Arthur

**Arthur** is an American-Canadian children's educational animated television series developed by **Kathy Waugh**, based off the Arthur book series created by **Marc Brown,** and produced and distributed by **WGBH,** **Cookie Jar Entertainment** (seasons 1-15), **9 Story Media Group** (seasons 16-19) and **Oasis Animation** (seasons 20-25). The series first premiered on **PBS** on October 7, 1996. During its 25-season run, the show has broadcast 253 half hour episodes.

In addition to the television series, the **Arthur** franchise has spawned seven hour-long films, some of which used to be often run on **PBS** during pledge drives. An additional movie, **Arthur's Missing Pal**, was produced by **Mainframe Entertainment** and was the first animated **Arthur** project to make use of 3-D computer-generated imagery. Arthur's success has also led to the spin-off series **Postcards From Buster**. It premiered on October 11, 2004, with several returning characters, and aired its final three episodes in 2012.

In June 2018, it was announced that **Arthur** was renewed for four additional seasons, through its 25th season. It was subsequently announced on July 27, 2021, that the 25th season would be the final season. Arthur concluded its original run on **PBS Kids** on February 21, 2022. Despite concluding after 25 years, the show will continue to have new content on PBS Kids and on the video app.

## Premise

The series is set in the fictional U.S town of **Elwood City**, and revolves around the everyday lives of **Arthur Read**, an anthropomorphic brown aardvark, his friends and family, and their daily interactions and important lessons with each other.

Arthur is a third-grade student at **Lakewood Elementary School**. His family consists of two home-working parents, his father **David,** who works as a chef; and his mother **Jane,** who works as an accountant. He also has two sisters; **D.W** (**Dora Winfred**), who is in preschool, and **Kate**, who is still an infant. He also has a pet dog named **Pal**. Arthur also has several friends who come from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and he also occasionally meets with members of his extended family.

The series often deals with important issues families face such as **asthma**, **dyslexia**, **cancer**, **diabetes**, and **autism spectrum disorder**. It also encourages reading and relationships with family and friends by explaining that people have different personalities and interests.

## Characters

**Main** (*For more information about the characters, visit the Arthur Wiki)*

Arthur's immediate family is the focus of the series, with most episodes involving Arthur, his younger sister **D.W.**, their parents **David** and **Jane**, **Baby Kate**, and their dog, **Pal**. Arthur's closest friends include **Buster**, **Francine**, **Muffy**, **Binky**, **Brain**, and **Sue Ellen**, along with others such as **Fern**, **Prunella**, **Jenna**, and **George** as frequent supporting characters.

The adults in **Arthur** play important roles: Mr. and Mrs. Read display a significant amount of stress from parenting, Arthur's friends' parents are shown struggling in middle-class jobs, and Mr. Ratburn endures the demands and expectations of teaching elementary school. Even in difficult, adult situations, these grown ups maintain a cheerful attitude. Arthur, D.W., and Kate also visit their paternal grandmother, Thora Read, and maternal grandfather, Grandpa Dave.

