Introduction[]
Birds and a pig cupid fly past a treetop. Buster sits at the foot of the tree plucking petals from a flower.
Buster: She loves me, they love me, I love me. Ah, isn't love lovely? Who doesn't love love?
Flower: I don't!
Buster: Aah!
Flower: How would you like to have your petals plucked?
The flower flies out of Buster's hand. A heart-shaped strawberry hits him on the head.
Buster: Hey! Some angry looking blue squirrels sit on a branch. They start pelting him with strawberries. Aaaah! Aah! Stop! Cut it out!
Buster dives behind a huge mushroom.
Buster: Aaah! (pants)
He carefully looks out. A squadron of pig cupids appears over a hill to the sound of “Ride of the Valkyries”.
Cupid Leader: Bunny's in sight, we're going in!
The cupids dive and shoot suction cup arrows at Buster.
Buster: Aaaah!
He shields his face with his arms.
Buster wakes up with a start.
Buster: Aah! (gasps) Phew! Isn't it weird how sometimes the nicest dreams turn out to be the worst nightmares? He notices a suction cup arrow beside him in the bed. (gasps)
Title Card: Buster Roars (Lion)[]
Bitzi Baxter signs for two parcels that Mr. Higgins, the mailman, has just brought. She goes into the kitchen where Buster is having breakfast.
Mrs. Baxter: Hurry up, sweetie. It's quarter to eight.
She puts a parcel on the table.
Buster: What's in the box?
Mrs. Baxter: Beats me. It's addressed to you.
Buster looks at the address (Buster Baxter, 7 Roswell Court, Elwood City, 12434RS).
Buster: That's weird. There's no return address. I wonder what it is.
Mrs. Baxter: Well, whatever it is, please don't open it now. You don't want to be late for school.
Buster puts the parcel in his backpack.
***
Arthur and Buster sit at a table on the school playground. Buster looks at the parcel.
Buster: For the life of me, I can't figure out who it could be from.
Arthur: Well, why don't you open it?
Buster: What if it's a giant spider?
Arthur: Why would someone send you a giant spider? Anyway, I doubt it would be alive. There's no air holes.
Buster: Good point. You open it.
He gives Arthur the parcel and covers his eyes. Arthur unwraps the parcel.
Arthur: It's chocolate!
Buster: A chocolate spider?! What kind of sicko would send me that?
Arthur: No, chocolate chocolates. See?
Buster takes a look.
Buster: "Pinchman's Simply Delicious Organic Assorted Chocolates".
He removes the lid.
Arthur: Hey, there's a card with it!
Buster hands Arthur the card which has a heart with wings on it. He eats the first chocolate.
Buster: Mmm, they lied. They're complexly delicious. I taste, um, caramel, cashews, a hint of lemon zest... Paper?
Arthur: I think you ate the little cup it was in.
Buster: Mmm. I don't care.
Arthur reads the card.
Arthur: "For someone I adore. / A boy who's never a bore. / Likes a good joke, loves to eat. / Let me treat you with something sweet." Signed, "Your Secret Admirer."
Buster: I love my secret admirer. But who is it?
Arthur: I don't know, that's all it says.
Buster: It could be anyone out there. He looks at the girls on the playground. Sue Ellen? Prunella? That girl with red hair who always reads upside down? Binky picks up the lid from the ground. Binky?
Binky: You shouldn't litter! Hey! Chocolates. Thanks!
He grabs a handful.
Buster: Er... Binky eats a mouthful of chocolates and makes the “perfect” sign. He grabs another handful and leaves. Okay. It's not Binky. But I'm going to find out who it is and when I do, I'm going to thank them! Is it you?
Arthur: No.
Buster: Oh, drat!
He closes the box and leaves with it. Arthur eats a chocolate.
***
Arthur sweeps the floor of the treehouse. Buster comes up with a list.
Buster: Arthur! I think I discovered who my secret admirer is! Look, the words "secret admirer" are actually an anagram for "dream reciters".
The list gives several anagrams.
Arthur: What's a dream reciter?
Buster: A brotherhood of mystical beings that peer into your dreams and then recite them at their meetings.
In Buster's fantasy, three hooded people stand around a metal basin.
Reciter 1: And then Buster dreamt he was being chased by blue squirrels.
Images appear in the basin.
Reciter 2: And winged pigs who shot arrows at him.
Reciter 3: (shudders) Sounds terrifying. Let's send the poor kid some chocolate.
The box of chocolates appear in the basin.
The fantasy ends. Arthur goes on sweeping.
Arthur: Buster, there's no such thing as a dream reciter. But I might have a clue for you. We passed the candy store and I saw a box of those chocolates. They were really expensive.
Buster: So, my secret admirer has to be someone with money. Muffy!
Arthur: Could be. Stranger things have happened.
Buster: Thanks, Arthur.
He leaves.
Muffy sits on her bed brushing a doll's hair. There is a knock on the door.
Muffy: Entrez!
Bailey comes in with a parcel.
Bailey: A package for you, Miss Muffy.
Muffy: Ooh, goody! Muffy opens it. The address is 1250 Nouveau Lane, 12H34W5. Inside is a box with a half-eaten sandwich and a note. Oh!
Bailey takes a pair of tweezers out of his pocket, picks up the note, and reads it.
Bailey: "I know who you are, it's plain to see. / Here's something in return, I hope you like baloney." Signed, "Your Secret Admirer."
