The Rat Who Came to Dinner

"The Rat Who Came To Dinner"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	4
Original Airdate:	October 4, 1999
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Maria Astadjova, Jeremy O'Neill
Episodes
Previous "The Blizzard"	Next "D.W. Tail Spins"

Read transcript

The Rat Who Came to Dinner is the second half of the 5th episode of season 4. It originally aired on October 4th, 1999 along with The Blizzard.

Summary

After his roof is damaged by snow, Mr. Ratburn stays at Arthur's house. Arthur is petrified that it will be non-stop homework and teaching, only to find out Mr. Ratburn is more fun than he thought. However, at school, his friends start calling him a teacher's pet.

Plot

After his roof caves from snow, Mr. Ratburn stays at Arthur's house. Arthur is afraid that it will be nonstop homework and teaching, only to find out Mr. Ratburn is more fun than he thought. However, at school, his friends start calling him a teacher's pet, and avoiding him, afraid that they will catch his "Teacher's Pet" disease. However, at the end, Mr. Ratburn decides he should stay at other students' houses, and Arthur helps them understand that it is not as bad as they think it will be.

Trivia

Notes

• The Rat Who Came to Dinner became adapted into a book in the Arthur Adventure series and re-titled as Arthur's Teacher Moves In.
• When the roof of his house cracks and falls apart, you can see his teeth chattering because it was cold.
• The Blizzard was also a "Snowy" story. It is implied that this episode takes place immediately afterward.
• Arthur's phone only has 9 buttons.
• Some of Arthur's friends were shocked by their perception of Mr. Ratburn, until he cheered them up while this episode ended.
• A running gag throughout this episode is that D.W. is constantly butchering Mr. Ratburn's name, and Mr. Ratburn ignores her.
• During the intro, in Arthur's dream where his parents and sister D.W. and his dog Pal have Mr. Ratburn's face, those faces are a close reference to the slang word "ratface".