It was a day like any other day...
Okay kids...Supper!....Mmmmmm...Those look wonderful darling!!
UHHHHHHHHHH!!!
A praying mantis!
It's not the Mantis who should be praying - it's the mom and dad!
That bug is sooo bogus! No way I'd be scared!
According to my research, "Stand By Your Mantis" came out in 1 953.
Yeah, and the critics probably said 'get the exterminator'!
You know, Liz. This is my idea of a field trip!
That is totally unrealistic! You don't catch an insect by blindfolding it!
And besides, there's no such thing as a fifty foot Praying Mantis.
And even if there were, you could TRAP lT, instead of trying to destroy it...
What's the matter, Carlos? Not into insects?
They're not my favorite thing in the world, okay?
And what I really hate are...SPlllllllllDERS!
Ahhhhhh!
Wait! Wait!! Spiders aren't insects you know. they have eight legs...
...and insects only have six.
Here,... I'll show ya. Got'cha!
See, it's an orb spider.
Yuck! Just because YOU love spiders doesn't mean everyone does!
Hey, Carlos, I thought you weren't scared of anythi....
...YlKES!!
WHAT lS THAT??!?!?!
Is it just me or is it...
...MS FRlZZLE!
Popcorn, anyone?
Shhhhh, look! The giant mantis is back!
Honey, we just can't afford a skylight right now.
Never mind!
Awesome!
This is General Araneus. Let's get this son of a bug! Prepare Operation Bug Spray!
FlRE!
Eeeeeeuuuu! Yuck! Disgusting!
Hurrah!
I Guess that didn't work.
That was mean! Surely there's a better way to catch a Praying Mantis than that!
There is no better way! And don't call me Shirley!
HUH?!?
If I were in that movie - I'd trap the mantis, take it somewhere safe and let it go.
You'd trap it...? Sounds like a plan to me.
Wait a minute! I thought COMlNG to this movie was our field trip?!
Correctamundo!!
All set everyone?
WA-HOOOOOOOO!!!
Where are we going, Ms Frizzle?
Next stop, the silver scree-ee-een!
Now THlS is what I call a Drive-ln Movie!
Hey!
This is the same street the Mantis was on!
...And here's a piece of the blindfold!
We're in the movie?
We're in the movie!
Then we've got to find General Araneus!
According to my Film Guide,
the first place we should look is the Military Command Center.
As command centers go, mine was pretty rare. Make that medium rare.
Nevertheless,
it was the nerve center of Operation-Wash -That-Mantis-Right-Out-Of-My-Hair...
"and send it on its way!"
General?
Call it instinct, call it sixth sense...
...call it woman's intuition--
General, where are you?
General Whereareu has been reassigned. I'm in control here!
You can't kill the Praying Mantis!
Don't be so negative. I'll get it.
What's going on? Hey!...What's happening?!
AHHHHHHHHHH!
Calm down, Mantis, you know you don't really want to hurt anyone...
I guess it wanted onions on that burger...
Whoa!!!
Oh bad, oh bad, oh bad bad bad!
Do something, Phoebe!
Yeah, Feeb, start trapping!!!
Well, uh...anyone have a fifty foot plastic cup?
Phoebe! Come on! You said you knew how to trap the Mantis!
I think what we need is a professional bug trapper!
Well, as I always say, 'look to Mother Nature for the best of everything'!
Good idea! Where is she? Mom?
AHHHHHHHHH!
TO THE BUS!
I hate to do this, madam, but I'm commandeering this bus!
Yes, sir!
Now, how do we start this thing?
Does Military lntelligence know about this bus?...What does this button do?
Oh, I wouldn't press that button, General, if l were you.
How about this one?
Uh-uh...
Then what about this one?
Well...
WAAAAA.....
HOOOOOO...!!!
AAAAH!
I think we're falling out of the movie!
OOF! OUCH! OW!
Oh, no! Liz and the Bus are trapped in the movie!
They're not the only ones who are trapped!
SO ARE WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
What are we going to do?! What are we going to do?! What are we going to do?!
Get us out of here!!!
This stuff is all sticky!
These lines down here aren't sticky...but they sure are strong!...UHH!
Come on, Carlos, give us a hand.
I know what makes a web like this...a spider!
Ms Frizzle? I thought we were going to find a professional trapper - not a trap!
Where is Ms Frizzle, anyway?
Here I am, class.
Y'know, where I come from,
the best way to tap into a trapper is to get wrapped in her trap!
