Hey Arthur creator says he is “so grateful” for the cartoon show as it ends after 25 years

Virgin Radio

28 Feb 2022, 16:36

We said our final goodbyes to the iconic children’s cartoon earlier this week when it finally came to an end after 25 years and 253 episodes.

The show, based on the book series by Marc Brown, was a staple TV show of the 90s and became one of the longest-running children’s animations with viewers watching Arthur, D.W., Buster and the rest of the group from 1996.

The creator of the series and books, Marc Brown, spoke to Metro.co.uk to talk about the success of the show.

He said: “It just kind of grew and grew, certainly beyond our wildest expectations. It’s been an amazing adventure, and I’m so grateful.”

The cartoon show made news most recently in 2019 after one of its staple characters, Mr Ratburn, came out as gay and married Patrick the aardvark.

Brown revealed he was proud of the episode and always aimed to reflect real life in his cartoon.

He admitted: “We realized that we had an opportunity to push the boundaries a little bit, so we went for, and we prayed PBS would get behind us and let us do it.

“I was so proud of that episode because again, it represents real life. The way that it was done was all about kids loving their teacher and wanting their teacher to be happy, that’s really what the story was about. That he married another man was incidental.”

The final episode of Arthur, titled ‘All Grown Up’, aired last week and shows all of our favourite characters twenty years into the future.

As an adult, the aardvark sits in a booth at the Sugar Bowl parlor, now run by his friend George Lundgren, and he’s just finished writing a graphic novel which he is about to show to his friends.

Buster Baxter is now a teacher, Francine Frensky has her own shoe company, D.W. is a traffic cop (of course) and Muffy Crosswire is running for mayor. We also discover via the Parlour’s television that Binky Barnes has become a weatherman.

For those of us who grew up with the show, it was quite a bittersweet moment and a realization that we are also adults now.

People took to Twitter to share their nostalgia for the series and their feelings about its ending.

One person wrote: “Thank you Arthur for being a huge influence in my art and my childhood. I'm grateful I got to grow up with this wonderful series. #Arthur25 #Arthur”

Another said: “Arthur somewhat shaped my childhood. as a kid, this show brought me so much joy when I would watch it after a long day from school. I’m sad that this monumental show is ending, but all good things must come to an end.”

A third wrote: “Arthur was such as important series for my growing up. Back when I watch first watched it in elementary school, I just had to see how the boy ended up at the finale! Thank you Arthur #Arthur25”.