The gang's tree house collapses, and architect Frank Gehry steps in to help them rebuild it—if they can agree on a new design.
Plot[]
Arthur and Buster have a sled race and notice that the tree house has collapsed under a load of snow.
Castles in the Sky
Arthur, Buster, Francine, Muffy and Binky sit in The Sugar Bowl and fondly remember how their parents built the tree house three years earlier. A man at the next table introduces himself as Frank. He suggests they work on a new tree house and give him a call when they have a design.
Arthur and Buster work together. Arthur suggests a castle design and a rocket design, but Buster remarks that both have been done. Buster suggests a tree house made of a giant pizza. Arthur thinks the idea is ridiculous, so they decide to work alone.
When Arthur tells Francine about the pizza idea at school, she writes it down. Brain, meanwhile, claims to already have a design and asks Mrs. MacGrady for toothpicks.
Brain starts building a skyscraper out of toothpicks. He opens the window to make the glue dry faster and destroys his first model with a sneeze.
Francine sketches the tree and tries to design a tree house that combines everyone's wishes. When she sees a squirrel jump from tree to tree, she gets an idea.
Buster sketches a pizza. When his mom takes a slice, he gets an inspiration.
Arthur, Buster and Francine show their designs to Frank. Arthur has combined a castle with rockets. He is disappointed when Frank points out that it looks like Sagrada Familia by Antoni Gaudi. Frank tells him to take it as a compliment, since Gaudi did amazing work. Buster presents a sketch of a tree house made of pizza-slice-shaped platforms connected by ladders made of cheese. Frank remarks that a building can be inspired by anything and shows a photo of the Binoculars Building. However, he says that Buster's design is too much for one tree. Francine has solved that problem by using several trees, but that means there is no room for all kids to hang out together. Brain joins them with a skyscraper model made of toothpicks, but it would be too expensive to build in reality. Frank suggests that the kids work together.
The kids make a design together and start building. Eventually they have built a tree house that looks like the old one, but they built it themselves and Frank says the design reflects their vision. He gives them a poster of the Guggenheim Museum as a parting gift, at which point Brain realizes that he is Frank Gehry, the famous architect.
D.W. is only seen as a baby in the flashback instead of her 4-year-old self.
Special Thanks
Special guest star Frank Gehry plays himself. He is credited at the end of the first half of the episode.
The computer game "Arthur's Kindergarten" is also centered around repairing the treehouse.
This episode is first time the DVS narrator says the title card information with the writer and storyboard names, which will continue until the end of season 19
A sign "Vote Frances for Student Council" hangs in the cafeteria. It's unclear who Frances is, but his name would be joined by a list of ten other unidentified students' names in the Season 13 episode, "Arthur's Number Nightmare."
When Francine is drawing the new tree house on the stump, she mentions that Sue Ellen wants a pagoda; but in the Sugar Bowl when Francine shows the design to Frank, Sue Ellen has an art studio.
It is possible that Sue Ellen might have changed her mind or that Francine simply made a blunder while pitching her tree house idea.
Frank Gehry incorrectly gives Antonin Gaudí's first name as Antonio.
Production notes[]
This is the first episode where Cameron Ansell voices Arthur Read.
This is the first episode where Cookie Jar Entertainment produces the series after they rebranded from their former name CINAR.
This is the first episode to debut during the PBS Kids Go! block.
December 27, 2004[1]
May 3, 2005[3]
April 8, 2005[2]
December 31, 2007[4]