If that fly isn't careful, it's gonna get wrapped in a trap, too!...Shoo, fly!
Doesn't it see the web?
No, it doesn't. It's headed right for it!!
Whoa! That fly never knew the web was there!
That's because the web is nearly invisible!
Bet that fly wishes he had stayed home today.
AR-NOLD!
I wonder where this line goes.
I wouldn't tug on that, Keesha!
SPlDER!
An Orb Spider, actually. You pulled on its signal line and told it dinner was ready.
Trapper trick number 1 : Stay out of sight till your meal is stuck tight!
You mean spiders are the professional trappers...?
I don't want to be spider food! Help!!!
I'll cut some of these anchor lines!
WHOOAAAAAA...!!!
Oof
Phew! That spider came out of nowhere!
Pretty amazing, if you ask me. It has a built-in fly alarm!
And some web lines that aren't sticky
so the spider doesn't get zapped by its own trap.
As my old trapper friend Jean Paul Labyrinth used to say:
The spider that snares the best, fares the best.
This is your General speaking!
I'm inside some sort of magical school bus, headed for our top secret location.
Prepare Operation Swat!
Come on! We've got to get back to the movie and save Liz!
What's Liz doing?
That button will get us back in again.
Come on! You can do it! Hit the button!
All I need to get that overblown bug is a little BAlT!
What does he mean by 'bait'?
What kind of bait?
Preying Mantis bait!
LlllllllZ...!!!
What is that thing?
It's only a centipede.
Ahhhh!
Only a centipede?!? That's like saying, "Oh, it's only Godzilla..."!
Wow! That centipede didn't have a chance!
A spider in hiding!! Another trapping technique!
Look!...There's some kind of trap door hidden here!
Which could be why the critter who made it is called a Trap Door spider!
I get it! The trap door spider hides inside here until something juicy comes along.
Then she opens the door and...GOTCHA!
Eeek! Carlos!
According to my research, you're never more than three feet away from a spider.
Yikes!!
Aaaah!
We keep running into spiders! They're everywhere!!!
But don't you see, Arnold? Spiders are trappers!
The best in the business!
BEETLE AT SlX O'CLOCK!
LOOK OUT, SPlDER!
The spider won't let him in!
I wouldn't let him in either!
AAAHHH!
Uh oh! RUN!
Wahoo!
Quick! Over here!...Nobody's home!
This sure is a nice, safe place to hide.
That's right, Wanda! Trapper Trick Number 2:
The trapper that knows when to run and hide, lives to trap another day!
All clear!
Hello, Ashley's Bait Shop?
What does a fifty foot Praying Mantis eat?...Anything she wants.
Everyone's a comedian!
Liz!
We've got to get back in the movie!
Let's go - we've got a bus to catch!
...And a lizard to save!
Whoop! Eeeee!
Now this is what I'd call an all-encompassing experience. Oh, CLASSSS!
Oooooh! That tickles!
MS FRlZZLE!
Say hello to the Dinopis spider - trapper extraordinaire!
She doesn't wait for the food to come to her trap - she takes her trap to the food!
Oh look! I've been invited to dinner!
You mean you're going to be dinner!
Not if we have anything to say about it!
Okay, Dinopis, just let go of Ms Frizzle.
Ooooof!
Thank you.
Oh Well,
I guess we'll just have to study how a trapper eats what she's trapped some day!
Well, well. What do we have here!?
...A lizard!...Or should I say...
Praying Mantis Bait?!
Oh no, Araneus has got Liz!!
We've got to get back in there and trap that General. Prepare Operation Spider!
Oh Liz! get us in please. Push the button!
WHOA-OAAA-OAAAA... oof!!
What was that!?
YOU AGAlN???
Yipe!
Oof!
Where'd my bait go?
Hang on, Liz! I'm making a web and I'm gonna to trap that general!
AH-HA!
There she is!
Wait a second! I'm almost finished! Oh, Rats!
Sorry we can't stick around, kids.
We've got places to go - mantises to feed!
You can't take Liz!
Come back!
Oof!
Spinning a web is harder than it looks...
Take me to the park - and step on it!
LllllllllllZ...!!!
We've got to get to that park before the Praying Mantis does!
Don't feel bad, Phoebe. Only a giant spider could trap that General...
Yes!! Arnold, you're a genius! Isn't he, Ms Frizzle?
His idea certainly has legs!
But uh...I was just kidding.
Come on, Bus - do your stuff!!