* **Arthur Timothy Read -** An aardvark boy who attends third grade at **Lakewood Elementary** **School** in **Elwood City**. Generally, he is an average person. He plays the piano, participates in sports, reading books, playing games and watching **Bionic Bunny**. Arthur has always dreamed of being popular in his community, even loving celebrities, fancy living, and taking advantage of other people to gain popularity. He has a great dislike for homework and large, warm sweaters. Despite being friendly, Arthur has a tendency to break promises, cheating when he feels overwhelmed, telling lies, and becoming reluctant whenever it's bedtime. Arthur can also get angry at times when he is frustrated, when his favorite thing is ruined, and even getting into fights with his friends. Arthur has the potential to be an intelligent person but tends to be one who doesn't use common sense, much to the annoyance of his parents. He'll sometimes take advantage of people until they are exhausted or frustrated. Arthur also loves to eat desserts. Arthur is regarded as a messy eater. He tends to eat any junk food he can find. After learning about his unhealthy habits, he stops obsessing over desserts.
* **Dora Winfred (D.W. Read) -** The younger sister of Arthur and a student at preschool. She was formally four-years-old, but later turned five. D.W. is often annoying to Arthur and he seems to dislike her. Sometimes, she takes pleasure in getting Arthur in trouble. But occasionally, she seems to show that she truly loves her brother, has a good heart, and gladly works with Arthur whenever their family is in trouble. Despite this, D.W. can be often downright cruel to Arthur sometimes. D.W. enjoys watching her favorite show "**Moo-Moo Cow**" and listening to "**Crazy Bus**", much to Arthur's annoyance. She is a drama queen and also seems to be very protective of Kate. She is also somewhat egotistical, as she has a tendency to self-identify as Arthur's" **cute** / **adorable little sister**." Despite not being able to adequately read, she is able to exaggerate her skills and entertain others, such as the **Tibble Twins**. D.W. has **cephalophobia**, (the fear of octopods and squids), and once endures a short-lived fear of fire drills (and anything else related to fire). She is a picky eater, and once, she has a profound hatred of spinach. She also does not like tomatoes. While she is pretty smart for a kid her age, D.W. can also be rather gullible and fairly easy to fool. D.W. even has a fondness for unicorns and owns a toy winged unicorn named **Uni** and loves plush toys and dolls. She also doesn't seem to understand basic, simple words, instead using complex words and does not grasp important topics. The special episode "**The Rhythm And Roots Of Arthur**" reveals that D.W. was named after Grandma Thora's aunt Dora Winifred, who died before D.W. was born.
* **Kate Read -** Arthur and D.W.'s baby sister. Although she can't talk to older people yet, she is able to communicate with **Pal**, **Mei-Lin**, **Barnes**, **Killer**, **Toady** and **Mr. Toad**, **Amigo**, **Nemo**, and **Pepe The Flea**. As she grows up, she becomes more mature and loses communication with some friends. However, she is starting to understand Arthur, D.W., and Mr. and Mrs. Read's speeches more. She was first seen as a newborn in "**Arthur's Baby**". Like most babies, she takes naps, spending time with her family, and playing in the sandbox. She takes part in many adventures with **Pal**, as well as with other pets and babies. Kate also shares a room with D.W., which can be the source of conflict for the two of them. Although Kate speaks English, anyone older than her only hears her gibberish baby-talk, and Kate herself can only distinguish basic words.
* **Jane Read -** The mother of Arthur, D.W., Kate and the wife of **David Read**. She works as a full-time work-at-home tax accountant. Jane is quite caring and loving to her three children. However, some of the time, she seems to be passively exasperated on a daily basis, because of the antics of her kids. She is a bit more strict than her husband, usually with D.W. as David is with Arthur. She always wants the best for her children, such as making sure they keep their rooms clean. is also the most talented at cleaning the house. She can sometimes be quite firm when Arthur and D.W. are frequently arguing and quarreling. She also doesn't seem to mind D.W.’s bothering of Arthur, as she usually sighs and goes about her day whenever Arthur complains of D.W.’s tomfoolery. Jane also may have a more greedy and self-absorbed side; this is shown when she fantasizes of one day escaping her family life to pursue personal interests.
* **David Read -** The father of Arthur, D.W., Kate and the husband of **Jane Read**. He works as a chef who runs a catering business at home. Although he is not as strict as his wife, David can be assertive in the situation of urging Arthur and D.W. to try new foods that he bakes; when the foods are usually weird and exotic ones that Arthur and D.W. do not like. Mr. Read is equally disgusted at their preferred food, saying it will only give them dental problems. He also says that a year's supply of junk food is no prize. As with all father figures, David sometimes tends to come across as hard on Arthur and D.W. a lot of times, but that's only because he only wants them to do their best in life. But all the same, he has a great relationship with his wife, children, family and other associates.
* **Buster Baxter -** Arthur's best friend and a student of **Lakewood Elementary School**. Later, he is in **Mrs. Grimslid's** fourth grade class. He resides in **Elwood City** in a condominium with his divorced mother, **Bitzi Baxter**. Buster is easygoing, fun-loving, funny and somewhat odd. He has a fondness and strong interest in space aliens and his personality often takes toll on his performance at school and trouble finishing school work. However, it is usually that the poor performance is due to lack of effort rather than low intelligence. As seen with some subjects he has an interest in, such as paleontology, he has given answers smart enough to impress Brain. Generally, Buster has a somewhat short attention span. He also doesn't patience for reading books, unless it's a book he really likes. Buster even has a strong love for food, and will eat anything, fresh or days or months or years old or consuming it while following the "**five-second rule**" although some of his eating habits are rather unhealthy. However, he is surprisingly lean. Buster also is shown to have poor hygiene. He sometimes chooses not to wash his hands when he should. He occasionally is very dirty, and doesn't maintain his hair well. Despite being nice and loyal, he has been shown to resort to stealing if he sees something he wants but cannot have and will feel guilty about it, but in the end, he learns his lesson and returns the item. If Buster ever gets angry about something, he'll tend to hold a grudge, and it is usually the only thing he'll talk about until he can either forget the situation, deal with the situation, or speak to the person who caused the problem with him if this is the case. Most of the time, he follows a strong moral code. Buster can sometimes be influenced and fascinated in a very big way and can be very lazy sometimes when it comes to work.
* **Francine Frensky -** A friend of Arthur, a student of **Lakewood Elementary** and the daughter of her parents **Oliver** and **Laverne Frensky**. She has an older sister named **Catherine Frensky**. Francine is an athletic girl and is shown to love sports, especially soccer, football, kickball, bowling, and baseball. The only sports she does not excel at are badminton and figure skating. Francine is very determined, perhaps even restless, and if she doesn't have an immediate knack for a certain sport or skill, she can become frustrated. Francine is also an excellent singer and drummer. However, she cannot do both at the same time very well. Even though Francine does fairly well in school, she does struggle from time to time. She always talks in a tomboyish, brash tone. At the start of the show, Francine was very rude and hot tempered. Francine also has a soft side. She will try to help her friends if they are having a big problem, but sometimes, if somebody says something about her whilst she's trying to help, For some reasons, Francine misinterprets it as criticism and leaves the room. Francine does not like wearing dresses or having her hair done, which she believes would make her look foolish and less like herself as she explains in "**Francine's Bad Hair Day**". She prefers to wear clothes that are normally worn by boys, thus making her a tomboy. Despite that she does not want to have her hair done, her hair length remains the same. Her middle name is **Alice**.
* **Muffy Crosswire -** A friend of Arthur and Francine and student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at **Lakewood Elementary School**. She is the richest girl in **Elwood City** and lives in an enormous mansion. She is often labeled as snobbish and spoiled because of her wealth, attitude, and frequent selfishness, but makes up for it in most cases. Muffy often has a lack of empathy for everything and believes that money, Bailey, and her father can fix any problem. However, in some fields, Muffy is good at giving advice on things like fashion or love. She is usually the first one to catch on to a fad or a trend. She is fashionable, conceited, talkative, melodramatic, stubborn, and very wealthy. She also can get fed up and loses her patience sometimes. However, she can be quite mature at times. Muffy is also shown to be quite popular, as shown by the many parties she hosts. Like her father, she is very loquacious and also good at doing business with people. As seen in some episodes, Muffy can also be manipulative and forceful, and will often take over anything and everything. Muffy always loves to be the best and better than others. But she wants more, such as winning bigger awards, being more skilled at things and triumphing over important people. She always loves it when the spotlight is on her, which can be her biggest downfall. When Muffy was younger, her personality was slightly more aggressive. There are also some times where she refuses to take responsibility for things that were entirely her fault. Muffy can be disobedient, fussy, and extremely bossy at times, due to living in a mansion and being waited on by servants her entire life, she has no sense of what it means to be lower or middle class, but Muffy has a knack for being friendly, cares a lot about her friends, and loves to hang out with them, as well as being confident in speaking her mind.
* **Alan Powers -** A student of **Lakewood Elementary** and a friend of Arthur. He's known as "**The Brian**". He is mild-mannered and the most polite in the series. He is an expert soccer player. He is one of the few characters who are usually left-handed. His usual grade is an A that ranges between 100% and 90%, as he is often considered the most intelligent student in Mr. Ratburn's class, and he often gets his work done faster than the other students. Brain sometimes imagines vengeance when he feels defeated. He was formerly aquaphobic. He tends to be called upon a lot when his friends have technical difficulties but also is great fun to hang out with. He is a big believer in the power of science. He has a tendency to think logically but sometimes has trouble adjusting when things cannot be explained by either, or when his emotions get in the way of his logical side. After an increasing spate of bad luck, he tries to chart what's happening to him only to find that his "luck" only seems to be getting worse. In stressful situations, Brain can become very anxious, as well as being jittery. Brian's interests are sports, track teams, music and playing instruments.
* **Binky Barnes -** A student of **Lakewood Elementary** and a friend of Arthur. However, he is also the leader of a club of bullies called the **Tough Customers**. He is typical school bully (more so in the earlier episodes and books). He does make a point in the cartoon that he has "**reformed**". Despite this, he has a softer side: He dances ballet, plays the clarinet and flute, and is a **lepidopterologist** (**butterfly collector**), but wants to keep the butterflies alive while in his collection. He usually keeps these interests private and rarely tells or shows others about them. Binky is also a keen cyclist. Binky cycles to school and enters most cycling tournaments in **Elwood City**. His most treasured possession is his **Vance Legstrong** T-shirt. He enjoys the works of various poets and classical music composers, such as Baroque composer, **Johann Sebastian Bach** and **Ludwig Van Beethoven**. In addition to the interests that indicate his softer side, Binky (despite his reputation as a bully) is shown to not be as tough as he likes to make his classmates think he is. For example, in "**Bully for Binky,**" it is revealed he has never actually had to fight anyone during all the years he has been considered a bully as the victims are typically too scared to do so and usually end up running away. Binky is secretly afraid of the dark and is also abnormally afraid of Santa Claus (but claims not to be). He is forward and goalkeeper for the **Lakewood Elementary Soccer Club**. He took great pains to avoid letting Arthur know that he liked to read, feeling he had a rep to maintain. He seems to thoroughly enjoy art as one time he put a lot of effort into correcting a picture in an art gallery, which was hung in a different way to that which the artist intended.
* **Sue Ellen Armstrong -** A new student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at **Lakewood Elementary School**, upon moving to **Elwood City** from abroad. Sue Ellen is assertive, proactive, brave, tough, strong, a little bossy, kind, athletic, tolerant, honest, creative, open-minded, nice, mature, charismatic, well-read, lonely, artistic, and vegetarian . She is an amazing storyteller and is big-hearted. She is also easy to get along with and can solve problems on her own. She is very mature and artistic for her age and interested in world culture, which is the reason she makes friends with people older than herself, such as **Betsy Johnson**. Athletic-wise, she is defender for the **Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team**.
* **Fern Walters -** A student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at **Lakewood Elementary**. Because of her shy personality, her mother often signs her up for various activities to get her involved in social gatherings with peers. Fern herself sometimes thinks that she is too quiet, once referring to herself as "**invisible**". Although Fern is shy, when something goes wrong, she will speak her mind on behalf of what she believes to be the right thing. Fern is well known as a talented and realistic raconteur, especially when it comes to horror and mystery stories and loves solving mysteries. Fern is also talented musically. She is a great singer and can perform music from several genres, such as rock in "**Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n Roll**". She plays the flute and is in the school band with Arthur and his friends. Fern also has a great deal of imagination, helping her write very good stories. Some of Fern's major flaws stem from her stubbornness and headstrong attitude, which can be very trying to others at times and can potentially lead to arguments, including a particularly venomous altercation with Francine. She also has a quick wit for playing tricks, and can express herself with drawings. Fern also has a small talent for acting. She is a midfielder for **Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team**.
* **George Lundgren -** A student of **Lakewood Elementary** and a friend of Arthur. George daydreams frequently, and is a skilled carpenter and ventriloquist. Since his first appearance in "**Arthur's Eyes**", George was depicted as a background character, and was not made into a major character until "**Arthur's Dummy Disaster**" much later. This could be as a result of how quiet he is at school, and the fact that he is also rather shy. Despite his timid personality, George is shown to be a very kind character as he is willing to help his friends even if it means sacrificing his own needs. However, his quiet attitude is often misinterpreted by the other characters, and as a result he is often forgotten and left out of many of their events. It is the result of being isolated from the other characters that cause George to play mostly with his dummy **Wally**. George is shown to treat Wally very much like a real person (even though he is well aware he isn't real), and often discusses his problems at school with him as he rarely gets the chance to speak with his classmates. George is defender for the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team. He has been given several nicknames: **Hammer** (by Binky in "**The Boy with His Head in the Clouds**"), **Big Horns** (by Koko Taylor in "**Big Horns George**"), and **Headgear** (by Brain in "**Nicked by a Name**").
* **Prunella Deegan -** A 4th grade student in **Lakewood Elementary** of **Elwood City**. Prunella is fairly smart, superstitious, a little bit selfish, and at times can be a bit of a snob. She often thinks that she is better than everybody at everything just because she is one year older than the third graders. Prunella likes to tell the third graders stories of when she was in Mr. Ratburn's class, though she tends to exaggerate and she has also told kids other stories that they believe, but later they figure out that what she tells them is far from their actual experience of third grade. Prunella can be influenced by Muffy, even though they do not hang out with each other very often. For example, she hates kickball because she doesn't want to get her shoes dirty and she desires the finest clothes. She can also be jealous as shown in "**Three's a Crowd**" when she gets upset at **Marina** for being better at yoga than her, and stealing her and her mom's special time together. She is also worried about her future and not getting into a good college as shown in "**Prunella Packs It In**." She signs up for different classes in order to make herself seem more interesting. She later discovers that her talent for set painting could help her in the future with college and that she shouldn't be worrying about college yet seeing as she is only nine years old. She is also known to have a **compulsive hoarding disorder** as seen in the episode "**Prunella The Packrat,**" where she tries to save items she believes are important to her when she is told to clean out her closet. Prunella is a major **Henry Skreever** fan, has a strong interest in fortune telling, loves reading **I Ching, You Ching**, playing cootie catcher, yoga, and paranormal phenomena. She also takes shop class, plays the trombone in the school and competes on the **Lakewood Elementary** baseball team.
* **Tommy Tibble & Timmy Tibble -** Energetic twin brothers in D.W.'s class, and D.W.'s frenemies. Together, they are known as the **Tibble Twins** or **The Tibbles.** Timmy and Tommy are mischievous, clever and reckless (sometimes one more than the other), though deep down they are good kids. Timmy is more independent than his brother, as seen in "**Double Tibble Trouble**" and "**Attack Of The Turbo Tibbles**". "Two Minutes" and "**Whistling In The Wind**" reveal that Tommy is two minutes older, causing him to act superior to Timmy in both episodes. In "Double Tibble Trouble," Tommy is less energetic and feels sad when Timmy is sick, but at the end of the episode, when Tommy gets sick, Timmy doesn't seem sad and behaves like always. In "**Attack of the Turbo Tibbles**," Timmy is the one who hurts D.W. They each have their own ways of annoying others, usually by yelling louder than one another. Tommy also seems to have more of a sensitive side than Timmy. Their personalities can be described as manipulative (for instance when they trick people so they can get what they want as is seen in several episodes, including "**To Tibble The Truth**"), dishonest, and sadistic. They could even be described as fair-weather friends (which refers to someone who only helps when it's advantageous to themselves) as is the case in **"Never, Never, Never**" where they trick D.W. into thinking they care about her in order to get her toys and destroy them in front of her face. Normally their personalities are identical except for a few episodes, e.g. "**My Fair Tommy**" where Tommy is slightly nicer, and Timmy is more manipulative.
* **Emily Leduc -** A young girl who is D.W.'s best friend. Emily is a classmate of D.W.'s at the **Elwood Community Preschool** and in kindergarten at **Lakewood Elementary School**. Emily is typically polite and kind, but she can be a bit hypocritical in conversations. She also has a weakness for showing off, for which D.W. at first dislikes her. Emily is interested in gymnastics, and she met her best friend D.W. at gymnastics class.  D.W. tends to be jealous when Emily outshines her in various activities. Emily's mild personality changes drastically when she is babysat by Binky Barnes in "**The Good, The Bad, And The Binky**." Because of him, she has a short interest in professional wrestling which causes her to act tough in preschool. Emily's family name is French, and she frequently uses French vocabulary in conversations as well as addressing her mother and grandmother as "**maman**" and "**grand-mère**", respectively. She likes French movies and shows like **Martin the Mime** and generally shows interest in French culture. She at least once visited France.. Emily also has a French nanny, Renée (in "**D.W. Flips**") and **Marie-Hélène** (in other episodes). As seen in "**The Pageant Pickle**" and "**That's MY Grandma!**," Emily is afraid of spiders.
* **Maria Pappas -** A student at **Lakewood Elementary School**. She is a third grader in **Mr. Ratburn's** class and one of **Arthur Read's** classmates. Maria is usually a bit shy. In spite of this, however, she does often participate in class lessons. She is also willing to have lines in a class play, so long as they aren't solo lines. This is because she has a stutter and did not want everyone to know about it. However, with practice her speaking has improved and her confidence with it. She once said something that upset Francine. Maria follows several sports, such as basketball and soccer. She herself participates on the track and field team. Maria is a member of the **Lakewood Elementary Choir**. She also plays the tambourine for the school band and has a guitar in her bedroom. She is able to whistle. Maria has a butterfly collection, a pet fish, and pictures of marine animals in her room. She also likes cats. Maria is also a fan of the **Magic Cat** books. Maria plays hopscotch and jump rope. She rallied for Arthur and Brain in the checkers play-offs. She is also a fan of Bionic Bunny. The music by the Finnish band **BINKY** was a favorite of hers. Maria owns a doll which she occasionally plays with, though she may also like toy trucks. Maria has another doll that looks like her. If she could only take one food to a desert island, she would bring a plate of cheese.
* **Alex Davidson -** A student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at **Lakewood Elementary School**. Alex displays a generally quiet and reserved personality. Despite being in Arthur's class since kindergarten, he has never talked with him much at all until fourth grade. This suggests Alex might be shy and tends to prefer to keep to himself. He is a "**big reader**" and is a fan of the **Multiverse** book series.
* **Jenna Morgan -** A student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at **Lakewood Elementary**. Jenna is shown to be helpful and athletic, but not really else is known about her. She is also a badminton champion, is midfielder for the **Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team**, and has helped coach pee-wee soccer. However, one sport she doesn't like is hockey, as she considers it dumb. In the episode "**Jenna's Bedtime Blues**", it is revealed that she suffers from nocturnal enuresis. She is also allergic to milk. She likes to eat a lot.
* **Ladonna Compson -** A girl from New Orleans, Louisiana who moved to **Elwood City** and appeared in Season 16. She was a third grader in **Mr. Ratburn's** class before she and her family moved to Oregon. She tells many interesting stories about her family. Ladonna is very outgoing, extroverted and adventurous, and she loves to tell stories. She likes to take walks and explore Elwood City, although she's only been there for a short amount of time. However, she sometimes lacks confidence and doesn't think she's exciting or interesting, which caused her to lie about some parts of her life in Louisiana. She loves exploring in the woods. Sometimes when she becomes overexcited, she makes a high-pitched screech. She loves cake; her favorite is king cake. She eats so much that her father sometimes calls her a "garbage disposal with legs". She can't stand beets, however; even the sight of beets upsets her stomach. She has a younger brother named **Bud**.
* **Bud Compson -** Ladonna's younger brother. He becomes a close friend to D.W. He loves to play with his stuffed dinosaur, **Rapty**, who is also his imaginary friend. Bud is also a multi-talented preschooler as he can make animal sounds, make jokes, and is one of the few kids that can handle the Tibble twins, much to D.W.'s delight. Despite being a shade of brown himself, he dislikes the color brown, preferring the color black.

