The Magic School Bus Rides Again

I feel like to do this entry justice I have to start off with the trademark old-folk saying, so here goes. Back in my day, Magic School Bus was the best show out there for pure, unintentional learning about the science basics. I think back then everyone knew the theme song by heart, could tell you which character they related to most (even though some people couldn't admit that they were totally Arthur), and wished their science teacher would take them on the spontaneous, magical, often dangerous "field trips" like the kids of Ms. Frizzle's class. Kids' shows nowadays are a little disappointing compared to the classics such as Sesame Street, Looney Tunes, Dora the Explorer, and Magic School Bus. I mean, seriously, what even is Dog With a Blog???  Anyway, the point of this is that Netflix came out with a School Bus remake called The Magic School Bus Rides Again and I'm thrilled. Maybe not so necessary for my generation, per say, but for the younger generations currently and those of the future, this is great news.

To properly do the show justice, I went back and watched the pilot episode for the original Magic School Bus series and immediately followed up by watching the pilot of the Netflix's. The original theme song brought back so many memories of eating oatmeal on the couch of my childhood home and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Netflix version, although in a different cartoon style with a slightly more modern take, was virtually the exact same. One thing I think we all loved about the original was the Ms. Frizzle's fearlessness and quirky personality that was expressed time and time again by her outfit matching the activity they were going to do that day (see photo below). The new show picked up right where the original left off and for an easier transition, the new Ms. Frizzle happened to be old Ms. Frizzle's younger sister, HOW CUTE. With the same spunk and jazz for science, the new Ms. Frizzle was a nice addition to the show that I, for one, appreciated. Some other things I noticed were mostly focused on the updated cartoon style and how it was a definite improvement to the classic, yet still brought you back into your childhood days watching the old episodes. To better explain, there are two scenes from the classic and the remake below. Let's pick out the similarities and differences.

  

Just in general upon looking at the scenes, you can tell that the kids' key features are still intact, for example Ralphie's iconic red hat: still there, both Frizzle's outfits predicting the episodes theme: still there, and although you can't see it in these photos, Liz the lizard helper: still there! Like mentioned above, the only real differences are the new Ms. Frizzle, the updated cartoon style, and the name of the show. Overall, a big thumbs up because the classic was great on its own and didn't need a lot of improvement. Remakes of the old shows are great, if done correctly, because not only do the kids like them, but the parents watching do too because they serve as good little reminders from their own childhood.

This makes me really hopeful that for kids in the future, smart TV companies will continue to remake and improve upon the classics of the 70's-ish/80's-ish/90's-ish and give them the fun education that we all had. Hopefully Magic School Bus keeps on riding because it's a goodie. I'm crossing my fingers for all of you future kids!