♪ Every day when you're walking down the street ♪ ♪ Everybody that you meet has an original point of view ♪ (laughing) ♪ And I say hey ♪ Hey!

♪ What a wonderful kind of day ♪ ♪ If we could learn to work and play ♪ ♪ And get along with each other ♪ ♪ You got to listen to your heart, listen to the beat ♪ ♪ Listen to the rhythm, the rhythm of the street ♪ ♪ Open up your eyes, open up your ears ♪ ♪ Get together and make things better ♪ ♪ By working together ♪ ♪ It's a simple message, and it comes from the heart ♪ ♪ Believe in yourself, for that's the place to start ♪ ♪ And I say hey ♪ Hey!

♪ What a wonderful kind of day ♪ ♪ If we could learn to work and play ♪ ♪ And get along with each other ♪ Hey!

♪ What a wonderful kind of day ♪ Hey!

♪ What a wonderful kind of day ♪ Hey!

Hey, D.W.!

Hey!

Whoa... (crash) ARTHUR: It started out as a perfect spring day.

Life couldn't get any better.

But that was about to change.

(Arthur whistling) Someone's in a good mood.

There's less than one month of school left.

Muffy's already planning her first pool party.

Oh, that reminds me.

How do you know when something bad is coming?

This Friday afternoon, nobody make any plans.

Somehow I knew this couldn't be good.

Why, what's up?

It's... Then she said the three most horrible words in the English language.

D.W.'s Spring Pageant!

Ahh!

ARTHUR: But the pool party's Friday!

Why do I always have to do everything D.W. wants?

That's not fair.

I do things for you all the time.

Like what?

I give you free advice, I let your silly dog lick my feet, I defend you when the Tibbles say you look like a banana...

Mom, can I please skip this one?

Both of you, calm down.

Arthur, you're going to the pageant, and that's final.

But it's going to be so boring!

BINKY: Arthur's going to a pageant.

(laughing) Pageantface, pageantface!

"Pageantface"?

That doesn't even make any sense.

It's all I could think of.

Don't pick on me.

Arthur, it's just a preschool pageant.

How bad can it be?

You wouldn't say that if you'd been through what I've been through.

Like last fall.

♪ We are autumn's pretty leaves, red and yellow ♪ ♪ Orange and brown ♪ ♪ See us falling from the trees ♪ ♪ Falling, falling, falling down.

♪ ARTHUR: I would have given anything for a giant leaf blower.

FRANCINE: You know what I do if it's boring?

I count the ceiling tiles.

468.

I checked twice.

Ooh, that is bad.

Maybe it will be better this time.

After all, they've had all year to practice.

PRESCHOOLERS: ♪ We are spring time's pretty flowers ♪ ♪ See us blossom one by one ♪ ♪ Growing with the April showers... ♪ Wake up now!

That's it.

Stretch your arms.

Arthur was right.

This really is boring.

What was that, D.W.?

What if we tried something exciting?

Well, what did you have in mind?

Um...

I know!

What if in the middle of the song there comes a giant spider?

And everyone goes, "Ahh!

A spider!"

Come on, people.

That's good.

There isn't really going to be a spider, is there?

No, of course not.

Unless we use the one... behind you!

(screaming) STUDENT: Eek, a spider!

D.W., you shouldn't do things that scare the other kids.

It's not my fault everyone wants the pageant to be boring.

See, she admits it!

Arthur...

I'm sure it's not boring.

You should have seen my preschool pageant.

We sang this old song called "Springtime Flowers."

Everyone dressed like flowers.

It was awful-- awful.

Boring, unbearable.

Awful.

That's what we're doing.

Uh, I'll do the dishes.

Well, if they won't fix it, I will.

What are you going to do?

Hmph!

Wouldn't you like to know?!

Think, Nadine!

Think!

It has to be something exciting, but I want the audience to be moved, too.

(Pal barking) ARTHUR: Shh, Pal, be quiet!

Quit spying on me.

Me?

I wasn't.

Well, okay, I was.