**Other Recurring Children**

* **Adil Akyuz** (voiced by **Aaron Grunfeld**) is a brown bear and Arthur's Turkish pen pal, who was introduced in "**Dear Adil**."
* **Alberto Molina** **-** A teenage boy who is one of Arthur's neighbors. He is a dark brown cat. He and his family were first introduced during season six, following the departure of **Mr. Sipple**. Alberto and his family hail from **Ecuador**. He practices kendo in his spare time and is very good at golf. In a continuous storyline throughout the entire Season 14, his soccer ball, lost by Francine, makes a long journey around the world and can be spotted as it appears in every episode. He was voiced by **Johnny Griffin** in "**Follow the Bouncing Ball**," **Benjamen Israel** in "**The Long Road Home**," and was voiced most recently by **Daniel DeSanto**.
* **Alouysious Zimmerplotz -** A kid in D.W.'s preschool class who has trouble writing his long name. He is a cat with yellow square glasses and a white shirt with a red jacket.
* **Billy Bittles & Bobby Bittles -** Two vegetarian fraternal twins designed as bear cubs in the preschool class with D.W. Read. They appeared in Season 3.
* **Carl Gould** (voiced by **Dwayne Hill** 2009–2010, **Dylan Hoerner** 2010–2016) A cream rabbit with brown hair and blue glasses. His favorite color is blue. He has been diagnosed with **Asperger's syndrome**, and his best friend is George Lundgren. He plays the accordion, flies kites, and is highly knowledgeable in locomotives (to the point where he can create detailed drawings of them from memory), lions, and space. He prefers to drink "**apple juice from a box, not a bottle**," to quote him. He freaks out whenever George shows him
* **Catherine Frensky** (voiced by **Patricia Rodriguez** 1997–2002, **Alexina Cowan** 2003–2012, **Robyn Thaler Hickey** 2012–2022) Francine's older sister. She is in high school. Catherine is outgoing and skilled at horseback riding. She occasionally babysits for the Reads. She is embarrassed to tell people her father is a sanitation worker and likes to read teen magazines. She usually wears a white-sleeved jean jacket with a white oversized sweater/sweatshirt with black leggings, red slouchy socks, black and white shoes, and always wears her hair with bangs and a ponytail with a scrunchie.
* **Cheikh** (pronounced "**Chake**") (voiced by **Thamela Mpumlwana**) is Brain's cousin from **Senegal** who moves to **Elwood City** in the episode "In My Africa" and begins attending D.W.'s preschool. He and his parents become American citizens via naturalization in the episode "**Citizen Cheikh**."
* **Chip Crosswire** (voiced by Cory Doran) Muffy's older brother, who is a college student at **Tallahassee Tech**, a fictional school. He was first shown in Muffy's family portrait in the book "**Arthur Goes To Camp**" published in 1982. His name was first subtly revealed in "**Arthur's Perfect Christmas**" (there were separate Christmas stockings for Chip and Muffy side by side in their fireplace), but was later directly mentioned in the episode "Phony Fern." He wears a blue V-neck college sweater and a white turtleneck underneath. His first appearance was in "**Matchmaker, Matchbreaker,**" where he comes home from college, where Muffy and Francine introduce him to Francine's sister, Catherine.
* **Cousin Cora** - Arthur, D.W., and Kate's bratty cousin who appears in "**D.W. Thinks Big**." Cora is portrayed as being spoiled, annoying and rather rude to the **Read** family children. She acts like a brat when alone with D.W. but acts like a nice girl when adults are around. Her bratty nature is later exposed at their **Aunt Lucy's** wedding.
* **Monique** "**Mo**" (voiced by **Melissa Pirrera**) is Arthur, D.W., and Kate's oldest cousin, whom Arthur remembers when she had been awful to him in the past reunions and tried to avoid her until it is revealed that Mo isn't as bad as Arthur thought. She, like Arthur, plays the piano and says that Arthur is her favorite relative. Mo is the daughter of Loretta and has a younger athletic brother close to Arthur's age and an even younger sister close to D.W.'s age. However, at the reunion in "**Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe**," she is much nicer to him. After seeing Arthur play piano at past reunions, she decided to learn how to play. She also reveals to Arthur that he's her favorite relative and that the only reason she comes to the reunion is to play with him, especially on the piano.
* **Cousin Ricky -** Mo's brother and Bud and Loretta's son. He is very athletic and somewhat bossy. His skin color changes in each episode he appears in.
* **Cousin Ryder -** Arthur's age and lives on the family farm in Ohio. While he and Arthur used to be close, they discover in "**The Rhythm And Roots of Arthur**" that they are pretty different and come to terms with their differences. **Laurie** is Ryder's baby sister. **Cousin Miles** grew up in Cleveland, but he has spent so many years living and working on the Read family farm that he has become a part of the family. He is the chief llama breeder on the farm.
* **Isabella -** A student at **Mighty Mountain School** who is a local chess master. She is known for tapping her fingernails during matches, which earned her the nickname "**Los Dedos**" (Spanish for "**The Fingers**"). At first, she has somewhat of a snobby personality as she is seen calling Brain an amateur after beating him in a game of chess on numerous occasions.
* **James MacDonald** (voiced by **Robert Naylor** 2003, **Jesse Camacho** 2004–2006, **Nicholas Wheeler-Hughes** 2007–2009, **London Angelis** 2010, **John Flemming** 2012–2014, **Christian Distefano** 2014–2022) (not to be confused with James MacDonald the sound effects artist) is a white rabbit that wears glasses. He is usually shy and quiet. He is in Ms. Morgan's class at preschool. He has an older sister named **Molly MacDonald**. James, unlike his older sister Molly, has a very kind and caring personality, but is also shy and timid. However, in "**The Last Tough Customer**," he temporarily develops a more aggressive personality due to seeing Molly bullying others and wanting to act like his older sister, and yells at Amanda and pushes her away from a fountain while she's drinking water, but he stops acting like that after Molly tells her it's not okay and told him to apologize to Amanda (**and promises to change her own ways as well**).
* **Molly MacDonald** (voiced by **Maggie Castle**) is close friends with Binky. She is a white rabbit and a senior member of the **Tough Customers**. She became a bully herself after being bullied in preschool, which she later avoided after discovering she was imitated by her younger brother James. She is good at giving advice but dislikes that everybody comes to her for it. She became friends with Arthur and D.W. and is an effective babysitter for the Tibble Twins. Molly has long maroon hair that mainly covers her eyes and often wears sleeveless shirts. She appears to be a stereotypical "**punk kid**" of the 2000s. Despite her tough exterior, she has also shown her more creative side in episodes like "**The Agent Of Change**." Her younger brother is James, who is D.W.'s friend and classmate. She enjoys listening to the heavy metal band **Mütakrüde** and taking care of James.
* **Slink** (voiced by **Michael Yarmush**) A 4th grader rabbit. He is part of the **Tough Customers**. In his first episode in 1997, he convinced Buster to be "cool" by doing bad things. Decades later, in 2018's "**Slink's Special Talent**," he was revealed to be a good paper delivery boy. Slink was a quitter who never really applied himself until Rattles taught him a better work ethic. After that, Slink becomes a hard worker who strives to improve himself. According to his father, Slink is apparently good at packing and he always lets Slink pack when his family is going on vacation. Slink has an interest in survivalism and watches the television series **The Backyard Survivor** to hone his skills. When he and the Tough Customers went to a trip to the **Lookout Mountain Hotel**, he filmed their entire 'adventure' in hopes of turning it into a reality TV show. Outside of packing and television, Slink's main interest includes comedy; however, he isn't good at telling jokes.
* **Rattles** (voiced by **Scott Beaudin**) Another member of the **Tough Customers**. Rattles have been a Tough Customer member since the first season. His species is somewhat of a mystery; he appeared as a grey cat in the earliest seasons, then was made a dog in Season 8, and then was given rounded ears, like a bear, in Season 18. He wears a backward baseball hat, black leather jacket, green T-shirt, blue jeans, and high tops. He speaks with a Northern New Jersey accent. It was revealed in "**Arthur Unravels**" that he has an affinity for knitting. He is also skilled at playing chess. He is a 4th grader at Lakewood Elementary. In early seasons, Rattles started off as a tough, generic school bully. After he got an expanded role in Season 8, he becomes the most consistently antagonistic force in the show, with his directly malicious and petty behavior. However, like his friends, Binky and Molly, he started displaying a softer and more intelligent side, with his own personal hobbies that he (secretly) enjoys.
* **Lori** appeared in the episode "**When Duty Calls**." She is an eight-year-old rabbit living next door to Ladonna at her new home in Oregon. Not much else is known about her.
* **Lydia Fox** (voiced by **Barbara Mamabolo**) A physically disabled fox who helps Brain get over his temporary reliance on a wheelchair in "**The Wheel Deal**." Through her tutoring, he learns how to play basketball in a wheelchair and almost wins a charity game of free throws (though Lydia winds up taking over for the last few shots). Lydia was the winning entry of a children's contest to design a new character, sent in by **Connor Gordon** from Savage, Minnesota. In season 14, the voice actor credits gave Lydia the last name Gordon, but season 19 reverted her name to Lydia Fox. Lydia reappears in the season 19 episode "**Little Miss Meanie**" and the Season 21 episode "**The Princess Problem**." Lydia is a tomboy with a love for basketball who doesn't let her wheelchair be an obstacle for her.
* **Marina Datillo** (voiced by **Helena Evangeliou**) is a white rabbit in the 4th grade who attends **Mighty Mountain Elementary School**. She is blind, and she befriends Prunella after she inadvertently ordered a Braille copy of a "**Henry Skreever**" book and let her borrow it. Like Prunella, she is a big fan of "**Henry Skreever**." Marina sometimes acts as Prunella's mature side. She is kind, understanding, and helpful, although she hates it when people fuss about her because she is blind. This shows that she has some level of independence. She tends to master things quickly (**one example is when she does a more complex move in yoga**). Marina is also very athletic and plays on a soccer team. At times, she is shown to have a competitive personality and this can sometimes lead to her downfall.
* **Mei Lin Barnes** (voiced by **Carrie Finlay**) is Binky's baby sister, a bear, who was adopted from China. She is also Baby Kate's friend. She's a sweet and nice infant who loves to play with Binky. She also loves playing with Kate. In "**Mei Lin Takes A Stand**", Kate mentions that she can get cranky if she misses her nap.
* **Rubella Deegan** (voiced by **Eramelinda Boquer**) is Prunella's older sister. She is very spiritual and practices psychic and paranormal phenomena. She is typically depicted as mystical and speaks dramatically, often chiding Prunella.
* **Sally MacGill -** Arthur's babysitter in "**Crushed**." She is a 16-year-old bear hired by Arthur's parents. Arthur developed a crush on her because of her skill in video games. However, Arthur was heartbroken when he found out she had a boyfriend named **Corey**.
* **Tenzin** **Wangdu** was originally a child in poverty living in **Tibet** that **Sue Ellen** sent letters to for a while. He helped fill a void that Sue Ellen felt because Sue Ellen is an only child and doesn't have much in common with her friends. As a result, sue Ellen mistakenly called him her "**Little Brother.**" Later, he moved to **Dharamsala**, **India**, where he started to email Sue Ellen. They eventually met, revealing that **Sue Ellen** and **Tenzin** are the same age. He is a panda and originally had black fur. This was later retconned. Tenzin is very friendly and polite. He loves baseball, fashion shows (especially Capri di Vapida), sports cars, and zombie movies. He also to likes to take pictures with his smartphone. He used to take karate lessons, but dropped out because he was not good at it. He speaks excellent English with some verbal quirks like "**very sorry**" and "**very awesome**".
* **Vicita Molina** (voiced by **Alyson Wener**) The Read family's new neighbor. Her age is "**three and seven eighths**," and, as a result, D.W. believes herself to be a role model. Vicita and her family are from **Ecuador**, and moved to **Elwood City** in Season 6, replacing **Mr. Sipple**. Vicita is a young and playful little girl who gets along with most of the kids in her neighborhood. She usually gets along with her big brother Alberto and doesn't pester him. She also looks up to older kids like D.W., usually looking to them for guidance. She likes to play lots of games and she's very energetic. But being young, she's also very naive and she's prone to common childhood fears, misinterpreting the things she hears, and she's easily manipulated by people like the Tibble twins. She often goes to Alberto when she has trouble with older kids (**like the Tibble twins and Muffy**).
* **W.D.** (full name is **Wilhelmina Dagmar Merkles**) (voiced by **Raphael Cohen-Demers**) A tomboy counterpart to D.W. She is a bear. She has an imaginary friend Maxine. Her parents, **Herman** and **Ursa**, are great friends with The Reads; Meanwhile, W.D. and D.W. do not get along as much. Later, they develop a friendship despite their clashing personalities.

