Arnold Matthew Perlstein is a student in Ms. Fiona Frizzle's class at Walkerville Elementary School. He has been voiced by Roman Lutterotti in the TV series since the episode "Kids in Space."
Backstory[]
Arnold, in particular, usually takes a disliking to most field trips on the Magic School Bus, usually as an unwilling participant. Despite his usually timid moments and some nervous breakdowns, he is shown to have a brave personality when he's needed to, and he's very loyal when it comes to his classmates, even taking up a leadership role a number of times. He has a huge interest in rocks and minerals, and is the youngest member of the GRANITE society (the Great Rock Admirers' National Institute of Tectonics Experts), an organization for amateur geologists. He also mentions an interest in colors as stated in Makes a Rainbow. He has shown interest in conserving the environment, as he wanted to save the rotting log in "Meets the Rot Squad" and have the class collect stuff for recycling in part 1 of the Holiday Special.
Despite his paranoia for field trips, he does love having the Frizzles as teachers, and deep down, enjoys the adventures, but is too nervous to show it and he doesn't usually like surprises. He even stood in her defense when the class went on trial during the original series episode "In a Pickle" and when his cousin, Janet, tried to show off and say that her teacher is better than his, Arnold interrupted her before she could finish and said, "Nobody is better than Ms. [Professor] Frizzle" during "Gets Lost in Space". When it comes to riding the Bus, Arnold just likes to stay safe because of all the dangerous happenings, but he genuinely and deeply does care for his friends and the Frizzles, and enjoys a wonderfully wild ride on the Magic School Bus (just not too wild).
In the CD-roms, Arnold appears to be somewhat shy. He's seen isolated from his classmates sitting in a corner of the classroom. If you click on him, he'll just crawl behind an object to hide
Relatives[]
Father: Mr. Perlstein
Mother: Mrs. Perlstein
Cousin: Janet Perlstein
Why He Rocks[]
- Arnold's catchphrase, I knew I should have stayed home today. is a popular meme.
- He is a memorable character who has a heart of rocks.
- He is also shown to have a heroic personality in the episode of Season 2 called The Busasaurus, when he scared off a dinosaur in order to save his class from being eaten or swallowed.
- Sometimes like Carlos and Ralphie, he often sometimes tells jokes mostly in seasons 3 and 4.
- His alter-ego, "Rock-Man" is very well designed, and very interesting.
- Passable character design in both the original and reboot.
- The bus has gone inside of his body many times.
- His crushes with Wanda Li, Phoebe Terese, and Dorothy Ann Hudson are very amazing (depend your opnion who is better love interest for him).
Bad Qualities[]
- Though despite being good-natured, he tends to get himself treated as a Butt-Monkey sometimes or in other times embarrassed.
- He was tricked by Ms. Frizzle into swallowing the bus and unknowingly hosted a field trip inside his body.
- He was utterly flanderized in The Magic School Bus Rides Again. Being a very boring, annoyingly obedient different with no personality.
- His design in The Magic School Bus Rides Again is extremely bland and unrecognizable as Arnold, and his voice actor's performance is extremely bland.
| Perlstein Family |
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| Arnold Perlstein . Mr. Perlstein (father) . Mrs. Perlstein (mother) . Janet Perlstein (cousin) |