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Arthur's Teacher Trouble

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Arthur's Teacher Trouble is the second Living Books PC CD-Rom Game and the first Living Books game starring Arthur. It was based on the 1986 Marc Brown book of the same title, released on October 1, 1992.

Story[]

As the story begins with the first day of school ending, the kids were out from every classroom except room 13. The students filed out slowly in alphabetical order. When an aardvark named Arthur Read and his friends (who know that they have a rat named Mr. Ratburn for the 3rd grade teacher) line up, Mr. Ratburn says, "See you tomorrow". (NOTE: The other 3rd grade teachers were Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink. Mrs. Fink was one of the best teachers because according to Arthur, she did field trips like the aquarium. But the worst is Mr. Ratburn.).

Arthur notices that he and his class had Mr. Ratburn and he sent out homework the first day. A poodle named Prunella angrily tells Arthur, "I HAD THE RAT LAST YEAR! BOY, DO I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!?". A bulldog named Binky Barnes warns Arthur that if he makes one wrong move, Mr. Ratburn sends him to death row each time he does so. Chris adds to Arthur that if Arthur misbehaves, Mr. Ratburn is a vampire with magical powers.

As everyone leaves, the principal Mr. Haney, a bear, announces a September spellathon at Arthur's school and whoever spells the last word correctly wins a golden trophy.

When Arthur got home, he slammed the back door. When his mother Mrs. Read (who's baking chocolate chip cookies) asks Arthur how school was, Arthur (knowing he had Mr. Ratburn as the teacher for 3rd grade) grumbles and says he got the extremely strict teacher in the whole world.

As soon as Arthur and his younger sister D.W were both home from school, Mrs. Read tells them to have a chocolate chip cookie. But Arthur says, "Don't have time. I have tons of homework". D.W says, "I can eat Arthur's. I do not have any homework". Arthur taunts to D.W that she doesn't even go to school. D.W says, "I know".

At home during the evening, Arthur makes a map of Africa for his homework. He makes it out of pizza dough. But when Arthur tells D.W it is the map of Africa. D.W (looking at his scribbles made from pizza dough) tells Arthur that it "looks like a pepperoni pizza". She taunts Arthur about his scribbles and considers it "not homework". She says, "Looks like a pepperoni pizza!" (by looking at his scribbles).

D.W. then constantly teases him because she has no homework—she hasn't yet started kindergarten (kindergarten through 5th grade). She is still in preschool. D.W. says, "Next year when I am in kindergarten to 1st grade, I am not going to have any homework. My kindergarten teacher Ms. Meeker never gives it". Arthur (fed up with D.W.) tattles to Mom that D.W is being a pest. But Mom says, "Time for bed. You can finish your map of Florida in the morning". Arthur corrects her and says, "Africa!".

The next day, Mr. Ratburn has a very important spelling test (which has 100 or 1,000 spelling words) for his class the following morning, so the whole class must study hard (saying, "I want you to study very hard. The test has 100 or 1,000 words".). Then he continues that the two students who have the highest scores (and who spell all the words (all the questions) correctly) get to be in the all school spellathon.

That week, everyone in Arthur's class studied harder than ever. They studied 100 or 1,000 words which would be on the spelling quiz. A monkey named Francine did it while drinking plum soda, a bear called the Brain had time for sleeping, another monkey named Muffy spelled her words on a computer and a rabbit named Buster studied with his good luck charm. As for Arthur, he kept looking for quiet places to study. So, he studied in his treehouse.

On Friday, it is time for the quiz. As promised, there were 100 or 1,000 questions. Arthur gets distracted by two 3rd grade teachers (Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink). He is daydreaming. First, Ms. Sweetwater's class was making popcorn and Arthur could smell it. Then, Mrs. Fink's class was taking a field trip to the aquarium. But since Arthur did not have either 1 of those 2 teachers but Mr. Ratburn, he was stuck with him and forced to work, work and work. Then Arthur whispers to Francine why he had to get stuck with him.

