50 Fun Facts About The Magic School Bus

Which rock and roll pioneer sang the theme song of the 1990s animated series The Magic School Bus?

Little Richard belts out "Ride on the Magic School Bus", a theme written for the show by Peter Lurye. It plays over an opening sequence in which the bus bursts out of a baker's pie.

Which comedian voiced Ms. Frizzle in the 1990s series The Magic School Bus and returned for its Netflix revival?

Lily Tomlin signed on before the show went into production and came back more than two decades later. In the revival her character has earned a Ph.D. and handed over the keys to the bus.

Ms. Frizzle's three-part motto in The Magic School Bus urges her class to take risks, slip up, and end up how?

Messy is how her motto says a good lesson ends, and her class usually obliges. A second catchphrase of hers is the cue for the bus to transform.

The very first Magic School Bus book sends Ms. Frizzle's class on a supposedly boring field trip to which place?

The waterworks trip turns wild when the bus floats up into a cloud and the shrunken class rains down. They get back to school by pouring out of a faucet in the girls' bathroom.

Which country music legend voiced Murph, Ms. Frizzle's cousin, in a holiday special of The Magic School Bus?

Dolly Parton played Murph, who runs a recycling plant and warns everyone to be careful with the word "junk". The class learns what their town would look like if nothing were ever reused.

Which Magic School Bus student, a nervous rock collector, wishes on nearly every field trip that he had stayed home?

Arnold Perlstein dreads nearly every field trip, yet he is braver than he looks. In one episode he scares off a Tyrannosaurus rex to save the rest of the class.

In The Magic School Bus For Lunch, what does a student swallow just before the class tours his digestive system?

His gum goes down while he is trying to break the school record for the longest chewing time. He stays behind with Liz, never guessing where the field trip is headed.

Liz, the silent class pet who rides along on field trips in The Magic School Bus, is what kind of creature?

A chameleon is what Liz is, a Jackson's chameleon to be exact. When Ms. Frizzle has to step away, Liz is left in charge of the class.

Which real-life quiz show host voiced the emcee of a show-and-tell contest in The Magic School Bus?

Alex Trebek hosts an international game show where one pupil shows an object and a partner tells its story. The class arrives with a mystery artifact after a rock collection is left at home.

The Magic School Bus became the first fully animated series on which American network, where it ran for four seasons?

PBS had never carried a fully animated series before this one. Reruns later moved to Fox Kids, which picked the show up to help its stations meet educational programming rules.

In The Magic School Bus Butterfly and the Bog Beast, the class argues over a new mascot for which sport?

Soccer is the game, and the old mascot is so ancient that nobody knows what it is any more. Phoebe wants a butterfly, but Janet talks the others into the Bog Beast.

The Magic School Bus Butterfly and the Bog Beast, set in a swamp, is subtitled "A Book About Butterfly" what?

Camouflage is the science behind the story, in which Phoebe wants a butterfly as the new team mascot and her classmates disagree. Ms. Frizzle drives everyone to a swamp to find out more.

In The Magic School Bus chapter book Rocky Road Trip, a mystery rock sends the class hunting through which setting?

The Wild West is where the rock Carlos brings to school leads them. Along the way the class rides a stagecoach, pans for precious gems and explores an old mine.

In The Magic School Bus chapter book Voyage to the Volcano, where does Ms. Frizzle take the class to wade through lava?

Hawaii is where the class watches a real volcano blow its top. The story is told by one of the pupils, who had expected to study eruptions only in books.

In The Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad, Wanda wants a rotting log hauled away so she can put what there?

A new tree is her plan until the shrunken class finds the old log full of life and slowly turning into soil. Wanda ends up talking the man she hired out of sawing it up.

In The Magic School Bus Gets Ready, Set, Dough, the class sneaks into a bakery to make a cake for what occasion?

Ms. Frizzle's birthday calls for a surprise party, but the class has no cake. They end up baking one while only about a millimeter tall, and the baker mistakes their tiny bus for a moth.

