EEEEYUUUGHHH!!!
Is that some kind of rot or what??
That is one rotten orange, Ralphie.
It's so disgusting, it could win the contest!
Ah, the smell of decomposing orange! Deee-lectable!
So, what's my score, Tim?
Do I win the most disgusting, grossest rot contest ever?
Two nose-holds and a faint! Good one, Ralphie!
Woooooo!!
Definitely disgusting.
Let's see...yup, this should do it.
Next!
How about this, Tim?
It fell behind the counter when I was still at my old school.
Phoebe! That banana is so rotten, it's mush!
Score? That's three nose holds! Congratulations!
Next!!
Wait until you see this!
Wanda, what is in there?!?
I don't know, Carlos...
Nobody knows. It's been in the fridge since l was 4.
Just beautiful.
You're not going to...open it, are you?
Of course she is.
Come on, class! Don't you want to see what riproaring rot's inside?
Here goes!
YUCK!!
Score please?
Three faints! Very good, Wanda!
We've got us a winner!
And to congratulate you on winning The Most Disgusting Rot Contest...
I have a little prize.
Oh, Wanda! It's a baby tree!
Ms Frizzle? I really like it and everything,
but...It's not really rotten, is it?
...It's so... alive...
That's right, Keesha! It's very alive and so is rot!
It is??
Well, Wanda, what would you like to do with your prize?
I guess I'd like to plant it... and I know just the spot!
You know that old lot near my house on Decatur?
An excellent place for a new tree!
To the bus! Two by two please!
Now Wanda. You want to put your nice tree in that ugly old lot.
Correct.
But it's filled with lots of dead stuff - rotting logs, tree stumps...
That's the point, Carlos.
We could make that lot beautiful!
Just clear out all that dead stuff...
and plant my lovely green tree!
Think how great this tree will look when it's big.
It could be a little park! And we could call it Wandaworld!
No wait no wait no wait!
Why not do something REALLY cool with it?
What about a theme park?
Yeah, cool!
Theme park!?
Now, wait a minute...
Yes! And the theme could be rot!
WHAT?!?
And we'll call it Rotland!
Yeah!
Interesting notion! Any other thoughts...?
I know! I know! Let's build a restaurant!
Yeah! A fast food joint!
I hate to say this but, restaurants and theme parks mean litter!
Garbage everywhere! Think of the environment!!
So let's build a recycling center!
A what?!?!
Oh no.
That's a great idea, Phoebe!!
No, it's not!
Hey, there's the lot!
Ms Frizzle? I'm going to go out and have a look.
Certainly, Wanda! Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes...!
Whoo-ooo - this is worse than I thought. There's a lot of stuff to get rid of...!
Hey guys...!!
A tunnel of rot!
Specials for vegans!
Junk sculptures!
Hello! Excuse me! I have an announcement!
We need help.
Larry's Log-Away... the log removal service that won't leave you stumped. Perfect!
I can't wait to see their faces when I get this place all clean up!
Hello?
Oh, hi! Is this Larry's Log Away?
You got it.
Great! I have a job for you. We need to get rid of some useless dead logs....
Sure I can do that, where is it?
The lot on Decatur?
Wooo, how about if I come now?
Yeah, that would be just great!!
Listen! The theme park could have a slime ride.
Forget it! This neighborhood needs a restaurant!
We can argue about what to do after the lot is cleared.
HOLD lT!! Why not just leave this place the way it is?
Arnold, why do you always want to leave things alone instead of doing something!
I have this theory that if you leave nature alone, it'll get along just fine.
Forget your theories, Arnold! That rotten log has to go! It's dead!
It's useless! I mean, look at it!
And that, Wanda, is exactly what we shall do!
Seatbelts, everyone!
Wanda - now look what you've done!
The Frizz is going to...
No, no, wait! Ms Frizzle?
You're not going to... We really shouldn't... WE CAN'T!!!
Too late, Wanda. We've shrunk.
Oh no!! Not now!!
What did I do?? What did I do???
But Ms Frizzle, we've got to get out of here...NOW!!
Where are we going?
We're going to find out what rot has to do with life, Wanda!
But do we have to find out now?!
Okay, class! Everyone out!
Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!
Yeah, make mistakes? My speciality...
Wow, a dead log sure looks different when you're no bigger than a bug!
And the bugs look different, too, right Liz?
Wow! Look at that! Rot! Life! Okay, let's go back now!
Lighten up, Wan! Last one up's a centipede...!
No!! Wait!!! Please don't go up there! We've got to gooooooo.....!!!
