lt all started on a Monday morning, before the first bell.
But it wasn't just any Monday morning.
lt was Earth Day - the day we celebrate taking care of our Earth.
We'd ordered a surprise Earth Day present for Ms Frizzle
from the Rain Forest Rentals catalog, and we were waiting for it to arrive.
Mail order, ha£¡ l call it FAlL order£¡ Ms Frizzle will be here any minute£¡
Meanwhile, Tim was seriously stuck on his essay assignment£º
''What does Earth Day mean to you?''
What does Earth day mean?
Well, to me, Earth Day means...
...thinking about how animals and plants all live together,
like those squirrels and that oak tree.
That's great, Phoebe, but l don't know what that means,
so it can't mean that to me, if you know what l mean.
Hey guys£¡ The present's here£¡
ALL RlGHT£¡ WHOA£¡
lt's Earth Day -- do you know where your teacher is?
Good morning, class£¡
Happy Earth Day, Ms Frizzle£¡
And Happy Earth Day to all of you£¡ Earth Day my favourite holiday£¡£¡
We know£¡
So, here's a little Earth Day present, Ms Frizzle. From us to you£¡
A present? For me? Oh, you shouldn't have£¡
Why, thank you, Liz. ''Congratulations, Ms Frizzle. Ahemm.
You have rented a tree in the rain forest.
You are helping to preseRVe all rain forest plants and animals.''
Ahhh, what a worthwhile gift.
Wait£¡ There's more£¡
Oh my£¡ My very own cocoa tree£¡ How did you know?
We know that cocoa trees make cocoa beans -
and cocoa beans make CHOCOLATE£¡
Oh, my favorite thing on Earth£¡ Whatta day£¡
And listen to this£¡
As a cocoa tree renter,
you are entitled to all the cocoa beans your cocoa tree produces for one year.
And here's your first shipment of cocoa beans£¡
Open it£¡ Open it£¡
Mmmhmmhmm.
That's it????
One measly, shrivelled
Cocoa bean£¡
We've bean HAD£¡
Look there's a note£¡
Due to circumstances beyond my control,
your cocoa tree is temporarily experiencing a cocoa bean shortage.
Signed, lnspector 47.
A temporary cocoa bean shortage?
What's THAT supposed to mean?£¡
lt means no cocoa beans.
But why?? Things don't happen without a reason£¡
Ah, a meaningful point, Tim£¡
l knew that look. l didn't even have to ask - but l did.
Ms. Frizzle, where are you going?
Ah, to the rain forest - where else?
Before the Pledge of Allegiance was pledged we were on our way to the rain forest...
...to untangle the web of mystery that surrounded the missing cocoa beans£¡
WHAHOOOOOO...£¡£¡£¡
Don't worry, guys. According to my sense of truth, justice and the milky way...
...l'll crack the case of the missing cocoa beans, or my name's not--
Detective DA£¡
What's this?£¡ Cool£¡ My own R.F.l. license£¡
What's an R.F.l.?
A Rain Forest lnvestigator. Every continent needs a few.
And a ''Rain Forest Handbook.'' Now l've got everything£¡
Except a partner. Every good detective has a partner.
Dorothy Ann's in charge of the investigation Tim,
and you're in charge of the Big Picture.
The Big Picture?
As big as Earth itself£¡
Before we knew it, we had arrived at the rainforest.
Whoa£¡ lt's wall-to-wall trees down there£¡
lt looks like they're connected to each other£¡
How are we ever going to find Ms Frizzle's tree£¡
As my old parachute instructor used to say,
''Look before you leap and never jump to conclusions.''
On the other hand...Take over Liz£¡
Single file, please.
Before we jumped, l gave everyone a photo of Ms Frizzle's tree.
l knew if we could find her tree - we'd find the cocoa bean thief.
Look how many different kinds of trees there are£¡
And birds and animals£¡
And insects£¡
WA-HOOOOOOOO£¡£¡£¡
Excuse me, guys....have you seen this tree?
ls that a ''no£¡''
Okay, okay£¡ l'm outta here£¡
Oooo what's all this sticky stuff?
Hey Carlos, what's going on?£¡
They weren't expecting visitors£¡ Let's get out of here£¡
Wait£¡ Yum, fruit juice.
Wow, those monkeys are regular juicers for all these ants. Yikes£¡£¡£¡
An anteater£¡
This must be his favorite rain forest restaurANT.
Hey, DA£¡ Look at this£¡
There's more than just cocoa trees in the rain forest...
