Arthur (TV series)

Arthur is a animated television series that aired on PBS Kids in the United States. The main age range for this series is 4 to 8. It is based on the Arthur book series that is written and illustrated by Marc Brown. The series has 253 episodes (including specials) made from October 1996 to February 2022. The show has 25 seasons on PBS Kids.

Arthur
Genre	Comedy-drama Slice of life Problem solving Edutainment
Created by	Marc Brown
Developed by	Kathy Waugh Marc Brown
Directed by	Greg Bailey
Theme music composer	Judy Henderson & Jerry de Villiers Jr.
Opening theme	"Believe in Yourself" by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers
Ending theme	"Believe in Yourself" (instrumental)
Composer	Ray Fabi
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original languages	English French
No. of seasons	25
No. of episodes	253 (493 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Marc Brown (seasons 10–25) Micheline Charest (seasons 1–4) Carol Greenwald Peter Moss (seasons 5–6) Andrew Porporino Lesley Taylor Toper Taylor Pierre Valette Michael Hirsh Pamela Slavin Vince Commisso
Producers	Ronald Weinberg (seasons 1–4) Cassandra Schafhausen Lesley Taylor Greg Bailey Diane Dallaire Tolon Brown
Running time	28 minutes
Production companies	WGBH Boston Cookie Jar Entertainment (seasons 1–15) Marc Brown Studios (seasons 5-15) WildBrain (seasons 16-25) 9 Story Media Group (seasons 16–19) Oasis Animation (seasons 20–25)
Original release
Network	PBS (PBS Kids) (United States) TVOntario (TVOKids) (Canada)
Release	October 7, 1996 (1996-10-07) – February 21, 2022 (2022-02-21)
Related
Postcards from Buster

