. Then she quoted an ancient proverb, bowed, and left. Arthur asked the viewers what that meant. Then he shows them the story.

Kung Fool

Fern volunteers to help out a senior citizen named Tony Wu in order to earn her Jr. Explorer's badge. She initially finds him quite boring, but when she tells Sue Ellen about helping Tony Wu at school, Sue Ellen shows Fern one of the movies he starred, entitled "Master Wu and the Rebel Monks." After Fern finds this out, she treats him like her kung-fu master. However, he takes this as a joke and asks her to file out letters from fans. She figures it's for her training to become a martial artist, so she does chores around his house with pleasure.

He thinks this is a joke, which made Fern disappointed. So he promises her to teach her a little about his form of martial arts in his living room. Fern doesn't understand why she was making him doing simple things like standing up straight and focusing. Fern suggests they go to the park. Tony doesn't want to at first, but soon agrees. While practicing martial arts there, three other people join in to learn Tai-chei.

Characters[edit]

Major[edit]

Minor[edit]

Cameo[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Timeline: The "Save Our Sugar Bowl" banner from "Sue Ellen Chickens Out" is still on display outside Sue Ellen's house.
Some images are in 16:9 very rare for season 1-15 to have that.

Episode connections[edit]

Arthur says "you think you know someone, but suddenly, they do something that surprises you." This type of theme is done in some other Arthur episodes, such as "What's in a Name?" and "Binky's 'A' Game."

Errors[edit]

When Fern visits Sue Ellen, Sue Ellen was not wearing shoes, but when the video "Master Wu and the Rebel Monks" concluded, her shoes appear.

Cultural references[edit]

Mr. Read serves yaprak dolması
Kung Fu means a "skill acquired through training." Along with Wu Shu, meaning "martial art," it is an umbrella term for various Chinese fighting styles, including Tai Chi.
Tai Chi is short for t'ai chi ch'üan, meaning "supreme ultimate fist." It is a Chinese martial art that in most forms focuses on fitness and meditation rather than actual fighting.
Despite Fern wanting to learn Kung Fu (Chinese), her clothes in the fantasy are a karategi suit (Japanese) and a mongkon headdress (Thai).
Master Wu in the movie is based on Bak Mei, a legendary shaolin monk. Fictionalized versions of him have appeared in various martial arts movies. He always has huge white eyebrows and a long beard.
"Go with the flow" was a hippie slogan. Tony Wu mentions learning it in Berkeley, which was a major hub for the hippie movement.