**Adults**

* **Grandma Thora Read** (voiced by **Joanna Noyes**) Arthur, D.W., Mo, Ricky, George, and Kate's paternal grandmother. "**The Rhythm and Roots Of Arthur**" mentions that she spent summers at the Read family farm in Ohio when she was a young girl. Grandma Thora is a columnist. In a flashback in "**Clarissa is Cracked**," Thora had three brothers. Grandma Thora is **David**, **Loretta & Bonnie's** mother. It is revealed in "**April 9th**" that she had gotten in a car accident (**but was not hurt**) when David was Arthur's age. Grandma Thora is based on Marc Brown's grandmother Thora, who encouraged him by saving his childhood drawings in a bottom drawer. Thora is shown to be very kind, supportive, and understanding. She is very active and is not able to effectively cook. She will not hesitate to tell the truth about other people's mistakes, but at times speaks very softly. She often babysits for her son during their many parties and other catering events. Because D.W. took a nap earlier, she decided to let her stay up for New Year's Eve. Arthur and D.W. rarely spend the night at Thora's. When they did, they saw how miserable she was, and threw her an annual surprise party. Thora talked D.W. out of running away. Thora is counted on for rescue. She loves to play Bingo and is an expert at Marbles. She prefers to give her valuables as heirlooms. One example is Clarissa. In **Family Fortune**, she almost sells a treasured item at a travelling antique show instead. She does not want to spend any time at a fancy restaurant if it means that her grandchildren might not be there.
* **Thora's mother** is David Read's maternal grandmother, Arthur, D.W., Mo, Ricky, George, and Kate's paternal great-grandmother. She is seen as a young woman in "**Clarissa Is Cracked**" and as an elderly grandmother in "**Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe**," where she wins the egg and spoon race.
* **Grandpa Dave** (voiced by **A.J. Henderson**) is Arthur, D.W., Cora, and Kate's maternal grandfather and the father of **Fred**, **Jessica**, **Jane**, and **Lucy**. He lives on the family farm in the country, which has been in the family for over 150 years. In "**Grandpa Dave's Memory Album**," he is revealed to be in the early stages of **Alzheimer's disease**.
* **Uncle Bud** and **Aunt Loretta** are Arthur, D.W., and Kate's paternal aunt and uncle. They are the parents of **Monique**, **Ricky**, and an unnamed daughter.
* **Uncle Sean** And **Aunt Bonnie** are Arthur, D.W., and Kate's paternal aunt and uncle; they are mother and father of George.
* **Uncle Fred** is Arthur, D.W., and Kate's maternal uncle and Jane, Jessica, and Lucy's brother. He is known throughout the family to be very clumsy. Fred has a **Golden Retriever** named **Rory**, who is awkward like him.
* **Aunt Jessica** and **Uncle Richard -** The maternal aunt and uncle of Arthur, D.W., and Kate; and the parents of Cousin Cora. They appear in "**D.W. Thinks Big**" during Aunt Lucy's wedding. Jessica also spoils her daughter Cora and takes her side even when she's wrong.
* **Aunt Lucy -** Arthur, D.W., and Kate's aunt. She appears in the episode "**D.W. Thinks Big**," where she is married, and D.W. saves her wedding ring. She is an aardvark with blonde hair. In the episodes "**Go to Your Room, D.W.**," "**D.W.'s Perfect Wish**," "**D.W. Unties the Knot**," and "**Grandpa Dave's Memory Album**," Arthur and D.W. mistakenly refer to Lucy as their cousin instead of their aunt.
* **Additional Read Family Members** In "**The Rhythm And Roots Of Arthur,**" the family celebrates the 85th birthday of **Theodore Read** (known as Theo), who is the brother of Grandma Thora's father. Everyone considers him to be the family patriarch. His long-deceased sister was named Dora Winifred and was D.W.'s namesake. Theo lives on the family farm in rural Ohio, along with Chrissy, the mother of Ryder and Laurie. An "'**Uncle John**," serving in the military overseas but who earlier lived on the family farm, is mentioned. In the same episode, the farm is visited by Cousin Jimmy and Cousin Lorraine, as well as by Minnie, who is D.W. and Arthur's aunt. She has a sophisticated look with embroidered pants, suits, loafers, cat-eye eyeglasses, and a bob with severe bangs. She is a vegetarian and does not like the Read family's farm, where she spent some time as a girl.

