Vintage Dinosaur Art: The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs

The Magic School Bus franchise was a big deal at exactly the right sort of time for it to have impacted my childhood, but it completely passed me by – probably because I’m British, and it wasn’t quite as well known here. I do have vague memories of a fantastical yellow bus (which was a bit of an alien concept – the yellow school bus, that is) that could fly through space and whatnot, but that’s about it. A shame, as there was rather a good book involving dinosaurs that would definitely have been my cup of tea…

The Magic School Bus in the Time of Chasmo…er, the Dinosaurs was published in 1994 (a timely one year after that movie) by Scholastic, written by Joanna Cole, and illustrated by Bruce Degen. It also credits a number of palaeontological advisors, chiefly Mark Norell, but also Armand Morgan and Leo J Hickey of the Peabody Museum of Natural History and Dave Varricchio, “expert of Tyrannosaurus rex” of the Museum of the Rockies. Such a wealth of advice ensures that the book is factually accurate and up-to-date for the time, with the dinosaurs presented as fascinating animals to be observed and documented, rather than monsters to run away from. (Sadly, the T. rex attack hinted at on the cover never transpires within the story. Ms Frizzle’s purple safari gear is quite something, though.)

The story begins with teacher Ms Frizzle and her class of young schoolchildren visiting a dig site, where an old school friend of Ms Frizzle’s (who refers to her as “Valerie”, much to the quite realistic bemusement of the children) and his team are digging up a Maiasaura skeleton. Said friend is hoping to find nests, but has yet to do so, and this naturally prompts Ms Frizzle to herd the kids back to the bus and transform it into a time machine. It’s not as cool as a De Lorean, but at least it has more seats and you don’t have to worry too much if you put a dent in it. They promptly end up in the Triassic by accident which, fortunately, no one is utterly terrified about.

Degen’s artwork is suitably vibrant and characterful and, while obviously stylised, shows careful attention to detail in each of the prehistoric settings; I particularly appreciate the inclusion of copious lush foliage (and so does Ms Frizzle). There’s rather a hint of the Normanpedia in a number of his dinosaurs, but then, that’s to be expected for the time. There was simply no escaping it – rumour has it that the Normanpedia was even the first fully illustrated popular book on dinosaurs to be launched into deep space, thus making John Sibbick the most influential palaeoartist in the known universe. In any case, the upright plateosaurs and particular pose of the Anchisaurus are giving me Sibbicky vibes here, although they aren’t direct copies, of course.

The Proper Sauropods are also rather Sibbickian in places, none more than the Apatosaurus (or is it Brontosaurus?) with its tree-trunk legs and 1980s-style superfluous claws. Being a diplodocid, I’m not sure Apatosaurus should have teeth going quite that far back, but it does make for an entertaining cheesy grin. You’ll note the forehead nostrils, too, very typical for the time (and up until about 2010, I’d say). This illustration is excellent at instantly establishing the sauropod’s enormous size when compared with a group of schoolchildren, all of whom are in mortal danger from this unpredictable multi-tonne reptile. Squish, squish, squish!

Accidental child crushing might not be on the cards, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be any gory violence. In the above illustration, an Allosaurus is depicted going after a Stegosaurus that had already been wounded, establishing (as Dave Hone would tell you) that predators, like door-to-door salesmen, favour vulnerable targets. I do like the inclusion of broader lessons about animal behaviour alongside the dino-facts; they really elevate the book. Both dinosaurs look pretty decent for the time, even if Allosaurus‘ horns are directly above its eyes, Walking With Dinosaurs-style, rather than in front of them. My favourite reconstruction here is actually the striding stegosaur in the background, which looks very purposeful even without a great deal of detail.

Stegosaurus loses the fight, and so Ms Frizzle’s class get to watch Allosaurus messily devour its carcass, with blood and organs spilling everywhere. Kudos to Degen for not skimping on the blood just because this is a kids’ book. I do also quite enjoy the horrified look on the stegosaur’s face – it’s just missing a protruding tongue (to be torn out by one of the little Ornitholestes-alikes).

The Late Jurassic is still well short of Maiasaura‘s time, of course, and so Frizzle and company proceed to the Late Cretaceous. Here, they discover that certain dinosaurs definitely had cheeks – that’s right, they definitely did, there’s no arguing with a snazzily dressed red-haired woman with a literal time machine. Said dinosaurs include head-butting pachycephalosaurs, an unfinished-looking blue ankylosaur, and the derpiest Triceratops I’ve seen in quite some time. Hey, unusual perspectives of extinct animals are hard. I understand. Even so…what happened there?

That said, you’ve got to love the foliage once again. Just look at all those pink flowers. How pretty.

As you might expect, Tyrannosaurus shows up, complete with ’80s-Greg-Paul-style curled-up forelimbs and heads that don’t quite capture the essence of the real thing; I’m not sure what the twinned ridges on the snout are about, although it’s at least unusual for the tyrannosaur to be made a little too allosaur-like, rather than the reverse. The tyrannosaurs don’t concern themselves with the humans, but on the opposite page it’s revealed that a pack of Troodon have surrounded the school bus. At last, some peril! The kids and Mrs Frizzle (who is still oddly nonplussed, like she’s The Doctor or something) run away, only to find…

…Maiasaura at last. Hang on, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus – shouldn’t Maiasaura be extinct by this time? Well, er, it’s a kids’ book innit. Shut up, nerd. In any case, there’s plenty of time to note all the evidence for extended parental care in Maiasaura, as well as admire their very striking green-striped hides. Yes, he probably had a certain Sibbick piece handy, but this is lovely work by Degen and I commend the attention to detail on the hadrosaurs’ hands, for example.

Unfortunately, the blundering children inadvertently lead the Troodon to the Maiasaura nesting ground, whereupon they set about attacking all the vulnerable babies, as predators are wont to do. This is rendered moot, though, as all the animals are buried together in a sudden sandstorm. Frizzle and the kids escape back to the bus and drive forward in time, only to come to a sudden stop moments before the K/Pg extinction event happens. “Ms. Frizzle, could we leave before the asteroid hits?” asks one of the kids. “No,” replies Mrs Frizzle. “Soon, you children will learn of the finality in all things. That we are briefly conscious in the fleeting pause between the infinite periods of our non-existence.”

Not really. They all get back to the present, and the kids tell their parents all about dinosaurs (with incredibly convincing video footage). It’s all very whimsical and charming, and they’re soon ready for another adventure in the improbable educational conveyance. This is a very endearing little book, and I’m quite sure I’d have loved it back in 1994. I might have to try and seek out the TV episode on the same theme…