Introduction[]
Arthur and D.W. sit at Grandma Thora’s dinner table.
Arthur: Last night, D.W. and I slept over at Grandma Thora's and learned some terrible things.
Grandma Thora: After supper, how about if we play Parcheesi?
D.W.: Thank you, Grandma, but we would prefer to watch TV.
Grandma Thora: Well, you know I don't have cable, but I do get public television clear as a bell!
Arthur+D.W.: (groan)
Arthur and D.W. sit on Thora’s couch.
Arthur: Then it got worse!
Thora brings in a bowl.
Grandma Thora: I'm afraid I don't have many goodies. My doctor's getting very strict with me. Here we are! No salt low-fat potato chips.
Arthur: And if that wasn't bad enough...
Arthur and D.W. brush their teeth in Thora’s bathroom.
D.W.: Augh!
Arthur: What? What?
D.W.: It's teeth! Grandma's teeth! Blech.
She points to false teeth in a glass.
Arthur: We didn't get much sleep that night.
Arthur and D.W. lie in a bed made out of Thora’s couch.
Grandma Thora: It's been so nice having you here. I get lonely without you sometimes.
She kisses D.W. and leaves. Arthur stares at the ceiling.
Arthur: Grandma Thora must be the saddest person in the world. No cable, no-taste potato chips, and she has to keep her teeth in a glass.
D.W.: And she gets so lonely without me. Arthur, we have to do something.
Title Card: D.W. Chases Toad[]
The Reads drive back from Grandma Thora.
Arthur: Isn't that a good idea? A surprise party for Grandma Thora!
Mr. Read: But what's the occasion?
Mrs. Read: The kids are upset because Grandma seems a little sad. You know, it's actually a great idea!
Mr. Read: Sort of a Grandma Thora Appreciation Day! I like it!
Mrs. Read: We could invite all our friends!
Mr. Read: And decorate the house with balloons and streamers! Make it look really festive!
Arthur+D.W.: Wait!
Arthur: It was our idea!
D.W.: And we want to do it all by ourselves.
***
Arthur and D.W. sit at the breakfast table in their pajamas. Mrs. Read makes scrambled eggs on toast.
Mrs. Read: Planning a party is a lot of work, you know.
D.W.: How hard can it be? You invite people and they come!
Mrs. Read: Speaking of people, let's keep this small. Just Grandma Thora's closest friends, okay?
D.W.: That's no fun! Can't we do stuff like rent an elephant or a zebra?
Mrs. Read: No elephants, D.W., just a nice, small, quiet, party. Are you listening, Arthur?
Arthur goes on reading the cereal box without looking.
Arthur: Yeah Mom, a nice, small, quiet...
***
Arthur stands at the lunch counter with Francine, Muffy, Brain and Sue Ellen.
Francine: Party?!
Muffy: A party?!
Francine: You're having a party?!
Sue Ellen: Can I come?!
Kids: (cheer)
Arthur: No! No!! I was only asking Mrs. MacGrady! It's a party for my grandmother and you can't come!
***
During recess, Arthur, Brain, Francine and Binky are by the swing set.
Arthur: I mean, you wouldn't want to come, right? It's a party for old people.
Brain: If you don't want to invite us or include us with your older friends, that's okay. We understand.
Binky: Aww. (sniff) Ohh.
Arthur: Oh alright, you can come! Just don't tell anyone else!
Kids: Yay!! Party! Party! Party! Party!...
They run over the playground and other kids join in. Arthur looks worried.
***
Arthur and D.W. lie on the floor in Arthur’s room with a notebook.
D.W.: We’re ruined! We've only been planning for one day and already we're ruined!
Arthur: Maybe they'll forget. And anyway, it's only.... 25 people.
D.W.: Mom will freak! She'll...
Their mom comes in with the laundry.
Mrs. Read: Arthur? D.W.? You're so quiet! What are you up to?
Arthur: We're writing our lists...
D.W.: ...of everything we need to do to make the party perfect.
Mrs. Read: Sounds very responsible. Remember, let me know if you need any help.
Arthur+D.W.: We won't.
Arthur: Thanks for not telling!
D.W.: We're in this together, Arthur. If you go down the drain, I have to go with you.
Arthur: Well, at least we got the first thing done on our list.
He crosses out “Invite People” and circles “Buy Food”.
Arthur: And tomorrow, we can buy the food.
***
The next day, Mrs. Read stops the car on the supermarket parking lot with Arthur and D.W. in the back seat.
Mrs. Read: I'm not sure if I like you shopping without me.
D.W.: Mom, we want to do everything by....
Mrs. Read: ...yourselves. I know. (sighs) Okay.
