Arthur's not looking forward to going to Camp Meadowcroak for the summer, figuring it will be horrible, and the boy/girl rivalry going on there especially doesn't help. But can Arthur eventually convince the boys and girls to call truce and work together in order to defeat the bullies of rival camp Horsewater at the scavenger hunt? Based on a book of the same name by Marc Brown.
Arthur Goes to Camp contains examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Arthur in the book was trying to run away from camp and Brain and Francine were the ones who came up with the "surefire" bear plan. Here, it's his idea and he convinces everyone to fight fire with water and beat Horsewater at the scavenger hunt.
- Adapted Out: The book had the boys get a Drill Sergeant Nasty male counselor named Rocky, while the girls got a nice female counselor named Becky. In the episode, Rocky does not appear, and Becky is the sole counselor for both genders. There was also a subplot where Arthur was separated from the others during the final hunt, but here Arthur remains with the group.
- Adaptation Expansion: Binky and Prunella are present at camp in this episode. In the original book, it's only Arthur, Buster, Brain, Francine, Sue Ellen, and Muffy.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the original book, the boys and the girls at Camp Meadowcroak turn out to be mistaken when they figure each group played pranks on the other, and then learn the campers from Camp Horsewater were responsible for the pranks all along. In this episode, Binky plans to prank the girls, and the girls prank the boys before they all find out the kids from Camp Horsewater are much nastier.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: What's the worst thing about Camp Meadowcroak, according to Arthur? Not the disgusting food, not the mosquitoes, not the tornadoes, but the girls.
- Camping Episode: Also doubles as a boys vs. girls plot.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Jane stamps and addresses postcards for Arthur to send regularly. He has one left at the end of the episode, and it's the last item on the scavenger hunt list.
- Muffy insists on bringing her fur coat in case it gets chilly. The group uses it to disguise Brain as a bear.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: It's likely that if Horsewater had just focused on the scavenger hunt rather than pranking Meadowcroak and cheating by following them to items, they would have won legitimately. As it is, Arthur and his friends scare them into tossing the items at a "bear", causing them to lose via Epic Fail.
- Enemy Mine: Arthur convinces his friends to call a truce after they learn that Horsewater was pranking them. He says it would be better to beat Horsewater at the scavenger hunt rather than chase them down in the middle of the night.
- Epic Fail: Brain while disguised as a wild bear chases Horsewater up a tree at dusk. Arthur shouts that throwing stuff at the "bear" will scare it away. Without thinking, Horsewater tosses all of their scavenger hunt items. Brain then makes it to the finish line, with the objects and frog that Horsewater stole. Arthur was counting on that, since he said they needed it to be dark enough.
- Furry Confusion: As part of the plan to defeat the Camp Horsewater kids at the scavenger hunt, the Meadowcroak kids have "The Brain", an anthropomorphic bear, pretend to be a wild bear by wearing Muffy's fur coat with his head hidden under the collar.
- Girls vs. Boys Plot: A main plot point. Arthur disapproves of Binky's plans to prank the girls until the girls prank the boys first. A heated rivalry develops, with Arthur writing home "Dear Mom and Dad, it's war!" They stop feuding when they realize the campers from neighboring Camp Horsewater have been pranking them all, and Arthur gets them to reluctantly call truce.
- Goofy Print Underwear: D.W. reminds Arthur that he forgot his Bionic Bunny underwear for camp. The entire bus gets a look at them while D.W. takes them out.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Binky tries to sprinkle itching powder on Prunella during the bus ride to camp. One jolt and it ends up on him instead. Cue the itch dance, and everyone laughing at Binky.
- Mickey Mousing: The animation of Arthur and Buster paddling in the canoe race appears to be animated to the beat of the background music's bridge sequence at that part.
- Only Sane Woman: Counselor Becky is a Reasonable Authority Figure who advises the kids about dealing with summer camp and praising them for their progress. She has this reaction when Mr. Crosswire asks where to plug in Muffy's air-conditioner, giving a long-suffering sigh.
- Opposing Sports Team: Camp Horsewater serves as a rival camping team for Lakewood Elementary. The boys and girls team up to beat them.
- Spotting the Thread: The Horsewater leader notices that the "bear" is very good at catching the scavenger hunt items, but still keeps throwing and as such, Horsewater loses the hunt.
- Summer Campy: Arthur figures Camp Meadowcroak will be terrible, and it turns out to be somewhat like this at first, but is subverted when the boys and girls learn of Camp Horsewater pranking them all, and manage to successfully make the best of them at the scavenger hunt.
- This Means War!: Arthur tells his family that the boys are going to war with the girls.
- Uncool Undies: Arthur has Bionic Bunny briefs.
- Underwear Flag: The girls pull this prank on the boys.
Buster's not doing very well in Mr. Ratburn's class, often goofing off instead of studying, falling asleep in class, and flunking quizzes and tests. If he can't get at least a "B" on a huge upcoming exam Mr. Ratburn will be giving reviewing everything the class had learned that year, he will be held back in the third grade. Now Arthur and his friends all have to work together to tutor Buster into being able to pass the test, and if that doesn't work, can Buster be able to study on his own?
