Well, I’ve talked about magical tree houses, but there is another notable children’s book series named after a magical object that sadly, unlike Magic Tree House, isn’t exactly doing terribly well right now.
In case you already know what I’m talking about, yes, I am indeed referring to 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.
The Magic School Bus is a property that is fairly close to me, and it breaks my heart to know that this slip up in an otherwise fantastic franchise has us so split apart like this. I’ve been really wanting to discuss the issue for some time, hoping that I could somehow unite us back together. But the fact of the matter is that this has become a monumental task and there is a lot to say, which is why this post ended up being a three-part post. This first part reflects on some of the history of the franchise prior to the release of Rides Again, and is a reminder of what makes the books and the original television series great.
This is to provide a deeper analysis into the next part, in which I will explain what works and what doesn’t work about Rides Again and why it ultimately fails because of that. 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.
What’s that, Arnold? You don’t want this to be another field trip? Well, hate to break it to you, but it’s indeed going to be some field trip, so without farther ado…to the bus!
Continue reading “Looking Back On The Magic School Bus Franchise”
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