Buster's Back/The Ballad of Buster Baxter Arthur

# Every day you walk down the street Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart Listen to the beat

# Listen to the rhythm of the street

# 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

# We can learn to work and play And get along with each other

# What a wonderful kind of day - hey! What a wonderful kind of day - HEY! #

Hey! DW!

-Hey!

-Wooaah!

Mission Control to Explorer 17. Mission Control to Explorer 17.

-'This is Explorer 17. Hi, Arthur.'

-Hi, Buster. How was Jupiter?

Gaseous. I'll show you my pictures.

Show me at the Sugar Bowl - just like old times.

CROWD CHEERS

Hi, Buster. Welcome back. I have our bikes here ready to go.

It's great to come home to my little town.

-Aggh!

-Wow! This town's changed.

No, it's the same. Y-Y-You've changed.

You think it's those cosmic rays?

I don't think this will be just like old times.

No...no...no.

Come on, Kate, eat your breakfast.

I had a nightmare. Buster went into outer space and came back changed.

-Who's Bumster?

-Mum, make her stop. She knows who Buster is.

More eating and less arguing, please. I'm trying to make fried liver paste.

-Yuck! PHONE RINGS

-I got it!

Hello?

Yeah.

Yeah!

YEAH!

Arthur, are you OK?

'Arthur? Hello? ..Hello?'

Buster's coming home! He's coming home today!

I've never seen him so happy.

Buster must be bringing dessert.

What?!

Wah-hoo!

Buster's...

coming...

home!

Buster's coming home!

-What?!

-Strike three!

What?!

Buster pointing at a building?

Buster's...coming...home!

Hello? Arthur? Hello? Are you there?

Buster's coming home!

-Make sure there's plenty of food cos Buster eats a lot.

-I know, I know.

Buster'll love this cake. How many kids get to eat their own face?

What are you hiding from now?

I want Buster's exciting, cool game, so we can play it when he gets here.

Got it!

Chequers? Chequers is your exciting, cool game?!

I don't even hear you! # Hm-hm-hm! #

-He might not like it or want to be your friend any more.

-# HM-HM-HM! #

-He's been over the world and you've been in your room.

-# HM-HM-HM!

# HM-HM-HM-HM-HM-HM! #

Think he won't wanna be friends cos I'm not as exciting as Wisconsin?

My cousin went to Kentucky one summer and came back with an accent.

-It's like she came back a different person.

-Ahh!

Pip-pip! Tally-ho. Crumpets.

People change when they add to their knowledge.

Would you wanna play with baby toys?

No.

-SCREECH OF TYRES

-Buongiorno, Arthuro.

Arrivederci, Arthuro.

Hi!

Er...bye.

Look at this logically. Let's check your horoscope.

"You will change jobs."

-I don't have a job!

-How about Buster's, then?

-"Big changes in store."

-Aggh!

-"You feel like a new person."

Oh, no!

HE SPEAKS ORIENTAL LANGUAGE

DONKEY BRAYS

-Howdy!

-Aggh!

-Howdy, howdy, howdy!

Yep!

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

No time for chequers. We're training for the Grand Nationals.

Whoa!

This can't happen, can it? Can Buster have changed that much?

He's done new, exciting things, but I did stuff that was just as good.

The Origin Of Bionic Bunny. Now I've seen it an even 100 times.

Wow!

What if Buster thinks I'm boring?

I called the airport. Buster's plane will arrive in two hours.

I only have two hours to get ready for the new Buster!

A book on mountain climbing, Rome, China, Wisconsin...

I forgot the Sahara Desert.

Thank you, Miss Turner.

-China...

-HE MUTTERS TO HIMSELF

-The Alps...

-MUTTERS AGAIN

-Antarctic penguins...

-MUTTERING

Oh, no!

Time's up. Buster's home right now!

'Could be another world record for the champ.

'In the all-Canada knitting finals, he knitted a flag and 12 tube socks

'in under 50 minutes.

-'Looks like trouble. The champ has just jabbed himself.

-I see blood.

-'If the garment is stained, he loses big points.'

-Mum!

-Did Buster call?

-No, honey.

CHEERING ON TV

I hope I know enough stuff now. I'm too nervous to read any more.

He's not going to call. DW was right.

He doesn't want to talk to me any more.

Arthur? ARTHUR SNIFFS

Buster will call as soon as he can.