D.W.: Whoopee! Don't worry about a thing!
***
Arthur and D.W. walk into the supermarket. D.W. checks the chewing gum dispensers.
Arthur: D.W., come on! Uh oh, I forgot my list!
D.W.: Don't worry, I have mine!
She holds up a kind of list.
Arthur: D.W., this is just scribbles!
D.W.: It is not! See, it spells, "candy"!
Arthur: It spells, "Sipixtih"
D.W.: Oh Arthur, I'll read and you buy.
***
Later, Mrs. Read examines the shopping bags on the kitchen table.
Mrs. Read: Didn't you get anything besides candy?
Arthur: It was the only thing D.W. had on her list.
D.W.: Besides, it was cheap and we need a lot of food.
Mrs. Read: W-what do you mean? How many people did you invite?
Arthur: Oh, I don't know. About... (mumbles into his hand).
Mrs. Read: What did you say?
Arthur runs up to her and hugs her. Then both kids talk rapidly at once.
Arthur: I couldn't help it! Everyone heard about the party and they all like Grandma Thora...
D.W.: I knew he shouldn't have done it, but he didn't listen to me, he never listens to me! Why don't you tell him to listen to me!
Mrs. Read: (sighs)
***
Arthur sits in the treehouse and crosses out “Buy Food” on his list. D.W. comes up.
D.W.: Boy, are you lucky! If I were Mom, I would go make you live in the garage! What's next?
Arthur: “Think up ways to invite Grandma Thora.”
D.W.: Hmm...
In her imagination, she writes fortune cookie note in a fortune cookie factory. The manager stands beside her.
Manager: We'll send this right out, D.W.
He puts the note in a machine and presses a button. The machine produces and packs fortune cookies. D.W. and the manager watch from the window as they are loaded in a truck. The truck drives along a road and eventually to a Chinese restaurant, where a waiter puts the cookie on a plate and serves it to Mrs. MacGrady who is sitting at a table with Thora.
Mrs. MacGrady: “Guzdawahduzgahgah”? What does this mean?
Grandma Thora: That must be for me. “Please go to D.W.'s house for a surprise party”.
The fantasy ends. D.W. smiles dreamily.
Arthur: That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!
D.W.: Only ‘cause you didn't think of it!
Arthur: I think we better just call her on the phone. Which leaves only one more thing to do: decorate!
***
Arthur and D.W. are decorating the living room. Arthur stands on a chair and hangs up streamers when D.W. hands him a flat balloon.
D.W.: Here, Arthur.
Arthur: What is this?
D.W.: It's a balloon.
Arthur: Balloons are round, D.W. Not flat.
D.W.: It's not my fault! I have small lungs!
She tries to blow up the balloon.
Arthur: Now I'm gonna have to blow up all the balloons plus do all the decorating! You're not helping at all! You're not...
D.W. lets the balloon fly and it hits him in the face.
Arthur: Aaaaah!
He falls off the chair and is buried in streamers. Mrs. Read looks in.
Mrs. Read: How's it going? Want some help?
Arthur: (weakly:) Yes.
D.W.: No, we're doing it by ourselves.
Mrs. Read leaves.
Arthur: We'll never get this finished by tomorrow!
D.W.: Yes, we will! If you'd stop goofing around!
Mrs. Read stands at the front door and talks especially loud.
Mrs. Read: Why, hello Thora! How nice to see you!
Arthur+D.W.: Grandma!
Mrs. Read tries to block Thora’s way.
Grandma Thora: You'll never believe it! My car went bust right at the end of your street.
Mrs. Read: Did you hear that kids? Grandma's car broke down and she's coming in the house!
Grandma Thora: Are you alright, dear?
Mrs. Read: Oh, fine. Just fine. Is everything okay in there?!
Arthur and D.W. stand in front of the closed living room door. Arthur has a streamer hanging over his ear.
Arthur: Fine! Just fine!
Grandma Thora: If this is a bad time, I can walk home and call my mechanic from there.
Mrs. Read: Nooo, no problem. Come on in.
***
Later, Thora walks up the stairs where Arthur stands in his pajamas.
Arthur: But how come you're staying overnight? Why don't you go back to your own house?
Grandma Thora: Because Hank can't fix my car until tomorrow. And it made sense to just stay put.
D.W. blocks the way to her door.
D.W.: But you'll hate it here! Kate snores! You'll never get your beauty rest.
Thora goes in.
D.W.: And we don't have any extra toothpaste! And.... Arthur!
***
That night, Thora sleeps on a folding bed in D.W.’s room. Arthur shines a flashlight on D.W.
Arthur: (whispers:) D.W.?
