Muttamorphosis is the first episode of Teacher's Pet from Season 1. It was directed by Timothy Björklund and written by the series co-creators, Bill and Cheri Steinkellner.
Synopsis[]
Leonard Helperman is starting fourth grade and his mother is his new teacher. His dog, Spot is tired of staying at home and waiting for the masters to return from their daily journey to school, so he disguises himself a boy named, "Scott Leadready II" and sneaks into Leonard's classroom. Spot becomes very popular and influential with the kids, which makes Leonard jealous. When Leonard finds out who Scott truly is, their rivalry begins, with Spot, Leonard, and Ian running for class president.
Cast[]
| Voice actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Nathan Lane | Spot Helperman/Scott Leadready II |
| Shaun Fleming | Leonard Helperman |
| Debra Jo Rupp | Mary Lou Helperman |
| Jerry Stiller | Pretty Boy |
| David Ogden Stiers | Mr. Jolly |
| Wallace Shawn | Principal Strickler |
| Tara Charendoff | Unknown role (see Notes section) |
| Rob Paulsen | Ian Wazselewski |
| Pam Segall | Tyler, Taylor and Trevor |
| Cree Summer | Chelsey and Kelsey |
| Lauren Tom | Younghee Mandel-Baum |
| Mae Whitman | Leslie Dunkling |
Credits[]
The credits for this episode can be found here.
Trivia[]
General[]
- Mary Lou Helperman has the first line in the series.
- Spot reveals his backstory: the runt of the litter, he had been given up by a pet store owner as a puppy and thereafter was adopted by a fourth grade class. This encouraged his love for school and knowledge.
- During this speech, he also claims to have brown eyes.
- According to Scott, the material Mary Lou's desks are made out of is formica.
- Spot's dog license number is 2072000.
- The responsibilities that class president entail include cleaning the chalkboard, emptying a pencil sharpener and sorting the recycling box.
- Scott mentions at the end of the episode he had turkey chili nachos and canned peaches covered in syrup for lunch.
- Moral: Always be a good friend and support them.
Cultural references[]
- The title of the episode is a pun on the word "metamorphosis." Its title card also references the evolutionary chart of humans.
- Pretty Boy alludes to the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb when talking with Spot in the bedroom.
- Scott references Sammy Davis Jr.'s frequent usage of "Yes I can," which was the name of both a song by Davis and his autobiography.
Production information[]
- In the original airing, Pretty Boy says "Your disguise looks like something something off a comic book." This is referring to the Superman franchise which was an inspiration for Spot's "Scott" costume. Gary Baseman knew how absurd it was that everyone was too ignorant to tell Clark Kent is Superman because he wears glasses, and so that was incorporated in Scott's attire. Pretty Boy's line was cut in reruns and releases, possibly for time.
- Interestingly, Wallace Shawn was given star billing in the credits of this episode, though every episode after this one puts him in the additional voice talents section. This implies that Principal Strickler was originally intended to have a larger role in the show.
- Tara Strong (who at this point was known by her maiden name "Charendoff") appears in this episode, though it is unclear who she plays exactly. She may have been an additional voice in the classroom, or her character may have been cut from the final episode.
- This is the only episode to be released on home video. It is included as a bonus feature on the movie’s DVD. For this reason, it was the only episode of the series that could be watched legally for many years, until Teacher's Pet was added to Disney+ in 2019.
Errors[]
- When Mrs. Helperman is about to announce the winner, Scott is standing in front of the class next to Ian and Leonard. When she finally announces the winner and the entire class cheers, Scott can be seen sitting at his desk cheering along with the rest of the class. Afterwards he's back at the front of the class standing next to Leonard.
- In the scene where Spot was picking Leonard's clothes to wear for school, the red shorts were mistakenly colored green in one frame.
- Leonard's hair changes back and forth between orange and blue in one scene.
Gallery[]
Availability[]
- There is an English recording both online and a better quality version of it as a special feature on the Teacher's Pet: The Movie DVD. A Russian dub has also been found, although the sound is poor, with white noise constantly going on in the background 1.