On a particularly hot day, tensions run high among Mr. Ratburn's class and threaten to escalate into all-out war.
Desk Wars contains examples of:
- Big "NO!": George's reaction after his gummy dino gets squashed.
- Disaster Dominoes: If George doesn't give the pencil to Brain, then his gummy dino is squashed, then Sue Ellen will throw Binky's rubber band ball out the window, then Sue Ellen's UN report is shredded by Brain then Brain's desk will get covered in judo kitten stickers by Muffy if she doesn't get the pencil, then Francine cut the dust ruffle in half, Buster's comic book will be shredded by Fern, then Buster will eat Arthur's cookies.
- Feud Episode: Between the entire class, who are all in a foul mood with how hot it is and quickly begin to take it out on each other.
- Heat Wave: The episode takes place at school during the hottest day of the year, in which tempers get even hotter over which desks anyone wants to sit at.
- Pet the Dog:
- Sue Ellen is the only one who really looks out for someone else during the feud when she tries to take action to protect George's gummy dinosaur.
- When everyone starts bickering over how to clean up the mess, and George starts cleaning unprompted, everyone asks why as they acknowledge he had no part in the chaos.
- Muffy hosts a pool party for the whole class after school to give everyone the chance to cool off, both physically and figuratively.
- Shout-Out: Muffy's Judo Kittens stickers are very reminiscent of The Powerpuff Girls.
- The Unapologetic: Despite everyone cleaning up their mess over the desk war that erupted, no one even bothers to apologize to anyone for their behavior or actions. When everyone hangs out at Muffy's pool party, they acknowledge they needed to cool off and make peace.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Mr. Haney chews out the class for their riot and demands they clean up their mess, only giving them the chance since they are usually well-behaved. George follow suit by simply cleaning up because it's the thing to do, and tells off the class for being such drama queens.
Feeling pressured to let his childhood teddy bear Stanley go, Arthur sells him at a yard sale, but soon grows fearful of what could happen to him in someone else's hands and begins trying to track him down.
Desperately Seeking Stanley contains examples of:
- And I Must Scream: Arthur's nightmares see a sentient Stanley suffer various awful fates like being violently washed around in a washer, and later being powerless to do anything but allow the Tibbles to dissect and remove all his stuffing.
- The Bully: The Woogle frequently belittles and harasses Stanley according to Kate and Pal.
- The Bus Came Back: Arthur's Woogle he got at the end of "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon" returns, though it ends up being a non-fatal example of Back for the Dead since he ends up in the yard sale and out of Arthur's possession for good.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Tibble rescues Stanley from her rambunctious grandchildren and repairs him to look like he's brand new once again, and offers Arthur the chance to either take him back for good or at least to borrow him whenever he'd like, not judging him one bit for still being attached to his precious childhood toy.
- Easily Forgiven: Stanley holds no ill will towards Arthur for letting him fall into disrepair or parting ways with him either at the beginning or end of the episode, he just loves Arthur that much.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Woogle was once the hottest toy fad in the world, but his time has long passed. He's now on Arthur's top shelf, dusty and neglected, and has become bitter and mean towards Stanley and everyone else in the Read household.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Platonic example. When Arthur decides to finally let Stanley go and let him stay at Mrs. Tibble's to potentially find a new owner, Stanley comes to life and warmly says goodbye to him, showing he's happy with whatever decision Arthur makes.
- I Will Find You: Arthur eventually decides to track Stanley back down.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Woogle coldly bashed Stanley for still having faith in his and Arthur's relationship, and ends up being sold just like he warned. Unlike Stanley, he doesn't get back to his original owner.
- Living Toys: This episode depicts toys as living sentient beings who are at the mercy of whatever their human decides to do with them. They can also communicate with pets and babies.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Arthur realizes too late that just because Stanley meant a lot to him, that doesn't mean he means anywhere near as much to other children.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pal goes to save Stanley from the Woogle's bickering, but it just further deteriorates the bear's condition.
- The Pollyanna: Stanley is shown to be extremely innocent and sweet, perhaps by nature of being a teddy bear that originally served Arthur when he was a young child. He fails to really notice just how dilapidated he's become and takes some time to realize that Arthur has outgrown him.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Arthur sees how other children are not nearly as attached to their old toys. D.W. casually tosses some of her stuffed animals in the yard sale box with a happy "bye, guys", while Vecita and the Tibbles both roughly treat Stanley due to not having anywhere near the same connection with a brand new toy.
- Tempting Fate: The Cold Open sees the toys debating their fate as a yard sale approaches. The Woogle crossly insists their time is up, especially Stanley's given his poor state. Stanley disagrees, confident that Arthur still loves him and would never give throw him away. Cue Arthur's mom wearily noting she's tired of sewing him up, and soon he's indeed given up for sale at the yard sale.
