Finch’s ramblings: Magic School Bus
This is a franchise I essentially grew up with. I spent hours reading the books in the classroom, and watched the entire classic series.
I used to own all 20 MSB chapter books. Each one was narrated in the first person from a student’s point of view. “Space Explorers” (narrated by Carlos) and “Penguin Puzzle” (narrated by Phoebe) were my favorites.
The first MSB episode I remember watching is “Goes Cellular”— aka the one where Arnold turns orange.
Phoebe was by far one of my favorite characters in the show. She’s kind and caring, and has red hair, just like me! Even better: she shares her name with one of my favorite birds. Naturally, I was very disappointed that the reboot excluded her.
For my 9th birthday, I had a Magic School Bus party— specifically rainbow themed. My friends and I walked around in a big cardboard bus, and we did lots of colorful activities.
I was more used to the show and the books published afterwards, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I read the OG books by Joanna Cole. Here were the main eight students, plus more that I still can’t keep track of.
Another one of my favorite characters (and possibly my first childhood crush) was Carlos. It’s partly thanks to him that I took an interest in telling jokes. (The other part that influenced my joke telling was my mom.)
The friendships in the show are the best: to this day, I’m still looking for those kind of friends.
Dorothy Ann was yet another favorite character of mine. I could definitely relate to her: always ready to infodump, and never comfortable without at least a few books on hand.
I found I could relate to pretty much all 8 students:
Arnold’s nervous/cautious personality and love of rocks
Ralphie’s imagination and energy
Keesha’s perceptiveness and common sense
Phoebe’s love of animals and her quiet, yet fierce spirit
Carlos’s sense of humor and stubbornness
Tim’s love of art and film
Wanda’s sense of adventure and unwillingness to back down
Dorothy Ann’s book smarts and curiosity
When I was 12, I had a seizure, which resulted in a bad fall and a stay at the hospital. It took several days to recover, and MSB was one of the things that kept me going during that time. While I did enjoy getting to watch multiple episodes in a row, I never want to have to go to the hospital again for a seizure. I’ve only had a few of them, and the only thing stopping me from having another is my prescription medication.
Looking back, I really appreciate the representation in the show.
It’s possible to headcanon all the main characters as neurodivergent.
Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR redheads (Ms. Frizzle, Arnold, Phoebe, and Janet.) And it’s some of the best rep I’ve seen.
I also liked how the POC students (Keesha, Tim, Carlos, and Wanda) were portrayed. They did have key trademark personality traits, but those weren’t based on stereotypes. Instead, you have: girl who’s super perceptive and good at getting to the bottom of a mystery (Keesha), guy who really likes to draw and photograph things (Tim), guy who tells the best dad jokes (Carlos), and a girl who’s more of a daredevil than any of the other students (Wanda.)
The disability rep was another plus. As I mentioned, I already consider the majority of characters in the show to be autistic or ADHD. I also enjoyed seeing Carlos’s little brother Mikey, even if he was in only two episodes. I like the fact that Mikey is a wheelchair user, but that isn’t his only personality trait. Given what I know now, I’d consider his personality to be: combination of Scotty from Star Trek TOS, Peter Parker from Marvel, and Hiro Hamada from Big Hero 6.
All the color! From the Friz’s dress designs to the kids’ outfits to all the places they explored, there was no shortage of color.
The references to other well-known things. By far my favorite is the entire “Out of This World” episode. The bus in its spaceship form looks just like the USS Enterprise, and the kids get to wear Star Trek style outfits. If you are a Trekkie, I would recommend you watch this episode if you only have time to watch one.
Well, it’s getting late, so I’d better turn in for the night. I hope you guys like this look at a key part of my childhood, and a tiny bit of personal lore.