But you're not planning on anything that's going to embarrass me, are you?

I hate to break this to you, but not everything is about you, Arthur Read.

ARTHUR: Well, that's a relief.

Hmm... Have you decided how you'll improve the pageant?

Mm-hmm.

I'm going to say a poem.

About what?

Mom, Arthur's being nosy!

MOM: It's okay, you can keep it a secret.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be wonderful.

It's going to be a two-person poem.

I'm going to ask Emily to do it with me.

ARTHUR: She's up to something.

I can tell.

Stop worrying.

And anyway, I've decided.

My pool party won't start till after the pageant.

The preschool is on the way to Muffy's.

I'll pick you up.

She's planning something.

I just know it.

She's too happy.

Too happy?

If she's planning to drive him crazy, it's working.

♪ We are springtime's pretty flowers ♪ ♪ See us blossom one by one... ♪ Still 468.

Shh.

(applause) Thank you.

And now D.W. Read will recite a poem that she wrote.

(whispering) It appears that D.W. won't be reciting her poem.

So, we'll go right to intermission.

Mom and Dad said I could leave now.

D.W. dropped out.

It's just the other kids after this.

Cool, let's go.

Uh, hang on.

Why didn't you do your poem?

I couldn't get anyone to do it with me.

Big deal.

Do it by yourself.

It's a two-person poem, Arthur Read.

If you knew anything about poetry, you'd know you can't do a two-person poem with only one person.

Oh.

Ready?

Yeah, okay.

(sighs) One sec.

(sighs) Nobody else in the whole class would do it with you?

That's really mean.

You coming?

Hang on.

Look, D.W., if you really, really need another person to do your poem... Arthur, you're the best brother ever!

Come on.

Go ahead, I'll meet you at Muffy's.

What, and miss this?

No way.

D.W.: It's simple.

When it starts, you just stand there.

Then... (loud whistle) We got your call.

What's the big emergency?

I just thought you'd want to see something on the way to the party.

For our final performance, a poem by D.W. Read.

(applause) (quietly): No way!

I'm not doing this!

"My Best Friend," a poem by D.W. Read.

(clears throat) (sighs) My best friend lives in my house.

He isn't a lion and he isn't a mouse.

He's a chimpanzee.

And he goes... Ah-ah, ee-ee, oo-oo.

Louder!

Ah-ah, ee-ee, oo-oo.

You have to act like a chimpanzee.

Ah-ah oo-oo oo-oo!

(audience laughing) He climbs on furniture and hangs on lamps.

And when he's happy, he does a silly dance.

Oo-oo ah-ah ee-ee!

(laughing) Oo-oo ah-ah ee-ee!

(giggling) He walks on his hands and sleeps in a drawer.

My best friend is a chimpanzee, but he never is a bore.

The end.

(cheering) See, that wasn't so bad.

Go, Arthur!

Yay, chimp!

MOM: Have fun at your party.

Congratulations!

Or as they say in chimpanzee, "Oo-oo, ah-ah!"

Hey, come on!

Arthur's not the only talented one, you know.

I only did it because her friends all told her no.

Can I have your autograph?

Me too!

That was funny!

EMILY: The Tibbles want one.

They're jealous.

They want to be chimpanzees too.

Well, I guess you're all wishing you had said yes when D.W. asked you.

Asked us what?

To be the... (gasps) I don't believe it!

(laughing) She got you!

D.W.!

(laughing) Okay, ha-ha, very funny.

You can stop laughing now.

So she never really asked anyone else to be the chimp?

I guess you shouldn't have told her it would be boring.

I'll get her back.

You wait.

We'll see who's the chimp.

FRANCINE: Admit it, Arthur.

You'll never win.

D.W.'s too smart.

ARTHUR: I guess it was pretty funny.

BINKY: Do it again.

Be a chimpanzee.

No... Come on, be a chimp!

No way!

Okay, then I will.

Oo-oo, ah-ah!

(all join in) Oo-oo, ah-ah!

And noa word from us kids!

Hi, my name is Sloane.

