Airdate: October 30, 1996
Both stories contain examples of:
- Sick Episode: The first one is about Arthur (and eventually D.W.) getting sick, while the second is about Pal getting sick.
The circus is coming to town, but Arthur has started to feel a bit weak lately. When he is sent home after a trip to the nurse from school, D.W. wonders how he got home before he did. She is doubtful of Arthur's sickness as she doesn't see anything wrong with him, and soon grows envious of him when he begins receiving seemingly special treatment. She envies that he gets to eat at the couch instead of at the table, and that his dinner is chicken noodle soup instead of spinach. The next morning, following a nightmare, Arthur wakes up and finds red dots all over his face, realizing he's come down with a case of the chicken pox, further worrying him that he may miss the circus. D.W. continues to feel jealous over Arthur's care, especially after Grandma Thora arrives, bringing her to fake a case of the chicken pox herself. Thora quickly catches on, expressing disappointment in D.W. for trying to get attention. The next day, Arthur feels well enough to go to the circus, but when D.W. tries to apologize for her behavior, she soon turns excited as she looks in the mirror to realize the impossible happened — she got chicken pox! Arthur informs her that she's going to miss the circus, but she retorts by saying "The circus comes once a year, but you only get the chicken pox once!"
Arthur's Chicken Pox contains examples of:
- Adaptation Deviation: In the original book, D.W. was disappointed about getting chicken pox at the end and didn't want to miss the circus (though her feeling envy over Arthur's treatment is still there). In the episode, she's ecstatic about it.
- Artistic License: Chickenpox doesn't look like polka dots in real life. They're more like scarmarks.
- Aside Glance: Arthur, at the end of the episode when D.W. says her ending line.
- Cassandra Truth: D.W. doesn't believe Arthur when he says that he had to go to the school nurse.
- Chickenpox Episode: The episode is about Arthur getting chickenpox and a jealous D.W. pretending to have chickenpox (and eventually catching it for real).
- Cruel Elephant: A flashback to the last time Arthur and his family went to the circus shows such an elephant swiping
D.W.'s cotton candy and ice cream cone, making her scream. - Cool Big Bro: Despite D.W. bothering him while he's sick, Arthur lets her sit with him and they watch TV together.
- Cursed with Awesome: In a more down-to-earth example, Arthur gets chicken pox, which gets him a lot of attention and special treats, including an oatmeal bath, a back rub, Grandma Thora's stories, and a really tricked-out lunch with drinks from a crazy straw! Is there any wonder why D.W. wants chickenpox, even when the circus is coming?
- Didn't Think This Through: When D.W. fakes her sickness, she doesn't think about the fact that a bath means her fake spots are going to wash right off.
- Disappointed in You: Thora, word for word when she sees D.W. faked her chicken pox.
- Fainting: It's implied Arthur fainted in class since he's dozing at the nurse's office and is barely awake when she checks his temperature.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Thora also does this while scolding D.W., calling her "Dora Winifred".
- Funny Background Event: At the beginning, Jane can be heard talking on the phone about suddenly receiving 15 kilograms of prunes in the mail, with no card or return address.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Subverted. D.W. spent a lot of time around Arthur taunting him while he was very contageous. Not surprisingly, she got chicken pox herself afterwards. However, she's actually overjoyed by this, knowing she'll be pampered by Grandma Thora. Arthur's parents and grandmother should've known better than to allow D.W. anywhere near Arthur.
- Literal-Minded: D.W. asks if Arthur got chicken pox...from chickens.
- Mushroom Samba: The plot is kicked off during art class at school when Arthur sees his easel suddenly transforming into a giant elephant, leading to his chicken pox diagnosis.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Grandma Thora is mad at D.W., you know that she means business. D.W. is cowed when Thora uses her full name and says she's Disappointed in You.
- Playing Sick:
- Subverted. D.W. assumes that Arthur is faking sick to either get out of a test or away from Binky. Arthur explains that he had to go to the school nurse because he hallucinated.
- Ironically, D.W. does this when she envies Arthur's special treatment. She powders her face white and draws on spots.
- Stock Scream: Arthur lets out one of his most frequently-used screams twice within the same episode: first when he hallucinates his circus elephant painting and easel transforming into a giant blue elephant, and again later that night when he sees the chicken pox on his face when using the bathroom.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: D.W. has a talk with her father, who tells her even if she's not sick she can stay home with Arthur from the circus. She decides to go, admitting she was jealous. Then she realizes she has chickenpox, meaning she has to stay at home anyway and can get all the trimmings from Grandma Thora.
- Tin-Can Telephone: The next morning after Arthur has fallen ill with chickenpox, Buster climbs up the tree outside Arthur's window and communicates with him this way. He calls from the tree, "Pick up the can!" for Arthur to answer.
