The Magic School Bus Hops Home
It's the morning of a new school day as Wanda tugs a wagon holding her pet bullfrog named "Bella" (probably because that's how it talks) to class, where the rest of the class is working with other pets in the class. She and Ms. Frizzle arrive at the same time, and once at her desk, Wanda starts to blow up a small pool; apparently their classroom has much more space than her bedroom at home, and she wants to make Bella as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately, Bella needs so much space that she starts to take over Arnold's desk, and Wanda hands Bella over to him so the two can get acquainted.
Wanda becomes more obsessed with making Bella feel at home, and starts to take the desks of her classmates; she steals D.A.'s desk which has her jar of fruit flies on it, and tries to take Tim's desk holding his rabbits. He blocks her attempt, and she snidely tells him not to blame her if Bella hops into their cage. Meanwhile, Arnold introduces Bella to his pet rock, and sets them both down near the window. Believing that she needs a bit of fresh air, he opens the window. You can guess what happens next.
As Arnold hands Wanda Bella's pool, she informs him that her pool is going on his desk. Arnold does not like the idea of losing his personal space to Wanda's frog. Wanda disregards his complaining and orders him to blow up Bella's pool. Wanda calls for Bella, but gets no response. She goes back to Arnold and asks him where Bella is, who answers that she is with his rock. There's a rock over there, but the class is minus one bullfrog. Wanda notices the open window and asks if Arnold opened it; he says he did, because he thought she could use some air.
Wanda takes this about as well as you'd think. She wonders why Bella would leave, because the classroom is perfect, and Tim responds by saying that she needs more from her habitat than what Wanda provides for her (specifically, he points out her duck mug and a beanie frog), but Wanda refutes this, saying that those are her "special things". She then decides that she has to find Bella, and Arnold has to help her (she actually says "I've got to find her, and you've got to help me." This sounds similar to two lines in the beginning of the infamous Hotel Mario).
Dragging Arnold with her, she asks Ms. Frizzle if the two could be excused to look for Bella. Ms. Frizzle, of course, takes this opportunity to make it a field trip, to the horror of Arnold.
Driving farther than you'd think a frog would have been able to make it in that short of time, Wanda is worried about how the class is going to find Bella. Ms. Frizzle tells her that in order to find a frog, they have to become a frog; she then turns the bus into a frog and shrinks it down to size. As the bus hops along, Wanda speculates that perhaps Bella went out to find food. Specifically, bugs. Keesha suggests finding the nearest bug habitat and searching there.
Arriving in a small yard, the class leaves the bus and searches for Bella. Soon, a grasshopper jumps onto the scene, which Ms. Frizzle boards and rides to a nearby stump, with the class literally hopping behind her. On this stump is a trove of bugs and insects, and Ralphie—who had gotten motion sickness from the bus' hopping and was being carried along by a small bug—wants the class to stop talking about food. Ms. Frizzle tells him that they can't because all plants and animals need food from their habitats.
Meanwhile, Wanda is [perhaps justifiably] giving Arnold a hard time over where Bella is. After all, they have the food, so where is Bella? Arnold moves some blades of grass apart, only to reveal a large brown cat. A hungry cat, at that. The class retreats to the bus in horror, as Ms. Frizzle nonchalantly pets the cat on the nose and announces that this is the perfect opportunity to study the predatory behavior of cats. The class, however, pleads with her to get back into the bus, and once taking her seat, she gets the bus out of harm's way as the cat leaps for it, and into a tree.
However, Ms. Frizzle tells him that it was not a "mishop" after all, because trees are wonder habitat. Sure enough, we are treated to the sight of a group of squirrels inside of the tree, as well as a bird flying by; D.A. notes that trees are perfect for those two animals, and Keesha adds that it's also great to keep cats away while noting the cat from before still stalking them. Phoebe is awed by the baby squirrels, but Wanda is more concerned about Bella; after all, there is not enough space in the tree for Bella, or no food for her either. Also, where would she put her swimming pool? Ralphie has a suggestion though, and points her towards a bird's nest; Wanda is not amused.
Wanda drags Arnold higher into the tree, and spots what she thinks is Bella behind some leaves. She tries to get closer, but loses her balance and falls off of the branch. Arnold grabs her in the nick of time, but he winds up falling as well, grabbing part of the branch just before plunging further. As the cat is still pouncing around below, both Arnold and Wanda realize that they're in trouble.
Just then, a green mantis hops from the leaves and distracts the cat away from the tree. By now, Wanda's antics seem to finally be getting on Arnold's nerves.
