<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> External links </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/home.htm </Td> </Tr> <P> The Magic School Bus is a Canadian / American Saturday morning animated children's television series, based on the book series of the same name by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen . It is notable for its use of celebrity talent and combining entertainment with an educational series . Broadcasting & Cable said the show was "among the highest - rated PBS shows for school - age children ." On June 10, 2014, Scholastic Media announced that it will be releasing an all - new animated series which will be inspired by the original show entitled The Magic School Bus Rides Again . </P> <P> In 1994, The Magic School Bus concept was made into an animated series of the same name by Scholastic Entertainment and it premiered on September 10, 1994 . The idea for the show was thought up by Former Scholastic Entertainment Vice President and Senior Editorial Director Craig Walker . Scholastic Entertainment president Deborah Forte said that adapting the books into an animated series was an opportunity to help kids "learn about science in a fun way". Around that time, Forte had been hearing concerns from parents and teachers about how to improve science education for girls and minorities across the globe . Each episode of the series ran for 30 minutes . In the United States, the series originally aired on PBS as a part of its children's block, PBS Kids, through South Carolina's SCETV network; it was the first fully animated series to be aired on PBS . The last episode aired on December 6, 1997; the series then aired reruns on PBS until October 1998 . Fox Kids Network, in a hasty effort to fill educational television mandates for its stations, aired repeats on its weekday block from September 1998 to September 2002 . Starting September 27, 2010, The Magic School Bus started a daily run on Qubo in the US, and on Saturday mornings on NBC . The Fox Kids and Qubo airings both used a shortened version of the opening . Based on information from their website, Qubo no longer carries The Magic School Bus in their programming lineup . </P>

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