Legendary Announces Magic School Bus Movie

The Magic School Bus is taking a trip to a place it’s never been before…and when you consider the places it HAS been, that’s saying something. The big screen could be getting a live-action adaption courtesy of Legendary. Elizabeth Banks has signed up to play the eccentric teacher Ms. Frizzle, which is pretty great casting considering the crazy parts she’s played already and her general taste in things.

If you think you’ve heard this before, you probably have. It was six years ago in 2020 when Universal announced THEY were developing a Magic School Bus movie — with Banks as Frizzle! Is this literally the same project, just switching studios?

It would appear to be so. Universal’s deal with Scholastic has now expired. The only difference in THIS announcement besides Legendary is the addition of a writer and director. Both duties will be handled by Rob Letterman, who previously directed Detective Pikachu.

Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen started the Magic School Bus series in the late eighties as picture books meant to teach science through humor. The books quickly became schoolhouse staples and led to a cartoon series on PBS that ran four seasons and many more years in reruns. There was a revival series on Netflix in 2017 that lasted three more seasons, but replaced Lily Tomlin’s Ms. Frizzle with her previously unseen sister Fiona (played by Kate McKinnon).

I may get some flack for saying this but…I found the Magic School Bus cartoon disappointing. The problem: it wasn’t FUNNY. The main reason the books were so popular was their great sense of humor; it made the educational stuff go down easier. The humorous tone of the whole thing got lost in the translation to TV. Assuming the movie can get made this time, I hope it doesn’t forget to keep things light.