Welp, I’ve discussed all the things about The Magic School Bus that make it such a great franchise, but whether or not you want to, let’s face the facts: I have to talk about you-know-what sometime:
For those of you who are freaking out, this is the second part of a three-part post that already explained everything in the first part: I will be discussing the recent soft reboot of the fantastic 1994 PBS Kids Magic School Bus television series, The Magic School Bus Rides Again. And yes, I am very well aware that the critical reception to the show is pretty divisive, and yes, I am on the anti-Rides Again side of what has sadly become a divided fan base.
Some of you may perceive Rides Again as being perfectly fine, and thus, nothing is wrong with The Magic School Bus as a franchise. Others may feel the way I do, and that there are problems with Rides Again and by extension, the franchise as a whole that need to be fixed. That is what this second part is about: what exactly is and isn’t wrong with Rides Again, why Rides Again ultimately doesn’t work and why we all can’t seem to agree on that. I made the first part to hopefully provide a deeper analysis and understanding of this part, by comparing the differences between the quality of the characters, stories, and other aspects in both shows.
After this, the final part will discuss how we even got into this mess in the first place: exactly how Rides Again came to existence, what went wrong during the development of the reboot and the possible options that are next for the franchise to fix its current state. And in doing so, I hope to have succeeded in using Part One to make us realize what gave us this passion to fight, Part Two to make us realize our differences and the things we can agree on to stop fighting each other, and Part Three to make us realize who we should really be fighting. And of course, I’d like to give a heads up to obvious spoilers to the media.
It’s already been quite a field trip that’s about to get crazier (apologies, Arnold). Seriously, even with this post split into three parts, this became my longest post yet, so you’ve been warned. 😉 Anyway, without farther ado…to the bus!
Continue reading “Everything Wrong (And Okay) With The Magic School Bus Rides Again”
Naimoli Children's Books Blog 