| "Buster's Sweet Success" | |
| Season/Series: | 6 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 2B |
| Original Airdate: |  October 1, 2001[1] January 8, 2002[3] April 9, 2002[2] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Nick Raposo |
| Storyboard by: | Robert Yap |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Arthur Plays the Blues" |
Next "Prunella's Special Edition" |
| Read transcript |
"Buster's Sweet Success" is the second half of the second episode in the sixth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
To raise money for the band, Buster signs up to sell chocolates, but then eats all of them by mistake.
Plot[]
Arthur shows examples of different sales techniques people use. At his car dealership, Ed Crosswire says that that he can tell that a customer "likes to put the pedal to the medal and feel the wind in his hair". He shows the car that he thinks is perfect for the customer - an Australian import that is falling apart. The customer points out the car doesn't have any wheels, and Mr. Crosswire tells him that is why he can get such a good deal for it. Binky gets people to donate to the animal shelter by making threats (on the playground, he holds up his collecting tin and warns George that if he doesn't make a contribution, he will start snapping pencils). However, according to Arthur, it is D.W. who is the best at selling things. To sell lemonade, she dressed up in rags and begged for some money to buy new clothes, and possibly a bit of cheese to eat. This led to a crowd of customers. Arthur then starts to talk about the worst salesman in Elwood City. Before he can elaborate on how bad this person was at sales, Buster interrupts Arthur, and tells the audience not to listen to him. He pleads for anybody to buy something, anything!
The episode starts with Buster waving goodbye to his mom. He then sees Arthur holding a box and asks what is in it. Arthur says they are chocolates and Buster mistakes it for an art project they had to create using chocolate that he forgot to take note of in class. Arthur corrects Buster and says that they are selling the chocolates to raise money for the band for new instruments. Buster then plans to sign up to contribute to the cause. Muffy says to Ms. Krasny she could unload twenty boxes, meaning her dad will buy them. Buster agrees to do the same and Ms. Krasny asks whether Buster could sell that many, to which Buster tells her that he understands chocolate better than anyone else. Buster tries to sell chocolates to various people including the the Tibble Twins and Jenna, but he has not sold one box, largely due to his poor presentation skills in offering them to each person.
Francine then comes and tells Buster she only sold four boxes, Brain has sold six, and Prunella is doing better as she has raised $20 so far. Buster says to her that he hasn't had much luck, but guarantees that he will have sold all the boxes of chocolates by the end of the day. When Buster gets home, he is very tired and relaxing himself in a chair, when he tells Bitzi how he spent five hours going up and down the main street, and he didn't sell one box. She suggests that he needs a gimmick to get people interested, but Buster doesn't have any ideas. Buster then sees a commercial from Jack's Joke Shop, where free samples of merchandise are being offered, and the next day he chooses to give out free samples of his chocolates outside his condo. Soon, Buster gets hungry and eats one box. Binky stops by and asks Buster if he sold any, and Buster says no. Binky goes on to tell Buster he sold chocolates to George. Binky then asks if the chocolates are really free and, when Buster says to take one, Binky ends up taking an entire box. Buster tells him he meant "one chocolate, not one box" but Binky does not listen and takes off with the chocolate samples.
At school, Arthur asks Buster how many boxes he has left and Buster tells him ten. At first, Arthur assumes Buster sold them, but Buster tells him he ate them, much to the shock of Arthur. Buster asks Arthur how much he owes Ms. Krasny and Arthur replies $30. Arthur reassures Buster that they will think of something. Arthur raises the price of the chocolates from three dollars to six and tells Buster he can't eat anymore. Buster manages to control himself and makes $18 from his raised prices, and stashes the remaining chocolate in his closet so he will not be tempted. However, he has a nightmare that night where the chocolates demand that he let them out of the closet, and he desperately tries to fight their urges. The nightmare ends just as he seems to approach the closet door.
The next morning, however, Buster discovers that he ate all of the chocolates! He goes to Arthur’s house, tells him about what happened, and starts crying. He then imagines what will happen when the band doesn't get new instruments. In Buster's mind, the band is wearing uniforms that are ripped, dirty, and patched up and everyone in the band is playing hand made instruments that are made out of various objects. They play Chopin's Funeral March, but the parents of the kids are laughing at them.