Yeah, right, sure, whatever.

DOOR CLOSES

-Let's play chequers!

-Chequers?!

I will not fritter away valuable time on such triviality.

If that's your idea of an exciting game, perhaps you need a new friend.

-I

-went around the whole wide world, you know.

-Hmm!

-Aren't you playing an exciting game of chequers with Bus-Stop?!

-Buster!

I have other friends. If he doesn't come over, fine! I don't need him.

I've Brain and Francine and Muffy.

Like going abroad makes you a big man! How interesting can ruins be?

-Oh, it was really interesting. Hi.

-Hi.

-Hi, Bus-Stop!

-Hi, PW!

-You're silly!

-I was just... organising your photos.

Are you organising used tissues and old gum too?

-Go away!

-I brought some stuff for you. It's downstairs.

-Presents!

-Did you see the famous white cliffs of Dover in England?

Sure. They were white all right.

Wow! Is this what doctors give shots with in another country?

-No, that's...

-That's the famous Eiffel Tower.

-It's 980 feet tall, right?

-I guess. I rode on a double-decker in London.

-They call a truck a lorry and the trunk's the boot, right?

-I think so.

There was one really exciting thing I wanted to do while I was away...

Climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, 8,846 metres?

-No. Something exciting.

-Walk on the Great Wall Of China, in...China?

-No, I...

-Ride a mule down the Grand Canyon, a gorge in NW Arizona,

-cut by the Colorado River?

-No, no. Something exciting.

I wanted to play chequers with you, just like old times.

Really?!

I would have come over before, but I fell asleep and Mom didn't wake me.

-I thought you didn't feel like coming over.

-What, and miss this?

-Did you read all those?

-I just started.

-I can believe you think chequers is exciting!

-Yeah.

You sure you went around the whole wide world?

It was exciting before I went.

What'd you think, DW - he was going to be different now?

You know, it was worth coming back just for this.

-Oh!

-Yey!

-I'm glad you still like chequers.

-I was afraid you might have changed.

-You want some cake?

-My dad made it.

-Only if we can play another game of chequers after that.

Sure.

# This is the story about the face on the cake

# It belongs to Buster Baxter

# Baby boy bunny Buster Baxter was born eight years ago

# At first all he did was cry and eat And eat and eat and grow

# Eat and grow, that's all he did

# He met Arthur They became friends

# It was an historic day!

# They always had lots of fun They liked to read and play

# Then one day Buster found out he was gonna go

-# Gonna go, bye-bye

-Goodbye, Arthur!

# He went around the world a couple of times

# We thought he'd left the show

# Buster Baxter went away then he came back

# Buster Baxter This is what he found... #

It looks just like I never left.

Hey!

Great cake. I'm the only kid I know who got to eat his own face!

-That's exactly what I said!

-It sure feels good to be back.

I was afraid things would change.

Hey, Buster! Glad you're back. I brought the scoreboard, Arthur.

We started a chequer championship. Best of 5,000 games. It's a tie.

-We're scheduled to finish today.

-Oh, I forgot.

-Go ahead. I'll watch.

-There's only...70 games left.

-But there must be a way we can all play.

# Arthur didn't wanna leave Buster out, of that he can be proud

# But when you're playing chequers Three's a crowd. #

You can't move MY black piece.

-No, it's mine.

-That's mine, that's yours.

You're jumping your own piece.

Brain is red and his pieces go this way. I'm black and go that way.

Buster, you have some red and black,

-a penny, a stamp and the Monopoly shoe and you go that way.

-Wait!

That's... Oh, my brain hurts.

Maybe I should just watch.

-Thanks, Buster.

-It's OK. It's just nice to be back with my friends.

What did you say?

# This is the next day That's all I have to say, hey! #

Arthur, want to see my travel slides?

Oh, hi, Brain.

-What are you doing?

-Writing an adventure book.

-Like ours?

-Sort of.

But not exactly like our book.

You and the Brain are writing OUR book?

After them!

We're a perfect team, Friar Brain.

I used a simple mathematical formula.

This is a right triangle. Therefore, the angle of inclination

-and velocity of the rope was easy to determine!

-I'll get you!

-You changed everything.

-Some of your situations were a tad unbelievable.

-But it was exciting.

-Now it's logical AND exciting.

Buster, you weren't around. You can help now.

I'll have pirates riding a dinosaur into town to crush buildings.

