Arthur will officially come to a close after a record-breaking 25-year consecutive runtime this February. Making Arthur the longest-running children’s animated series in history.
The brainchild of author Marc Brown,
Arthur is the main character of a book series turned animated show.
Marc Brown is the author of over 100 books including but not limited to the Arthur adventure series, step into reading books, and Arthur chapter books.
This Book-Turned-TV series dates back to the 1970s with the earliest original books but As of March 10, 2021, Arthur has aired a total of 249 episodes and 7 specials. The series began airing on October 7, 1996 and will air its final new release episodes in February of 2022.
they plan to end the 25 year Series with a few all-new episodes one of which including the Ellwood city gang we know & love all grown up!
Over its 25 year run, Arthur and his friends have experienced some pretty heavy-hitting and relatable things The series often deals with important issues families face such as asthma, Allergies, natural disaster aftermath, poverty, sibling rivalry, dyslexia, cancer, diabetes, and autism spectrum disorder.
(Go here to access Arthur health resources for your family! https://pbskids.org/arthur/health/ powered by ABC Mouse)
They also showcase the normalcy of different family dynamics including single children households, large families, children raised by grandparents, and the natural connection to distant relatives.
if your kids love Arthur and show an interest in discovering their family history for better understand this game on pbs kids also helps! (Can be notified for foster & adoptive families and saved to device of choice once finished!!
https://pbskids.org/arthur/games/family-history-fun#/setup
Yet another way of promoting advocacy, acceptance, and understanding!
Arthur was so successful that it even gained a spinoff series “ postcards from buster” which started as a small Arthur segment, Originally airing from October 11, 2004, to February 20, 2012, has 4 seasons and showcases Buster Baxter’s adventures with his dad and normalized co-parenting and single-parent households through buster’s storyline throughout both series runs.
They even covered big events such as the Olympics, opera & music, and creative arts!
The Arthur Tv series includes 249 episodes (485 segments)
While no new episodes will be produced or released, All episodes will remain available to stream on the PBS Kids video app as well as games remaining available to play on the PBS Kids website. You can even shop exclusive Arthur and other PBS Kids licensed merchandise here:
http://arthur.shop.pbskids.org/?cid=6202756804f04
You can also still purchase Arthur books and others from Marc Brown from Amazon and other retailers and you can still check out these beloved books for your children or yourself from your local public library
One bright side to this farewell is not only that The series will still be able to stream on-demand through the PBS KIDS Video app but that beginning February 16 PBS Kids and the PBS KIDS Video app will be running an all-day Arthur marathon for 6 days, featuring over 200 episodes leading up to the release of our last brand new adventure with our Ellwood city friends that we and our children grew up with finally getting to see the gang all grown up!
Is it bittersweet? of course!
However, seeing my children love something that I have loved in my whole life is a feeling that I can’t even describe with words. some may argue that Marc Brown and his messages were ahead of their time but there is no dispute that he and the characters in the world he created for us left a profound effect. everything he wrote was in one way or the other relatable he made sure that most everyone was well represented and could see themself as part of the Ellwood city crew.
I appreciate his work and art form so much and as a parent who was once an Arthur-loving child, I say thank you.
It’s an honor to know that as a parent and children’s book author myself that I stand at all in the same category as someone such as him.
As a man in his 70’s, father of 4 wildly successful Author and illustrator, and executive creators & producer of something so profoundly responsible for breaking so many barriers for children like I was and my own kids I would argue that he’s left an incredible living legacy of magic even if this chapter is sadly coming to an end.
it speaks volumes that after 25 years people are still not ready for it to end a quarter of a century and somehow it still wasn’t long enough. THANK YOU.
It’s an honor to know that while I never pictured myself being an author or illustrator as a kid, I stand here today one just the same and I can’t help but believe this man had an incredible impact on me becoming that.
I’ll never forget learning to draw the Arthur character’s straight from marc brown himself as a recorded endcap to episodes over the years, it’s now become a huge skill and great “party trick” among the kids in my life especially my own!