The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake uses a visit to a bakery to teach which branch of science?

Chemistry is the subject, of the kitchen kind. The bus and everyone aboard end up inside a cake during what was meant to be a simple visit.

The Magic School Bus in the Haunted House strands the class overnight in a spooky museum devoted to what?

Sound is what the museum collects, under a curator voiced by Carol Channing. Carlos needs her help, because the instrument he invented for a class concert sounds awful.

In The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm, which superhero does Ralphie pretend to be on a hot, muggy day?

Weatherman claims he can whip up a thunderstorm to cool everyone off. Ms. Frizzle turns the bus into a flying weather station and hands him the controls.

In The Magic School Bus Hops Home, what kind of pet is Bella, who escapes after Wanda brings her to school?

A frog named Bella gets away, and Wanda is determined to find her. The bus visits several different places before the class finds a habitat that suits her perfectly.

Which bookworm in Ms. Frizzle's class on The Magic School Bus introduces her facts by citing her own research?

Dorothy Ann carries her books everywhere in a pink satchel and is considered the brain of the class. In one episode she loses them and learns she can work things out without them.

What is the first name of Ms. Frizzle, the teacher her pupils call "the Friz" in The Magic School Bus?

Valerie is her name, and the original books do not mention it until the class goes back to the age of the dinosaurs. Her middle name is Felicity.

In the book The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, how does the shrunken bus finally leave its unsuspecting host?

Through the nose is the way out, after a tour of the digestive system and the brain. The trip begins when Ms. Frizzle "accidentally" pushes a strange little button on the dashboard.

In The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, the bus takes which shape that became a symbol of the series?

A rocket is what the bus becomes after the class finds the planetarium closed for repairs. Instead of watching a show about the planets, they blast off and visit them.

In The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System, where does Ms. Frizzle drift away from the bus?

The asteroid belt is where she goes missing, leaving the children lost in space. A know-it-all visiting cousin is along for the ride, which does not make things any calmer.

In The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor, who chases the bus into the sea and then joins the field trip?

A lifeguard named Lenny thinks the bus is in trouble when Ms. Frizzle drives it off the beach and into the water. His rescue attempt turns into a tour of the seabed.

Which dinosaur does the class travel back to find in the book The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs?

Maiasaura is the quarry, after an old friend of Ms. Frizzle who is now a paleontologist writes from a dig. The class had been busy turning its classroom into Dinosaur Land.

In The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane, what does the bus turn into on the way to a weather station?

A hot air balloon lifts the class into the sky, and before long they are inside the storm itself. Ms. Frizzle's radio keeps annoying one pupil because it seems to know his name.

In The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive, which hungry animal threatens the hive after the class has turned into bees?

A bear comes looking for honey while the bus is disguised as a tiny hive. The adventure starts when Ms. Frizzle accidentally pushes a small lever before the beekeeper has arrived.

Which relative of Ms. Frizzle, named Dottie, joins the class in The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip?

Her niece Dottie Frizzle proves the children wrong for thinking there was nobody like their teacher. At the town power plant the bus becomes a dump truck and pours everyone inside.

Which author, once an elementary school librarian, wrote the original Magic School Bus books illustrated by Bruce Degen?

Joanna Cole wrote more than 250 books, starting with one about cockroaches in 1971. She said she had ample time to study the insects in her low-budget New York apartment.

Which comedian voices Fiona Frizzle, the younger sister who takes over the class in The Magic School Bus Rides Again?

Kate McKinnon was a Saturday Night Live cast member when Netflix announced her casting in February 2017. Her Fiona takes the wheel after the original Ms. Frizzle moves on to become a professor.

Which Broadway star performed the theme song for the Netflix revival The Magic School Bus Rides Again?

Lin-Manuel Miranda sings the updated theme and also appears in the revival as a guest character called Matthew Math Matthews.