Mr. Ratburn corrects the spelling tests. After he is done, he tells the class, "Most of you did very well on the test. But only two of you spelled every word correctly". Most of the students did very well (most of them got "A's" or "B's", and a few of them get "C's"). Even though most of the students did great on the quiz, only two of the students though spelled every word correctly. Muffy smiled, Francine hiccupped, Buster patted his good luck charm and Mr. Ratburn cleared his throat. Before long, he announces that the Brain and Arthur received top scores (as they were the only two students who spelled every word correctly). Even though Arthur did daydream while taking the test, he got every word on the spelling quiz correct. Then Mr. Ratburn continues, "Our class representatives for the school spellathon are going to be the Brain and Arthur!". That is, given to the fact Arthur and the Brain got all their questions correct on the spelling test. However, Muffy says that some of the spellings have mistakes.

Then he gives them a few extra words (100 or 1,000 more words) to study. Arthur and the Brain spelled all 1,000 words correctly. Since they did great on the test and now were the two highest scores to be in the spellathon, they're given a few new extra words (also with 100 or 1,000 words). He tells Arthur and the Brain to just study the extra 100 or 1,000 words and they should be ready for the spellathon in two weeks.

Arthur did his best to study the words. So his family helped him study. Arthur's grandmother Thora asks him to spell trouble. His father teaches him a word called "chores" (saying, "What about your 'C-H-O-R-E-S'?") while his mother asks him if he made his bed (asking him, "Have you made your 'B-E-D'?").

D.W helped too. When Francine and Buster came over, D.W answered it. She said, "Arthur can't play. But I can. I don't have to study".

Two weeks later, the spellathon begins and Arthur still complains about Mr. Ratburn, wishing not going to be in school. The Brain has his first turn. Mr. Haney asks him to spell "fear" (for the first word of 100 or 1,000), but Brain doesn't respond for he is very nervous. He eventually attempts to spell the word, but he incorrectly spells it as "fere". Then Mr. Haney tells the Brain, "I'm sorry. That's not correct". The Brain asks if Mr. Haney is sure and asks him if he's using the correct dictionary (as he asks, "Are you sure? What dictionary are you using?").

The Brain was not the only one to drop out quickly. But also, the other students misspelled spelling words. The other students mis-spelled some words and were out of the competition (including the representatives from Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink's classes). The representatives from both of those classes became gone in a flash. (That is, to which the narrator says (when the user clicks on the next page) "The Brain wasn't the only one to drop out quickly. But also, the representatives (from Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink's classes) were gone in a flash".) The other representatives were gone in a flash (out of the competition) leaving it to only Arthur and Prunella.

Before long, Arthur and Prunella were left. Arthur and Prunella were the only two representatives not eliminated from the challenge yet. Prunella's two words to spell are "champion" and "preparation". Arthur's two words are "suggest" and "preparation". This makes Arthur and Prunella the only students with 2 words to spell. Prunella spelled the word "champion" correctly. Arthur spelled his word correctly too (which was "suggest"). But then comes the last word (100/100 or 1,000/1,000) on the spelling list. The last word is "preparation". Prunella's turn comes and is made to spell "preparation" (which was the final word of the real spelling test). She is uncertain and asks him for the definition. Mr. Haney grants her wish and defines it. Prunella attempts to spell it, but spells it as "preperation". She is shocked to see that it was incorrect. Mr. Haney tells her, "I am sorry. That's incorrect". Prunella was eliminated from the challenge. Then Mr. Haney says, "Now Arthur gets a chance to spell it".

Arthur has a chance to spell the word "preparation". Perhaps he could be the one to not get disqualified from the spelling bee like the Brain nor Prunella. The Brain and Prunella (from Mr. Ratburn's class) got disqualified (and so did the other representatives from Ms. Sweetwater and Ms. Fink's classes). But Arthur hoped he would be the one to not be disqualified. Mr. Haney tells Arthur that if he spells it correctly, he is the winner. Arthur stalls when he is about to spell that last word. He eventually spells it and spells it as "preparation". He gets it right, wins the golden trophy and feels very happy.