**Other Recurring Adults**

* **Mr. Armstrong** (**Tony Robinow**) is Sue Ellen's father, a retired diplomat. His job has forced him to move all across the world. However, he and his family enjoy the travel opportunities that come with it.
* **Mrs. Armstrong** is Sue Ellen's mother; She is a homemaker with a penchant for exotic clothes. She enjoys making clay pottery and sculptures.
* **Bailey Carson Belvedere III** (voiced by **Bruce Dinsmore**) is Muffy's chauffeur and sometimes the **Crosswire Family's** butler. He also has a notable talent for creating kinetic art. He follows Muffy's orders without question, to the extent of narrating a T.V. show during a power overload by using the limo's T.V. and phone. Another example is when he is ordered to drive the limo in a pretty dangerous fashion and whenever he has to carry several bags of luggage. He has received the harshest instruction to tow Muffy while on a bicycle. In the episode "**The Butler Did What?**" It was revealed that he played the trumpet, went to the same elementary school as Mr. Ratburn, where the two played in the school band, and is a jazz fan. He was initially called James. The name Bailey is based on the "**Arthur**" show director **Greg Bailey**. He is a gray bloodhound in a dark gray suit.
* **Becky** is an aardvark and is a **Meadowcroak** camp counselor and librarian.
* **Ed Billings** is the neighbor of Grandpa Dave's. He always offers to help Dave around his aging farm, but Dave is too proud to accept it until his grandchildren show him the value of accepting help from others, to which Dave asks Ed what he knows about tractor engines.
* **Bubby** (voiced by Joan Rivers) is Francine and Catherine's maternal grandmother who was first seen in "Arthur's Perfect Christmas." She later dies in the season 25 episode, "Listen Up," due to Joan Rivers' death in 2014.
* **Mr. Barnes** (**John Moore; Peter Cugno**) is Binky's father. He is revealed to work in a copy shop in the game "**Arthur's 2nd Grade**".
* **Mrs. Barnes** (**Jane Wheeler**; **Liz MacRae**) is Binky's mother, a nurse. She is protective of her son, especially in "**Binky Goes Nuts**."
* **Bitzi Lynne Baxter** (voiced by **Ellen David**) is Buster's mom, who is divorced. She is the editor-in-chief of the "Elwood City Times." In early episodes, she was over-protective of Buster and a frantic character but has settled down a bit in later seasons. (In the early "Arthur" books, she had blonde hair, although the last books and T.V. show depicted her with auburn hair.) The episode "Fright Night" reveals that she always had the surname Baxter before she married Buster's dad.
* **Bo Baxter -** Buster's father, who is divorced. He is a pilot. Buster flies with him around the United States in the spin-off "**Postcards from Buster**" series. In "Postcards from Buster," he is shown with short brown hair and glasses. However, his physical appearance has changed several times. Early appearances were partially concealed by various methods, such as reading a newspaper, Buster covering his eyes while on his shoulders, or Bo meeting him dressed as Santa Claus.
* **Buster's Grandmother -** Buster's maternal grandmother. Seen briefly in "**Arthur Cleans Up**," "**Buster Makes the Grade**," and the **Postcards From Buster** episode "**Among the Hmong**."
* **Miss Blank** is a past substitute teacher of Mr. Ratburn's class. She was the class' favorite substitute teacher because she never showed up, and the class had to be taught by **Miss Sweetwater**, who let them do coloring and gave them snacks.
* **Coach Bumpus** is a gym coach from earlier episodes. He is a rabbit. He often argues with **Coach Grimsled** over petty things like the last line of "**The Itsy Bitsy Spider**."
* **Mrs. Bofini -** A past substitute teacher in Mr. Ratburn's class. The class disliked her because she chewed with her mouth open in front of the class.
* **Ms. Bryan** is the **Lakewood Elementary School** Art teacher.
* **Mrs. Cardigan** is Arthur's former piano teacher who eventually retired and suggested he take lessons from Dr. Fugue later. She, like Miss **Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink**, offered each student cookies for having a wonderful lesson.
* **Mrs. Grouse -** One of Arthur and D.W.'s babysitters who always make them do dances.
* **Edward Edsel** "**Ed**" **Crosswire** (voiced by **A.J. Henderson**) is a very wealthy man who is Muffy and Chip's father and the owner of a large car dealership called "**Crosswire Motors**." He is an obese, stereotypical fat cat, who almost always wears a suit and a tie. It was revealed that he never attended college; rather he received an honorary degree from Ivy University after his donation of a library. He is also the current coach of Lakewood's soccer team. He was first shown in Muffy's family portrait in the book "**Arthur Goes To Camp**" that was published in 1982 and wasn't shown again until the first season of the cartoon show, where his appearance changed drastically.
* **Millicent Crosswire** (voiced by **Jennifer Seguin**) is Muffy and Chip's aristocratic mother. She also enjoys going to operas, as well as attending and hosting fancy parties. She was first shown in Muffy's family portrait in the book "**Arthur Goes To Camp**" that was published in 1982 and wasn't shown again until the first season of the cartoon show, where her appearance changed drastically.
* **Cisely Compson -** Ladonna and Bud's mother. According to Ladonna, she played in a band until she was 25, but got so broke she had to sell her trumpet, but then a soldier (who would one day be her husband) bought it back for her. She made Ladonna wear the snow hat her Aunt Bo gave her in "**Based On A True Story**".
* **Mrs. Datillo -** Marina's sighted mother. She was first seen in her daughter's second appearance in the Season 7 episode "**Prunella Sees The Light**".
* **Wanda Deegan** is Rubella and Prunella's mother. She enjoys yoga.
* **Ms. Featherfoffer** is a journalist that once babysat for Arthur. She was among the meanest of his babysitters, who told him it was bedtime during the day.
* **Flossie** is a hairdresser who owns and runs the **Salon de Beauté**, where Muffy gets her hair done. She also did Francine's hair in "Francine's Bad Hair Day".
* **Mr. Elkin** is a past substitute teacher of Mr. Ratburn's class. He was troublesome because his large antlers would accidentally knock students out of their seats.
* **Mrs. Fink** is one of the third grade teachers at **Lakewood Elementary School**. She is a teacher like **Miss Sweetwater** that does fun things with her class in contrast to Mr. Ratburn's hard work.
* **Nurse Flynn** works at **Lakewood Elementary**.
* **Oliver Frensky** (**Mark Camacho**) is Catherine and Francine's dad, who works as a sanitation engineer for the local city dump. He states he was formerly a volunteer firefighter. He coaches the **Lakewood** baseball team. He is very good-humored and is at times very childlike.
* **Laverne Frensky** (**Jane Woods**) is Catherine and Francine's mother.
* **Grandpa Frensky -** Oliver Frensky's father and Catherine and Francine's grandfather that owned an unnamed "**hamburger castle**" with unique hamburgers that is still open in the "**Background Blues"** episode. It is the show's version of White Castle. He also mentions **Vingo Frensky**, a barber for Abraham Lincoln in the show.
* **Dr. Frederique Fugue** is Arthur's current piano teacher, after Mrs. Cardigan retired. He later filled in for Ms. Krasny to take Mr. Ratburn's class to **Crown City** (the show's version of **New York City**) for a singing chorus field trip. He was a chorister as a child and later sung with the Whiffenpoofs, implying he attended Yale University. He is an extremely strict teacher and "**fires**" many of his students. However, he shows a softer side during the Crown City trip, openly encouraging his students to have fun with their singing. He also has a pet cat named **Für Elise**.
* Ted Glass is the **Lakewood Elementary Crossing Guard**. In his first appearance in "**Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard**" he tried to fool Arthur and Brain into thinking there was a new $10 fee to cross the street and they believe him, becoming scared after he threatens to send goons to collect the money after they wait too long to pay up. After being told off by Grandma Thora he lets Arthur and Brain in on his joke and they join along in the fun.
* **Coach Grimsled** (**Jeniffer Seguin**) is a 4th grade gym coach at Lakewood. She has various debates with Coach Bumpus.
* **Mrs. Gutter** is one of Arthur's past babysitters. Arthur disliked her because she would play golf in the house.
* **Harry Mills** works at Bitzi's newspaper as a sports writer. Bitzi started dating him for a couple of seasons, but then broke off because she wanted more time to pursue other interests. Despite the break-up, he remained good friends with Buster and his mother as if nothing had happened.
* **Francis Haney** (voiced by **Walter Massey** in 1996–2014 before his death) is the lovable yet absentminded principal of Arthur's school. Like George, he has dyslexia. He also seems to have bad luck: something goes wrong almost everywhere he goes. A running gag in early episodes was a random item falling on his head, usually unintentionally caused by another character, such as Francine throwing a baseball way off course in "**Arthur Makes The Team**" and Loretta flipping the burgers too high in "**Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe**". In the Season 20 episode "The Hallway Minotaur", he was revealed to have moved away to Tanzania to build a school.
* **Mr. Higgins** is an **Elwood City** mail carrier.
* **Dr. Iris** is a cat and eye doctor who suggested that Arthur needed glasses in the first episode "**Arthur's Eyes**".
* **Mr. Kone** (voiced by **Marc Graue**) is the owner of an ice cream factory appearing in "**Arthur's Missing Pal**". He helps Pal escape from the ice cream factory, while also avoiding two ferocious dogs named **Sugar** and Spice.
* **Ms. Krasny** is the **Lakewood Elementary School** Music teacher. Her last name is named after Marc Brown's wife's maiden name.
* **Fritz Langley** is the caretaker of the **Elwood City Community Garden** who sometimes suffers from arthritis in his hands while working. He eventually moves to the retirement community.
* **Mr. Leduc** is Emily's father who is only seen during "**Emily Swallows A Horse**". and "**The Good, The Bad, And The Binky**". In the former episode, he is in bed, and his head is turned away, hiding his face. In a later episode, it is revealed that unlike his daughter and wife who are rabbits, he is a monkey. Emily is seen with Marie-Helene more than her parents which shows that they do not have much time for her.
* **Mrs. Leduc** is Emily's mother, who looks very different from her daughter. She makes many brief appearances, and in "**Emily Swallows a Horse**", she is seen in a gown, adorning herself which shows that she enjoys formal events. She is also seen in "**The Good, the Bad, and the Binky**".
* **Neal Lundgren** is the father of George Lundgren who is a carpenter running his own private wood repair shop in his garage and also teaches a shop class that his son sometimes attends.
* **Mrs. Lundgren** is George's mother who is seen much less than her husband; in fact she was only seen and heard in the episode "**Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto**" and a brief appearance in the episode "**April 9**".
* **Leah MacGrady** (**Sara MacGrady** before season 13) is in charge of the cafeteria at **Lakewood Elementary school**. She is full of unconventional wisdom, and is Grandma Thora's bingo buddy. She commonly wears a pink shirt and white pants. She, like Prunella, enjoys fortune telling. In "**The Great MacGrady**", **Mrs. MacGrady** was diagnosed with cancer, but she has since continued to work at Lakewood, suggesting that she ultimately recovered from cancer. She was also a member of the band **U Stink** in the special "**It's Only Rock' N' Roll**", a clip of which is seen while Francine writes a letter asking for advice to help her cope with **MacGrady** having cancer.
* **Mr. Marco** is Arthur's second grade teacher. He is often seen during the series, but Arthur was only in his class through flashbacks. He was a moose in the books, but in the show he is an aardvark just like Arthur. He is slightly stern, has zero tolerance for cheating, and is friends with Mr. Ratburn.
* **Marie-Helene** is Emily's French nanny, who takes care of Emily more than her parents and teaches her some French words.
* **Herman Merkles** (**Andrew Sabiston**) is a bear and is W.D.'s father. He is friends with David read who go canoe fishing together.
* **Ursa Merkles** (**Tracey Hoyt**) is a bear and is W.D.'s mother. She is friends with Jane Read, who helped her with tax papers. Ursa performs biology and geology research for fun.
* **Ramon Molina** is Arthur's new Ecuadorian neighbor, who moves in Mr. Sipple's old house with his family. He is revealed to own and run an Ecuadorian cuisine restaurant.
* **Mrs. Molina** (voiced by **Dawn Ford**) is the wife of Ramon Molina, and mother of Vicita and Alberto. In "**Dancing Fools**", she taught a children's dance class.
* **Carl Manino** is the longtime owner of the **Sugar Bowl**.
* **Mr. Morgan** is Jenna's father who was seen and heard from in the episode "**Jenna's Bedtime Blues**".
* **Mrs. Morgan** is Jenna's mother who very briefly appears in "**Muffy's New Best Friend**" and "**Elwood City Turns 100**", she helped to make the costumes for the play using her sewing machine; it appears that she has a talent in sewing.
* **Ms. Morgan** is D.W.'s preschool teacher, and a gymnastics instructor. She is a bear, an indication that she is not related to Jenna's family, who are all cats.
* **Mr. Morris** is the **Lakewood Elementary School** janitor, who moved to Roswell, New Mexico to live with his daughter after breaking his leg during the **Lakewood** fire on "April 9". He is seen in the Postcards from Buster episode "Alien Adventure", where Buster visits New Mexico. Although he moved away, he is seen in the background of several episodes post "**April 9**". Like Buster, he has asthma.
* **Mrs. Pariso'":** Francine's next door neighbor, who is very good at horseback riding and also won prizes at **Wimbledon**. She appeared in the episode "**Francine Goes To War**" and an episode of "**Postcards From Buster**". She banged on Francine's wall when she first moved into their apartment building, which made Francine think she was a spirit who scares others to death, starting a brief rivalry; luckily, the two became good friends in the end when they both discover they like soda and horseback riding. Francine later explained that the reason Mrs. Pariso was mean was because she was lonely. She kind of ignored Francine and Prunella when they disturbed her. When Buster called her a witch, she didn't seem to mind it (unlike Francine) and told a story about how she had met a warlock once.
* **Patrick Ratburn** (**Marcel Jeanin**) is Mr. Ratburn's husband that he marries in the episode "**Mr. Ratburn & The Special Someone**". He sells chocolate, including a particular chocolate that he refers to as a "**Frieda Kahlo**", at Patrick's Chocolates in **Elwood City**.
* **Signore Pelato** is a clown barber who owns and runs the **Signore Pelato Barber Shop** in "**D.W., Queen of the Comeback**". In the same episode, he cuts D.W.'s hair too short, causing the Tibble Twins to nickname her "**Dennis**".
* **Pickles** is a local circus clown who does gigs in Elwood City including birthday parties and Elwood City's annual **Downtown Day**.
* **Mr. Powers** (voiced by **Terrence Scammell**) is Brain's father, who appears to have average intelligence compared to The Brain. Not much is known about him.
* **Mrs. Powers** (voiced by **Susan Glover**) is Brain's mother, who owns and runs the ice cream shop. She was originally shown with a brown complexion and brown hair but she is now seen with a light complexion and blonde cream-colored hair.
* **Mr. Pryce-Jones** is an extremely strict teacher at Glenbrook Academy, where knowledge (and classwork) is unlimited. He is Mr. Ratburn's favorite teacher. Mr. Pryce-Jones is "**irreplaceable**" as he hadn't retired by the time Arthur and his classmates attended the Medieval Fair; Pryce-Jones was teaching a class of seemingly unbeatable rival students. Mr. Haney was impressed by Glenbrook's performance and hired **Pryce-Jones** to be a tutor for his niece and nephew.
* **Nigel Charles Ratburn** (voiced by **Arthur Holden**) (**Emil Ratburn** in Season 1) is Arthur's third and fourth grade teacher. He attended **Glenbrook** where his passion for learning and teaching was guided by his teacher, **Mr. Pryce-Jones**. Various running gags involving Mr. Ratburn are of his strictness and love of homework, food, and dessert (especially cake). He usually drives a small red convertible but also bought a minivan and canoe online. He is a fanatic of the series "**Spooky-Poo!**", a spoof of "**Scooby-Doo**". In the Season 22 episode "**Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone**", Mr. Ratburn is revealed to be gay when he marries his same-sex partner, Patrick, in a wedding attended by his students.
* **Rodentia Ratburn -** Mr. Ratburn's sister, who once filled in for Mr. Ratburn when he had laryngitis. The students initially liked the simplicity of her methods, but they proved way too childish for their age and were actually happy to have Mr. Ratburn back. In the later episode "**Desk Wars**", it would seem that she gave birth to a child, as Mr. Ratburn left for a phone call in which his sister told him he was an uncle.
* **Mrs. Robertson** is the **Lakewood Elementary School Kindergarten** teacher who is now retired. Her retirement diorama risked exposing Brain's secret.
* **Mr. Sanders** is the building superintendent who works for the apartment building where the Frensky family lives.
* **Mrs. Shmigaedy** is one of Arthur's old babysitters, a moose who made great cookies but was rather clumsy because of her large horns.
* **Susy Sipple** (**Mark Camacho**) is Arthur's next-door neighbor from Seasons 1–6, who enjoys grilling fish late at night and comes from a place where making faces on a bike means "bring me a cabbage". When he first appears, he was mowing his lawn and almost killed **Toady Wartface**. His name is revealed when D.W. learns to ride a bicycle. He moves out of the neighborhood in Season 6, and the Molinas move into his home.
* **Dr. Sozio** is a dentist that the Read family goes to. A gag is parents forbidding children to put their hands in his "mouth" (**a plastic model displaying teeth**). He is a bear and wears glasses.
* **Miss Sweetwater -** A third grade teacher at **Lakewood Elementary School**. She does fun things with her students like singing songs (especially "**I Like Fudge**") on her guitar. In the early "Arthur" books, she was depicted as a cat, but the cartoon and later books depicted her as a rabbit.
* **Mrs. Terracini** is a grandmother to one of the children in D.W.'s Class. She is very old and can neither see nor remember names very well, as she called the "**Tibble Twins**" the "**Toggle Twins**".
* **Mrs. Tibble** is the grandmother of Tommy and Timmy Tibble. (In early Arthur books, Mrs. Tibble is a human, however many newer books and the show have her as a bear.) She lives with the twins and has gray hair tied in a high bun.
* **Miss Tingley** is Principal Haney's secretary and the assistant principal of **Lakewood Elementary School**. One time she was afraid of Miss Sweetwater's singing and Mr. Haney's sawing-in-half magic trick. She is an excellent public speaker compared to Mr. Haney, and she has had to rephrase and conclude his long, confusing speeches. She soon becomes the temporary principal in Season 20 after Mr. Haney resigned.
* **Mrs. Tremello** is a past substitute teacher of Mr. Ratburn's class. She was disliked by the class because she mumbled everything she said.
* **Paige Turner** (**Katie Hutchinson**) Paige is Ms. Turner's first name, pun is intended as she is in charge of the **Elwood City Library**. She is friendly, polite, and calm to her patrons and associates. A running gag is a widespread fear of her by the patrons due to their worries of failure and responsibility. Her hair color has changed from dark brown to light brown. She wears glasses and also has numerous watches. She is a rabbit.
* **Mr. Walters** is the father of Fern who is seen much less than his wife but was finally first seen in the episode "**Phony Fern**", plus in the episode "**Fernlets By Fern**". He is a brown dog in a blue jacket. He taught Fern about computers.
* **Doria Walters -** Fern's mother. She works for a real estate company. Her hair is noticeably a different style than Fern's, which hides Doria's ears. She has an outgoing personality and is very confident and encouraging to her daughter, Fern (**who would prefer it if she wasn't**).
* **Mrs. Wood** is Perky's owner. Her grouchy dog, **Perky** (aka "**Jaws**"), is Pal's mother.

