| "Fern's Flights of Fancy" | |
| Season/Series: | 20 (US) |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 2a |
| Original Airdate: |  October 11, 2016[citation needed] November 14, 2018[1] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Peter K. Hirsch |
| Storyboard by: | Gerry Capelle |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Arthur and the Whole Truth" |
Next "Cereal" |
| Read transcript |
"Fern's Flights of Fancy" is the first half of the second episode in the twentieth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
Will Fern give up her dreams of becoming a writer just because of one silly rejection?
Plot[]
Buster shows Fern a flyer for a writing contest, in which the winner gets their story published in the Elwood City Times. Francine and Buster encourage her, and Fern imagines being famous and Marc Brown attending her book signing.
Fern thinks that she will not win the contest, and that she writes for fun and not contests. She decides to enter anyways, wanting people to read her story and not caring about the results. Fern reads her story to George:
In the story, an old man is friends with birds, whom he can communicate with. His niece makes him move in with her, planning to sell his house. The house has no windows, and the old man is given applesauce, a TV, and word jumbles. He saves the bread that his niece gives him on special occasions, and pretends to be sick. While his niece is calling the doctor, the old man runs outside and summons the birds, who lift him into the sky.
George enjoys the story, and Fern submits it. When the Elwood City Times arrives, Beulah McInnerny is the winner. Fern decides to give up on writing and plays soccer instead. As the goalie, she is distracted by a bird and does not block the ball. George references the story she wrote, and Fern responds that she does not want to hear about it. George shows Fern some magazines she could submit her story to, and she responds that she has already destroyed the story.
George visits the Elwood City Times building and asks Harry Mills if he can publish the story for Fern. Harry responds that he did like the story and that Fern is a great writer, but that the other judges liked different stories better.
Fern practices soccer techniques, and is interrupted by George. George sees the ripped-up story in her trash can and pastes it together at his house. While playing soccer, Fern daydreams about being a machine and a great player, and George talks to Francine.
Fern considers switching hobbies as she sees The Frensky Star on her table. She sees her story published in it, and is mad at George and goes to talk to him. On the way to George's house, Fern passes Muffy, Arthur, and Buster, who all have read the story and compliment it. Fern is angry that George submitted her story without her permission, and George admits that he did it because he really liked the story and thinks Fern is talented. Fern tells him that he left out the best part of the story: the dedication, to George Lundgren.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Arthur Read
- Buster Baxter
- Francine Frensky
- Harry Mills
- Muffy Crosswire
- Marc Brown
- Old Man (in story)
- Niece (in story)
Cameo[]
- D.W. Read
- Emily Leduc
- Bud Compson
- Tommy and Timmy Tibble
- James MacDonald
- Brain
- Binky Barnes
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Ladonna Compson
- Jenna Morgan
- Brian
- 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
- Kenny
- Steve Pappas
- Nancy
- Rattles
- Maria Pappas
- Otis
- Doria Walters
- Beulah McInnerny
Trivia[]
- This episode and "Cereal" aired exactly 20 years after the episode "Arthur's Pet Business"/"D.W. the Copycat"
Episode connections[]
- In the newspaper ad, Shakespeare looks exactly as he did in “Fern and the Case of the Stolen Story”.
- As in "Little Miss Meanie", Beulah McInnerny is the unexpected winner.
- Buster introduced George to Harry Mills in "Baseball Blues."
- This is the second time after "Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain" that Muffy wants the movie rights for one of Fern's stories. She suggests Matt Damon as lead actor, who appeared as himself in "The Making of Arthur".
Cultural references[]
- Fern's imaginary novel Portrait of the Aardvark as a Young Man is likely a reference to James Joyce's first novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
- Arthur creator Marc Brown has a cameo as himself. Fern apparently recognizes him.
- Marc clarifies the spelling of his first name, saying, "That's 'Marc' with a 'c'." This is a subtle reference to the fact that Marc Brown was born with the name "Mark" but it was later changed legally to "Marc" due to his admiration of the artwork of Marc Chagall.
- The old man's word jumble contains the words heron, cardinal, quail, dove, wren, kite, duck, mynah, puffin and swallow.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
References[]
External links[]
- Transcript: Fern's Flights of Fancy / Cereal. TVOKids. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020.
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