| "D.W. Tale Spins" | |
| Season/Series: | 4 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 6A |
| Original airdate: |  October 12, 1999 January 24, 2000[1] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Joe Fallon |
| Storyboard by: | Stéphanie Gignac |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "The Rat Who Came to Dinner" |
Next "Prunella Gets it Twice" |
| Read transcript |
"D.W. Tale Spins" is the first half of the sixth episode in the fourth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
The combination of Greek mythology and D.W.'s imagination results in a fantastic tale.
Plot[]
In the introduction, D.W. puts on Arthur’s glasses and does an unflattering imitation of her brother. She claims she can do anything Arthur can, but Arthur points out that she cannot read.
D.W. Tale Spins
Arthur has invited Buster to read Vegemorphs books. He is happy to have something that he does not have to let D.W. join in. D.W. angrily claims that she can make up better stories than in the books. Arthur takes her by her word, but D.W. cannot write.
Grandma Thora tells D.W. how cavemen used to pass on stories by word of mouth without writing.
Arthur and Buster are reading in the tree house when D.W. comes and tells them the story of the warrior queen O-D.W.-eus.
The queen stole Poseidon’s (Francine) unicorn, so he crashes her ship on a cliff. The crew, made up of Nadine and some preschoolers, survive.
The next morning the crew, except O-D.W.-us, eat strange plants that make them forget everything. All are caught by a cyclops (Buster) who takes them to his cave and eats the Tibbles. O-D.W.-us blinds the cyclops by tying his ear around his head. Then she yells that the crew is escaping. The cyclops opens the cave entrance and they all run out and escape in the cyclops’ boat using his sock as a sail.
When they pass three sirens singing “Crazy Bus”, O-D.W.-us becomes enchanted and has to be tied to the mast.
Then they have to pass between a monster named Scylla (Muffy) and a whirlpool named Charybdis (Arthur). They toss the cyclops’ sock in one of Scylla's faces and escape. In the sight of their home island, the ship is destroyed by lightning from a single black cloud. O-D.W.-us washes ashore and runs home to tell her friends about her adventure.
D.W. finishes. At first, Arthur pretends that the story was not as good as Vegemorphs. D.W. counters that he cannot recognize a good story since she was retelling The Odyssey, which Grandma Thora told her. Buster is impressed and, eventually along with Arthur, asks D.W. to tell it again, especially the parts about Charybdis and the cyclops.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Thora Read
- Jane Read (does not speak)
- Kate Read
- Pal
Characters in her story[]
- O-D.W.-eus (D.W.)
- Cyclops (Buster)
- Scylla (Muffy)
- Poseidon (Francine)
- Charybdis (Arthur)
- Three Sirens
- Timmy and Tommy Tibble
- Nadine Flumberghast
- Emily Leduc
- Amanda Hulser
Trivia[]
- At the end of the 2000 rerun intro on PBS Kids before this episode, Arthur’s crashing sound changes to pots and pans.
Cultural references[]
- D.W.'s story is based on the first part of Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Many of Arthur's and D.W.'s friends are featured as different characters in the story, as listed:
- In addition to the characters mentioned above, the story also features the island of lotus-eaters and the sirens.
- The name "O-D.W.-eus", is a spoof of the name "Odysseus" from the original version of The Odyssey.
- While the Vegemorphs book series is a parody of the Animorphs books, there is an actual "Vegemorphs" book in real life.
Episode connections[]
- This is the second time Arthur displays resentment toward his sister D.W.'s natural talents from a young age. The first was in "Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest" and then in "Cast Away" three seasons after this episode.
- This is the first episode D.W. wears Arthur's glasses, and in the second episode she pretends to be like him, similar to her copying him in "D.W. the Copycat."
- The Crazy Bus song from "Play It Again, D.W." is featured as the song of the sirens.
- This episode briefly mentions some of the things from "Arthur's Pet Business."
- "I'd Rather Read It Myself" is another episode in which D.W. tells a story to someone.
Gallery[]
.png "DWTaleSpins (2).png (170 KB)")
Home Video[]
VHS[]
- ↑ Arthur. TVO. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013.