**Imaginary**

* **Maxine -** W.D.'s Merkle's imaginary friend. She is an elephant and mostly gives advice to W.D.
* **Nadine Flumberghast -** D.W.'s imaginary friend. She portrays D.W.'s conscience, and usually appears when D.W. feels guilty, scared, or angry. Both D.W. and Nadine are aware that Nadine is imaginary. However, **Kate**, **Mei-Lin**, animals, and other characters' imaginary friends can see and communicate with her. One episode shows D.W. with her when she's much older, while another shows that D.W. does not need Nadine as much as she used to. She appears as a brownish-yellow squirrel. She has long platinum white blonde hair styled exotically in three pigtails and small buck teeth. She has special powers and can create imaginary items and they can appear/disappear with magic. Her last name was revealed to be "**Flumberghast**" in the episode, "**Read And Flumberghast**". In contrast to D.W., Nadine is calm and soft-spoken. She often gives D.W. advice, though she rarely takes it, and she often only appears when D.W. is alone or when she thinks nobody is watching her. She can be shy at points but is quite kind. She is quite practical and cautious, unlike D.W., and can find simple and easy solutions to problems D.W. has. She always answers in a kind manner though, trying to not hurt D.W.'s feelings. However, "**All Will Be Revealed!**" indicates she also has a dishonest side, as although she had good intentions for taking D.W.'s snowball, she kept her involvement in its disappearance a secret from her creator for a long time, even though the snowball's absence was causing Arthur and D.W. to fight. However, she returned the snowball at the end of the episode and promised to confess to D.W. what she had done.
* **Rapty -** Bud's imaginary friend. He is a big green dinosaur. He is actually a toy, although Bud imagines him as real. In "**D.W. & Bud's Higher Purpose**," it is shown that he can communicate and talk to Nadine. He was able to get Bud through his first experiences; moving to Louisiana, preschool and his first haircut.
* **Trini -** Vicita's imaginary friend. She is a very intelligent and truthful fairy, and, in one episode, where the imaginary friends team up, she is the unelected leader of the group.
* **Uncle Wormy** is the **Tibbles Twins** imaginary friend. He is a giant slimy worm with one eye (red) and wears a belt with the letters "U.W." on it, standing for his own name, **Uncle Wormy**.

**Animals And Pets**

* **Amigo** (**Robert Brewster**) Molinas' pet bulldog. Like Pal, Amigo has been shown to speak in some episodes. "**Amigo**" means "**friend**" (or "**pal**") in Spanish.
* **Fur Elise -**Dr. Frederique Fugue's pet cat from the Arthur episode, "**D.W.'s Furry Freakout**". Named after Für Elise by **Beethoven**.
* **General Higgins** is Ladonna's pet rat. He can do tricks, and is very smart for a rat.
* **Killer** (**Melissa Pirrera**) is a stray dog found on Grandma Thora's porch. She had been to the pound many times and was known for being vicious. It is unknown who her previous owner was, but her current owner is Grandma Thora. Pal and Amigo were once afraid of her because of her bite, but her reputation was saved when she rescued Nemo by barking at some firefighters on a rainy day. Killer is shown in the very early books as Grandma Thora's dog, but she was not introduced on the T.V. series until season 9. Since Killer has spent so much time in the pound, without a real home, she became aggressive towards other dogs. She scared D.W. when she startled her in the kitchen when they first met. Pal and Amigo were once afraid of her after she bit them. When Grandma Thora decided to keep her, she told her she needed to be nice to her grandchildren and other dogs if she wanted to stay with her. The other dogs were still wary of her, however. Her reputation was saved when she rescued Nemo from a tree by barking at some firefighters on a rainy day.
* **Mr. Toad** is a stereotypical business investor who invested in "**The Sock Market**" as well as "**The Lint Rush**". Husband of **Toady Wartface**.
* **Nemo** (**Greg Kramer**) is Francine's tuxedo cat, also Pal's worst enemy. In the first episode he was shown in, however, they were friends. Arthur also disliked him at first, mistaking his playful antics for hostility due to his general dislike of cats. His facial features changed drastically after his debut. Before he was called "Nemo", he was called "**Rose Petal**" by Catherine, Francine's older sister. For some reason, even though Pal and Nemo were friends in "**Francine And The Feline**", they are enemies in every later episode except "**Pet Projects**". Like Pal, in some episodes he is shown to be able to communicate with other pets, babies, and toys. He is usually cast as an antagonist in these situations. During these interactions, especially with Pal, he is prone to insults and sarcasm, but can occasionally be helpful.
* **Pal Read** (**Simon Peacock**, main speaking voice, from season 6 onwards, **Michael Yarmush** from season 1, Arthur Holden from season 3, Yvette Kaplan in "**Arthur's Missing Pal**", vocal effects by **Frank Welker**) is Arthur's pet puppy. He is a mixed breed of **English Setter** (from dad) and St. Bernard. D.W. often refers to him as "**Arthur's crazy dog"**. In earlier episodes, he was easily excited and often destroyed the house, but Arthur was able to train him. He is revealed to be able to speak in some episodes, but other than Kate and most other animals, no one can understand him. When he does speak, he speaks properly with an English accent in an adult voice, despite being a puppy. In some episodes, it's shown that Pal can communicate with other animals and anthropomorphic animal babies. In these episodes, he speaks with a high-brow British accent and acts sophisticated. He likes to sleep under the couch, but he usually loves to sleep on Arthur's bed with him and comforts him by licking him after he has a nightmare. He dislikes being alone in places. When he was a couple of weeks old, he was easily excited and not housetrained. He bit his leash and popped the tire of Francine's bike with his teeth. Because of doing these things, Arthur's parents gave him the options that Pal will either stay in the garage or be sent away until he's housetrained, both of which were to Arthur's objections. However, Arthur spent a lot of time training him and he has since then learned to become a fairly-intelligent dog. He only knows basic tricks, such as sit, and Arthur failed to teach him more complex orders.
* **Pepe** (**Rick Jones**) is an Italian flea friend of Pal and Kate who tells stories. He is first introduced in "**Flea To Be You And Me**", and later reappears in "**Mei Lin Takes a Stand**" and "**Around The World In 11 Minutes**".
* **Perky** is Pal's mother. She appears in "**Arthur's Pet Business**". She was once infamous for harboring a grouchy attitude, which caused the mailman to nickname her "**Jaws**", but it might be because she was pregnant. Along with Pal, Perky had two other puppies.
* **Pixel** is the pet dog of **Capri DiVapida**.
* **Rory** is the pet dog of **Uncle Fred** in "**Arthur's Perfect Christmas**".
* **Sebastian Winkleplotz** (voiced by Alam Cumming) is an award-winning poodle.
* **Snowball -** D.W.'s "**pet**" snowball that disappeared one day. D.W. got very upset over it and thinks that Arthur stole it. In a later episode, D.W. thinks that she found her snowball, but it once again is lost. It is revealed that the second snowball was actually a sno-cone without syrup flavoring on it that Arthur ordered for D.W. to end her complaining about the first one. Later, it is revealed in an episode epilogue that Buster was right and the snowball was deliberately removed by aliens as part of an experiment testing human (**or at least anthropomorphic aardvark**) behavior.
* **Spanky -** D.W.'s pet parakeet. He died in "**So Long, Spanky**" and was buried in a grave. He is seen again in "**I'd Rather Read it Myself**" as a bald eagle in D.W.'s imagination.
* **Sugar & Spice** are two ferocious dogs and Mr. Kone's dogs that tried to kill Pal in "**Arthur's Missing Pal**".
* **Toady Wartface -** A toad formerly owned by D.W.; she was found near Spanky's grave and became D.W.'s pet, filling the void Spanky left. She is released afterwards. She later appears in "**The Great Sock Mystery**" and "**The Great Lint Rush**", revealing that she now lives in the Reads' yard and has since married Mr. Toad.
* **Walter** (**Michael Caloz**) is a deer that D.W. meets in the outdoors, D.W. wants to take Walter home but her parents tell her it's not allowed. Walter is also seen in other episodes when D.W. day dreams or imagines her perfect world.

**Guest Stars**

A number of guest stars have made appearances in the series:

* **Art Garfunkel**
* **Arthur Ganson**
* **The Backstreet Boys**
* **Tom And Ray Magliozzi**
* **Matt Damon**
* **Edgar Renteria**
* **Frank Gehry**
* **Fred Rogers**
* **Idina Menzel**
* **Jack Prelutsky**
* **Johnny Damon**
* **John Lewis**
* **Joshua Redman**
* **Koko Taylor**
* **Lance Armstrong**
* **Larry King**
* **Michelle Kwan**
* **Mike Fincke**
* **Mike Timlin**
* **Ming Tsai**
* **Neil Gaiman**
* **Rodney Gilfry**
* **R.L. Stine**
* **Taj Mahal**
* **Yo-Yo Man**
* **Alex Trebek**
* **Alan Cumming**
* **Kevin Sampson**

## Production

**Development**

In 1994, **Marc Brown** was approached by **WGBH** and **PBS** about the possibility of adapting the **Arthur** books into a television series. Brown was reluctant at first to become a part of a medium for which he had little respect, but soon agreed when he learned that the objective of the television series would be to use the powerful medium of television to encourage children to read books.

Although the program is primarily written and produced by **WGBH** of **Boston**, the production of the animation and voice acting are done in **Montreal**, **Toronto**, **South Korea**, and **Hong Kong**. The animation of the show was done at **AKOM** Production Company from season 1-11, then at **Animation Services (HK) Ltd** from season 12 to 15. The entire cast of **Arthur** lives in Montreal or Toronto, where **Cookie Jar Entertainment's** studios are located. The only segments of the show that are filmed outside Canada are the "**A Word from Us Kids**" interstitials, filmed at elementary schools or other educational sites in the Boston area. Beginning in Season 11, the "**A Word From Us Kids**" segment was replaced by a segment called "**Postcards From You**", where live action videos sent in by young viewers were spotlighted per episode, and then replaced with "**A Word from Us Kids**" in season 12. The segments are omitted from all airings outside the US.