Soon, Buster gets the idea to make new chocolates from scratch. He and Arthur attempt to make the chocolate all by themselves by following the ingredients labelled on the back of the box, but grossly misread the ingredients and end up putting in various nonsensical elements like soy sauce, eggshells, and even tomatoes. When they are done cooking, Buster eagerly tries to taste one, but Arthur tells him not to, for he will eat them all, and so they do not test the chocolate before preparing to sell it.
Buster is soon selling "Buster Clusters" and when everyone hears they are homemade, they all eagerly buy a box. Soon, Buster has made $36 and then Mr. Haney shows up and agrees to partake in Buster's sale. However, he tries one of the chocolates and finds that they taste terrible, and soon all of the customers who bought Buster's chocolates return and demand their money back.
At school, Buster and his mom are in the principal's office and Mr. Haney comes in and tells him that the supporter of the band will pay off Buster's debt under one condition. Buster has to work at his store for a couple of hours that weekend and Buster is nervous about it. Mr. Haney, however, reassures him that he should do alright with this job.
Buster is seen working at Jack's Joke Shop and then Arthur comes in to see how he's doing.
Soon, two customers walk in and Buster puts on a sales pitch, showing things the store has to offer, including Buster Clusters, which he claims looks good but tastes crummy. Buster appears to be doing very well at Jack's Joke Shop.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Jack
- Ms. Krasny
- Binky Barnes
- Bitzi Baxter
- Prunella Deegan
- Mr. Haney
- Ms. Tingley
- David Read
- D.W. Read
- Ed Billings
- Ethel
- Alfonz
- Ed Crosswire
- Unknown Male Adult Bear (Number 2) (debut/speaking role)
Cameo[]
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Fern Walters
- Jenna Morgan
- Jack Weasel
- Norman Hedgehog
- Timmy and Tommy Tibble
- Patrick (4th grader)
- Luke
- Maria Pappas
- Alex Davidson
- George Lundgren
- Jessica (3rd grader)
- 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
- 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
- Beulah McInnerny
- 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
- Mrs. Johnson
Trivia[]
- In the very beginning, George's shirt is a deeper shade of red-orange than usual.
- The plot of this episode is very similar to the Hey Arnold! episode "Chocolate Turtles." Like Buster, Arnold and Gerald have to sell several boxes of chocolates for a charitable cause. After Gerald's little sister eats all of them, Arnold and Gerald decide to try replacing them with homemade chocolates. Like with Arthur and Buster's attempt, the result is unsatisfactory due to unorthodox ingredients. In both series, the characters confess what happened, though Arnold and Gerald ended up raising the money anyway out of sympathy.
- Ed Billings makes a cameo in this episode, as the husband of one of Buster's angry customers demanding her money back on her behalf; here he's treated as a background character as he otherwise probably would still be living out in the countryside as seen in "Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm."
Cultural references[]
- In Buster's fantasy, the underfinanced school band plays Chopin's funeral march.
Episode connections[]
- Arthur and Buster use tomatoes as a fruit substitute for the Buster Clusters. Interestingly, Grandma Thora is revealed to do the same thing with her cookies in "The Half-Baked Sale," except in that episode Arthur knew they were not an appropriate ingredient.
Production notes[]
- This is the first episode to use the A Car Gets Towed title card. The car is the one which Ed Crosswire sells in the introduction, and the customer is seen waving.
Errors[]
- Buster tries to sell chocolate to Alfonz, who says he is allergic to chocolate; however, when Buster is selling "Buster Clusters", Alfonz buys a box. This attitude change could be explained by the public's general hesitancy to buy from door-to-door solicitors.
- Mr. Haney is among Buster's customers when he buys some of the Buster Clusters; when Buster explains it's to raise money for new instruments for the school band, Mr. Haney seems surprised at the news of this fundraiser as if he were previously unaware of it, which doesn't make sense as he is the principal of the school, and thus would be fully aware of this fundraiser. It is possible he was confused because what Buster was selling was not the original product.
- If Buster sold his chocolates for $6 a box, and made $18, he sold three boxes of chocolate. However, before he puts the remaining boxes in his closet, there are only six boxes sitting on his bed. There should have been seven boxes left, since he ate the first ten of twenty boxes, then sold three more.
Home Video[]
DVD:
VHS:
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
References[]
External links[]
- Arthur - Arthur Plays the Blues; Buster's Sweet Success. Ark TV Transcript (May 25, 2010). Archived from the original on April 12, 2016.