...there are tons of fruit trees. And if we're looking for suspects..
...what about these guys? Maybe they like cocoa beans, too£¡
l figured Tim was barking up the wrong tree, so l had to set him straight.
Listen, partner, we're looking for this tree and a suspect named lnspector 47£¡ Okay?
Well, yeah, but to get the big picture, maybe we need more info.
DEEE-AAAAA!
We've got a match£¡
There's the Frizz's tree.
lt's your cocoa tree all right, Ms Frizzle.
Oh, it's beautiful£¡ l just want to hug it£¡
Sorry, Ms Frizzle, you can't touch a thing.
According to my Handbook, we've got to dust for fingerprints.
And according to this picture, the tree should be covered with pods - but it's not£¡
There's only flowers, how come?
Hmmm, there's no sign the pods have been picked.
lt's as if the cocoa tree just stopped making them.
No pods - no beans.
But the tree's healthy. Just look at all these flowers.
So what's going on?
HEEEEYYYYYY!HEELLLLP!!!
l knew the rainforest would net some surprises - l just didn't expect to be in the net£¡
Congratulations, DA, looks like this case is all WRAPPED UP.
CARLOS£¡
At last£¡ l 'ave capshured zee cocoa bean theeves£¡
All you've captured is trouble, Mr.
A Rain Forest lnvestigator£¡ Mon Dieu£¡ My, my 'umble apologeezs£¡
Ooof£¡
Oh, pleeze, pleeze do not report me to lnspectaire One. Eef 'e evair found out l--
Wait a minute, who are you?
l am lnspectaire 47£¡ ZlS eez my leetle patch of rain forest£¡
Well ZlS is the tree we rented for Ms Frizzle£¡
Ms Frizelle£¡ Ah, and 'er students£¡ 'Av course£¡
Ah, you 're concairned about zee cocoa bean shortage, no?
Yes£¡
You're not ALONE£¡
Neither is Ms Frizzle's cocoa tree.
lt looks like NONE of these cocoa trees have pods.
Well, zey used to, but for some reason all of zee pods 'ave gone ''pooof£¡''
Zat eez zee bad newz£¡
BUT...zee GOOD newz eez - all zee MUD WALLOWS 'ave alzo gone ''pooof£¡''
Mud wallows?
Oui, patches of filzee MUD filled wiz leetle poolz of disgusting WATAlRE£¡ BLAGH£¡
NOT ONLY ZAT - l 'ave gotten reed of zee 'orrible bugs and zee pesky peccaries£¡
Look lnspector, we didn't come down here to study peccary-free zones.
We came to crack the case of Ms Frizzle's missing cocoa beans.
Une moment£¡ lnspectaire 46£¡
lnspector 46?
Yes, lnspector 46£¡
My neighbaire eez madly jealous of my bug-free, peccary-free, mud-free place of work,
zo he put zee cairse on my cocoa trees£¡
Zat is why zey no longer produce zee cocoa beans£¡
J'accuse, lnspector 46£¡ J'accuse£¡
l wonder if bugs and peccaries could have something
to do with the missing cocoa beans?
Stick to the facts, Tim - just the facts. This is about cocoa beans... period£¡
Hmmm.
But the question still remains,
what would cause healthy cocoa trees to stop making pods?
Hey you guys£¡ Over here£¡
A hummingbird with pollen on its beak£¡ lsn't he cool£¡
Look how he just fits inside the flower.
Where's he going?
Well,
as my cousin Bea always says,
Pollen's gotta travel, for it's wonders to unravel£¡
Okay, so the hummingbird carries pollen from flower to flower...
...pollinating them so they turn into seeds or fruits--
...or bean pods£¡
Maybe the flowers on Ms Frizzle's tree didn't get pollinated£¡
No pollination - no pods - no beans£¡
That's it£¡ This is a case of missing pollen...
...and l'm going to prove it£¡
Sorry, DA, no pollen missing here. This cocoa flower's making plenty of it.
Okay, so l was wrong.
Then suddenly the case opened up like a flower to a bee.
l think it's going to pollinate Ms Frizzle's tree£¡
No way, Arn.
This bee's too big to get into a cocoa tree flower£¡
lf the bee's too big,
then it must be a really TlNY insect
that carries pollen between the flowers of cocoa trees£¡
So where are they?
Faster than you can say ''Earth Day,''
the case of the missing beans had turned into the mystery of the missing insects£¡
And to find the insects - we had to find a cocoa tree with pods£¡
You are now leaving the mud free zone.
