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"So Long, Spanky"
Season/Series: 1
Number in season: 13a
Original Airdate: United States October 23, 1996[1]
Canada January 22, 1997[2]
Germany December 28, 2001[3]
Credits
Written by: Peter Hirsch
Storyboard by: Jean Lajeunesse
Episodes
Previous
"Arthur's Lost Dog"
Next
"Buster's New Friend"
Read transcript

"So Long, Spanky" is the first half of the thirteenth episode in the first season of Arthur.

Summary

D.W. suffers through the death of her beloved bird, then has to decide whether to risk her heart again by adopting a lonely toad.

Plot

Arthur begins the episode by quietly introducing D.W.'s pet bird, Spanky, who is sleeping. Arthur also reveals Spanky's past as a pet of D.W., from meeting him at the pet shop (where Spanky bites Arthur's finger), to him taking Arthur's shoelace (in which Arthur would wish Spanky would go south for the winter and stay there). Though, Arthur does feel sorry for him at times (especially when D.W. dresses him up). Arthur also admits that he 'sorta' likes him, when his beak is closed of course, and when he is not making any annoying sounds.

So Long, Spanky

After the title card, the next scene starts off with a nest of baby birds chirping, then shifts to a sickly Spanky looking out the window. D.W., seeing this, decides to get Spanky a nice cup of tea. While she is gone, Spanky dies unexpectedly. When D.W. sees this, she doesn't know what has happened.

D.W. takes Spanky to David, who is cooking pastries. She asks him why Spanky won't wake up, and he tells her that Spanky is dead. D.W., not knowing what dead means, asks when Spanky will stop being dead. Arthur enters, asking both of them if something has died. D.W. replies to him that Spanky is sleeping and won't wake up, and asks if Spanky will ever wake up.

David tells her that he won't wake up, but suggests that they can give him a nice funeral. The scene cuts to Spanky's funeral, with the Read family remembering the times with Spanky. After this, D.W. tells the rest of the family that she would like to spend some time with Spanky. She takes a can and puts in the flowers that the family put on Spanky's grave. Though, the can shakes, making D.W. very angry towards the toad who was hiding in the can. D.W. then gets the toad to leave.

Arthur takes D.W. to the pet shop to see if there might be a new pet she would like. They see a parakeet, but it reminds her too much of Spanky. Arthur says that a parrot "wouldn't remind her of Spanky", at which the parrot starts saying Spanky's name. This doesn't please D.W. Arthur next suggests D.W. get a hamster, which he says are "cool" (especially because they don't sing). A group of kids runs past Arthur and D.W. and gathers at a tank. They're excited to see the boa constrictor getting fed; it "eats birds eggs whole." Needless to say, the boa constrictor is not a pet D.W. will consider.

D.W. returns to the grave of Spanky with more flowers. She tells him that some of the birds at the pet store were cute, but not as cute as Spanky- not even the parrot, but she said that its English was good. Before she can put the flowers in the can, she finds the same toad inside it. She encounters the toad many more times, including at school, where the toad scares the kids and Ms. Morgan. Coming home from school, the toad saves D.W.'s purse when it falls into the storm drain, but gets scolded by D.W. instead of praised because she thought it was stealing her purse.

The same toad enters D.W.'s room, eventually wrecking her room until D.W. cannot find it. She then goes to sleep, saying that there will be trouble the next morning. Though the next morning, D.W. cannot find the toad, eventually figuring out that the toad must be in the washing machine, prompting her to cry. Then, Toady (as D.W. calls it) enters the room, making D.W. chase her throughout the house, where the toad jumps out the living room window, and runs toward a neighbor mowing his lawn with a lawn mower. D.W. has him stop the lawn mower, and begs her parents to keep the toad as a pet. They agree, only to go to the library to see how to take care of a pet. Toady then eats a fly, much to Mrs. Read's disgust, and the episode finishes with the former smiling in D.W.'s hands.

Characters

Major

Minor

Cameo

Mentioned

Trivia

  • At the end of the 2000 rerun intro on PBS Kids before this episode, Arthur’s crashing sound remains the same.
  • This episode marks the only appearance of Spanky
  • Toady is initially adopted as D.W.'s pet toad in this episode, but is no longer a pet in the following episodes. However, she is still seen in the title card D.W. Chases the Toad. Toady is referred to as a male in this episode, but in her later appearance in "The Great Sock Mystery," where she lives in the Read family's yard, she is revealed to be a female.
  • This episode is where Maryann and Amanda's names are revealed.
  • Although the title is not read on BBC Kids' The Spot, Francine says the title when it airs on PBS Kids and on the VHS and DVD releases.
  • D.W. says "wait, come back" from the "chase Toady" title card.
  • This is the second episode Tommy appears without Timmy; the first episode was "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn."

Episode connections

Errors

  • The door frames on the doors that go between the hallway and D.W. and Kate's room and for the closet in their room are brown; although in other episodes, they are white.
  • When D.W. suggests getting Spanky "a nice cup of tea", his head is the same shade of blue as the rest of his body. This coloring error also occurs briefly when Arthur is showing D.W. the parakeet at the pet store.
  • After Jane starts the washing machine, the washing machine tumbles; but washing machines actually tumble when they're on the spin cycle where the water drains out.
    • It may be possible that the washing machine she has tumbles first.
  • When D.W. tears her room apart in an effort to get Toady to leave, Kate is not seen. It is possible that David and Jane decided to keep her in another room to give D.W. space in her grieving or if she got sick whereas she was seen at Spanky's funeral.
  • When D.W. picks Toady up at the end, her sleeves are white like her regular dress, even though she's in her pink pajamas.

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