I'm in Miss Morrell's second grade class.

Today, we're going to write some poems, and we're going to write those poems with our friends.

We're writing poems about friendship and what makes a good friend.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I think I want to be an oceanographer.

Me too!

Let's write that.

Our poem's about friendship and how we're different and the same.

We are writing poems for two or three voices, and then we are going to act them out.

Our poem is about friends, and we're going to be friends till we're old ladies.

Friends will never, ever not be friends, even when they're old ladies!

We're old ladies!

Our poem is about free hugs.

First, we wrote the poems, then we added the motions for the performance.

We are still trying to practice our motions for our performance.

People sometimes read poetry in coffee houses.

We got a hot cocoa house.

After we rehearsed the poems, we got ready to perform them.

Hugs make people feel warm, warm like hot cocoa on a rainy day.

Wahoo!

Giving hugs is awesome, like a dancing unicorn lollipop.

(applause) When I had my tonsils out, Owen came to visit me with bowls of ice cream.

There's no friendship as awesome as this.

(applause) Friends will never, ever not be friends, even when they're old ladies!

(laughing) (applause) Write a poem and act it out!

(snapping fingers) And now, back to Arthur!

D.W.: It's here!

It's here, it's here!

Kids have it easy today.

They don't need to use their imagination.

Back when my Dad was a kid, he played something called "flashlight tag."

Were you supposed to tag the flashlight?

Or was the flashlight supposed to tag you?

And in my Grandma's day, they used to play something called "kick the can."

Now what?

An old soup can.

That was her toy.

You have to come over right now.

My new play-set is here!

And when I was a kid, you had to go to the park to play on the jungle gym.

Now it comes to you.

Yep, kids sure have it easy.

(gasps) DAD: Well, this looks... easy.

I think you have the instructions upside down.

Oh, that's better.

Sort of.

It's called the New Fün Stüff Turvallisuus.

It's the best play-set in the entire world.

We're going to have that much fun.

BUD: I didn't know it was possible to have that much fun.

Me neither!

Hmm.

I wonder what's taking so long?

Is it ready yet?

It's going to take a little while.

There are lots of pieces to put together.

You'll just have to be patient, sweetie.

Okay.

I can be patient.

Now what is this?

I can't find it in the parts guide.

Is it ready yet?

D.W...

But I've been waiting years and years for this new play-set!

You saw it in an ad three weeks ago.

Where's Arthur?

Why isn't he helping?

If he got a Turvallisuus, I'd be helping him.

I'm right here.

And I am helping.

I made lemonade.

Of course you'd be thinking of your belly at a time like this.

DAD: Oh, that reminds me.

I took some cupcakes out of the oven.

Would you mind icing them for me?

Why don't you play with Bud and Emily to pass the time?

Hmph!

"Be patient, D.W." "You have to wait, D.W." What do parents have against the word "now"?

EMILY: It's ginormous!

(sniffing) And it smells so cardboardy.

Guys, it's just a box.

You know what happens with boxes?

You fall in love with them, and then they get recycled.

Yeah, but until then, it could be a covered wagon.

Or a space covered wagon for moon settlers.

Okay, but there has to be a spinning wheel and the monsters can't be too scary.

Deal.

Boring.

You can be the captain.

(sigh) Well, someone has to do it.

Captain, we're approaching the moon.

How about we set up camp right here, next to the Desert of Readyardica?

Sounds good.

Set her down gently, Officer Bud.

Got everything we need to set up camp, Officer Emily?

Spinning wheel, tin cups, tea, marshmallows... Aye-aye, Cap'n.

Let's do this.

(roaring) (kids screaming) Watch out!

Don't let it in!

(barking playfully) (roaring) It's a Giant Moon Hamster!

Whatever you do, don't let it lick you!

Its drool is like lava!

You promised the monsters wouldn't be too scary.

Don't worry, Officer Em.

I know how to take care of Moon Hamsters.

You just have to distract them.

(ball beeping rapidly) C'mon!

Now's our chance!

(whimpering) The cupcakes are ready!

