Arthur

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Hey, DW!

Hey!

Whoa...

Hi!

Today I want to introduce you to a new friend of mine.

Her name is...

Hey, Ladonna Compson here.

Nice to meet you!

Today's show has everything in it.

Adventures, jokes, alligators,

dinosaurs, tigers...

Wait a minute, there are no tigers in this show.

Oh yeah?

What do you call this?

Roar!

A hand puppet?

Well, okay, you got me there.

But there is the world's smartest, most handsome

white rat named General Higgins!

See?

Come to think of it,

there aren't any dinosaurs in this story either.

Are so!

Wanna pinky bet?

Winner gets to wrap up the show.

You're on!

See you at the end of the show.

Don't count on it.

Ow!

Ow!

How do you get such strong pinkies?

Coming!

Bye, Oaksie.

You were the best tree in the whole yard.

Sorry I carved an "L" into you.

Goodbye, rusty rake.

Goodbye, mossy rock.

Goodbye, tree that looks like a scarecrow.

Goodbye, gopher hole.

I get to sit by the window and so does Rapty,

and you have to help me practice my harmonica

because Daddy said so.

Hello, 16-hour drive.

They live right down the block and we want them to like us,

so you better let me do the talking.

Hi, I'm DW,

your four-houses- down-the-block neighbor.

Pleased to meet you.

Do you have a little sister?

I'm Ladonna.

Nice to meet you, too.

No younger sisters, but there's Bud.

He's about your age.

Bud, get down here!

We've got company!

Hi, I'm Arthur.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Thanks!

Is it a cake?

I love cake.

My favorite kind of cake is king cake.

It's got cinnamon and icing and a little baby inside!

Not a real one, of course.

A plastic one.

Once my brother Gussie bit into a slice

and chipped a molar on it.

Cross my heart.

But I've never seen king cake outside Louisiana.

It's a pie.

Rhubarb, I think.

My dad made it.

Smells amazing!

Hey, Mom!

Someone named Arthur and DW just brought us a rhubarb pie.

What's rhubarb anyway?

A root? A berry? A tuber?

I'm sure I'll like it, whatever it is.

My daddy says I'm a garbage disposal with legs.

I eat everything.

Except beets, I can't stand beets.

If I even look at a beet,

my stomach starts jumping like a toad on a pogo stick.

Want to come in and have some sweet tea?

Madison, make some sweet tea!

Well, you gonna come in?

Or we could go outside!

I love exploring in the woods.

Are there any woods to explore around here?

Huh?

Oh, yeah, plenty of them.

But we were on our way to my grandma's.

Maybe later?

Oh, okay, sure.

Well, don't be a stranger, four-houses-down neighbors.

Thanks for the pie.

You talked too much and scared 'em away, didn't you?

What?

No, I didn't.

Did so.

I was spying right over there

and your mouth didn't stop moving once.

You shouldn't spy.

It's against the law.

Well, it was Rapty's idea

so it's only half my fault.

Bad dinosaur!

You're going to jail.

Anyway, they seemed nice.

I hope they did like me.

We're going to need some new friends here.

Don't worry about me.

Everyone likes me because I'm cute, funny

and can make good animal noises.

But you might want to try and be

just a little less...

Ladonna-ish.

Just until they get used to you.

I'd like you to meet your new classmate, Ladonna Compson.

Hey, over here!

I saved you a seat!

You have a really cool accent.

Where are you from?

Louisiana.

"Ladonna."

Is that short for something?

Nope.

Do you play basketball?

We could really use someone your height on our team.

I'm not very good.

Do you like Dark Bunny?

I haven't met him yet.

Is he in our class?

He's a superhero on TV.

Oh, we don't have a TV.

Well, we did have one once,

but we gave it away to the alligator sanctuary.

Alligator sanctuary?

Yeah, it's where they rescue alligators and other lizards

that have been abandoned.

My brother Gussie was working there one summer

and there was this one gator named Penny,

and she was kind of grumpy and no one could figure out why,

but TV really calmed her down, so my daddy...

This is really boring, isn't it?

No way!

Go on, go on!

Well, they put the TV right outside Penny's enclosure.

Turned out that she really liked this one soap opera...

MAN (on TV): I have something to confess to you:

I'm not Sheldon.

You're not?

I'm Shelby, Sheldon's twin.

I should have told you sooner, Karen.

I'm not Karen, I'm Kara.

Karen's my undercover name.

Then Penny had all these alligator babies,

and they really liked the soap, too,

but my younger brother Bud was upset

because we didn't have a TV and everyone else did,

so he made my daddy take it back.

But then Madison was home sick one day

and there was nothing to watch,

so she started watching that soap

and she had it on really loud because her ears were stuffy,

and when it was over,

she discovered that she wasn't alone...

After that, we gave the TV

to the alligator sanctuary for good.

You had a carnivorous reptile in your house?

Brain, it was an alligator.

Haven't you been listening?

Did you keep him?

You know, alligator oil is a fabulous moisturizer.

Ahem!

I believe History follows lunch.