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"Brain Freeze"
Season/Series: 17
Number in season: 10b
Original Airdate: United States May 14, 2014[1]
United Kingdom November 19, 2013[2]
Australia May 2, 2013[3]
Credits
Written by: Andy Yerkes
Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by: Gerry Capelle
Episodes
Previous
"Binky's Music Madness"
Next
"The Tattletale Frog"
Read transcript

"Brain Freeze" is the second half of the tenth episode in the seventeenth season of Arthur.

Summary[]

A new ice cream shop has just opened up across the block. With whimsical flavor names, futuristic furniture, and a cute mascot named Puk Puk, Yumbobo is threatening to put Brain's shop out of business. It's gonna be a rocky road.[4]

Plot[]

In the introduction, Arthur, Buster, Francine and Muffy discuss an advertisement for a new ice cream shop called Yumbobo. They are excited, although Brain points out that Yumbobo just uses fancy names for obvious things like cold ice cream and edible cones. When Binky tells them that a penguin is giving away free samples, all kids except Brain run over to Yumbobo.

Brain Freeze

A man in a penguin costume dances and hands out free samples outside Yumbobo, attracting a lot of people. Brain gets a sample and notices that the penguin has the wrong kind of tail. Inside the shop, a perky woman called Mustard Seed welcomes him. When he asks for vanilla, he gets Tahitian Trance, which comes out of a fancy machine. Brain insists that it is vanilla, which leads to Puk-Puk the penguin throwing him out.

Brain examines the Tahitian Trance ice cream under his microscope and concludes that it is no different from the Powers' vanilla ice cream, except that the Tahitian Trance ice cream is more expensive. When he worries about losing customers, Buster suggests putting on a penguin suit.

Instead, Brain offers a free chemical analysis with every ice cream, which Muffy and Francine find off-putting. Muffy instead suggests telling a story with the product and offers Brain the services of Crosswire Creative Solutions.

When Brain visits Muffy at her home, she presents to him a fictional story of how the "Brain" family started an ice cream shop in 1905. Brain tells her that the shop is only four years old and that he refuses to lie about his family history.

Brain has a fantasy in which the Powers' ice cream shop has gone out of business and his mother has to work at Yumbobo, where Mustard Seed bullies her.

Desperate, Brain buys a polar bear costume at Jack's Joke Shop and offers free samples of Plantain Passion. First, Binky takes all of his samples. Then, a bee flies into his costume while he talks to Lucy. He starts shouting and frightens the girl away.

Brain decides to return the costume. Buster assures him that he is still Brain's customer. When Brain tells him to help himself to ice cream, Buster tries to juggle pistachio and coffee. The ice cream falls on the counter and Buster realizes that the combination tastes great. This gives Brain an idea.

Brain sets up a ‘Blending Lab’, where kids can create and name their own mixtures. It is a great success, while Yumbobo is deserted. Mustard Seed and her colleague come over in disguise. When Brain recognizes her, he mockingly imitates her trademark "Yay!".

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Trivia[]

  • It is revealed that the Powers family has owned their Ice Cream Shop for four years.
  • It is revealed that Brain's grandfather's name was Alan, suggesting that Brain was named after his grandfather.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Marina (albeit in a cameo role) since "Prunella and the Haunted Locker."

Episode connections[]

Cultural references[]

  • Yumbobo's gelatinator probably takes its name from gelato, an Italian type of ice-cream.
  • Mustard Seed may be named for a fairy from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  • Tahitian Trance probably gets its name from the Vanilla tahitensis plant, which can be used for flavoring, though Vanilla planifolia is cheaper and more common.
  • Exocolato Intrigue probably gets its name from the Aztec word xocolatl, which the Spanish turned into chocolate.
  • Wimbledon Wonder is likely named for the custom of eating strawberries and cream at the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
  • Buster uses three terms from the 16th century:
    • Mountebank means charlatan. It comes from Italian monta in banco, meaning climb on a bench (to attract attention).
    • Hoodwinking originally meant blindfolding, then became a term for deceiving.
    • Flim-flammery means deception. It may come from old Old Norse flim, meaning mockery.
  • Brain's Plantain Passion is named for cooking bananas.
  • Ursus maritimus is the scientific name for polar bear.
  • One new flavor in Brain's Blending Lab is Nanamint, a combination of Nanaimo bar (a Canadian dessert) and mint.

Errors[]

  • Under the microscope, the ice cream samples look like animal cells (no cell walls), even though vanilla, chocolate, and strawberries all come from plants.
  • In its first scene, the polar bear costume has a black nose, but when Brain is putting it away, it’s pink then back to black.

Production notes[]

Gallery[]

References[]


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