Buster Makes the Grade contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: The chapter book as a few moments expanded on shorter scenes. Binky says that his tutor says that the student has to put in the work. Buster also shoots down the idea of having Mr. Bagelman as his teacher.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Happens when Arthur attempts to tutor Buster at the park. Buster gets more interested in the baseball game going on and ends up arguing with the umpire. Binky tries to avoid this by tying Buster to a tree while reading a history book to him, but Buster ends up using fake eyeglasses to hide that he's fallen asleep once again.
- Bad Future: A couple of Imagine Spots involve Buster being in his 40s and still attending Mr. Ratburn's third-grade class. The second one where Buster goes to see Principal Arthur and be told he's being sent back to preschool. This inspires him to buckle down and study for the test.
- Bland-Name Product: Buster practices multiplication and division when studying for the test on his own using B&B's candy pieces.
- Brick Joke: When passing back the kids' math quizzes at the start of the episode, Mr. Ratburn tells Arthur he needs to "review those multiplication tables". At the end, when Arthur gets his test back, Mr. Ratburn reveals that he didn't do very well on the division portion, suggesting that math is not one of Arthur's best subjects in school, though he does fine in the other subjects.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When Buster asks if they can study English outside, he and Arthur go to the park where a baseball game is in progress. Arthur notices him looking elsewhere and snaps that he's not paying attention to Alice in Wonderland. Buster retorts that sure he did, the runner was safe! Arthur then presses the book in his face and reminds him they're studying.
- Francine and Muffy try to review division with Buster by using peanut butter fudge. He's good at dividing by two, but not by three. Francine points out that the three piles aren't equal. Buster then starts eating his portion of the fudge and asking if it's equal. Muffy gets angry, while Francine becomes exasperated. To be fair, this one was partially their own fault since twenty pieces cannot be divided three ways equally. Buster eating a few pieces was a logical way to make them equal.
- Crazy-Prepared: Buster apparently has a pair of glasses with fake eyes that he wears, so that his friends won't catch him sleeping. They only buy him time.
- Gotta Pass the Class: Buster has to get a good grade on his test or else he'll be held back.
- Held Back in School: Buster fears he may have to repeat the third grade if he can't get at least a "B" on the big test. It's also revealed that Binky is being held back in Mr. Ratburn's class, and he tries to assure a hopeless-feeling Buster, "Third grade's a lot easier the second time around... or the third."
- His Own Worst Enemy: Buster is this about his chances to study. It's even worse in the chapter book where his friends suggest getting him a tutor and Buster makes a myriad of excuses, that the tutor may be too hard or someone he doesn't know. Buster keeps making excuses to goof off, until his friends give up on him.
- Irony: When Mr. Ratburn passes back the graded tests, including Buster's well-earned B+, he tells Arthur that he didn't do very well on the division portion of the test, and suggests maybe Buster could tutor him a bit in long division.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Arthur reads Buster Alice in Wonderland for the English portion of the test, he compares Alice's short attention span to Buster.
- Not Allowed to Grow Up: Even with Buster in danger of being held back in third grade but passing, it's clear the writing staff had no idea the show would go on to be such a Long Runner (25 seasons as of the Grand Finale in 2022) and so the children would be kept at the same age and grade no matter what throughout the series.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During the montage of Buster finally studying, two of Buster's friends ask him to play, and Buster responds that he has to study. The two faint in surprise.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Both Ratburn and Haney are this. While Buster is failing, and to the point of having to repeat a grade, the visit to the principal's office is more of a wake-up call to motivate him to study. Mr. Ratburn allows the kids to use the empty classroom to study.
- Skewed Priorities: It happens when Buster and Arthur are studying outside, and Buster sees a baseball game in progress. He tells Arthur that the runner was safe while the umpire said that the player was out. Arthur reminds him they're reviewing Alice In Wonderland. When Buster asks Arthur to read it to him, he wanders off to argue with the umpire, rather than focus on the chapter.
- Sleepy Head: It's unclear if Buster is that tired or if he gets easily bored. In any case, Arthur mentions that he falls asleep while doing homework. When Arthur tries tutoring him in English, Buster keeps falling asleep while reading Alice in Wonderland. Buster realizes that he can't rely on his friends to keep waking him up, and rigs a Rube Goldberg machine to keep him awake while cramming.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Muffy and Francine try to teach Buster basic division with a bag of double-dip peanut fudge pieces, knowing what a Big Eater Buster is. There are twenty pieces, and Buster is able to successfully divide them by two. Francine asks Buster to divide them by three, which he initially gets wrong and then resorts to just snacking on the peanut fudge pieces. Twenty cannot be divided evenly by three, and remainders are not so much as mentioned in this episode. If remainders are part of Ratburn's method, then the answer would be six with a remainder of two.
