The Gist of It[]
Are the two educational series Captain Planet and The Magic School Bus one in the same?
Summary[]
This theory posits that the kids from The Magic School Bus eventually grew up and became the eco-friendly Planeteers in Captain Planet. According to this theory, Gaia kidnapped an entire classroom of children and later taught to them in the form of Ms. Frizzle. She proceeded to brainwash them into becoming protectors of the Earth, and she later gave them their power rings when they reunited with each other years later. The children that resisted the brainwashing were driven insane by the memories of their attempted conversion, and devoted themselves to a life of crime.
Evidence[]
What this theory has going for it is that each child in the Magic School Bus does somewhat resemble one of the protagonists from Captain Planet. However, the theory also stated that one character disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Counter-Evidence[]
One of the problems that this theory has going for it is that the Captain Planet series came first, and that the Magic School Bus series came afterwards. Because of this fact, there is no way that the continuity for this show is the same as the one for the Magic School Bus. If you want to get more technical concerning the timeline for both series, the Magic School Bus was originally a series of children's books that was written by Joanna Cole. These books pre-date the Captain Planet series by a decade, and the first book in the Magic School Bus series was written in 1985 and was published the following year. Because of all these inconsistencies, it is safe to assume that Gaia did not actually brainwash any children into becoming her personal defenders of the Earth.