Beware of the peccaries, the bugs and the filzee mud£¡
Man, lnspector 47's got a thing about mud.
And l've got a hunch it has something to do with the missing cocoa beans£¡
A connection worth detection, Tim£¡
But Ms Frizzle, what could mud possibly have to do with cocoa beans?
Besides, we're searching for teeny insects£¡
ls it just me or are we about to get down and muddy with a--
PACK OF PECARRlES
WATCH OUT£¡£¡£¡
Whoooooaaaaa...
Just when it looked like our Earth Day investigation was turning into Mud Day Mayhem...
...Ms Frizzle gave us a boost.
Whoooaaa£¡
Now that's what l call springing into action£¡
whoa£¡ Look at all these cocoa trees£¡
And they're loaded with pods£¡
And real live cocoa beans£¡£¡£¡
And where there's a working cocoa tree, we should find our missing insect.
l was right£¡ The flower was getting pollinated by a teeny-weeny insect.
Which, by the way, goes by the name of midge fly.
So, l get it, midge flies carry the pollen...
...from the flower of one cocoa tree to the next.
And the pollinated flowers turn into pods...
...that are filled with cocoa beans...
...that make CHOCOLATE£¡
Get the picture, Tim?
Got it, Ms Frizzle£¡ lt's all in here£¡
Hey, where'd the water come from?
Up there£¡
What's that?
A bromeliad. Need to take a closer look?
Check it out. You're not going to believe it but...
There's a whole world of life going on here£¡
There's a slug drinking water, an iguana taking a bath, a frog laying eggs,
and the eggs hatching into tadpoles.
All in the same plant?
Yeah, it's like they're all part of the same tiny world...
living, eating and hatching in this one little pool of water.
But, unlike these midge flies......it's got nothing to do with our cocoa trees£¡
lf we could get these midges back to Ms Frizzle's tree...our problem's solved£¡
Hold it, DA£¡ What happens when those midges die?
We'll be right back where we started.
Could the picture be a little bigger than you thought, DA?
No way£¡ The solution to this mystery is the midges - l'm sure of it.
But DA, don't you want to know WHY the midges disappeared?
Yeah. Things aren't always what they seem.
Like this bromiliad - it's not just a plant...it's a pond of water, too.
And all things live in water.
Take away the pond - and the slug, the frog,
and the insects would all disappeaRRRRRRRRRR....
TlM£¡
Ugh. What Earth Day means to me...£¡
Welcome to Mudville, Tim£¡
Mudville? This is BUGville£¡ DA, quick£¡ Your magnifying glass£¡
Just as l suspected£¡
A mud wallow for peccaries is ALSO home sweet home...for midge flies£¡
You're right£¡ lt seems that watery mud wallows are the perfect place for laying eggs...
...hatching laRVae...and raising midges£¡
The plot - and the mud - thickens£¡
l told you mud had something to do with it£¡
lnspector 47 got rid of the peccaries - which got rid of the mud wallows -
which got rid of the insects - - which got rid of the cocoa pods -
because the cocoa flowers never got pollinated£¡
Then lnspector 47 is our culprit after all£¡
But HOW did he get rid of the peccaries?
l think he missed a few£¡
PECCARY STAMPEDE£¡
Nothing like a pack of peccaries to place us in a perilous predicament£¡
One thing about going on a field trip with Ms Frizzle...
...we could always count on a hands on experience£¡
Whoaa£¡ Hey£¡
Thank you.
What's going on?
Class pursue those peccaries£¡
Anything in your Handbook about how to stop a stampeding peccary?
l'm looking£¡
You are now entering a mud free zone. You are now ent---
We're back in lnspector f-47's patch of rain forest.
Turn around£¡ Go back£¡
Shoo£¡ Get£¡ Go away£¡
Whoaa£¡
Tim come back£¡
Oh£¡ Look what you've done to my soot£¡
l weell not allow zose filzee animals een my patch of zee rain forest£¡
''Zose filzee animals,'' as you put it,
are just what your cocoa trees need to make cocoa beans£¡
Av course£¡ Eet eez zee PECCARlES who make zee cocoa beans£¡
She eez not only a Rain Forest lnvestigataire - she eez a COMEDlENNE£¡
We'll see who has the last laugh, lnspector£¡
lt was time to prove our theory and wrap up the case of the missing cocoa beans£¡
For your cocoa trees to make pods with beans...
...your cocoa flowers need to get..
...pollinated by midge flies£¡
And midges need watery mud wallows to breed in.