Mr. Ratburn meanwhile comes to the microphone. He says he is very proud of Arthur. But not only that, he is also proud of his entire class. They have worked very hard.

Finally, Mr. Ratburn announces that it is the last 3rd grade he has for the spellathon. It's also the last year he teaches third grade (or any of the school grades starting with first grade (whether it is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade)). He is not going to be teaching grades 1-5 anymore. However, he says that he looks forward to a new challenge (starting next year). His new challenge is teaching kindergarten (saying, "But next year, I look forward with a new challenge. That is, teaching kindergarten"). That means he's going to be a kindergarten teacher (for next year and onward). He is going to be one of the kindergarten teachers at Elwood City School. Finally, when D.W hears this, it then frightens (and shocks) her. She becomes shocked because she might get too much homework for her young age if she gets sorted into his class. That is, to which Mr. Ratburn tells D.W, "See you next year, D.W" (implying that D.W is going to be in kindergarten and gets Mr. Ratburn as the teacher).

Characters[]

Major Characters[]

Minor Characters[]

  • Chris (only appearance on Living Books)
  • Slime (only appearance on Living Books)
  • Cookies
  • Dinosaur

Voice Talents[]

  • Arthur - Duncan Wold
  • Mr. Ratburn - David Kessler
  • D.W. - Kelly Greenley
  • Narrator - Coleen Moriarty
  • Prunella - Bianca Rasmussen
  • Others - Jonelle Adkisson, Don Albrecht, Tom Alpern, John Baker, Michael Barrett, Donna Bonifield, Michael Dashow, Susan DiSanto, Joey Edelman, Bridget Erdman, Bo Everson, Tony Fardella, Jennifer Hewitt, Tim Keanini, Elsa Kendall-Hicks, Dave Lucas, Temah Nelson, Todd Power, Jane Scolieri, Mark Schlichting, Tracy Tandy, Mandy Thomas, and Barbara Lawrence Webster

Pages[]

  • 1. The first day of school is over, Mr. Ratburn lines up the students including Arthur.
  • 2. Arthur complains to the students about Mr. Ratburn giving homework the first day.
  • 3. The Principal comes out of his office with a trophy to show students and announces a Spellathon contest.
  • 4. Arthur comes home in the kitchen and complains to his mom about having the strictest teacher.
  • 5. Arthur is offered cookies but tells his mom he has homework to do.
  • 6. Arthur is still doing homework in his bedroom on a map of Africa.
  • 7. D.W. brags to Arthur about not having homework in kindergarten next year.
  • 8. Mr. Ratburn announces to the class about a spelling test for the Spellathon competition. He wants the class to study hard. Because the test on Friday has 100 or 1,000 words.
  • 9. The Students in Mr. Ratburns class studies harder than ever.
  • 10. Arthur studies for his spelling test in his tree house.
  • 11. It is Friday and Arthur complains about being stuck with the Rat but takes the spelling test.
  • 12. Mr. Ratburn grades the student and announces the winners being The Brain and Arthur.
  • 13. Mr. Ratburn gives The Brain and Arthur the papers to study for the Spellathon contest. He gives them 100 or 1,000 extra words to study before the Spellathon contest.
  • 14. The Pages continue on.
  • 15. The final page.
  • 16. Arthur's family helps him out with his spelling.
  • 17. Arthur's friends come over to his house but Arthur is busy studying for the Spellathon competition.
  • 18. Arthur is nervous at the auditorium as he prepares to enter on stage for the contest.
  • 19. Arthur and The Brain both gets ready to compete in the Spelling contest.
  • 20. The Brian goes up and spells fear wrong as fere and is the first contestant to drop out (get disqualified). Then the representatives (from both Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink's classes) mis-spell words and get disqualified too.
  • 21. After the Brain and the students from Ms. Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink's classes are disqualified, Arthur and Prunella are left (the only two representatives not disqualified yet). Before long, Arthur and Prunella were the only two players left. Prunella goes up, spells the word "preparation" wrong (as "preperation"), and finally is dropped out. And (after Prunella is disqualified) Arthur's the only one left. Mr. Haney says, "Now Arthur, he gets a chance".
  • 22. Mr. Haney says to Arthur that he (Arthur) is the winner if he spells the last word correctly. Arthur spells preparation correctly in front of the audience and wins the Spellathon contest.
  • 23. Arthur gets the trophy, Mr. Ratburn and his class friends celebrate on stage.
  • 24. Mr. Ratburn announces to the audience that this is the last year he is going to have in the spelling bee and the last year he teaches third grade. Then he says he is teaching kindergarten starting next year (much to D.W.s dismay). (He announces, "This is the last 3rd grade that I am going to have in the spellathon. But next year, I look forward to a new challenge. That is, teaching kindergarten".) D.W might get homework if he is ever sorted into Mr. Ratburn's class. But in the spite of that, Mr. and Mrs. Read (David and Jane) reveal that Mr. Ratburn's kindergarten class is going to be her class next year.