Looks like Moon Hamsters aren't the only creatures here.

What's that?

It's a Giant Brobot!

Derp, flen, glen... D.W.: We'll have to avoid him at all costs!

Fortunately, Brobots aren't very bright, so it shouldn't be that hard.

EMILY: What's he carrying?

D.W.: Super Ziloonian Crystals!

Really?

They look a lot like cupcakes.

Yeah, I'm seeing cupcakes, too.

Well, you're both seeing wrong, because they're Super Ziloonian Crystals, and I'm the captain, so that's that.

Okay.

Can we eat Super Ziloonian Crystals?

I hear they're delicious.

No!

Only if we bring them back to the ship and de-Arthurize them.

That will make them safe to eat.

Great!

Let's go get 'em!

Wait.

We need a plan.

Here's what we'll do... EMILY: Hey, look what I can do!

Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha.

Hurry, Officer Bud!

The Brobots have very short attention spans!

Almost there!

(grunting) (loud banging) I wonder what they're building.

Got it!

Captain D.W.?

Where'd you go?

Mm!

Scrumptious, moist Ziloonian Crystals...

I'm sure just one wouldn't kill me.

Might be a clue.

Bud!

No!

Those crystals aren't safe!

Gah!

Derp, flen, glen!

I... Like... Bionic Bunny...

I can't distract the Brobot anymore.

(gasps) What's wrong with Bud?

He has advanced Arthuritis!

We have to get him back to the ship.

Thank goodness I brought this red wagon.

(weakly): Here's my homework, Mr. Ratburn... Grr!

Hey, what are all the cupcakes doing down there?

We couldn't reach them.

Run!

Grr!

My crystals!

(roaring) (grunting) Go fetch, you giant hairball!

(roaring) (electrical buzzing) Nice to have you back, Officer Bud.

Whew!

That was horrible!

But so worth it.

Hey, you've had yours.

Captain, I've been running some tests on the strange object you found.

It's called a floogle, and it's a key part of an alien spaceship.

So that thing the Brobots are building is a spaceship.

Where are they headed?

Isn't it obvious?

They're going to fly to Earth with their delicious Ziloonian crystals and give everyone Arthuritis.

(gasps) We have to stop them!

BUD: Wait!

I have to go to the bathroom.

What?

Come on!

Right now?

Sorry, nature calls.

I'm using an official time-out.

This is the best box ever!

If it had a bathroom, I'd live in it.

D.W., you'll be happy to know that we're almost finished.

Oh, okay.

No need to rush.

Two hours ago, it was "I need it now!"

Now there's no need to rush.

I think something is supposed to go right here.

Hmm...

It's probably something just for decoration.

I say we're done.

I'll start cleaning up.

So we'll fly back to Earth and warn everyone, and then... No!

Wait, stop!

You're destroying it!

What?

Dad said to fold it up for the recycling.

See?

I told you!

Big empty boxes break your heart.

MOM: Oh, D.W... Ta-da!

I don't want to play on that.

I want to play with the box!

D.W., we spent a lot of time building this, so I suggest you rethink your attitude here.

Why don't you give the play-set a try?

(bored): Whee.

I think it's time for a coffee break.

I'll join you.

Well, there goes our ship.

How will we ever get back to Earth?

D.W.: We won't.

We're stuck on the boring old moon forever.

Wait!

What if we took the Brobot's spaceship?

That's a great idea!

And you have the missing piece!

The floogle.

Come on, Captain, what do you say?

Shall we try it?

I guess it's worth a shot.

Yay!

All right!

But we're not going back home.

We're going to Mars.

EMILY: Too bad I lost my spinning wheel.

Maybe there'll be one in the new ship.

D.W.: Probably.

Brobots love to knit.

BUD: Will there be Ziloonian Crystals on Mars?

I'm starving!

See?

I told you she'd come around.

I still say we get her empty boxes for Christmas.

BUSTER: To watch more Arthur and play games with all the Elwood City friends, visit pbskids.org.

You can find Arthur books and lots of other books too at your local library.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org