Characters

See the main article: List of Arthur characters

Children

• Arthur Timothy Read is the title character of the series. He is an almost-teen third-grade student. He has two younger sisters, Dora Winifred (D.W.) and Kate. He likes reading, watching television, playing sports, being a pianist, and spending time with his friends. Arthur is normally used as an everyman who sees the good in others.
• Alex is a gray rabbit, Alex is normally seen wearing a tan collared sweater, long brown jeans, and blue and white sneakers. In the episode Buster's Dino Dilemma Alex wore a white shirt that had purple on it, purple shorts with green on it, long green socks, and red and white sneakers., He can be quite mischievous, but is still easygoing, but is very shy, his family is rarely shown in the series.
• Alan "The Brain" Powers is one of Arthur's classmates and friends. He is the smartest of the gang. He excels in academics and athletics. He spends his free time working at his parents' ice cream parlor, while also managing a career as an amateur soccer player. "Brain" and his family celebrate Kwanzaa as revealed in Arthur's Perfect Christmas. He is of Senegalese descent.
• Alberto Molina, age 13, is one of Arthur's newer friends and neighbors. He became a character during Season 6, after Mr. Sipple left. Alberto and his family are from Ecuador. He practices kendo in his spare time, and enjoys reading "El Conejo Bionico", the Spanish version of Bionic Bunny.
• Binky Barnes is one of Arthur and his gang's members, who has acted as a bully in earlier episodes. Binky is a stereotypical bully, who secretly has sensitive and caring feelings. He enjoys studying the fine arts, including playing the clarinet and performing ballet. He is the leader of a "bully clique" known as the Tough Customers who, in later seasons, become less bully-like. He is also a great dancer, especially at ballet. He has peanut allergies.
• Bud Compson is Ladonna's younger brother. He is frequently seen hanging out with D.W.. He has an imaginary friend, who is a toy stuffed dinosaur, named Rapty.
• Buster Baxter is Arthur's best friend and a member of Arthur's gang. Buster enjoys watching television, eating, reading works of science fiction (particularly about aliens), and playing video games. Buster lives with his mother, Bitzi. He sometimes travels with his father, who is a pilot. Buster also had his own spin-off series, entitled Postcards from Buster.
• Catherine Frensky is Francine's older sister, who is 16 years old. She reads teen magazines and loves horses.
• Francine Alice Frensky is a monkey who loves sports, drumming, guitar and singing. She is often blunt and outspoken. She is 8–10 years old, Jewish and of Polish descent. Francine is best friends with Muffy Crosswire. Francine is a sport player, drummer, guitar and singer.
• Dora Winifred "D.W." Read is Arthur's little sister. She goes to preschool. She enjoys watching children's television shows, such as Mary Moo Cow, and going to preschool. She has an imaginary friend named Nadine. Many of the series' plots revolve around tensions between D.W. and her brother. She is usually portrayed as bratty, but she deeply cares about Arthur.
• Emily is one of D.W.'s classmates and best friends. She first met D.W. in a gymnastics class. She is French, and has lots of money.
• Fern Walters is one of Arthur's classmates. She is often shy and quiet. She enjoys reading mystery novels. Fern's mother, Doria, tries to get Fern to become more outgoing.
• George Lundgren is one of Arthur's classmates. He is well known in his class for being a ventriloquist, performing with his dummy, Wally. He has dyslexia. Initially, he appeared as a minor character, but starting from Season 9, he was joined with Arthur's gang.
• Jenna Morgan is a minor character in Arthur's grade. She plays badminton. She helps coach soccer. She received an Athlete of the Year award from Michelle Kwan. She is allergic to milk. Jenna has nocturnal enuresis, otherwise known as bedwetting.
• Kate Read is Arthur and D.W.'s baby sister. Starting from Season 6, she occasionally talks to the Reads' dog, Pal; Binky's baby sister, Mei Lin; the Molina family's dog, Amigo; and Grandma Thora's dog, Killer.
• Ladonna Compson is a Louisiana native who made her debut on the show in Season 16. She tells stories very often, and has a lot of relatives. She has a younger brother named Bud.
• Marina Datillo is Prunella's best friend. She does not appear very often. She is blind. She is obsessed with Henry Skreever, the show's parody of Harry Potter. She and Prunella met when Prunella unwillingly received a Braille edition of the latest Henry Skreever novel and let Marina borrow it. Since then, they have become best friends. Marina is good at yoga.
• Maria Pappas is a is a rabbit in Mr. Ratburn's class. Her clothing usually consists of a striped shirt with blue dress. Her hair is brown, She is mostly seen with Alex, much like him, Maria is very shy and her family is also rarely shown in the series.
• Mei Lin is Binky's little sister who was adopted from China. She enjoys talking to Baby Kate. She and her brother are very close to each other.
• Mary Alice "Muffy" Crosswire is Francine's best friend, though they are opposites in many ways. She is the wealthiest girl in school, the stereotypical rich/spoiled girl, and tends to be extremely self-centered. Her behavior occasionally leads her into trouble with her friends.
• Molly MacDonald is close friends with Binky and a bigger bully than him at times. She is known to be good at giving advice.
• Prunella Deegan is a grade above Arthur and his friends. She is somewhat snobbish and condescending towards the younger kids. She is interested in yoga, fortune telling, and paranormal phenomena. She is a big fan of Henry Skreever,
• Rattles is another member of the Tough Customers, in fourth grade at Lakewood and like Molly, he can also be a bigger bully than Binky at times. Rattles has been a Tough Customer member since the first season of the program. He is very good at chess.
• Rubella Deegan is Prunella's older teen sister. She is very spiritual and obsessed with psychic and paranormal phenomena. She is typically depicted as a mystic. She often talks in a very dramatic tone. She often chides Prunella.
• Sue Ellen Armstrong is a transfer to Arthur's school. Her father is a diplomat, and so her family has lived in various spots around the world. She is interested in world culture, and has a black-belt in the martial arts.
• Timmy Tibble He is one brother in a group of evil twins who routinely annoy Arthur, D.W. and mostly everyone else with their mischievous behavior, bullying and crime. Timmy wears a blue scarf and is the more mischievous of the twins.
• Tommy Tibble He is the other brother in the group of evil twins. Tommy wears a red scarf.
• Vicita Molina is Arthur's new neighbor who moved in after Mr. Sipple moved out, introduced in Season 6. She's three and seven-eighths, in her own proud words. She often plays with D.W. and the evil criminal/bully Tibbles. Her family is from Ecuador.

