# Back to School with Franklin

Back to School with Franklin is a 2003 Canadian animated comedy film. It is the third Franklin film and was released direct-to-video and on DVD on Tuesday, August 19, 2003. This animated film was directed by Arna Selznick.
Cole Caplan takes over for Noah Reid as the voice of Franklin the Turtle, ushering in the sixth season of the program, which would not make its way to the United States until Sunday, September 5, 2004 on Noggin. He is joined by Bryn McAuley, who has voiced his sister Harriet since the first film and Carolyn Scott as the voice of a replacement teacher Miss Koala.

## Plot

The main plot focuses around Franklin Turtle and his friends starting a new year of school after a fun and relaxing summer, only to find out that their teacher Mr. Owl is absent because he got called away on a family matter the night before. Their replacement teacher, Ms. Koala from Australia, pulls up on a motorbike and at first Franklin finds her weird. She uses phrases such as "fair dinkum" and wants to create a brand-new soccer team. Soon, however, he and everyone else in the class are won over by her "can-do" attitude and by the time Mr. Owl returns, Ms. Koala leaves; but not before the class draws her a final farewell picture on the blackboard.
Meanwhile, Franklin's younger sister, Harriet is upset because her best friend (Franklin's best friend Bear's younger sister) Beatrice has gone to preschool, meaning that she cannot play with her most of the time on weekdays. Her spirits are raised when she meets Beaver's younger brother Kit (Amanda Soha), but Kit is a bit reclusive and may not be ready to play with her, especially after an incident on the playground slide that results in them both getting hurt.
Books and films can help calm first-time students. Franklin, Canada's kid-lit turtle star of many titles in both media outlets, can tell you about his experiences with that queasy tummy. However, unlike previous episodes on the re-occurring show. Within this special edition movie Franklin walked in excited to be back to school, but did not realize the number of changes that he would have to experience on his first day of the school year. Many students around the world, let alone the nation face these same fears of change.
Hence, this special edition is able to help students cope with their fears. Watching Franklin and his class overcome their fears of change and eventually accept the fact that they were going to have an interim teacher, is an aspect that many students are able to relate to when starting a new school year.
Many students starting at a new school fear that they are unable to create new friendships, or constantly feel bored because they do not have their friends that they are used to playing with. This aspect can also be related to the movie and Franklin's sister Harriet. Although Harriet had not started school yet, she was going through an emotional time knowing that her friend was starting school and not able to play with her during the day anymore. Harriet was quickly able recover from this by being introduced to Beaver's little brother Kit. She was still a little frustrated because their personalities did not match at first, however, they were quickly able to recover from this rough beginning to their friendship.
Franklin's characters morals and maturity can are also noticed in this episode when he hands over his favorite blue blanket to his little sister, to help keep her calm. These same values are then later noticed when she copies the actions of her brother to hand them to her new friend Kit during his troubles.

## Voice Cast

| Cole Caplan | Franklin Turtle |
| Richard Newman | Mr. Turtle |
| Elizabeth Saunders | Mrs. Turtle |
| Bryn McAuley | Harriet Turtle |
| Amanda Soha | Kit |
| Carolyn Scott | Miss Koala |
| James Rankin | Mr. Owl |
| Leah Renee Cudmore | Beaver |
| Valerie Boyle | Mrs. Beaver |
| Kristen Bone | Snail |
| Vivien Endicott Douglas | Goose |
| Luca Perlman | Bear |
| Ruby Smith-Merovitz | Badger |
| Scott Beaudin | Fox |
| Annick Obonsawin | Skunk |

## Songs

* Doin' Nuthin (Can Be a Busy Thing)! - written by Norm Hacking; performed by Emilie-Claire Barlow, Demetrious Matthews (as Dimitrius Matthews) and Brittany Kay.