Arthur (1996– )

The adventures of 8-year-old Aardvark Arthur Read. When he's not at home being hounded by his obnoxious, but scene-stealing little sister D.W. and his working class parents, he's finding ... See full summary »

Stars:

Melissa Altro, Jodie Resther, Daniel Brochu

10 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Melissa Altro	...	Mary Alice Crosswire (114 episodes, 1996-2012)
Jodie Resther	...	Francine Alice Frensky (104 episodes, 1996-2010)
Daniel Brochu	...	Buster Baxter (96 episodes, 1996-2012)
Bruce Dinsmore	...	Binky Barnes (95 episodes, 1996-2012)
J.T. Turner	...	Narrator (85 episodes, 1996-2000)
Arthur Holden	...	Emil Nigel Ratburn III (81 episodes, 1996-2010)
Sonja Ball	...	Jane Read (80 episodes, 1996-2012)
Tamar Kozlov	...	Prunella Deegan (63 episodes, 1996-2010)
Patricia Rodriguez	...	Sue Ellen Armstrong (62 episodes, 1996-2003)
Joanna Noyes	...	Grandma Thora Read (61 episodes, 1996-2012)
A.J. Henderson	...	Ed Crosswire (61 episodes, 1996-2010)
Michael Yarmush	...	Arthur Timothy Read (54 episodes, 1996-2012)
Walter Massey	...	Principal Herbert Haney (49 episodes, 1996-2010)
Bronwen Mantel	...	Mrs. Sarah MacGrady (47 episodes, 1996-2012)

Storyline

The adventures of 8-year-old Aardvark Arthur Read. When he's not at home being hounded by his obnoxious, but scene-stealing little sister D.W. and his working class parents, he's finding educational misadventure at school with his pals: would-be bully Binky, pompous Francine, spoiled rich girl Muffy, genius Brain, and his best friend Buster. Arthur and the gang get into some pretty wild trouble sometimes, like the time Arthur and Brain are taunted by a dark-humored crossing guard, when Arthur, Brain and Binky find a key and fight about it, when Arthur and D.W. have to run the house when Mom and Dad fall ill, and many more. Based on the children's books by Marc Brown.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | best friend | friendship | little girl | mother daughter relationship | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-Y

Details

Official Sites:

PBS The Cookie Jar Company

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Erdferkel Arthur und seine Freunde

Company Credits

Production Co:

CINAR, Cookie Jar Entertainment, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

There has been six episodes to date where Arthur does not make an appearance: "Prunella Sees the Light", "FernFern and the Secret of Moose Mountain", "Thanks a Lot, Binky!", "Big Horns George", "My Fair Tommy", and "World Girls".

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Goofs

In "D.W.'s Baby", when D.W. is playing with her toy truck on the floor, it's brown, but when she offers it to Baby Kate, it's blue.

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Quotes

D.W.: [singing] The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the Brussels sprout.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Arthur Theme Song"
Composed by Judith Henderson and Jerry Devilliers
Performed by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers

User Reviews

"Arthur" is the new "Peanuts"

Don't let the PBS Kids label fool you--"Arthur" is really a show for grownups that children can enjoy as well. The writers constantly throw in witty cultural and pop cultural references that the kids (and many adults) don't catch. Here's an incomplete list of references/spoofs from the latest season (7) alone:

"Alan Greenspaniel" extolling the virtues of the "sock market" The famous artist "Andy Warthog" Dr. Phil MacGraw "Waiting for Godot" (Binky and Brain wait a long, long, long time to be picked up, while subsisting on carrots and turnips) A combined "Back to the Future"/"Bill and Ted" spoof N'SYNC Muffy the Vampire Slayer And everybody's favorite, Harry Potter.

Not to mention appearances by Larry King, the Backstreet Boys, and those guys from Car Talk. Seriously, it's becoming the "Simpsons" of public TV.

Some notable moments from previous seasons (again, incomplete):

A Teletubbies spoof that has them reciting Shakespeare. The poet William Carlos Williams shouting, "Free verse! Free verse!" "I am educational...I am educational..." "Is there someone inside your head watching everything you do on TV?" "The Contest"...a tour de force featuring spoofs of South Park, Dexter's Lab, and WWF. Bionic Bunny vs. Elias Howe. Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Redman in the same episode. The Spinach Heads. "Nancy Drew gets criminals to confess by wearing attractive pastels." Jekyll Jekyll Hyde Jekyll Hyde Hyde Jekyll... "It's like being dead, only there's homework." Hound. James Hound. "Initials? That's it? Didn't you give the kid a full name?" Buster's "Planet of the Apes" reverie. An introductory narration directly lifted from Boris Karloff's "Frankenstein" ("This story will thrill you and shock you...").

This show is great fun for everyone. I hope the high level of quality continues, and that the writers continue to come up with great ideas.