The adults

• Mr. Armstrong: Sue Ellen's father, a diplomat.
• Mrs. Armstrong: Sue Ellen's mother, is a homemaker with a penchant for exotic clothes.
• Bailey: Muffy's chauffeur, and the Crosswire family's butler. He also has a notable talent in creating kinetic art, and follows Muffy's orders without question. He is 37 years old.
• Mr. Barnes: Binky's father.
• Mrs. Barnes: Binky's mother, who is a nurse.
• Bitzi Baxter: Buster's mom, the editor-in-chief of the Elwood City Times. She's overprotective of Buster and a frantic character.
• Bo Baxter: Buster's father, who is divorced. He is a pilot. Buster flies with him around the United States in the spin-off series, Postcards from Buster. In Postcards from Buster, he is shown with short brown hair and glasses. However, during his few appearances in earlier seasons of Arthur, his face is noticeably hidden from view, for instance behind a newspaper. He looks almost exactly like Harry, Bitzi Baxter's former boyfriend. His physical appearance has changed several times.
• Cisely Compson: Ladonna and Bud's mother.
• David L. Read: Arthur, D.W., and Kate's father. Mr. Read runs a catering business from home and is frequently shown garnishing trays of hors d'oeuvres in the family kitchen.
• Doria Walters: Fern's mother. She works for a real estate company and is very confident and encouraging in her daughter.
• Ed Crosswire: Muffy's father, the owner of a car dealership called "Crosswire Motors." It was revealed that he never attended college; rather he received an honorary degree after his donation of a library. He is also the coach of the soccer team.
• "Grandma" Thora Read: Grandma Thora is Arthur and D.W.'s paternal grandmother, who is quite caring, but tends towards being a bad cook. Grandma Thora is based on Brown's own grandmother Thora, who encouraged him by saving his childhood drawings in a bottom drawer.
• "Grandpa" Dave: An aardvark. Grandpa Dave is Arthur and D.W.'s maternal grandfather. He used to live on the family farm, which had been in the family for 150 years. In the Season 15 episode "Grandpa Dave's Memory Album," he showed symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and had to move closer to the Reads.
• Francis Haney: Mr. Haney is the lovable yet absentminded principal of Arthur's school. He, like George, suffers from dyslexia. He also seems to have bad luck: something goes wrong almost everywhere he goes. In the episode "The Hallway Minotaur" from Season 20, it was revealed that he had moved away to build a school in Tanzania. Miss Tingley has since replaced him as the principal.
• Jane Read: Arthur and D.W.'s mother. Mrs. Read is a work-at-home tax accountant.
• Laverne Frensky: Francine's mother.
• Mr. Marco: Arthur's second grade teacher. He appears in some episodes in Season 1.
• Marie-Helene: Emily's French nanny.
• Millicent Crosswire: Muffy's mother. She likes opera.
• Ramon Molina: Arthur's new neighbor. Moved into Mr. Sipple's house when he moved out in Season 6.
• Mrs. Molina: Arthur's new neighbor; Ramon's wife. Moved into Mr. Sipple's house when he moved out in Season 6.
• Mrs. Morgan: Jenna's mother.
• Ms. Morgan: D.W.'s preschool teacher.
• Mr. Morris: The Lakewood Elementary School cleaner. In the double-length episode "April 9," he moved to Roswell, New Mexico to live with his daughter after breaking his leg during a fire at the school.
• Mr. Sipple: Arthur's odd next-door neighbor from Season 1 to 6, who enjoys barbecuing fish late at night and comes from a place where making faces on a bike means to bring the biker a cabbage. He moves out in Season 6, and the Molinas move in to his home.
• Nigel Charles Ratburn: Mr. Ratburn is Arthur and his friends' teacher. His passions are homework and puppetry; he also enjoys magic tricks and spent a summer working at Jack's Joke Shop. He is also knowledgeable about nearly everything, but is noticeably incompetent with computers.
• Oliver Frensky: Francine's dad, who works as an sanitation engineer for the local city dump. He states he was formerly a volunteer firefighter. He is somewhat childish but optimistic in nature. He coaches the baseball team.
• Paige Turner: Ms. Turner is the friendly librarian at the Elwood City Library.
• Mr. Powers: Brain's father.
• Mrs. Powers: Brain's mother, who owns and runs the ice cream shop. Mrs. Powers originally had brown hair for the first season, but Season 8 shows Mrs. Powers with yellow hair, and starting from Season 16, her hair was brown again.
• Rufus Compson: Ladonna and Bud's father. He works for the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Leah MacGrady: Mrs. MacGrady is the lunch lady at Lakewood Elementary school, where Arthur and his friends study. She is full of unconventional wisdom, and is Grandma Thora's bingo buddy. She commonly wears a pink shirt and white pants.
• Miss Sweetwater: She is also a third grade teacher in another Lakewood Elementary School class. She mostly does fun things to her students like singing songs (such as "I Like Fudge") on her guitar.
• Mrs. Tibble: 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.)
• Miss Cecilia Tingley: The current principal of Lakewood Elementary. She has been shown to be very strict, and enforces rules quite often.
• Mr. Walters, a dog, Fern's father. He was first seen in Season 11, in the episode Phony Fern.
• Wanda Deegan, a poodle. Prunella and Rubella's mother. She enjoys yoga.

Films

• Arthur The Movie: Francine Sings DVD and VHS on October 10, 2000 by Touchstone Home Video.
• Arthur Double Trouble DVD and VHS on February 6, 2001 by Touchstone Home Video.
• Arthur The Movie 2: D.W. & Francine Goes the Arizona DVD and VHS on May 20, 2003 by Touchstone Home Entertainment.
• Arthur's Missing Pal DVD on August 22, 2006 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Other websites

• Arthur (TV series) on IMDb
• Arthur (TV series) at TV.com