Marc Brown's children, **Tolon**, **Eliza**, and **Tucker**, are referenced in the show several times, just as they are in the **Arthur** book series. For example, the town's moving company is called "**Tolon Moving**", and everyday items such as cups or pencil sharpeners have the word "**Eliza**" printed on them. References to **Cookie Jar Entertainment** and **WGBH** also appear often on the show. In one episode, Francine and Buster are shown playing a table hockey game in which one team's players wear shirts in the **Montreal Canadiens**' signature colors with Montreal-based Cinar's logo on them (Cinar was the predecessor to the **Cookie Jar Entertainment**) and the other team's players wear shirts in the **Boston Bruins**' colors with Boston-based WGBH's sting logo on them. Subsequent episodes that involve hockey also depict players wearing these sweater designs. Also, in the episode "**The Big Blow-Up**" in Season 2, a racecar driver wears a jersey with "**Cinar**" written on it and a car with "**WGBH**" written on it. In the episode "**Prove It**" in Season 4, Brain introduces D.W. to science while watching a live-action episode of **Nova**, a science series also produced by **WGBH**. Brown's son Tolon, for whom Brown first invented the character of **Arthur The Aardvark** in a bedtime story, was the executive director of the show.

In October 1999, **Cinar** was investigated for tax fraud. It was revealed that both the chairman **Micheline Charest** and president **Ronald Weinberg** invested $122 million (US) into Bahamian bank accounts without the board members' approval. Cinar had also paid American screenwriters for work while continuing to accept Canadian federal grants for content. However, **Arthur** itself was not involved in the scandal as it was publicly known to be co-produced with an American company. Head writers **Joe Fallon** and **Ken Scarborough** left around that time, but not because of the scandal; **Fallon** left about a year before the investigation began. Following the departures of **Charest** and **Weinberg**, former **CBC** and **YTV** executive **Peter Moss** took over Cinar, assuming Charest's former position on the show as an executive producer alongside **WGBH's Carol Greenwald**. By season 7, Moss had left Cinar to join **Nelvana** as a development executive, and financial director **Andrew Porporino** took his place as executive producer. He was replaced by longtime producer **Lesley Taylor** in season 8.

In the Season 14, the series began producing and airing episodes in 1080i HD. However, until October 15, 2012, in the U.S., the episodes still aired in 4:3 aspect ratio, with the left and right sides cropped out. They have since begun airing in 16:9 on October 15, 2012. Season 12 also marks the switching of animation studios from **AKOM** to **ASHK**. Starting with season 16, the series was produced by **9 Story Entertainment** (now **9 Story Media Group**) and airs in 16:9 aspect ratio. Alongside this change, 9 Story produced a re-mastered opening theme for the series in 16:9, and animation was moved in-house using **Adobe Flash**. Season 19 was the last season to be produced by **9 Story**, with **Montreal-based-Oasis Animation** taking over starting in season 20.

In November 2018, **Bruce Dinsmore** (voice of **Binky**, **Mr. Read**, and **Bailey**) revealed that he has finished recording the final episodes in advance. Production of the final season was completed by the end of 2019. The series finale, "**All Grown Up**" featured Arthur's original voice actor, **Michael Yarmush** voicing his adult self.

**Music**

The television show's reggae-style theme song, "**Believe In Yourself**", was written by **Judy Henderson** and **Jerry de Villiers Jr.** and was performed by **Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers**. A remixed techno version of the song has been officially released on the third album and a shortened version has been played during the closing credits for the sixth season. **The Backstreet Boys** covered the song with the original instrumentals for the ending credits of television special **Arthur: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll**.

The original music score was produced by **Ray Fabi**.

In season 2, the song "**Crazy Bus**", written and performed by then-head writer **Joe Fallon**, was introduced. It served as the alternate anthem of the television series. **Cellist Yo-Yo Ma** and jazz composer **Joshua Redman** covered the song on the ending credits of the season 4 finale episode, "My Music Rules". When Joe Fallon left **Arthur** after season 4, the song was officially retired from the show. The show mentions to this on the TV special **Arthur: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll** when D.W. says, "**Crazy Bus is for babies; I know a million better songs**".

## Episodes

Each episode of **Arthur** ran for half an hour. Episodes consisted of two completely self-contained 11-minute stories. The episodes usually start off with one of the characters (usually Arthur) speaking towards the audience about a situation within the story followed by the title card. The episodes were separated by a one-to-two-minute live action interstitial called "**And Now A Word From Us Kids**" (or, in some cases, a variation of that title more specific to its contents). The live action segments almost always featured children from elementary schools (**generally in the Boston area**) presenting subjects they are currently learning about or projects they have been working on in their classes (the subjects covered here relate to the first cartoon segment in the half-hour). This segment was seen exclusively on **PBS** telecasts of the show, filling space otherwise used for commercials, which are generally forbidden on **PBS**. There was also a segment that sometimes appears at the end of the second 11-minute episode called "**And Now A Word From Marc Brown**" where he shows the viewers how to draw various main characters from the show. In 2007, the show began encouraging viewers to send in "**video postcards**" (similar to those used in the spin-off show **Postcards From Buster**), which were shown in the interstitials of episodes until the middle of Season 12. Beginning with Episode 151, the show reverted back to "**And Now A Word From Us Kids**".

Set in a realistic environment (as opposed to the more fantastical settings prominently featured in children's programming), certain stories (often in the second half of the episode) may not necessarily focus on the titular protagonist's point of view and may instead detail the experiences and viewpoints of surrounding characters, usually Arthur's classmates. Often such episodes covered those characters handling situations often faced by children in actuality as a means of guiding audiences through those situations, including **bed-wetting**, **asthma**, or **dyslexia**, and Arthur's character sometimes may see a reduced role (in some episodes, Arthur himself does not appear in the story at all). Stories in later seasons dealt with more serious issues or subjects, such as **cancer**, **autism spectrum disorder**, or even **same-sex marriage**, although numerous episodes simply addressed topics including childhood fears, trends, or fantasies. Occasionally, some episodes may not offer educational value. In spite of the realistically designed environment, the series showcased the fantasies or daydreams of a few characters on a number of occasions, and a few episodes feature supernatural elements such as ghosts or secret situations unknown to other characters such as **Kate** and **Pal's** friendship.

In May 2019, **Alabama Public Television** withheld the airing of "**Mr. Ratburn And The Special Someone**", where Arthur's teacher, Mr. Ratburn, married another man named Patrick. The station had also declined to broadcast a 2005 episode of the spin-off show, **Postcards From Buster**, where a friend had two mothers.

**List of Arthur episodes...**

## Home Media

Home media releases of **Arthur...**

Selected episodes were distributed on VHS and DVD by **Random House**. Each tape had two or three episodes dealing with similar subjects. **WGBH Home Video** also released two Region 1 **Arthur** season sets; they released Season 10 on March 25, 2008, and Season 11 was released on September 2, 2008. Seasons 10–19 are available to download on the **iTunes Store** and **Amazon.com**. The first three seasons were released over four collections (the second season was split into two volumes) on DVD in **Europe** only.

* **Arthur Makes The Team - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Writes A Story - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Baby - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Birthday - VHS**
* **Arthur's Chicken Pox - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Computer Adventure - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Eyes - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Family Vacation - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Lost Library Book - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's New Puppy - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Pet Business - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Teacher Trouble - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Tooth - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's TV-Free Week - VHS**
* **D.W. The Picky Eater - VHS & DVD**
* **D.W. Rides Again - VHS & DVD**
* **D.W.'s Blankie - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Goes To School - VHS**
* **Arthur Goes On Vacation - VHS**
* **Arthur Helps His Animal Friends - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns About Growing Up - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns Responsibility - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns To Be A Friend - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns To Get Along With Others - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns To Have Confidence - VHS**
* **Arthur Goes On A School Trip - VHS**
* **Arthur Faces His Fears - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns About Honesty - VHS**
* **Arthur Learns To Cope With Anger - VHS**
* **Arthur Cracks The Case - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Family Feature - VHS**
* **Arthur Gets Lost - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Gets Spooked - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Goes On A Field Trip - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Goes To Hollywood - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Goes To The Doctor - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Makes A Movie - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Saves The Day - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur: The Music Video - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Best Friends - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Best School Days - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Celebration - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Double Dare - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Family Fun - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Famous Friends - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's First Sleepover - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Great Summer - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Money Matters - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Music Medley - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Mystery Files - VHS**
* **Arthur's Perfect Christmas - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Pet Follies - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Scary Stories - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's School Of Hard Knocks - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Snow Day - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Storybook - VHS**
* **Arthur's Tasty Treats - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Terrible Teasers - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Treasure Hunt - VHS & DVD**
* **D.W. Thinks Big - VHS & DVD**
* **Parents Are From Pluto - VHS & DVD**
* **The Big Riddle - VHS & DVD**
* **The Good Sport - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur Gets Along - VHS & DVD**
* **Arthur's Family Ties - VHS & DVD**
* **Growing Up With Arthur - VHS & DVD**
* **All Eyes On Arthur - VHS & DVD**

**DVD**

* **Arthur: The Complete Series 1 - DVD**
* **Arthur: The Complete Series 2 - DVD**
* **Arthur: The Complete Series 3 - DVD**
* **Arthur: The Complete Series 4 - DVD**
* **Arthur's Family Fun - DVD**
* **Arthur's Lost Dog - DVD**
* **You Are Arthur - DVD**
* **The Boy With His Head In The Clouds - DVD**
* **Nerves Of Steal - DVD**
* **D.W. Blows The Whistle - DVD**
* **Arthur 3-DVD Gift Collection - 3-DVD Set**
* **Arthur Rides The Bandwagon - DVD**
* **Arthur's Club Rules - DVD**
* **Arthur Loses His Marbles - DVD**
* **Arthur Goes Crosswire - DVD**
* **Hooray For Health! DVD**
* **Brothers And Sisters - DVD**
* **Arthur's Music Jamboree - DVD**
* **Arthur's Travel Adventures - DVD**
* **Arthur's Germophobia - DVD**
* **Arthur's D.W., Bossy Boots - DVD**
* **Arthur's Dancing Fools - DVD**
* **Sleepovers, Sports And More - DVD**
* **Arthur: Season 10 - DVD**
* **Arthur: Season 11 - DVD**
* **Big Brother Binky - DVD**
* **Binky Goes Nuts - DVD**
* **Arthur Stands Up To Bullying - DVD**
* **Arthur's Fountain Abbey - DVD**
* **Arthur Goes Back To School - DVD**
* **Arthur Celebrates Community - DVD**
* **Believe In Yourself! DVD**
* **The Ultimate Friendship Collection - DVD**

* Arthur Videography (VHS)
* Arthur Videography (DVD)

## Books

Book releases of **Arthur...**

This also includes the original book series by **Marc Brown.**

* Arthur Books

## Games

Game releases of **Arthur...**

The **Arthur** **video games franchise** was a series of learning and interactive story video games based on the American-Canadian children's TV series, **Arthur**. The games were released in the 1990's and 2000's for **PlayStation** and **Windows** and **Mac OS** computers.

**Creative Wonders**

**Arthur** was a 1990's video game series developed by **Creative Wonders** and published by **The Learning Company**. The games were created as part of the **LearningBuddies** line.

**Titles**

* **Arthur's Kindergarten** has the player learn kindergarten skills while attempting to fix Arthur's treehouse, which has been damaged in a storm. The game covers basic reading, arithmetic memory skills, and social skills.
* **Arthur's Preschool**
* **Arthur's 1st Grade** has the player participate in Bionic Bunny's "**Good Deeds Contest**" by doing good deeds around the neighborhood. The game covers reading and math skills.
* **Arthur's 2nd Grade** has the player participate in "**Take Your Kids To Work Day**" by completing tasks and chores. The game covers reading, math, grammar, and geography. A new edition was released in 2002.
* **Arthur's Reading** is a two-disc CD-based game that contains more than 50 activities featuring **Arthur** characters. Disc 1 covers letter recognition, phonics, and word families, as well as containing an art room for players to print out. Disc 2 covers reading comprehension, grammar, and spelling.
* **Arthur's Math Games** contains five math-related activities.
* **Arthur's Reading Games** (1997) contains four reading games and the interactive story **Arthur's Reading Race**, written by **Marc Brown**.
* **Arthur's Thinking Games** (1999) contains six activities related to building critical thinking and logic skills. It was released in 2001 by **The Learning Company**.