***
Buster eats a salad in the school cafeteria.
Buster: There she is. Muffy walks up to him looking angry. What? No tray? Bring your own lunch today?
Muffy empties the box with the half sandwich over Buster's tray.
Muffy: Here! Keep your disgusting gift!
Buster: How did you know it was me?
Muffy: I know your handwriting, Buster! And who else would send someone half of a baloney sandwich? I heard about your chocolates and I am not your secret admirer! I am your very un-secret disapprover!
She leaves.
Buster: You told her?
Arthur: Might've slipped out...
Buster: (sighs) Not Muffy. He makes a note in a notebook. She didn't even say if she liked my poem. Wait a minute! Maybe the poem in the card was a clue. And who do we know who writes poetry?
Arthur: Fern?
Buster: Why not? Look at her. Fern sits at the next table writing in a notebook. Meek, shy, retiring. Not wanting anyone to know about her feelings for the most popular boy in school. Fern looks dreamily out of the window. She's probably writing a poem to me as we speak.
Arthur: I think all those chocolates have affected your brain.
Buster: We'll see about that.
He starts eating the half baloney sandwich.
***
Fern sits on a bench in the park playground writing. Buster comes wearing a suit, tie and boater. He carries a book.
Buster: Hello, Fern.
Fern: Hey.
Buster: Mind if I join you? He sits down beside her. Ah... Spring.
Fern: It's September.
Buster: Right. But spring is only... seven months away. Are you writing a poem? Perhaps a poem to someone you secretly admire?
Fern: No. I'm writing a story about someone who wakes up and they're invisible. At first it's great, but then all they want is to be seen. It's very sad.
Buster: Ah, yes, we all want our true identity revealed, don't we?
Fern starts to look annoyed.
Buster, is there something you want? I'm kind of busy.
Buster hands her the book.
Fern: A book of knock-knock jokes?
Buster: Read the inscription.
Fern: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "I know." "I know who?" "I know you're my secret admirer." That's a terrible knock-knock joke! And I'm not your secret admirer.
Buster: You're not?! Fern shakes her head and leaves. Buster writes in his notebook. Not Fern.
***
In the school playground, Buster sits on a tire swing and checks his notes. Arthur swings beside him.
Buster: It's not Muffy. It's not Fern. It's not Sue Ellen. It's not Molly.
Arthur: You asked Molly?!
Buster: Oh, that one was the worst! I bought her a bunch of heart-shaped balloons.
Flashback: Buster in suit and boater brings three heart-shaped balloons to Molly who is standing by the jungle gym. She takes a pencil and pops the balloons.
The flashback ends.
Arthur: Maybe you should just drop it.
Buster: I can't! It's eating away at me. Someone out there really admires me. Wouldn't you want to know who it is?
Binky comes with a school paper.
Binky: Oooh! It's Mr. Popular, and he's all over the cover of the Frensky Star. Happy reading, Romeo!
He hands Buster the paper and leaves. The cover shows pictures of Buster and Muffy.
Buster: “Who is Buster's secret admirer?” “Who cares!!” You're right. I'll drop it.
He hands Arthur the paper and leaves.
***
That night, Buster in pajamas takes the last chocolate out of the box and puts it in his food cabinet.
Buster: (sighs) I guess I'll never know.
He turns off the light.
Buster lies in bed. In his dream, he is eating cereal in the kitchen. His mother comes.
Mrs. Baxter: There's a package for you outside, sweetie. They couldn't fit it through the door.
In the yard, a hooded figure drives a forklift with a large box. The forklift drives over a stone and the box spills chocolates on the lawn. Buster come out onto the porch.
Buster: Who are you?!
A long strand of brown hair is seen under the figure's hood. She floats away.
Buster follows the hooded figure down the street.
Buster: (pants) Come back, secret admirer! I just wanna thank you!
The figure floats into a back street. A cat runs across the street. Mr. Ratburn and various school kids stand on the fire ladder of a building.
Kids: (laugh)
Binky: Hello, Mr. Popular!
Muffy: Me admire you?! Now, that's funny!
Fern: Roses are red, violets are blue, rotten eggs stink, and so do you!
Kids: (laugh)
Buster: I'm so embarrassed!
He is seen in the dream reciters' basin.
Reciter 1: All the clues are there for thee...
Reciter 2: ...to know the secret admirer's identity.
Reciter 1: Look to the poem and you shall see.
The first words of each line appear in the basin. The first letters spell FALL.
The dream ends. Buster looks at the card on his desk.
Buster: That's who it is!
***
Bitzi Baxter walks into the kitchen the next morning.
Mrs. Baxter: (yawns)
She notices with delight that breakfast has been prepared and there are fresh flowers on the table. Buster brings toast.
Buster: Happy Fall Day!
They sit down.
Mrs. Baxter: Well, it took you long enough.
Buster: We have so many made-up holidays we celebrate: Baxter Day, Pink Sock Day, Be Nice To Pigeons Day...
Mrs. Baxter: ...that you completely forgot about Fall Equinox Day, when we surprise each other with something sweet.
Buster: Hey! Someone left an envelope for you with the newspaper.
He gives her a pink envelope. Inside is a card with an anatomically correct heart with wings.
Mrs. Baxter: “Like a hand with a glove / or a sock with a shoe / very happy am I / everyday with you”. Signed, "Your Secret Admirer". I wonder who that could be.
Buster: Beats me! (chuckles)
They eat breakfast.