The World Record (episode)

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"The World Record"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	5
Number in season:	4A
Original Airdate:	October 16, 2000 January 11, 2001
Credits
Written by:	Gerard Lewis
Storyboard by:	Lyndon Ruddy Helene Cossette
Episodes
Previous "The Shore Thing"	Next "The Cave"

Read transcript

"The World Record" is the first half of the fourth episode in the fifth season of Arthur. It was later adapted into the book Arthur and the World Record.

Summary

The kids try to set world records on their own, then discover that they have a better chance if they work together.

Plot

Arthur is explaining what his own book of world records would be like. Francine is in it for playing the drums the loudest. Buster is in it for telling the most jokes. Brain is in it for saying the most things that Arthur doesn't understand. D.W. is even in it for watching the most reruns of Mary Moo Cow. Because Arthur blocks the screen while D.W. is watching, she calls Jane who asks him to come see her. After that, D.W. explains she holds a world record for getting Arthur in trouble the most times.

The World Record

The Book of Incredible and Amazing World Records

At the tree house, Arthur presents a world record book to his friends. He thinks that, together, they could break a record. He reads some of the records, and his friends picture themselves breaking them. They all set off and try to break one of their own. Brain tries to make the most inventions, Muffy attempts refraining from speaking the longest, Francine tries to kick a soccer ball non-stop, and Buster plans to walk backwards the longest.

At Arthur's house, he is making a house of cards. He imagines himself being famous for having built the largest one. He prevents D.W. from entering his room. She slams her bedroom door and Arthur's card house falls.

Meanwhile, Muffy and Francine have both kept their records for two hours. Buster runs into Francine, making her lose the ball. Muffy also speaks to him. He walks backwards to Binky's house. Binky who is attempting to make the largest popsicle stick bridge, is sick from eating all the popsicles. Buster explains that his mom once made a lampshade out of 400 popsicle sticks, but she bought the sticks themselves. Binky feels he ate all his popsicles for nothing, but Buster says Binky could break two records: the biggest bridge and eating the most popsicles. Binky adds another record he could break would be "for being the most sick."

At Arthur's house, he is preparing to break a bug eating record. Francine and Muffy arrive and request new records to try to break. After considering and declining a few, Arthur suggests they make the world's largest pizza, and they agree.

Brain has made a flying lawn sprinkler. Unfortunately, the plane the hose is attached to accidentally flies over everyone, getting them wet, and the plane crashes. They all organize the cooking of the world's largest pizza, and soon everything is planned.

Everything has been prepared, and the cooking will take place the following day. At dinner, Arthur is worried that something will go wrong. David says that he will be there to help.

The following day, things are not going as planned while making the pizza. Muffy, Francine, and Binky leave for a break. Arthur is beginning to think his idea will be in the record books for "the biggest flop in history." However, Francine, Muffy, and Buster have arrived, and they have brought many volunteers with them. Together, they end up finishing the pizza, and start eating it. Buster accidentally steps forward, and realizes he'll have to start his backward-walking attempt again. D.W. asks Arthur what the record for the longest time hiccuping is (Nadine has the hiccups, and D.W. wants her to break the record). Arthur replies that the longest hiccups lasted for over 60 years. D.W. says Nadine "won't be happy to hear that."

Characters

Major

• Arthur Read
• Buster Baxter
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Binky Barnes
• Brain

Minor

• David Read
• Mr. Haney
• Jane Read
• D.W. Read
• Nadine Flumberghast
• Mrs. Powers
• Mr. Ratburn
• Thora Read
• Sue Ellen Armstrong

Cameo

• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
• Paul Jacobs
• Beulah McInnerny
• Catherine Frensky
• Mrs. Powers
• Prunella Deegan
• Fern Walters
• Millicent Crosswire (mentioned in a fantasy)
• Mary Moo Cow
• Gunky
• Bitzi Baxter
• Baby Kate

Trivia

• Moral: Not every record can be broken. At best, attempting them (whether met with success or failure) should be done for fun.
• Technically, there is no world record for the longest time not talking, because mute people go their whole lives without talking.
• The pizzeria featured in the And Now a Word from Us Kids segment following this episode is Kosta's Pizza & Seafood, located in Needham, Massachusetts. It is still in business today, and still looks largely the same as it did on Arthur.
• This is the second episode which involves a character stuck with the hiccups. The first one was "Arthur vs. the Piano."

Episode connections

• Arthur imagines making the world's biggest pepperoni and cheese pizza in "Arthur vs. the Piano."
• Nadine tries to break the world record for hiccups. In a fantasy in "Hic or Treat", D.W. almost manages to do that. D.W. also has the hiccups in "Arthur vs. the Piano."
• Brain's plane from "What is that Thing?" and "Nerves of Steal" appears again.

Cultural references

• In reality, the world's largest pizza at the time of this episode was cooked in Norwood Hypermarket, Norwood, South Africa on December 8, 1990. It weighed 26,883 pounds.
  • The Guinness record for the largest pizza now belongs to a pizza cooked in Rome, Italy on December 13, 2012. It was 13,580.28 ft².
• The plot line of this episode is identical to an episode of Hey Arnold! on Nickelodeon. The Hey Arnold! episode, titled "World Records" is episode 17b of season 1, and originally aired on December 23rd, 1996, almost 4 years before the Arthur episode. Whether or not this is a coincidence or a direct knock-off of the Hey Arnold! episode is unknown.
• Thomas Edison holds 1,093 US patents.
• This is the first episode referencing the man Charles Osborne, the world record holder of having the longest period of hiccups. He hiccupped for 68 years. The second episode that references him is Season 11's "Hic or Treat."
• The record of the man who walked around the world backwards that Buster attempts to break was true. Plennie L. Wingo walked all the way from Santa Monica, California to Istanbul, Turkey from 1931 to 1932, although not entirely around the world. 
• The tallest man in the world was Robert Wadlow of Alton, Illinois, who was 8 feet 11.1 inches when he died, and was still growing at the time of his death.
• Hans Nilsen Langseth, a Norwegian-American, was the man with the longest beard, at 17 feet 6 inches long.
• The Book of Incredible and Amazing World Records is most likely a reference to the Guinness World Records books.

  

• In Arthur's imagination, there is a building with the AKOM logo on it (AKOM is the South Korean animation studio that provided the overseas animation for the first eleven seasons of Arthur).

Errors

• The lines on the bottom of Arthur's shirt move in one scene when they begin to work on the pizza.

Production notes

• This is the first episode to use the Big Bird Foot title card.
• When the hose sprays sauce on the pizza, D.W. is heard saying "woah." This line is delivered by her voice actor from Seasons 1–3, Michael Caloz, instead of Oliver Grainger.

Home video

DVD

• You Are Arthur (DVD)
• The Ultimate Friendship Collection

Gallery

Main article: The World Record/Gallery