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"The Shore Thing"
Season/Series: 5
Number in season: 3b
Original airdate: United States October 9, 2000[1][2]
Canada January 10, 2001[3]
Credits
Written by: Bruce Akiyama
Storyboard by: Zoran Vanjaka
Episodes
Previous
"It's a No-Brainer"
Next
"The World Record"
Read transcript

"The Shore Thing" is the second half of the third episode in the fifth season of Arthur.

Summary[]

Arthur and D.W. beg Dad to take them to Aqualand—the coolest water park ever! But Dad knows an even better place—Ocean Zone. The kids explore the ocean and find all kinds of cool sea stuff by the seashore.

Plot[]

In the introduction, Arthur gives examples of getting something better than what you expected.

The Shore Thing

Arthur and D.W. want to go to an amusement park called Aqualand. Their dad instead promises to take them to Marine World, which he used to visit as a boy.

Arthur tells his friends about how cool the park looked on his dad's home videos. In the end, Brain, Buster, Binky and Sue Ellen come along with Arthur, D.W. and Mr. Read.

Mr. Read drives to an ordinary beach. Arthur wonders where Marine World is; David explains that Marine World, which was located where they have arrived, has been gone for years. He tells the kids to form groups and look for "Ocean Zone."

Brain and Buster find crabs, sea hares, and other aquatic life forms in the tide pools.

The girls look for shells when D.W. is "attacked" by kelp, which she mistakes for an octopus and panics, but Sue Ellen helps her get free. Sue Ellen then meets Mr. Ratburn (whose nose she had initially mistaken for a shark fin) and sees a dolphin.

Arthur and Binky float to a rock in an inflatable chair. The chair floats off and the tide comes in, leaving them stranded on the rock. Mr. Read rescues them using an air mattress. Then the kids use the mattress to surf on the tide.

In the evening, they talk about their adventures and realize that "Ocean Zone" is where they have been all day. They see a beautiful sunset with jumping dolphins.

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Trivia[]

  • This episode was pulled from the rerun rotation in the United States, presumably due to Brain jokingly drawing a noose in its sister episode "It's a No-Brainer."
    • The last national airing of this episode was on January 26, 2021, on PBS.[4]
    • This episode pair was one of five to be excluded from the February 2022 marathon on PBS Kids.
    • This episode pair was also removed from Amazon Prime Video by April 2021; the season 5 episode list says, "This video is currently unavailable".[5] It is one of only two episode pairs to not be available for streaming on said service (the other being both parts of the season 13 version of "The Great MacGrady").
    • The episode can still be found on the VHS and DVD releases of "Arthur's Great Summer" and the "Arthur's Travel Adventures" DVD.

Episode connections[]

  • Sue Ellen mistakes Mr. Ratburn's nose for a shark, just like Brain always does during the theme song.
  • D.W. mistakes kelp for an octopus and panics. Her fear of octopuses was first shown in "D.W. All Wet."
  • D.W.'s inflatable shark Sharky returns again from "Arthur's Family Vacation."
  • Brain does not mind wading in the pool or the ocean, but he does seem nervous about swimming. His fear of water was explored in "Water and the Brain."

Cultural references[]

Errors[]

  • DavidAnimationError
    When the sun goes down, David's skin briefly changes to the same color as Brain's.

Gallery[]

Main article: The Shore Thing/Gallery

Home Video[]

VHS -

DVD -

References[]


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