| "Desperately Seeking Stanley" | |
| Season/Series: | 8 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 7b |
| Original airdate: |  December 23, 2003[1] March 3, 2004[2] December 25, 2007[3] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Cusi Cram |
| Storyboard by: | Julian Harris Patricia Atchison |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Desk Wars" |
Next "Muffy's Art Attack" |
| Read transcript |
"Desperately Seeking Stanley" is the second half of the seventh episode in the eighth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
On his third birthday, Arthur's favorite present was Stanley, his teddy bear. Stanley protected Arthur when he was afraid of the dark...and even when his new baby sister, D.W. arrived. What will he do if he sells him out of peer pressure?
Plot[]
Arthur's Woogle (from "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon") tells Stanley that he is falling apart and both of them will be thrown away soon. Pal and Kate cheer Stanley up.
Arthur and Brain build a diorama for school. Brain wants to use cotton that fell out of Stanley to make clouds. He notices that Arthur is still attached to his favorite toy.
Jane sews patches onto Stanley to fix holes in the outer fabric. She remarks that Stanley is old now, and needs special care. D.W. wants to sell her singing fish Thelma and some other toys at the family's garage sale. She teases Arthur for wanting to keep Stanley. Arthur offers Stanley for the sale.
Vicita Molina wants to buy the singing fish, but D.W. has priced it at $1,000. D.W. suggests buying Stanley instead, and Arthur sells him for five dollars. Vicita renames the teddy bear “Chico”. Arthur has flashbacks of getting Stanley for his third birthday, introducing him to baby D.W., and being less afraid of the dark thanks to Stanley. He tells himself that Stanley will be better off with a little kid.
Later, he sees that Vicita, being only three, is not taking good care of Stanley.
When Brain brings the finished diorama, they talk about giving away toys. Brain mentions giving away a stuffed pig named Plato (possibly to Mrs. Tibble; see trivia section).
Arthur offers Vicita seven dollars to get Stanley back, but she traded him to Timmy Tibble for a sticker. Arthur has a fantasy of the Tibbles torturing Stanley and destuffing him. Horrified, he runs to The Tibbles' House.
When Arthur tells Mrs. Tibble about Stanley, she shows him a room full of old stuffed toys. She has repaired Stanley (far better than Mrs. Read could) and made a raincoat for him. She says that Arthur can visit Stanley whenever he likes. Stanley says: “Goodbye, Arthur” as the screen fades out...
...and opens again to show Arthur taking Stanley home “for the weekend,” finishing the episode.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
Cameo[]
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Alex Davidson
- Francine Frensky
- Bitzi Baxter
- Buster Baxter
- Unknown Male Rabbit (Number 11)
Trivia[]
- In Arthur's third birthday party flashback, Francine was seen there, but they did not know each other until preschool, as revealed in the preschool flashback in the earlier episode "Locked in the Library!"
- At the end of the episode, when Arthur is in the attic at the Tibble house, a toy pig wearing something similar to a toga can be seen. This is probably Brain's old stuffed animal, Plato, meaning that the person he gave it to was Mrs. Tibble.
- This is a rare episode where babies, pets and toys can talk (even outside the introduction), but are not the main characters.
Episode connections[]
- Mr. Ratburn's class had previously studied clouds in "Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble."
- Arthur's Woogle from "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon" makes another appearance.
- At the garage sale, David is selling one of the many Veginators that he received at Christmas in "Arthur's Perfect Christmas."
- D.W.'s “Larry the Lemon” doll appeared in "The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies".
- This episode looks to end with an iris-out, but an iris-in follows as Arthur changes his mind about Stanley before the episode finishes.
Cultural references[]
- The episode name is a reference to the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan.
- Stanley and the Woogle coming to life when Arthur is not around is similar to Toy Story, where the toys come to life when Andy is not around.
- Coincidentally, the episode's ending where Arthur decides to give Stanley to Mrs. Tibbles before Stanley says good bye to Arthur, mirrors the ending of Toy Story 3, which was released 7 years later after this episode's airing.
- The ball seen at the garage sale resembles the Luxo ball seen in various Pixar films.
- “Larry the Lemon” looks a lot like the Bananas in Pyjamas, except the stripes on the pajamas are red instead of blue.
- Stanley’s blue raincoat is a possible reference to Paddington Bear.
Gallery[]
Background art[]
Screenshots[]
Home media[]
VHS[]
DVD[]
References[]