Ms. Frizzle is on the road to Hollywood.
Elizabeth Banks is set to star as eccentric elementary school teacher Valerie Frizzle in an as-yet-untitled live-action/animated film based on the Magic School Bus children’s book series by Joanna Cole and illustrator Bruce Degen, according to Deadline.
In the books, Frizzle drives a sentient school bus on which she takes her students (and her pet lizard) to various offbeat locations, including outer space, inside a beehive, and through time to the age of the dinosaurs. The first book, The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks, was published in 1986, and was followed by numerous sequels, including 1992’s The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor and 1997’s The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, among many others.
The series inspired a much-loved animated TV show, The Magic School Bus, which aired on PBS from 1994 to 1997 and featured Emmy- and Tony Award winner Lily Tomlin as the voice of Frizzle. In 2017, Netflix released an animated sequel series, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, in which Emmy-winning comedian Kate McKinnon voiced Frizzle’s sister, Fiona; it lasted for two seasons.
Banks will co-produce the upcoming film. She’s well-known for playing Effie Trinket in the Hunger Games movies, based on Suzanne Collins’ bestsellers, and was nominated for two Emmys for her recurring role as Avery Jessup on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. She also wrote, directed, co-produced, and co-starred in the movie Charlie’s Angels, which was released last year.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