Luckily, Ms. Frizzle and the bus hops to them and rescues them from certain doom, and them move on. They come to a river, which is teeming with life. Ms. Frizzle asks the class if the river gives Bella everything she needs, and it seems like it does; Tim notes that it as water, space, and food. Therefore, Wanda concludes that Bella must be here. She rushes to go look for the frog... only to collide with Arnold and cause both of them fall into the rushing river. "Not again...", the class moans.
Once again, the bus rescues them before they can go down the waterfall, and are thrown onto land. Wanda then realizes that the water's current is too fast for Bella to swim in, and Ms. Frizzle adds that bullfrogs need quiet water to lay their eggs in. Arnold declares that they needs to find quiet water. ...Just as a strange shadow passes overhead. "Just as I thought," Ms. Frizzle says. "It can't be too far away now." The shadow belongs to one of Ms. Frizzle's favorite birds: a great blue heron.
Wanda tells Arnold to look for connections as she goes off to find Bella. Arnold can't take anymore and seemingly gives up. However, D.A. and Ralphie encourages him to find the connection, and the rest of the class ponders the connection between everything they have seen so far as they walk along (except Carlos, who is insisting on "Fight!").
Unfortunately, they can't figure it out and Ms. Frizzle has to explain: Where do herons live? In a heron habitat, Tim answers. Ms. Frizzle adds, where do beavers live? D.A. and Arnold wonder where she is going with this, and Ms. Frizzle answers by saying that the question is where are they all going as she pulls aside a wall of grass, revealing a beaver pond.
Arnold then gets where she is going; the water in the pond is nice and quiet. In fact, it has everything Bella needs—food, space, and quiet water—tells Wanda this. With this information, Wanda is sure that Bella is here, and resolves to never let her out of her sight again. Keesha notes the beavers working on their dam, their own habitat- but screw that! Wanda has found Bella!
Bella is sitting on a lilypad in the pond, and Wanda jump into the water and swims to her. As Wanda talks with her pet, the heron from before flies by, before it turns and starts to descend. The class notices this, and that the heron is hungry, as it flies past them and heads towards Wanda and Bella. Arnold calls out for Wanda, but she disregards him; after all, she has some catching-up to do with Bella. However, Bella notices that danger is near and hops into the water. At that point, Wanda sees that the heron is right above her. The class gasps as the lilypad Wanda is on is submerged underwater, and as it returns to the surface, it is empty.
As the heron flies around, Wanda is shown to be alive (of course), having fallen into the water. As she comes to the surface (covered by pond scum), she notices that Bella is gone again and calls for her. Bella is fine, Ms. Frizzle points out, as the frog hops to another lilypad.
Arnold is fed up with all of this; everyone is fine, so it's time to go back. But Wanda does not want to leave without Bella. Keesha tells Wanda that the pond is Bella's natural habitat, and is thus the right place for her to live. Wanda is offended that Keesha calls this the "right" place for Bella; this place does not have all of Bella's comforts, such as her plastic duck mug, her- Arnold tells Wanda that Bella does not need any of that stuff, and tries to get Wanda to go again. Wanda is not having it, and D.A. comes over to try to talk some sense into her by telling her that the pond has everything Bella needs; Ralphie notes the food with a flying bug, Carlos notes the calm water for her to swim and lay her eggs in, Phoebe notes the lilypads for her to sit on, and Tim notes all of the space for her to move around in. Wanda concedes that point, but adds that it has something that she does not need: in a bit of a recap from the last episode, she notes that bugs eat the grass, the fish and frogs eat the bugs, and the herons eat the fish and frogs. She is worried that Bella will get eaten by a heron; Ms. Frizzle says that the heron might eat Bella, but it'd have to catch her first.
Arnold once again tries to get Wanda out of there (apparently, he's going to have an anxiety attack if they don't), but she refuses to leave and let Bella become food for a heron. Carlos tells Wanda that she belongs at the pond, and then Wanda decides that if Bella belongs here, then so does she, before sitting down and crossing both her arms and legs (right now, she's behaving very similar to Janet in the very first episode).
The class tries to talk some sense into her, before the heron returns. The class takes cover, except for Wanda, who is so determined to protect Bella that she dives into the water to swim after her. Arnold sees this ("Oh no, not again..."), and jumps in after her. However, Bella is a very fast swimmer underwater, and Wanda and Arnold are forced to resurface before catching up to her. Wanda cannot seem to find Bella anywhere around her, but Arnold has a realization: if they can't find Bella, then the heron wouldn't be able to, either.
