The Rat Who Came to Dinner

"The Rat Who Came To Dinner"
Season/Series:	4
Number in season:	5B
Original Airdate:	October 11, 1999 January 21, 2000
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Maria Astadjova Jeremy O'Neill
Episodes
Previous "The Blizzard"	Next "D.W. Tale Spins"
Read transcript

"The Rat Who Came to Dinner" is the second half of the fifth episode in the fourth season of Arthur. It was later adapted into the book Arthur's Teacher Moves In.

Summary

When Mr. Ratburn's roof collapses, Arthur's parents invite him to stay at their house, and Arthur is afraid that means his teacher will be grading him every minute.

Plot

The episode starts out when we see Arthur's football going down and then Arthur catches it. Then he goes into the garage and tells his dad let's play then it turns out it's not David, It's Mr Ratburn then as he turns we see him, Arthur looks surprised and tells him Hi and then he tells him he's looking for his Dad, then Mr Ratburn tells him to drop the football and help him stuff turkeys for the Crosswires' big party, Arthur then goes to the kitchen and tells his mom that he went to the garage to talk to Dad but he's Mr. Ratburn, Then Jane turns and it's not Jane, It's Mr. Ratburn again and then he tells Arthur "He was out there a minute ago." Then Arthur steps backward and then bumps into D.W. which is not D.W. either, It's Mr. Ratburn, After Arthur bumps into him he tells Arthur "Watch where you're going." Then Arthur is now shocked and scared and asks "Where's my family?" Then Mr. Ratburn as David comes to the living room and says "Arthur Ratburn stop fooling around and get to work." Then Arthur looks down at Pal which is not Pal and it's Mr. Ratburn and he just barks and then Arthur screams and then the picture fades into Arthur's eyes which was he was having a bad dream, Arthur wakes up and gasps and then he picks up Pal and realizes that it is Pal, Then Arthur puts him down and tells us "What could be worse then dreaming that your teacher lives into your house?" Then Arthur looks up and sees Mr. Ratburn in pajamas saying "Arthur, if you don't hurry, D.W. and I will all the delicious blueberry waffles your dad made." Then Arthur stares at Mr. Ratburn and then he looks at us then we see the title card.

Mr. Ratburn's roof collapsed, so he's staying at Arthur's house much to his shock. He feels scared, so he tries to distract him reluctantly. But then, Mr. Ratburn asks Arthur to put on Spooky-Poo, which Jane hadn't seen since she was 10. Later, he did a magic trick, to Arthur and D.W.'s shock. He teaches it to his family to their surprise. Later, they watched more Spooky-Poo. During dinner, David made Mr. Ratburn chocolate cake. At bedtime, Arthur decided Mr. Ratburn wasn't bad after all, and remarks that teachers can be sort of normal. The next day, Arthur's friends find out that Mr. Ratburn's stay last night was good, so they treat Arthur differently. When Arthur got home, he told his parents about it. The next day at lunch, Mr. Ratburn gave Arthur news of staying at each of his friends' houses, finishing the episode.

Characters

Major

• Arthur Read
• Nigel Ratburn
• D.W. Read
• Jane Read
• David Read
• Kate Read
• Buster Baxter
• Brain
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Binky Barnes

Minor

• Pal
• Fern Walters

Cameo

• George Lundgren
• Patrick
• Fletcher
• 4th Grade Male Rabbit
• Norman Hedgehog
• Jack Weasel
• 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
• 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
• Jessica
• Alex
• Maria Pappas
• Mary
• Billy
• Rattles
• Jenna Morgan
• Nancy
• 3rd Grade Male Dog
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
• 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)

Trivia

• D.W. introduced herself to Mr. Ratburn and he didn't know her, though they've already met.
• This is Jane Read's 100th appearance in the series.
• Running Gag: D.W. saying Mr. Ratburn's name incorrectly.
• Moral: Dont make fun of other people for your own benefits.
• Karma: Arthur's friends made fun of Arthur for being with Mr. Ratburn, so Mr. Ratburn is coming to their houses.

Cultural references

• The episode's title is a play on the famous play The Man Who Came to Dinner.
• Spooky Poo is a parody of the television show Scooby-Doo.

Errors

• Arthur's phone has 9 buttons instead of 12.

Differences from the book

• Jane was wearing the same clothes like she wears in the episode and unlike most other books, even though her sweater was purple instead of pink, and she had red sneakers on instead of white ones.
• When Mr. Ratburn wears casual clothes, his T-shirt was tucked into his pants in the episode; but in this book, his shirt was worn loose.

Gallery

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  Arthur Ratburn's family

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  "What's going on?"

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