I WAS JUST KlDDlNG!
Eight legs?
Check!
Spider silk spinners?
Check!
Buckle up, class! Trapping season has just begun!
That Mantis is a killer, son. 'Dangerous' is its middle name.
Praying Dangerous Mantis.
I think it's Latin!...TO THE PARK!
Here he comes!
The trap worked!
Not exactly. The General wasn't in the car!
Okay, okay, what did we learn from this?
Never order mushroom and anchovies on the same pizza.
CAR-LOS!
What we learned is - for prey on the ground use a trap on the ground...
...except our prey wasn't on the ground...
Is it just me or is that the General up there?
And Liz!
For prey in the air, use a trap in the air...
A spiderweb!
Prepare Operation Orb Spiderbus!
Let the spinnerets fly!
At my old school, the Bus never made a web.
I think I'm going to be sick!
There's no time to be sick! We've got to be ready for the General.
Begin the radial spokes!
Whoaa! Hang on! Spin that web!!
There it is!
Get your lizard, here!
Red hot lizard!
Hurry up Ms Frizzle! He's coming this way!
Switching spinnerets! Get ready for the sticky stuff!
Web almost complete!
And just in time!
Here comes the General!
Hit the signal line!
Lizard here! Get it now...get it free!
What the...is that a spiderweb
Whaaa!!
GOT'CHA!
Bet you'd hate to be in my shoes, huh, kids? Me, too!
Oh no! The General's getting away again!
Forget the general! Our only chance to save Liz now is to stop the Mantis!
But the Mantis is too big for a trap door!
And we can't wait for it to fly into our web!
"Someone's in the kitchen with din-o...
someone's in the kitchen with di-no-pi-is..."
That's it! Take the trap to the Mantis! Prepare for Operation Trapper Extraordinaire!
I think she's got it!
I'm gonna get that creature...ow! ooch! ow! If it's the last thing I do!
Ooch! ow! Ooch!
Don't go away pal!
Welcome to your new and FlNAL destination, Lizzie!
Step right up and get your free lizard! No waiting! No refunds!
The lizard's all yours, big boy!
This isn't going to be pretty.
What...No, no, no...!
NOW!
We got it!!
More silk!
I hereby declare this mantis TRAPPED!
You guys get Liz! We'll take care of the General.
Careful, Liz...easy...that's it.
HALT! I order you to return my bait this instant.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Sorry, General, Liz belongs with us.
...I...WANT...MY...BAlT!
But here's something you can have.
You knew this would happen, didn't you?
Another happy ending! Good work, class!...Hit it, Liz!
You're safe, now, my little friend.
No more getting giant, understand?
Our work here is done. We can go home, now.
I tell you, that was one of the best field trips ever!
So I guess you don't hate spiders anymore, huh, Carlos?
No way!
I mean, the way they use traps so they stay safe while they catch their prey
it's too much!
Well, as my great uncle Arachnid used to say,
"There's nothing like a spider to teach you everything you need to know."
Magic School Bus - producer speaking.
Are those giant bugs in the movies real?
Actually, the bugs ARE real - they just aren't giants.
Movie magic just makes them look big by putting a regular size bug into
a tiny toy town and shooting close in.
Any more questions?
I've got some!
You!
My agent told me this show was supposed to be about spiders -
ALL spiders, but you just showed three!
We uh...we focused on the Orb, Trap Door and Dinopis spiders
because the kinds of traps they make were important to the story.
Understood, but there are more than a hundred thousand different kinds of spiders
and hundreds of ways they hunt and trap.
In fact, although most spiders make silk, only some of them spin webs.
We know that -
and we showed as much as we could while still giving YOU
as much screen time as possible.
Then what about the ending?!
What about it? We wanted to show that spiders are skilled at trapping insects.
Yes, but you stopped one step short. Spiders prey on other insects.
You know what that means? That means they EAT THEM!
Well...of course...spiders have to eat, too, you know.
I know. And they're pest control specialists!
They keep flies and gnats from becoming a problem.
I heard of one spider who lures bugs with a sweet perfume -
then lassos them like a cowboy!
But spinning a web can take hours - you had it happening in minutes!
Well, we could've taken more time on the webs,
but that would've meant cutting back YOUR role.
Cutting back MY role?...I...I think you made the right decision.
In fact, the show was great.
My wife and kids are big fans...
That time you went inside Ralphie? We still talk about it. Keep up the good work..
..Ciao!
Forget the web, Liz...You need to work on your timing!