The duo swims back to land, where the class tells them that the heron flew away. Finally, Wanda realizes that Bella is able to look after herself. Ms. Frizzle notes that having a place to hide is an important part of a frog's habitat. Bella bounces nearby, and Wanda congratulates her for her hiding skills.
That doesn't sound right. The class is thrown for a loop, until the real Bella appears next to "Herman". Seems that Bella has made a friend, which Phoebe finds romantic. Arnold states that they'll never get two frogs back to the school, which Wanda agrees with; in fact, she won't even try. Wanda has finally come to her senses; if she really loves Bella, then she has to make sure that she has everything she needs, which the pond provides: space, food, quiet water, shelter from herons, and Herman. Phoebe, still in a romantic mood, notes that soon the pond will be filled with tadpoles, while Carlos notes that he loves hoppy endingsnote .
Ralphie suggests leaving, but Wanda is not quite ready to go yet. Arnold is very miffed about this, but Wanda calms him down; she just wants to say farewell to her pet. Speaking with Bella, she tells her that she knows that she will have a good life at the pond, but she will still miss her. She leaves behind the beanie frog for Bella to remember her by, and after Arnold tells her to watch out for the heron, Bella hops offscreen for the last time.
The bus drives back to the school, where Wanda gives Arnold his desk back. He is glad to be back in his own habitat, which provides him with food, water, a roof over his head, linoleum (Class: "Linoleum!?"). However, Wanda is still pretty broken up over Bella, but the class has a surprise for her: they have built a large mechanical frog. One that won't hop out of the window, Ms. Frizzle and Arnold add. Tim also shows her that it can talk with a robotic-sounding "Bella". Wanda loves it, and knows exactly where she's going to put it: right where Arnold's desk is. Arnold is unhappy with this, and follows her around the classroom in an attempt to talk her out of it. The rest of the class laughs.
As Liz continues to find a place for her hammock, the caller has some more points to bring up.
- It takes weeks or months for a stream to become a pond, though in the show it took minutes. Hand Waved by the producer; she says that the caller would have changed the channel if it took any longer.
- Like beavers, humans make their own habitat, and can change so fast and often that other animals do not have time to change or move.
Meanwhile, Liz takes the producer's lunch, which upsets the producer who orders her to put it back. Liz angrily complies and the two get into a bit of a spat that results in the producer falling backwards in her chair and to the floor.
The caller asks about Bella, and the producer says that she is doing just fine; in fact, she looks out of her tent and observes Bella, Herman, and three smaller frogs with them.
Finally, the caller hangs up, and the producer helps Liz with her hammock, finding a spot near her desk. Liz is satisfied with this, and quickly makes herself at home.
Tropes
- Adventurer Outfit: The Frizz Kids are outfitted with safari outfits in their respective theme colours.
- Babies Ever After: Bella and Herman, according to the Producers segment.
- Continuity Nod: There are a lot of references to the previous episode "Gets Eaten".
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: The attitude Wanda develops in the end, when realizing that not only can Bella protect herself, but also that Wanda can't protect her anymore.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Wanda's tendency to rush into things cause problems for Arnold, as she is obsessed with finding Bella and keeps endangering the two of them.
- Logical Weakness: Normally an animal like a cat or a heron wouldn't pose a threat to a human being; Ms. Frizzle has shrunk the class, however, so they can get eaten easily.
- Lost Pet Grievance: The pet frog you've raised since she was a tadpole goes missing the one time you take her out of your room. Wanda's frantic worry is quite understandable.
- Mama Bear: Subverted; Wanda tries to protect Bella from the heron, but it turns out that Bella doesn't need any protecting. Not to mention the Logical Weakness in that Wanda when shrunk is smaller than Bella or the heron.
- Only Sane Man: Arnold at first, trying to keep Wanda from going all Leeroy Jenkins while they search for her frog. Soon the whole class gets in on the act, however, when Wanda nearly drowns twice.
- Pokémon Speak: Both Bella and Herman speak this way. And only three years before Pokémon aired in America!
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: After Arnold brings Wanda a towel in Act 3:Arnold: Okay, that's it. We're all in one piece. Time. To. Go!
- Replacement Goldfish: Tim helps make a new robotic frog for Wanda, one that won't jump out of the window.
- Running Gag: At several points in the episode, Liz is resting in her hammock, only for something to shock and/or surprise her so much that she spins out of it.
- Tear Jerker: In-universe; the female producer tears up when watching Wanda's farewell scene with Bella.
