Two New Video Collections Featuring Some of the Most Popular Episodes of Scholastic's Award-Winning ''The Magic School Bus'' Debut August 8

Business Wire, May 16, 2000

Entertainment Editors

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 16, 2000

Warner Home Video and Scholastic Entertainment Inc. keep the fun rolling along on August 8 with the debut of "Greatest Adventures" and "Creepy, Crawly Fun," two new video collections containing some of the most popular adventures in the award-winning Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)" series. Each video features three episodes and will sell at the suggested retail price of $14.95.

Each day more than one million households watch the Emmy Award-winning Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)" series -- now in its sixth season on the air (second season on Fox Kids) and consistently the No. 1 program in its time slot.

Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)" is based on the award-winning book series written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. It features a wacky science teacher named Ms. Frizzle who, with her playful sidekick Liz, the lizard, takes her class of enthusiastic, inquisitive students on educational field trips in her magically transformable bus.

"Greatest Adventures" contains three favorite episodes hand picked by kids in a voting poll conducted on www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus. "Gets Lost In Space" sees Ms. Frizzle and her class exploring scientific topics in the most fun, imaginative way after they blast off on a wacky field trip to explore our solar system. "In a Pickle" shows that even the tiniest living things have big effects as they visit and discover the mini-world of microbes. Finally, it's all aboard "The Busasaurus" for a trip back 67 million years to see what T-Rex and other dinosaurs were really like.

"Creepy, Crawly Fun" contains three favorite, spooky episodes in which the class learns about the natural world of sound, bats and spiders. First, the kids are all ears, exploring the musical mysteries of sound during a scary trip "Inside the Haunted House." Next, things really start "Going Batty" when a lesson about nocturnal creatures convinces one student that Ms. Frizzle is...a vampire! Finally, the kids are zapped into a monster movie, where they discover the ingenious hunting skills of spiders in "Spins a Web." "Creepy, Crawly Fun" and "Greatest Adventures" each contains more than 90 minutes of programming.

In addition to "Greatest Adventures" and "Creepy, Crawly Fun," there are 23 popular Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)" titles currently available for just $9.95 SRP.

Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)" has received dozens of awards and honors from such magazines as TV Guide, Parenting Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, which voted the series "one of the top 10 TV shows for kids." The series won an Emmy Award and the "Outstanding Educational Program" award from the Annenberg Public Policy Center. In addition, the series was the recipient of the prestigious National Conservation Achievement Award for Education in 1999, presented by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). The NWF recognized Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus" for "its outstanding efforts to educate children about science and the environment, and to build a foundation for the conservationists of tomorrow." The series also won the 1999 Parents' Choice Award Committee approval for outstanding children's educational TV programming.

Scholastic Entertainment Inc. (SEI) is a leading producer of quality, family-oriented television programming, feature films and videos, and a major licensor and marketer of children's properties worldwide. Scholastic Entertainment produces: Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus(R)," the top-rated, Emmy and Annenberg award winning series starring Lily Tomlin (Fox Kids); Scholastic's "Clifford The Big Red Dog(TM)," to debut PBS KIDS(TM) in fall 2000; "Dear America(TM)," the critically-acclaimed series on HBO; "Animorphs(R)," the live-action kids adventure series on Nickelodeon; "Goosebumps(R)," the award-winning, top-rated children's TV series; and the critically-acclaimed feature films "The Baby-sitters Club," "The Indian in the Cupboard" and "The Mighty." SEI is the entertainment and media division of Scholastic Inc., the global children's publishing and media company which creates and distributes innovative and quality educational materials for use in school -- children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology and teacher materials -- and engaging and appropriate products for use at home -- magazines, software, television programming, videos and toys. For more information see Scholastic's Web site at www.scholastic.com.

KidVision is a division of WarnerVision Entertainment, a Warner Music Group Company, which distributes high-quality children's programming through Warner Home Video.

With operations in 78 international territories -- more than the video division of any other studio -- Warner Home Video commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment Company, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Video.