And mud wallows are made by... peccaries£¡
Do you follow me?
Oui...
Then l'll continue.
The peccaries which make the mud wallows left because well... because...the uh...
WHOAAAAA NELLY BELL! Oof!
Nice of you to drop in, Tim£¡
Wait a minute....What's this?
So THAT'S it£¡£¡
What is it?
The peccaries left BECAUSE there was no ground to wallow in BECAUSE YOU,
lNSPECTOR 47, COVERED THE RAlNFOREST FLOOR WlTH ARTlFlClAL TURF£¡
ls this true?
Yez, eet eez true£¡
But 'ow was l to know a leetle Artificial turf would ruin my cocoa treez£¡
That's because you didn't know that you were messing up the BlG PlCTURE£¡
PARDONNEZ-MOl?
Whether's it's the Brosimum tree...
...that feeds the monkey that feeds the ants that feeds the anteater...
...or the tree that gives the Bromeliad plant a lift to the light...
...which then gives animals in the trees a place to drink, to eat, and to breed.
The truth is,
the rain forest is filled with plants and animals that are connected in drillions of ways.
And all the connections in this Big Picture form a web£º the Web of Life£¡
And all plants and animals, including people, squirrels, oak trees, cocoa beans,
peccaries, fish or inspectors are part of the Web.
lt's what Earth Day is all about£¡
All l wanted waz to save on my dry-cleaning beell, and mon dieu,
l 'ave SPOlLED ZEE WEB OF LlFE£¡£¡
lt can happen, lnspector. But, in this case, nothing has been ruined.
lt 'asn't?
No£¡
We can repair the link between peccaries and cocoa beans by returning things
to the way they were...can't we?
l 'ope zo£¡ l will reep up zis filzee artificial turf wiz my bare handz£¡
And so, the mystery was solved.
The artificial turf was history.
Tim found the meaning of Earth Day after he figured out the web of life.
And lnspector 47 begged for a pardon from the peccaries.
Come back, my preetty peccaries£¡ l 'have a beauteeful mud wallow just pour you£¡
Zee web must be restored£¡ Suuuwheee£¡ Suuuwheee£¡
lt was a happy Earth Day after all£¡
Several months later, Ms Frizzle received another shipment from Rainforest Rentals.
ALL RlGHT£¡ YEAH£¡
LOOK AT ALL THOSE COCOA BEANS£¡
There was a note from lnspector 47.
Doo to circumstances beyond my control,
your cocoa tree 'as produced a bumpaire crop uv zee cocoa beans.
YES£¡
Signed, lnspectaire 22.
lnspector 22£¡???
''Thanks to you and your stoodents, l got a promotion.''
CHEERS£¡
Thanks Liz. Now, give me all your sevens.
Hey, hey come back here, l was winning£¡
Hello, Magic School Bus, Producer speaking.
First l want to know what happened to all those cocoa beans.
We're roasting them now.
Roasting them?
Yep. We're making our own chocolate, and roasting the beans is the first step.
Anything else?
Yes - at the beginning of the show you showed some squirrels and an oak tree,
but you never talked about how they're connected.
Good point£¡ The squirrel that buried the acorn was storing food.
But squirrels don't dig up all the acorns they bury.
Oh£¡ So they also plant seeds for new oak trees£¡
Exactly£¡ l'm glad you brought that up.
lt's not only the rain forest which depends on the Web of Life.
Everywhere, even in my backyard, there are relationships like that going on right now£¡
How right you are£¡ Thanks for calling£¡
You're welcome.
Okay Liz, how's the chocolate coming?
Magic School Bus.
How about shedding some light on my midge problem?
And what midge problem might that be?
Well, if there were pools of water up in those Bromeliad plants,
and the midges needed a watery place to breed,
why didn't they just breed in the bromeliads?
Good question£¡ ln real life there are usually more ways for things to happen.
But we wanted to keep it simple.
Well you sure kept it simple AND silly when it came to lnspector 47.
How do you mean?
He was the lamest, most overdone, phony baloney official l've ever seen.
l mean, he was straight out of a cartoon£¡
Could you hold on for a second?
Hello.
l 'eard zat comment£¡
Would you like to talk to the young man?
Absolutement£¡
Aire you calling me a CAR-TOON£¡
Well, that's what you are.
Who would run around the rain forest in a white suit......talking like zis.
l would and l doo£¡ And 'owever you like eet, we are connected by zee web of life£¡
Yeah, well we won't be connected by telephone if l hang up...