-Er, no, dinosaurs and pirates never co-existed.

-Now they ride horses.

-Horses don't crush buildings!

-They can crush flowers.

# Buster Baxter went away and he came back

# He was starting to feel like things had changed... #

Carpet of Doom! Wow! I want to see that!

-I'll call Arthur.

-Hey, it's Buster!

-You saw Carpet of Doom without me?

-We...

-We forgot to call you. Sorry.

-I was about to say,

-we didn't go to Carpet of Doom.

-Come on!

Arthur wouldn't go to a Kresblain The Merry Magician movie!

You always said you hated Kresblain.

He's so...blah!

I used to kind of not like him, but Francine loaned me all the tapes

-and I caught Kresblamania!

-Ah!

# Kresblamania, it's insania How could Arthur have Kresblamania? #

We have to go, honey.

Bye.

# Kresblamania, it's insania

# How could Buster NOT catch Kresblamania? #

Did you hear that? He thinks he's so above Kresblain!

Going away turned Buster into an S-N-O-B.

No, you don't think... No!

Really?

He thinks he's better than us cos he's eaten snails.

Who wants to trade for a peanut butter and...more peanut butter?

You wouldn't like it. No snails.

# Life can be tough as nails

# When your friends think you're a guy who likes to eat snails.

# They forgot they learned to dance when Buster wasn't around

# But, boy, did Buster know it He couldn't dozy-doe it

# He decided to get out Before he knocked everybody down!

# Change partners! Promenade! Quack like a duck! #

He thinks he's too good for square dancing.

# Buster was feeling more left out With every passing day

# Even when he found something cool...

Arthur! I found a weird key! Maybe it's the key to a sports car!

-We can split it 50/50.

-That belongs to Mr Morris. Better put it back.

# Someone else had found it first When he was away... #

BELL RINGS

-Kresblain Club meeting! Don't be late!

-You wanna come?

No, thanks. Go ahead.

Well...see ya.

Hmm!

When my family used to travel a lot, I always felt out of place at home.

Yeah? That's exactly how I feel.

Kids think you're weird if you accidentally use French words.

-I was only in France a week.

-A week?!

-I was only there a day. You must be an expert.

-I didn't learn words.

And I didn't eat any snails. But I watched TV.

BIONIC BUNNY IN FRENCH

They have the same shows, but in French.

-You know how Bionic Bunny always says...

-I don't know much about TV.

-Oh. You want to play chequers?

-I don't like chequers. See you.

-I wish Buster were here.

-Why? He's changed.

He wouldn't write a book with us.

Because it had no snails in it! We have nothing in common any more.

Maybe we do. If he likes new stuff, maybe we'd like it too.

-I never thought of that.

-Throw a party and watch his travel slides.

Then we'll have that in common.

Yeah!

Wow!

-Great idea, Arthur.

-Didn't you notice?

-Notice what?

Buster isn't here!

-No.

-Well, that's it. He obviously doesn't want to be our friend.

She must be right. Why else wouldn't he come?

# He's a sad, sad bunny A sad, sad bunny

-# TV isn't funny When you're a sad, sad bunny. #

-Hey!

That's not very sad music.

PLAYS SADLY # He's a sad, sad bunny

# A sad, sad, sad, sad bunny... #

I can't believe he didn't come.

-What did he say when you invited him?

-Francine did it.

-No, Muffy did it.

I thought Brain did it.

Weighing the facts, I conclude that no-one invited Buster to the party.

Think that's why he's not here?

DOORBELL RINGS

# Buster Baxter and his friends got a brand-new start

# It was just like they'd never been apart. #

That looks so cool!

Buster, pass the popcorn.

-I thought it was for me.

-You ate all that popcorn?!

I'm glad we're having fun again.

I thought aliens had replaced you all with cyborg twins.

ALL: He's the same old Buster!

# That's how it happened You can see

# To Buster and the kids in Elwood City

# Now they know when you're close friends

# You can always get back together again. #

-So how long has the singing guy been around?

-What?!

I thought he came here with you!

# Buster Baxter went away and he came back

# Buster Baxter... # HE HUMS

That was weird.

Yeah. ..Mom!

There's a singing moose in front of the house!

# Buster Baxter! #

# And I say, hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart

# Listen to the beat Listen to the rhythm of the street

# 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!

# What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play and get along with each other. #