Quotes[]

Page 1[]

Mr. Ratburn: We had fun today, didn't we?
Students: Yes, Mr. Ratburn.
Arthur: Good afternoon, Mr. Ratburn.
Francine: Yes, Mr. Ratburn.
Brain: This is going to be a long year.

Page 2[]

Arthur: I can't believe he gave us homework the first day.
Prunella: I had the Rat last year! Boy do I feel sorry for you!
Binky Barnes: Make one wrong move and he puts you on death row.
Chris: He's really a vampire with magical powers.

Page 18[]

Arthur: Whew! Uh, I don't think I'm ready.

Locations in Elwood City[]

Song[]

Missing[]

  • Bugs
  • Curtains
  • Learn to Fly
  • Trophy Baseball
  • Cookies
  • Jar
  • 4 Cups
  • Rolling Pin
  • Flour
  • 2 Cars
  • Duck
  • 1 Fish
  • Butterfly
  • Cardinals
  • Bus
  • Tape
  • Sailboat
  • 3 Chairs

Trivia[]

  • Some of the non-cartoon sound effects have also been recycled, such as Arthur's gulp.
  • This is the first Living Books game for several things:
    • The first Living Books game to feature a running gag. In this case, a paper airplane.
    • The first Living Books game to feature the Paint and Programmer animations in the credits and the only other game in the series (aside from the previous game) where the credits have differences in the graphics/sound.
      • Here, the Programmer animation has an extended ending of the jazz music (however, the beginning part is cut down similarly like with the Music animation) and even includes an additional animation of the Programmer saying "Bu-huh..." at the end. All of this never made it in any other game that includes this animation.
      • These two and the Music one were the only three credits animations that appeared in many Living Books games so far, hence the sequence as seen in the PC/Mac ports of Little Monster at School is the most commonly used credits sequence for several games in the series.
    • This is the first Living Book to include demos of other Living Books games on the disc for its original v1.0 release.
      • However, the Mac version of the original v1.0 release doesn't, likely due to the next two games still having been in development at the time as all Living Books games were initially developed on Macintosh computers.
    • The first Living Book to have an original narrator.
    • First Living Books game to only have 2 language options: English and Spanish for the US version and English and French for the UK version.
      • The latter is a reference of the French language as traditionally used in Canada (a member of the Commonwealth of Nations), while the former is a reference of the Spanish language traditionally used in the United States.
  • Sometimes when clicking on the window on the page where D.W. says that she will be taking Arthur's place, it will play a rendition of the Blue Danube.
  • On Page 7, the CD player (when clicked on) plays an excerpt from the Just Grandma and Me dance theme.
  • The color of stripes with white on Arthur's clothes are red instead of black while he's in jail.
  • The game marks the first animated adaptation of the Arthur franchise prior to the cartoon that would come four years later.
    • Some characters also looked different from their usual designs (i.e. their cartoon counterparts, which is who we commonly see them as; D.W. oddly had blond hair instead of brown, which is her usual hair color), probably due to the producers of Living Books misinterpreting the characters' physical appearances from the book.
  • Mark Schlichting wanted to make a Noddy book instead of this, but he loved the book so much that he'd decided to make this.
  • You leave the book when Arthur says, "OK, goodbye." (if "Yes" is chosen), the same games as The Tortoise and the Hare and Ruff's Bone. However, you might want to keep playing when he says "Okay. Let's continue playing." (if "No" is chosen).
    • Also, comparable to this game (Arthur's Teacher Trouble) and the other Arthur Living Books (not counting D.W. the Picky Eater) that use the Quit Animations, this is the only Arthur game to use the traditional kids (Generic Kid 2 and Generic Kid 1) as the "No" and "Yes" characters for the quit animations.