Ms. Frizzle's elementary school in The Magic School Bus is named after which fictional town where the class lives?

Walkerville was founded by a Captain Walker, whose statue the class tries to carve on a mountain in one episode. In the end erosion does the sculpting for them.

Which NFL quarterback voiced Mr. Sinew, the muscle-bound gym teacher Ms. Frizzle races in The Magic School Bus?

Dan Marino played the gym teacher who can destroy shirts simply by flexing. To find out what lungs have to do with muscles, the class takes a field trip inside Ms. Frizzle herself.

Which sitcom actor voiced the Producer who takes viewers' phone calls at the end of The Magic School Bus episodes?

Malcolm-Jamal Warner voiced the producer who answers questions phoned in by "viewers". The segment is based on the comic disclaimer pages at the end of the books.

Which Canadian animation studio produced the original Magic School Bus television series alongside Scholastic?

Nelvana took the show into full production after a pilot backed by the National Science Foundation. The studio later sold the series to Latin American versions of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

In The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular, a month of eating nothing but Seaweedies turns a student's skin which color?

Orange is the result, because the snack is high in carotene. The class has to learn how skin cells work to solve the mystery before he accepts an award in public.

What does Ralphie decide Ms. Frizzle must be when she takes the parents on a Magic School Bus field trip?

A vampire is his guess, helped along by her Transylvanian accent. She turns up in a cape in Going Batty, an episode that is really a lesson about bats.

In The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs, what does a TV host claim is lurking in the town's lake?

A monster is the story, and the class sinks the bus to the bottom to look for it. The creature turns out to be a fake, made up by the host to boost her ratings.

On one Magic School Bus trip, a tuna sandwich and some green pond scum turn out to be linked by what?

The food chain ties them together, as the class learns on an underwater trip in Gets Eaten. Two classmates had forgotten their homework and turned up with the sandwich and the scum by chance.

On The Magic School Bus, which part of Ms. Frizzle's outfit glows just before a field trip begins?

Her earrings light up, usually right after she winks. Her wacky dresses give clues as well, since their patterns reflect the subject of each adventure.

In The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie, what mistakes the shrunken bus for a threat and tries to devour it?

White blood cells turn on the bus after the class forgets to stay out of the crossfire. The children get in through a cut on his leg to see what is making him sick.

In The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space, on which distant world does the class finally reunite with Ms. Frizzle?

Pluto is where the class catches up with her. A boastful cousin wants to haul home proof of the voyage until a classmate takes off his space helmet to make her forget about it.

In The Magic School Bus Spins a Web, the class drives into an old horror film about which giant creature?

A praying mantis stars in Stand by Your Mantis, the black-and-white picture showing at the drive-in. Inside it, the class uses what it has learned about spiders to save Liz from a general.

In The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses, who takes the wheel of the bus while trying to catch Ms. Frizzle?

The assistant principal, Mr. Wilde, only wants to tell her about a meeting. He shrinks the bus by accident and becomes so obsessed with driving it that he forgets all about finding her.

In The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule, what is the rock star's precious hood ornament secretly made of?

Sugar is her little secret, which is why she cannot let the ornament get wet. When it falls into a bucket of water, the class shrinks to the size of molecules to rebuild it.

Which company published the 1990s computer games based on The Magic School Bus books and TV show?

Microsoft put them out under its Microsoft Home label, starting the same year the animated series reached television. The games mixed storylines from the books and the show.

In The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow, what kind of game has Ms. Frizzle built that uses beams of light?

A pinball machine with light in place of balls is her invention, and a prism splits the beam into colors. The class shrinks to help her win and gets trapped inside it.

In one Magic School Bus episode, the bus becomes which fish to learn why none reached the school fish fry?

A salmon is the disguise, complete with a compact disc that makes the bus think like the real thing. Once it starts migrating in Goes Upstream, four of the kids try to stop it and fail.