What's that...RUN!!!
That class, is a chipmunk.
Hide.
Psss, Wanda, where are you?
I'm over here.
Thanks, Ms Frizzle!
Don't mention it, Wanda!
It's another world up here!
The perfect look for Rotland!
But we can't do anything until we take this log away.
So let's get big again and let's get out of here.
Hey, where do you think this goes?
It goes down, Ralphie. OK? Now us, we want to go home.
Single file, class! Our rotten field trip has only just begun!
Not if I have anything to say about it...
Hey, everyone? There's a great log in my backyard!
Why don't we go there for our field trip?
I'll serve cookies and milk.
Wanda, we're here because you pointed to THlS log and said
and I quote Just look at it!, remember?
I took a chance, I made a mistake.
So how do I stop it from getting REALLY messy?
No sign of Larry the Log-Away guy... yet...YlKES!
We really have to get outta here
What's that sound?
Don't worry class, Woodpeckers only eat bugs.
There are hundreds of tunnels down here!
How about a tunnel tour in Rotland?
Great idea, DA! Forget Wandaworld!
Let's build Rotland! And I say we start right away! Let's go
Hey, look at that! It's coming this way, look out!
Well, done class! You found a bessie bug.
One of the animals which made all these tunnels!
Great! Here's the bus! We can go now!
A bessie bus? Now I've seen everything.
This place keeps getting more and more amazing...!
What's this stuff?
Those are part of the mushrooms we saw on the outside of the log.
Some mushrooms grow on dead wood.
Underneath the mushroom caps, a tangle of tiny threads grows throughout the wood.
These threads eat the wood and help digesting the log.
Hey, this thread effect could be good for the haunted house in Rotland...
He's back.
You did say just bugs, right Ms Frizzle?
Yes, Ralphie
That was close!
Who would've known a dead log could be so alive, right, Ms Frizzle?
I'm sorry, but I don't think we should stay in a place
where we might become somebody's lunch menu!
I told you we should've left well enough alone...
And I'm telling you how to get out of here before...
Ms. Frizzle??
Too cool!!! Come on!
No, DA! Let go! WAAlTT!!!
I bet you never thought an ameoboid plasmodium could be so much fun!
A what??
A slime mold!! It's another living thing living off the log!
Think of it DA - The Stunningly Stupendous Super Slime Slide!!
Found exclusively at...
Rotland
No, Carlos. They're naturally in a dead log...
...which is stunningly stupendous just the way it is.
Right!
Wait! What about taking this log away?
Sorry, Wanda. We've changed our minds.
Hey hey!! Carlos, DA! Welcome to the Leave It As It Is Club.
Okay, then - it's settled.
We'll do a restaurant instead. Now let's go!!
What was that?
Hey wait! You are going the wrong way.
It gets worse and worse!
Lunch time, class!!
Awright! Nothing like a rotten log that's catered!
So what'll it be? Log Nuggets? Wood Dumplings!? Pureed Bark?
Um, I hate to be picky, Ms. Frizzle...
but do you have anything in the way of...food??
But the log is food, Ralphie!! That's the beauty of it!
All these creatures use the log for food and energy!
Fine, fine. So let's just get it out of here and open our restaurant, right, Ralphie?
Whoa!! Not only does stuff eat the log, but stuff eats the stuff that eats the log!
Yeah, everywhere you look around here, it's lunch time!!
You know something, Keesha? This place is...
already a restaurant!!
What?!?
Sorry, Wanda. But we don't want to clear it away anymore.
Yes! Two more for the Keep The Log The Way It Is Club!
Okay, so no Rotland, no restaurant.
So let's get big and argue some more!
Why argue? Five out of eight kids say we shouldn't take this log away...
One more chance to get everybody away...Phoebe, Tim.
...Moldering in the Grave...
This reminds me of the mush my banana turned into!
The process of decomposition breaks everything down.
Be it wood, banana or bug.
Phoebe!
Phoebe! Tim! I can honestly say that your recycling center idea
is the best idea ever in the history of the earth.
Really...?
You bet. So please, please tell Ms Frizzle
that you want to get big to recycle this log! Please!!
But it's already being recycled, Wanda...
as food for fungi and bugs...
as a place for moss and lichen to grow...
and as a home for all sorts of creatures!
Okay, okay, but all these creatures leave a lot of litter, don't they?
You know - bug plops! So, the quicker we clear it out --
Wait. The bug plops are being used, too.
Natural recycling!
I'm sorry, but that is gross!
It's not gross, Wanda! It's another addition to decomposition!
