I’ve mentioned before that the animated television series that I grew up with and impacted me the most was The Magic School Bus.

Based on the children’s book series of the same name written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, the show was about an elementary school class and their enthusiastic teacher, Ms. Frizzle, voiced by Lily Tomlin. Ms. Frizzle owned a magic school bus that could travel any and everywhere and grow or shrink as needed. She would use the bus to take the class on extraordinary field trips. Each episode focused on one of these class field trips and taught a science topic.

After having recently rewatched the show from beginning to end, I decided to make a Top 13 list of my favorite episodes. So sit back and relax as we delve into my top 13 favorite episodes of The Magic School Bus!

(This list is dedicated to Bruce Degen who recently passed away as well as to Joanna Cole who passed away in 2020.)

#13: CRACKS A YOLK (Topic: Eggs)

In this episode, the principal, Mr. Ruhle (voiced by Paul Winfield) entrusts Ms. Frizzle’s class with looking after his prize-winning chicken. But when the chicken flies away, the class decides to hatch another chicken from scratch to replace it. Through this we learn how eggs are formed.

My favorite part of this episode is how Mr. Ruhle plays along when one of the students, Phoebe, tries to explain that they’re hatching him a chicken from scratch and that another student, Arnold, is actually inside the egg with the soon-to-be-newborn chick.

#12: GETS CHARGED (Topic: Electricity)

In this episode, the class visits Ms. Frizzle’s house on the weekend as they’re trying to sell lightbulbs for their school. We see that Ms. Frizzle’s house is an electricity haven with pretty much everything running on it in some way, shape, or form.

So when one of the students, Wanda, thinks that she broke Ms. Frizzle’s doorbell, it’s up to the class to take a trip into the wire to understand how electricity works and fix the doorbell. They’re especially dedicated to doing so because they believe Ms. Frizzle is expecting a male guest whom they assume is her true love.

My favorite parts of this episode is that we get to see Ms. Frizzle outside of her school “habitat” as well as see her potentially get a love interest.

#11: GOES CELLULAR (Topic: Cells)

In this episode, Arnold is about to receive an award from a highly respected rock society, but is afraid to as his entire skin has turned orange for some reason! So it’s up to the class to take a trip inside his body (not the first time they’ve been inside his body, mind you) to learn about cells and why his skin is orange. (Spoiler alert, his skin turned orange because he ate a lot of carrot-based snacks.)

This episode always fascinated me because I never knew that what you eat can affect your skin pigmentation (granted only if you eat way more of the food in question than the episode suggests). I also felt that this was a fact that I never heard about in school nor heard anyone ever mention or reference in my life!

#10: COLD FEET (Topic: Warm/Cold-Blooded)

In this episode, Ms. Frizzle’s pet lizard, Liz, is missing, and the class tracks her down to a place called Herp Haven where they think she’s going to be served as food. They then transform into reptiles to try to rescue her and evade the curator of Herp Haven, voiced by Michael York. The experience teaches them a lesson in warm and cold-bloodedness.

#9: IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE (Topic: Sound)

In this episode, the class is due to perform at the Sound Museum for their parents. But when the bus breaks down, they have to spend the night in the creepy museum learning all they can about sound waves. They eventually meet the curator of the museum, voiced by Carol Channing.

#8: GETS A BRIGHT IDEA (Topic: Light)

In this episode, the class attends a light show and when Arnold can’t be found afterwards, they assume him to be kidnapped by the ghost of the theater. As they search for him, they learn about light as well as the Pepper’s ghost illusion.

#7: MAKES A RAINBOW (Topic: Color)

In this episode, Arnold tries to keep Mr. Ruhle occupied while the rest of the class is stuck inside Ms. Frizzle’s pinball machine. Her pinball machine uses light and prisms rather than a ball, and the object is to have the light hit the prism and divide into the various colors of the rainbow.

One of my favorite scenes in this episode when Arnold tries to mask the “Ding! Ding!” sound of the pinball machine from Mr. Ruhle by making the sounds himself as if it’s something he does normally.

#6: MEETS MOLLY CULE (Topic: Molecules)

In this episode, Wanda’s musical icon, Molly Cule, voiced by Wynonna Judd, is in town and the class offers to wash her car for her. They learn about molecules when they have to shrink to the size of them to get rid of a speck of dirt still left on her car hood.

We also get a really catchy song sung by Wynonna entitled, Down to the Very Last Bit!

#5: INSIDE RALPHIE (Topic: Germs)

In what’s probably the most famous The Magic School Bus episode (alongside the one where they enter Arnold’s body to learn about the digestive system), the class takes a trip inside the body of Ralphie, a sick classmate of theirs, to learn about germs.

This episode is so well-known that even Ed Asner’s character in a later episode about spiders references this!

#4: IN A PICKLE (Topic: Microbes)

This was an episode that I didn’t really like all that much as a kid, but as an adult, I find it very intriguing! Set as a film noir/mystery parody, this episode puts Ms. Frizzle “in a pickle” when one of the students, Keesha, finds her cucumber replaced with a pickle and accuses Ms. Frizzle of having perpetrated the swap.

This leads to a mock court wherein Arnold takes on the case of defending Ms. Frizzle from such felonious accusations! Ms. Frizzle herself declares her innocence and lays the blame on “the microbe gang”.

This is another topic that I don’t think I’ve ever learned in school or ever heard anyone ever mention or reference in my life!

#3: GETS SWAMPED (Topic: Wetlands)

In this episode, one of the students, Carlos, has to defend a decision to keep a local swamp as it is instead of turning it into a mall. Throughout the episode, the class learns about the importance of wetlands especially when heavy rains almost cause the city to be flooded.

#2: GETS READY, SET, DOUGH (Topic: Kitchen Chemistry)

Ever since I was a kid, I always loved this episode! In it, the class tries to bake a surprise birthday cake for Ms. Frizzle at a bakery. They shrink to a small size to collect all the ingredients while evading the baker, voiced by Dom DeLuise.

Maybe it’s because I love chocolate so much that I love this episode so much as the cake they’re baking is a chocolate cake! Either that or just seeing them gather all the ingredients to make the cake is incredibly satisfying.

AND MY #1 FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS IS:

HOLIDAY SPECIAL (Topic: Recycling)

While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I tend to find that most shows’ Christmas episodes are usually the ones I enjoy the most. Maybe it’s because they put more effort into them or maybe it’s because they’re less cynical, I dunno. But The Magic School Bus is no exception!

In this episode, the class realizes the importance of recycling when they see what their city would look life if the local recycling center closed down. Dolly Parton voices the owner of the recycling plant and we get a lot of musical parodies of Christmas classics in this episode. When I think of The Twelve Days of Christmas or Jingle Bells, these are the versions that come to my mind first and foremost!

Fun fact: This episode originally aired as an hour-long special that showed us a behind-the-scenes look with the real life voice actors!

And those are my top 13 favorite episodes of The Magic School Bus! What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments below!