- What the Hell, Hero?: D.W. gets this a lot:
- Jane and David tell off D.W. for bothering Arthur and assuming that he's faking his illness, before he develops spots.
- Thora gently tells D.W. to stop needling Arthur by asking her to draw a picture, before outright saying Disappointed in You.
Arthur feeds Pal a lot of food that he shouldn't be eating, disregarding his parents' reprimanding. Meanwhile, D.W. has been routinely criticizing Pal, annoying Arthur. A few days later, he finds Pal is not acting like his usual self — he's very lethargic and is making strange groaning noises. He's forced to take Pal to the vet when it's clear he isn't getting any better, and much to Arthur's horror, he finds out that he must let Pal stay overnight. Distraught, he starts wondering what could have made Pal so sick, and enlists the help of his friends; taking her selfish behavior as a lead, he accuses D.W. of causing him to get sick, but his friends are unable to find any conclusive evidence. Later that day, Pal turns out to have gotten much better, with the vet telling Arthur exactly why he got sick in the first place. Arthur makes amends with D.W., and recognizes the error of his ways.
Sick as a Dog contains examples of:
- Anxiety Dreams: Arthur has one where Pal calls for help from the vet's office because he is being kidnapped, and the ransom note left by the rogue dogs is made of paw prints.
- Artistic License – Animal Care: Averted. The reason Pal gets sick is from the junk food Arthur gave to him in the episode.
- Consolation Backfire: D.W. manages to do this, twice. First, at the dinner table, she tries to get Arthur to look on the 'bright side', that they can get a "good dog" now. She's immediately scolded for her words, so then she tries to apologize and console Arthur...and of course, she reminds him of when Spanky died. It doesn't exactly bring him back up.
- Exact Words: "Someday, I'm gonna teach that dog a lesson he'll never forget!" Out of context, it sounds like D.W. is making a threat towards Pal for stealing her hotdog. As it turns out, she meant it in the literal sense of training Pal not to steal food that's not his (especially if it's her food).
- "Harmful to Pets" Reminder: The following day, the vet tells Arthur that the reason Pal got sick was because of all the human food he fed him, and he should stick to just giving Pal dog food.
- Innocently Insensitive: As opposed to her rather smug suggestion of getting a "good dog" earlier, D.W. comes forward to not only apologize to Arthur for her behavior, but to give her condolences for Pal being sick. Unfortunately, she expresses empathy by bringing up when Spanky died. That's not something you want to mention to your sibling if their dog's fate is still up in the air. This leads to Arthur whimpering and (naturally) calling for their mom.
- Loose Floorboard Hiding Spot: Arthur and his puppy Pal ate some two-year-old Halloween candy hidden under a loose floorboard in his treehouse.
- Kangaroo Court: Arthur and his friends pull one when they suspect D.W. of doing something to make Pal sick. This is subverted when Francine, D.W.'s "attorney", demands proof of D.W.'s guilt.
- Never My Fault: Arthur is initially oblivious to the fact that Pal's condition may have been his fault when he was already told several times not to feed his dog human food, and is more willing to blame D.W. for it, since it was her hot dog Pal ate.
- Pun: When Sue Ellen says her snail's been acting "sluggish".
- Sick Episode: Downplayed. While it's not nearly as serious as it could've been, Arthur learns from the vet that feeding Pal pancakes, Halloween candy and a hotdog with mustard wasn't a good idea. He even admits that a dog's stomach works differently than the average person's stomach.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The vet doesn't scold Arthur when he finds out that Arthur fed Pal food that a dog shouldn't eat. He gives Arthur a book on proper diets for dogs and lightheartedly says that Arthur should probably get his stomach checked too if he ate the pancakes, old candy, and a hot dog.
- The Scapegoat: Grieving for Pal being so sick he has to stay overnight at the vet, Arthur easily pegs D.W. as the reason his dog fell ill, between her hotdog being one of the items he ate before getting sick and her claim that she'd "teach that dog a lesson he'll never forget".
- Skewed Priorities: Arthur's nightmare is ridiculously improbable on a number of levels. So what's the first thing that tips him off about how unrealistic it is? That Pal doesn't know their home phone number. Apparently, the fact he was able to use the phone in the first place wasn't enough a clue.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Arthur frequently feeds Pal a lot of table and junk food (which includes old Halloween candy for some reason) and Pal ends up with stomach problems severe enough to warrant an overnight stay at the vet. Arthur learns better, fortunately. By the time of the 19th season, he's volunteering at the local shelter and once warns Buster about giving his aunt's dog chocolate.
- Wham Line: "Pal's gonna have to stay here overnight."
