Have you ever watched PBS‘ The Magic School Bus? No, really, did you watch The Magic School Bus? Sure, it’s educational, but it’s also kinda f**ked up. In the series, an eccentric science teacher named Ms. Frizzle escorts a bunch of kids, without their parents’ permission, on field trips through the human body, outer space, and other places where danger potentially lurks around every corner. I’m shocked they all lived, and no one ever called the authorities on Ms. Frizzle or the local animal shelter about her pet dragon. Anyway, Legendary is making a live-action film based on The Magic School Bus, with Elizabeth Banks playing Ms. Frizzle!
The live-action Magic School Bus film project, based on the time-honored book series of the same name, hails from Legendary Entertainment and Scholastic Entertainment. Rob Letterman (Detective Pikachu) is writing the treatment in addition to directing the movie. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Banks will produce and play the lead role of Ms. Frizzle. Legendary landed the project after the rights lapsed at Universal.
The Magic School Bus has sold more than 90 million books in print since making its way to television, digital platforms, and more. “Created by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen and published by Scholastic, the children’s “edutainment” franchise follows quirky science teacher Ms. Valerie Frizzle and her young class of students as they board a sentient, shape-shifting school bus that transports them on educational adventures through outer space, the interior of the human body, and myriad other extraordinary settings,” per Deadline‘s description.
An animated adaptation of the book series aired on PBS from 1994-1997, with Lily Tomlin voicing Ms. Frizzle. The show was a significant hit with audiences and delivered impressive numbers for PBS, making it one of its highest-rated programs. The final episodes of The Magic School Bus were followed by The Magic School Bus Rides Again, a Netflix series in which Tomlin reprised her role as Ms. Frizzle, with Kate McKinnon as her younger sister, Ms. Fiona Felicity Frizzle. The show ran for three seasons between 2017 and 2021.
While I joke about the unlawfulness of Ms. Frizzle’s approach to education, the animated adaptation is a stone-cold classic. My nieces learned a ton of cool stuff from watching The Magic School Bus and would regale me with factoids whenever I came over to babysit. I can’t wait to see where Banks’ Ms. Frizzle goes in the new film. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.