  • There was a preview of this game in the very first edition/demo of Just Grandma and Me.
  • The very first edition/demo of this Living Book (the one that has Broderbund's at the top right corner of the logo) has a preview for The Tortoise and the Hare.
    • Strangely enough, it said on the top left corner of the preview:  Aesop's Fables: Book One meaning that it was planned that there would be more of Aesop's fables as Living Books. Apparently, "The Tortoise and the Hare" was the only one that was made of the fables.
  • This story has the largest number of pages (24), not counting Dr. Seuss’ ABC (which the pages are letters).
    • Overall, Arthur's Teacher Trouble was the longest Arthur Living Book.
  • The demo version of V1.0 bizarrely included the preview and credits. The V1.1 demo removed this.
  • This demo version can be featured in Dr. Seuss' ABC, The Berenstain Bears in the Dark, Green Eggs and Ham, Stellaluna and Arthur's Reading Race.
  • This is the only Living Book in the entire series to have never gotten an engine upgrade in any re-releases, as the full game slower fading screens and sounds would get cutoff if they ran longer than the animation. The v1.0 demo also had this issue.
    • ScummVM allows the sounds to play through without being cut off, therefore getting them overlapped with other sound effects barging in.
    • As the V1.1 PC demo got an engine upgrade to enable faster fading between screens, the running man cursor, and waiting for sounds to finish before continuing animation, the full program for this game oddly never got one (despite the previous title Just Grandma and Me getting an engine upgrade for V2). This is possibly due to budget constraints, or Living Books has never bothered to give it an engine upgrade.
      • The Macintosh platform has faster fading and the running man cursor like all the other games, but still has sounds being cutoff if they ran longer than the animation.
    • For the PC version of the full game, it's possible you could take the game data files + outline file from the V1.0 version of the full game and inject them into the V1.1 demo (though in the files, you would have to switch filenames with the Options and Quit IBM files) to try to give the full game an engine upgrade, but still you cannot make it to where the game will wait for sounds to finish before continuing animation.
  • V1.0 predates the hybrid format, so the Macintosh and Windows versions were shipped on separate discs. V1.1 put them on the same disc.
  • 1 of 2 Living Books games that have longer intros, along with Just Grandma and Me.
  • 1 of 2 Arthur Living Books to have language options, along with Arthur's Birthday.

Goofs[]

TBA

Releases[]

  • 1992: Original release. A challenge to find.
  • 1994: Random House release. This one's exceptionally easy to find.
  • 1998: Broderbund Software re-release. The easiest one to find.
    • Basically identical to the 1994 Random House version, except that the 1994 Living Books intro with the Random House tagline has been replaced with the original 1992 intro with the Broderbund tagline due to Living Books ending its partnership with Random House in mid-1997.
  • 1999: PC Guide release. Released in the UK, oddly using the US dub. It appeared in the magazine of the same name, but because of the fact that this release is so scarce, it has not been available in any auction sites like eBay nor Amazon.
    • Uses the 1994 Random House version from the 1998 Broderbund Software re-release. Includes demos for Math Workshop and Carmen Sandiego Word Detective, as well as the UK version of The Tortoise and the Hare; also includes the three demos of Just Grandma and Me, The Tortoise and the Hare and The New Kid on the Block from the 1994 CD-ROM.

Photos[]

Quit[]

  • "Are you sure you want to quit?"
  • [clicking no] "Okay. Let's continue playing."
  • [clicking yes] "Okay. Goodbye."
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