**Production**

**A Bangor Daily** **News** article hinted that a new series of **Arthur** video games would be released in fall 1999. In February 1999, **The Learning Company** announced that it had "**signed an exclusive, multi-year contract with Marc Brown to develop and publish interactive software worldwide**". The aim was to utilize Arthur's equity by "**broadening his visibility in the interactive software category**", specifically within the core curriculum areas. The Learning Company announced **Arthur's Reading**, the first game in the series, in a news release on July 13, 1999. The subject was chosen because "**reading is a natural subject for this lovable character whose nationally televised adventures have become so popular with young children**", according to **The Learning Company**.

The series was "**developed with the help of educators**". Most games have an auto-levelling feature to cater to each player's own skill.

A kid-friendly website was also available for players to seek further activities that supplemented the games' content.

**Spyware Concerns**

The **Congressional Record, V. 146, Pt. 15** wrote that a spyware expert found that educational software such as **Reader Rabbit** and **Arthur's Thinking Games** may contain spyware. **U.S. News & World Report** noted that a cause could be the free Arthur screensaver that players of **Arthur's Thinking Games** have the option to download. **The New York Times** reported that the **Broadcast** program, which ran in the background as an application called **DSS Agent**, used to be included on the installation discs of many software titles made by **The Learning Company**, including the **Arthur** video games; while **Arthur's Reading Race** "**was billed as a product updater and communications tool**"; and online privacy groups put it in the category of spyware for this reason.

**Commercial Performance**

According to **PC Data**, **Arthur's Thinking Games** was the ninth top-selling software of September 1999, and the top-selling home education software for that month.

**Critical Reception**

**PCMag** gave **Arthur's Preschool**, **Kindergarten**, **First Grade**, and **Second Grade** a joint rating of five out of five, writing that the "**charming**" games covered the same content as the **Reader Rabbit** series, though also saying that players could easily own both.

**SuperKids** deemed **Arthur's Kindergarten** an underwhelming entry in the kindergarten edutainment space, due to having "tedious and overly repetitious" activities. **Math And Science for Young Children** and **Experiences In Math for Young Children** suggested that the game could be used within schools. **Discovery Education** said that **Arthur's Kindergarten** was "**packed with 'smart' features and excellent educational content**".

**Discovery Education** also said that **Arthur's Preschool** was filled with "**smart features and a good range of educational content**". **MacWorld** said the game was easy for young players to pick up.

**Teaching Reading In Today's Elementary Schools** said that **Arthur's 1st Grade** was not limited to its target market, but that it could also be adapted for children in higher grades who had special needs. **MacWorld** said that while **Arthur's 1st Grade** could be initially overwhelming, it was ultimately rewarding.

**Discovery Education** deemed **Arthur's 2nd Grade** "**edutainment at its best**".

The **Eugene Register-Guard** gave **Arthur's Reading** four out of four, deeming all of the activities "**well designed, educational, and fun**". The **Bangor** **Daily News** said that the game would challenge and engage players of all ages. **SuperKids** said that the game would leave veteran video gamers "**unimpressed**" and "**disappointed**".

**MacWorld** deemed **Arthur's Reading Games** an "**amusing, interactive product**".

In 1999, **Forbes** wrote a piece questioning if wrapping up educational content under the guise of video games featuring children's characters such as **Arthur** and **Dr. Seuss** was enough to "**entice parents with the promise of easy learning for their kids**".

**Living Books Games**

There were several interactive storybooks in the **Living Books** series based on **Arthur**, such as **Arthur's Birthday** and **Arthur's Teacher Trouble**. The games were developed by **Living Books** and published by **Brøderbund Software** and **Random House**.

**Titles**

* **Arthur's Teacher Trouble** (1993)
* **Arthur's Birthday** (1994)
* **Arthur's Reading Rac*e*** (1997)
* **Arthur's Computer Adventure** (1998)
* **D.W., The Picky Eater** (1998)

**Critical Reception**

**Aktueller Software Markt** praised two entries in the series and concluded the review by begging for a **German** version of the games. **World Village** thought **Arthur's Reading Race** was "**very well written**", while **All Game** gave it 4.5 stars out of 5.

**Just Adventure** gave **Arthur's Computer Adventure** a top rating of A. **All Game** gave it 4/5 stars, while **SuperKids** wrote that it wasn't the strongest entry in the **Living Books** product line. **The Daily Gazette** warned that **Arthur's Computer Adventure wouldn't hold kids' attention for long**.

**Other Games**

* **Arthur! Ready to Race** (2000): A racing game developed by **Runecraft** and published by **The Learning Company**/**Mattel Interactive**. Released between 1999 and 2000 for **PlayStation**, this game has Arthur search for parts to build a cardboard box racer. It consists primarily of minigames in which the player partakes to gain parts, although the player is confined to exploring a small area in **Elwood City**. The graphics are in 3D, with three pre-rendered CGI-animated cutscenes. The voice acting in the game is not done by the voice actors from the television show.
* **Arthur's Absolutely Fun Day**: **Mattel Interactive**/**The Learning Company**/**Ed Magnin And Associates (GBC)**: Released in 2000, this game has the player control Arthur through part of **Elwood City** and partake in minigames so that he can visit an amusement park.
* **Arthur's Camping Adventure** (2000): A point-and-click adventure game co-published by **The Learning Company**/**Mattel Interactive**. **Superkids** deemed it "**interesting and fun**". The game was also known as **Arthur's Wilderness Rescue**.
* **Arthur's Pet Chase** (2003): A side-scrolling platform game developed by **ImaginEngine Corp** and published by **The Learning Company**.
* **Arthur's Sand Castle Contest** (2003): An arcade game developed by **ImaginEngine Corp** and published by **Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited**.

**Flash Games**

* **About Face**
* **Alien: Assembly Required**
* **Animal Home Builder**
* **Arthur Comics: So Funny I Forgot To Laugh!**
* **Arthur Delivers!**
* **Arthur's Giving & Keeping Game**
* **Arthur's Park**
* **Arthur's Puppet Theater**
* **Arthur's Puppet Theater: Cinderella**
* **Arthur's Puppet Theater: Goldilocks And The Three Bears**
* **Arthur's Puppet Theater: Little Red Riding Hood**
* **Arthur's Top 20**
* **Arthur's Tricks And Treats**
* **Arthur: Build A Character**
* **Ask Prunella**
* **B.I.G. Show**
* **Baby Kate Stickers**
* **Back To School**
* **Binky's Facts And Opinions**
* **Binky's Story Scramble**
* **The Brain's Brain Game**
* **Build A Flag**
* **Buster Baxter: Lung Defeater**
* **Buster's Growing Grudge**
* **Buster's Movie Maker**
* **Coast To Coast**
* **Comic Creator**
* **Connect The States**
* **Crank It Up!**
* **D.W. And Bud's Backyard Adventure**
* **D.W.'s Art Studio**
* **Dark Bunny Needs Your Help**
* **Dear Adil**
* **Don't Wake Kate!**
* **Dream On**
* **Elwood City Map**
* **An Elwood City Thanksgiving**
* **Family History Fun!**
* **Fern: The Effective Detective**
* **Francine's Tough Day**
* **George's Moving Art Machines**
* **Global Gizmo**
* **Go Green Challenge**
* **Go! George Go!**
* **Groovy Garden**
* **Kindergarten Helpers**
* **Lunch-O-Matic**
* **Moonlight Mazes**
* **Muffy's Party Planner**
* **Muffy's Wardrobe**
* **Planet Pal**
* **Scoop!**
* **Supermarket Adventure**
* **The Music Box**
* **The Tibble Super Action Challenge**
* **Tower Of Cows!**
* **Treehouse Designer!**
* **Un-Matching Game**
* **Virtual Goose!**
* **Waldo Loves Muffy**
* **Where's Buster?**
* **You've Got To Be Kidding!**

**Arthur Games**

## Music Albums

Discography releases of **Arthur...**

**Arthur** has released three music albums. The first album, **Arthur and Friends***:* **The First Almost Real Not Live CD**, contained songs that were played throughout the TV show and original songs for the album. The second album, **Arthur's Perfect Christmas**, contained songs that were played during the television film of the same title. The third album, **Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix**, contained only original songs, including a remix of the theme song which was played on the credits of season 6 as a promotion for the album.

**Arthur Discography**

## Website

The program's official website has been given a rating of 5/5 stars at website **Common Sense Media**, and has been advised for viewers 5 and up. The site described the show as being "**one of the Internet's best offerings for kids**". It also advised that "**there are links to PBS sponsors but other than that, there is no commercial marketing to kids**." The review added, "**The games are actually teaching your kids something for example The Music Box combines music and learning, so much so that kids won't even realize that they're figuring out space relations, hand–eye coordination, and mousing skills as they jam along to upbeat tunes"**.

## Broadcast

**Arthur** became one of the highest-rated shows on **PBS Kids** for several years since its debut, averaging almost 10 million viewers weekly in the U.S. It is aired in a total of 83 countries, including on: **PBS** in the **United States**; **Radio-Canada**, **Knowledge Network**, **TVOntario**, **KSPS-TV**, and **CBC** in Canada; several **ABC** channels in **Australia**; and **BBC One**/**CBBC**/**CBeebies** in the UK and **PBS Kids** in **South Africa**.

## Reception

**Awards**

The series has been acknowledged with the **George Foster Peabody Award** and four **Daytime Emmy Awards** for **Outstanding Children's Animated Program**. In 2002, **TV Guide** ranked **Arthur Read** No. 26 on its list of the "**50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time**". The show has also won a **BAFTA** and was nominated for 17 **Daytime Emmys**.

**Critical Response**

**Ostrov, Gentile, And Crick** (2006) write that "**our viewing of many educational programs such as Arthur suggests that relational aggression is modeled at a fairly high rate. For example, children may be shown excluding and ostracizing friends or peers on the playground as part of the TV show**." They go on to theorize that preschoolers, due to their developmental stage, may have a hard time fully understanding conflict resolution, which typically occurs at the very end of a show. Shows like **Arthur** typically spend most of their time building up conflicts and this may impact the type of learning that is occurring while watching shows. Moreover, they cite research suggesting that the impacts of modeling relational aggression may be especially strong for girls. This research was elaborated on in the **New York Times** best-selling book on parenting **NurtureShock***:* **New Thinking About Children** by **Bronson** and **Merryman** (2009). Their punch line is, "**Essentially, Ostrov had just found that Arthur is more dangerous for children than Power Rangers**".

**About.com** gave the show a rating of 4.5 stars. The series described Arthur's assets:

> The **Arthur** series has won several awards including the **George Foster Peabody**, and for good reason. **Arthur** presents issues and situations kids can relate to, and teaches positive behaviors and responses to these issues in a genuine and comical way. The series is fun and engaging to the target age group. Kids will relate to the storylines and characters, and will therefore give thought to the responses the characters demonstrate and outcome of those responses. Because "**Arthur**" presents real childhood issues, the show contains some imitative behavior such as name calling or bickering, much like children experience in their own lives. Kids might hear words like "**sissy**" or "**stupid**" and see Arthur and D.W. argue. Should children mimic some of these phrases or tactics, the show provides a good springboard for parents to talk about the issues with their children and point out the importance of considering others' feelings.
>
>

The review continued by citing many ways in which children could extract more from the series, for example by encouraging kids to write stories based on their own families (**in much the same way Arthur was first realized**) or by **Kim Brown**, Marc Brown's sister, teaching children to draw Arthur while on tour.