Scarborough, K. (Writer) & Kaplan, Y. (Director). (2005). D.W Tricks the Tooth Fairy [s03, ep10]. In R. Rich (producer), Arthur. Boston: WGBH.
Plot: In the first mini episode Arthur’s little sister D.W wants to get enough money to buy a new toy, but her birthday has already passed. She decides she needs to lose some teeth so she will get money from the tooth fairy. After trying to pull her own teeth out, then trying to trick the dentist into pulling her tooth out, she hatches a plan. D.W. puts a shark tooth under her pillow in an attempt to trick the tooth fairy. Arthur is worried that the tooth fairy will be mad because D.W. tried to trick her and never come back to the house again, so he puts his own money under D.W.’s pillow. D.W. wakes up believing she has tricked the tooth fairy.
In the next mini episode, Arthur is describing how D.W. wants everything to be perfectly equal, especially when it comes to her and her best friend Emily. Therefore, when D.W. finds out Emily has a nanny she wants her parents to get her a nanny as well. This does not happen, however they do start to give D.W. an allowance because she has been acting so responsible lately. D.W. is very excited to show off her allowance to Emily, but is dismayed when she finds out Emily already gets an allowance and she gets more than D.W. Thus, D.W. pretends to be rich by using fake money, but is discovered and humiliated. Emily offers to share her allowance with D.W. so they can still be friends. In the end, D.W. decides to keep her own allowance and that it does not matter if someone has more money than she does.
Relation: Great for all ages and kids can learn many things from this show. It is quite the opposite of Spongebob Squarepants where kids will not learn very much from the show, it is not realistic and it can be inappropriate.
Appeal: The Arthur show is a very sweet show for children. It can teach lessons at times, such as in the episode I watched, it teaches that it does not matter if not everyone is financially equal. However, there is not always a lesson to be learned. Arthur and his friends go on many adventures and have lots of fun together, but also deal with normal things, for instance, arguments and family issues.
Audience: 2 years to 10 years
Weaknesses: None
Assessment: I think this is a great show for children, and I even still enjoy watching it today!
Rating: 5/5
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