The Tattletale Frog

"The Tattletale Frog"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	18
Number in season:	1a
Original Airdate:	October 1, 2014 February 24, 2015 October 1, 2014
Credits
Written by:	Ken Scarborough
Storyboard by:	Rick Marshall
Episodes
Previous "Brain Freeze"	Next "D.W. & Bud's Higher Purpose"

Read transcript

"The Tattletale Frog" is the first half of the first episode in the eighteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

When Bud is blamed for an accident D.W. causes, she has to decide whether to let her friend take the fall.

Plot

In the introduction, Arthur claims that D.W. never does anything wrong, while loud noises offscreen suggest that D.W. is trashing the house and blaming Arthur for it. A fantasy shows D.W. as young George Washington blaming the tree for chopping itself down. Arthur then remembers one time that D.W. did get blamed.

The Tattletale Frog

Mr. Read is busy fixing a large dinner for a client. When D.W. tells him that she and Bud are bored, he suggests they play a game by themselves. After Bud beats D.W. at every game, she makes a competition out of throwing Bud's hat, only for Bud to beat her again. D.W. tries again and the hat knocks a mechanical singing frog off a shelf so that it breaks. Bud wants to tell Mr. Read, but D.W. strongly disagrees, claiming that she does not want to get Bud in trouble.

D.W. tries to put the frog in the trashcan by the garage, but her dad is loading the van there. She puts the frog in the trashcan in the kitchen and puts some trash on top of it.

D.W. returns to her room to find that Bud has cleaned up. He suggests telling her dad again, but D.W. wants him to leave. His hat is still on the shelf in the parents’ bedroom, however.

D.W. throws shoes at the hat, but only knocks down other items. Bud manages to catch a cactus pot before it breaks.

Next, D.W. tries blowing the hat down with a fan. When she puts it on the window sill, the fan falls out into the yard.

D.W. and Bud get a ladder from the garage. They use the vase to hold the front door open and the door smashes it. Mr. Read hears the noise and falls over the fan that fell out of the window. He picks up fan, shoe, golf club and vase and finds the kids. He brings the ladder back into the garage, but before he can talk to D.W., his cellphone beeps and he runs away. Bud leaves.

Mrs. Read comes home and discovers the mess in the bedroom. Since Bud's hat is still on the shelf, she blames him. D.W. only replies that Bud did not do it on purpose. Mrs. Read says that she will call Bud's mom.

When D.W. lies on her bed feeling guilty, Nadine appears and pities Bud while mimicking his way of speaking.

At lunch, D.W. has no appetite. When her mom throws something in the trash, the frog can be heard, making D.W. feel even worse. When Mrs. Compson calls on the phone and Mrs. Read wants to talk to her about Bud, D.W. breaks down crying and confesses.

D.W. is grounded and forced to stay home for a week, and isn't allowed to have anyone come over. She calls Bud on the phone and apologizes. They play paper, rock and scissors over the phone.

Characters

Major

• D.W. Read
• Bud Compson

Minor

• Nadine Flumberghast
• Arthur Read
• David Read
• Jane Read
• Kate Read
• George Washington (D.W.)
• Swamp Frog

Cameo

• Buster Baxter
• Bionic Bunny

Mentioned

• Cisely Compson
• Jane's great-grandmother
• Jane's great-grandfather

Trivia

• This is the first episode where Bud is seen without his hat.

Episode connections

• This episode is similar to "Crime and Consequences," where George accidentally breaks the Woodworking project and Binky gets blamed.
• D.W. falsely putting blame on Bud for breaking the frog is similar to when Cousin Cora falsely blames D.W. for breaking her necklace in "D.W. Thinks Big."
• D.W. and Bud play several games that were featured in previous episodes:
  • No Guessing! (from "Arthur the Loser")
  • Tower of Cows (from "Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked," "Arthur and Los Vecinos," and "Kiss and Tell")
  • Weasel Rally (from "Arthur's Almost Boring Day")

Cultural references

• The episode's title and D.W.'s emotional breakdown after hearing the frog are a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Tell-Tale Heart.
• The introduction parodies the apocryphal story of young George Washington and the cherry tree.
• The frog's song Frogtown Froggies is a variation on Camptown Races.
• Mr. Read's customer is called Mrs. Fallon, likely a reference to Joe Fallon.

Production notes

• This episode was first announced in May 2014 when a fan emailed 9 Story Media Group asking for season 18 episode titles, and received 4 of them.

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