D.W.: (whispers:) Ready.
She gets up and sees Thora’s teeth on the nightstand.
D.W.: Blech!
Arthur: (whispers): Remember, we have to be very very quiet! Whoa!
He steps on a toy horn and falls.
D.W.: Shhhh!
They listen, but don’t hear a sound.
Arthur: Whew.
***
Arthur and D.W. run through the house, wrapping things in streamers.
Arthur passes out from blowing up too many balloons.
While D.W. colors a book on the floor, Arthur falls over her feet.
Arthur: Ahh!
D.W.: Shhh!
Eventually, Arthur and D.W. lie on the floor exhausted.
Arthur: That's it. That's the last thing on the list. We can finally go to sleep.
D.W.: I think you forgot something.
She points to the other side of the list.
Arthur: “Bake the cake”. Oh no!
***
Arthur and D.W. look at a picture of a wedding cake in a recipe book in the kitchen.
D.W.: That's a pretty cake.
Arthur: It's too complicated. We have to keep it simple. Like this!
He shows a picture of a pound cake.
D.W.: Now what?
Arthur: We have to read the recipe. One lub flour. What's a lub? Okay, uh, skip that part. Two sticks of butter.
A while later, the refrigerator stands wide open. Arthur and D.W. have put the dough in a mixer.
Arthur: And one cup of milk. Ready?
D.W.: Ready!
He turns on the mixer and the dough flies everywhere.
Arthur: Turn it off!
D.W.: I can't see!
Suddenly, Mr. Read stands in the kitchen and glares at both of them.
D.W.: Hi, what brings you here?
Mrs. Read comes as well.
Arthur: Mom? Dad?
Mr. Read: Son?
Arthur+D.W.: Help!!
***
A while later, Mrs. Read and Arthur do the dishes. Mr. Read takes a tray out of the oven.
Mr. Read: Here we are. One beautiful cake and four delicious cupcakes.
The Reads sit at the table and eat the cupcakes.
D.W.: This was fun! Can we stay up late tomorrow night and make taffy?
Mr.+Mrs. Read: No!
***
The next day, Thora comes into D.W.’s room to find her still fast asleep.
D.W.: (snores)
Thora goes into Arthur’s room and finds him asleep as well.
Arthur: (moans in his sleep)
Thora hears snoring from the parents’ room and goes downstairs.
***
Shortly afterwards, Thora is on the phone wearing her coat.
Grandma Thora: It's the darndest thing, Hank. You'd think they'd been up all night! That's fine, I'll wait for you out in the driveway.
She hangs up and quietly leaves the house.
***
On the day of the party, the Reads’ living room is full of people. Apart from the Reads, Francine, Brain, Binky, Muffy, Prunella, Sue Ellen and Mrs. MacGrady have come. Arthur and D.W. blow noisemakers.
Kids: (make noise)
Mrs. Read: Okay everybody, find a place to hide! Thora should be here any minute!
They all hide behind furniture. Mr. Read’s watch says 2 o’clock.
Mr. Read: You did tell Grandma to come at 2 o’clock, right?
Arthu+D.W.: Oh no!
They run to the phone. D.W. tries to phone Thora.
D.W.: She's not answering!
Arthur: I can't believe we forgot to invite Grandma to her own surprise party!
D.W.: Why didn't you put it on your list?!
Arthur: I forgot! Why didn't you put it on yours?!
D.W.: I can't write! You know that!
Mr. Read: Kids! There's only one thing to do!
Binky: Party!
The guests continue to party, while Mr. and Mrs. Read prepare food in the kitchen.
Mrs. Read: It's a good thing there was pizza in the freezer! Almost ready! Oh, Thora thank goodness, could you take this tray into.... Thora!
Thora stands in the door.
Arthur: Grandma!
D.W.: Grandma, you came!
She hugs her.
Grandma Thora: I was worried about you. You were all so tired and acting so strangely. What's going on?
Arthur walks backwards out of the kitchen.
Arthur: Uh, nothing. Just... stay there.
The music in the living room stops.
Grandma Thora: Grandma, could you come here a minute?
Thora walks to the living room. All the guests pop their heads in the door.
All: Surprise!!
Grandma Thora: But why? It's not my birthday.
Arthur: We know. But we wanted to throw you a party so you wouldn't be sad.
Grandma Thora: Sad? I'm not sad. Why should I be?
D.W.: But we thought you were sad. We made this whole party so you wouldn't be sad.
Grandma Thora: Oh, that's right, D.W. I was a little sad. But now, after this party, I'm the happiest grandmother in the world.
Binky: Alright!
Thora kisses D.W. and starts dancing with her son. Arthur and D.W. high-five.