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Dr. Tennelli is Ralphie's mother from the Scholastic TV series, The Magic School Bus, which is based on the books of the same name written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degan.

Appearance in the Halloween Special[]

In the episode, "Going Batty", which was used as one of the two segments of A Magic School Bus Halloween, Dr. Tennelli meets Ms. Frizzle, and she states that, "I do so enjoy taking him under my wing", which finally convinces Ralphie that Ms. Frizzle is a vampire as he tells the rest of the class. Ms. Frizzle then informs the parents that the class and their parents will go someplace more "suitable" and "breathtaking" and lets out a sinister laugh. After the parents board The Magic School Bus, Ms. Frizzle takes them on a nighttime field trip to a scary old castle to learn more about bats.

After the class and Liz follow Ms. Frizzle and the parents to the castle, they spy on Ms. Frizzle and their parents, who enter it. Ms. Frizzle then gives the parents a beverage to drink, and the class view it through a window. Ralphie then becomes convinced that Ms. Frizzle is making the adults drink blood, but Keesha then tells him that they're really drinking tomato juice, like what Ms. Frizzle served at a class picnic.

Ms. Frizzle then takes the parents on a tour through the inside of the castle and they walk around "bat guano", the waste of the bats that makes great fertilizer. When they walk through a stuffy hallway, Ms. Frizzle tells the adults that it's from the breath of the bats. They then come across pink bat progeny, which Ms. Frizzle calls "the children of the night".

Later on, after turning into bats, the students overhear a vociferous Ms. Frizzle stating, "At last, the moment I've been waiting for has come", and Ralphie tells the class that the vampire in his comic book said the same thing and the class fly to the castle, with Keesha reluctantly starting to believe Ralphie's theory. They hear Ms. Frizzle asking who would be her first victim, so the class and the Bus follow along and use their sound to locate Ms. Frizzle and the other adults. After coming across more bats, they hear the adults voicing their opinion of the field trip to Ms. Frizzle, as Dr. Tennelli states that, "My neck will be sore for a week"., and Ralphie brings the class with him to fly to Ms. Frizzle's location.

They then spot Ms. Frizzle and the rest of the adults hanging from a chandelier dressed in bat costumes. The class fly through them and the adults extricate themselves off the chandelier. When the class finally find the truth, they all chide Ralphie for his theory. Ralphie then finally gets convinced by Keesha that he was wrong about Ms. Frizzle, and he apologizes to them and acknowledges the fact that bats aren't vampires, but nocturnal creatures that come out at night to feed on insects. After getting turned back to normal, their parents to exit the castle. Dr. Tennelli asks Ralphie what was going on, but Ms. Frizzle then states that he and the rest of the class were just "hanging around", with Ralphie stating "bat's all" as he and Ms. Frizzle laugh.

External Links[]

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