Ohhh...I give up!
Okay, it's not gross. It's perfect. I love it.
NOW LET'S JUST GET OUT OF HERE!!
Hey, everyone! Over here!
NOW what?
Look! Beautiful, rich soil!
Perfect for your tree, Wanda...
NOW will you join the Leave It As It Is Club?
I don't believe it...!
Let me explain what the "Leave it As it is Club" is all about
It's all part of the amazing process of decomposition.
If you leave well enough alone, over time...
...many things happen to break down a log.
...and it gets battered by the weather...
...into smaller and smaller pieces until it becomes part of the soil again...
...ready for new things to grow in it!!
This place is fine, just the way it is...
All right! I see it now.
There is absolutely no reason to take this log away.
Except one...
Yeah, Wanda? Which one's that?
Larry.
Who's Larry?
HlM.
Runnnn!!!
LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!!!
This way, class!
What's that?
Stay with your partners!
Wanda, is there something you'd like to tell us?
I'm sorry! Really I am! I didn't know when l called Larry what I know now!
Oh why do I always have to do something when I should just leave well enough alone??
Sometimes action has a certain attraction, Wanda.
And now is one of those times!!!
I've got it!!!
Good idea!
Hey, help!
Put these on! And hurry!!
You have GOT to be joking!
You want us to WEAR these things?
Do you have a better idea...?
Seatbelts, everyone!!
Here we go!
LARRY, LARRY!!
Who's that?
What on earth do you think you're doing, Lawrence??
I...uh...uh...
I'm from The Organization of Log Gremlins, Local 1 19.
You are?
And frankly...
the OLG doesn't like people coming along and unnecessarily shaking things up.
Tell me, Larry. What do you see when you look around here??
Well, I see...a routine rot removal!
Well, look again! See that dead log?
Did you know it's a theme park,
a restaurant, a recycling center and Wandaworld all rotted into one?
You wouldn't believe how many creatures are in there!! And you know what else?
Uh, no... what else?
They are nature's Rot Squad, Larry.
Rot is a wonderful thing, a necessary thing!
Rot is nature recycling itself, creating the new from the old!
Good one, Wanda!
You told him!!
Um...I get it, is there a hidden camera around here someplace?
Come on you guys.
Face it, Lawrence.
Removing this log is an imposition on decomposition.
I...I had no idea rotting logs had such eloquent spokesgremlins.
But... how come I never heard them before?
...I probably shouldn't be operating heavy machinery...
That gremlin idea was a stroke of genius Wanda.
Thanks, Arnold. But I'll tell you something.
From now on, I'm going to leave well enough alone!
Wanda, what should we do? What should we do?? What should we do???
Come on, Arnold...! Everybody back on the bus!
WHAT?!?
Do you two have an particular plans for that odoriferous collection of rot?
Rot is an important part of nature, right?
Right.
And one of its uses is to provide food for other living things... so...
Who's up for a picnic?
YUCK!
But Wanda! Arnold! That's disgusting!
Not if you're my tree!
Yumm, yumm! Compost!
As I also always say, it doesn't have to be delicious to be nutritious!
Is it the magic school bus?
stay tune with us and be a smart kid
Oh, Liz! You can't bring that in here!
Hello! Magic School Bus!
Hi! Are you responsible for that show I just saw on decomposition?
Why do you ask?
Because it was rotten! (laughs)
No kidding!
No, wait! I was kidding! But I've got to tell you, I've seen some rotten things in my time
but they're not always filled with bugs and fungus!
That's because a lot of rot is caused by things too small to see.
We wanted to shrink down to the size of bacteria,
but Arnold wouldn't go.
Is there anything that doesn't rot?
Not if it was once alive.
Plants, animals and bacteria, they all decompose after they die.
Even the rottest eventually rot.
Okay, so tell me this -
there's a fallen log across the street from my house that's been there since last summer.
When's it going to rot?
It's already decomposing, but rot can take a long time... years even!
But it will eventually return to the soil, just like the log in the show.
Like I said, almost everything rot.
Yeah, how come you almost totally ignored one of my favorite creatures?
I did? Which one?
The earthworm!
Funny you should say that.
Earthworms should not be ignored!
Never! Earthworms are very good at eating and plowing and improving soil!
Then that what they should be left to do.
You know I was thinking, what if there were no rot if nothing rotted ever.
Then the soil wouldn't get back the nutrients that plants need to grow.
Most plants will die, and the earth would become barren like a desert.
-And you know what. -What?
There are no such things as log gremlins.
Well, it depends on whom you talk to...
THE END