Why The Magic School Bus Movie Needs To Adapt This Iconic Episode

The Magic School Bus is getting a movie, and there’s really only one story from the franchise’s long history in books and TV that the new film absolutely needs to adapt. News just came out that Elizabeth Banks will lead The Magic School Bus as Ms. Frizzle, the charismatic teacher with whom a cast of children embark on educational adventures.

Beginning as a book series by Joanne Cole and Bruce Degen in 1985, the series gained further attention when it became one of the most clever kids’ TV shows of all time, beginning in 1994. That series featured famed actress Lily Tomlin as the voice of Ms. Frizzle, and helped to make the character an essential figure in children’s entertainment.

Tomlin even reprised the role in 2017’s The Magic School Bus Rides Again, which helped to modernize the character and these wonderful stories familiar to a new generation.

There are many plots from the 1990s kids show, its sequel series, and the books themselves that would work in the film. However, making a single movie presents the challenge of providing the most comprehensive vision of what The Magic School Bus can be. Adapting a single story about a class field trip on the titular bus sounds limited.

While books like The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs or The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System could provide entertaining adventures full of fantastic iconography, the film must approach the start of this world by telling the story that best allows focus on the characters. One episode in particular would be ideal for that.

“Inside Ralphie” Is The Fantastic Voyage Of Children’s TV

The Magic School Bus Movie should pull most of its story from the “Inside Ralphie” episode of the show, as well as from The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, the book that inspired it. In the episode of the show, Ralphie, one of the students in Ms. Frizzle’s class is sick and unable to make it to school.

This prompts Ms. Frizzle to take the class on a field trip inside the human body, investigating Ralphie’s sickness by shrinking the bus down and taking a voyage within. “Inside Ralphie” is often considered among the best episodes of the show for how it tells a character-centric episode that allows a great look at community and fantastic science.

In addition to providing a story with exciting stakes, this story would channel old science fiction adventures of the past 100 years, like 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, and even family movies like Osmosis Jones.

In addition, a setting like this, which would not necessitate the characters having to actually leave Walkerville, would allow the film to simultaneously build out the larger world around the characters. Students and staff at Walkerville Elementary School could still be used to flesh out the adaptation’s environment while Ms. Frizzle’s class goes on their trip.

The Movie Could Adapt Other Books And Episodes to A Lesser Degree

Reducing a single Magic School Bus movie to only one story is unlikely. There are so many books and episodes to choose from, and finding the heart of what a Magic School Bus movie should be with only one self-contained story is a hard ask. Because of this, it is likely that other stories will be referenced in the film.

Perhaps, once shrunk down, the bus will also briefly take the kids into the world of bugs, as was seen in The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive. Or maybe Arnold and Carlos will reminisce about the time the bus took them to study geology, as seen in The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth.

Regardless of how it comes together, The Magic School Bus movie has great potential to tell an exciting and compelling story with a great cast of wonderful and familiar characters. If done right, the new film could draw from all kinds of influences and create one of the most enjoyable family movies in a long time.

Release Date

1994 – 1997-00-00

Directors

Lawrence Jacobs, Charles E. Bastien

Writers

Joanna Cole, Bruce Degen, Jocelyn Stevenson

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