Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[D'Snowth]

I kind of feel this is becoming like Sesame Street in a way: we're talking about the "classic episodes" and how good they were, and how in the newer ones the show has declined.

Well, again, this show has passed its prime YEARS ago... it's a little past time it was put to pasture... the two big problems with the show lately are

1. The writing. I keep saying it over and over again, but they seriously have run out of ideas, they're basically scraping the bottom of the barrel right now.
2. Inconsistent voice actors. They keep hiring kids who are too young to play the parts, I'm sure it's to prolong their youthful voices, but's irritating that Arthur always sounds like D.W. anymore, and D.W. sounds almost like a chipmunk.

 

[D'Snowth]

it made me want to reach into the television and scream at Buster's Mother about how insanely, almost incestuously obsessed she is with Buster. And then dope slap her. Seriously...

There's two kinds of "helicopter parents" out there, and both of them are depicted almost realistically on this show:

You've got the kind of basically smother their kids, and are really overbearing, much like Bitzi Baxter... it's really going to ruin Buster as he grows up, he won't be able to leave home when he's an adult because he won't be able to make it out in the real world without his mommy.

Then you've got the kind who basically think every single thing their kid does, even if it's insignificant, is wonderful and worth congratulations, and basically gives the kid no constructive criticism whatsoever, thinking they can do anything and everything... which is where Fern's mother comes in.

 

[Drtooth]

2. Inconsistent voice actors. They keep hiring kids who are too young to play the parts, I'm sure it's to prolong their youthful voices, but's irritating that Arthur always sounds like D.W. anymore, and D.W. sounds almost like a chipmunk.

That's why most kids on television are voiced by adults. Longevity and consistency. If an adult voices a character, the most you get is a gradual relaxation of the voice that you don't notice over time, but it's more obvious when you watch the first and latest time the character appears. Like Homer Simpson, Bullwinkle... basically every single cartoon character... but they still sound the same.

But there's a specific sound you can't get with adults. Some voice director explained it at this convention I was at a few weeks ago... the reason why Charlie Brown cartoons are famous for that dry, monotone, almost depressed sound that comes from the characters was due to children parroting delivery from the voice directors. And Charlie Brown cartoons wouldn't work quite the same without that signature sound. Seriously, hearing someone point that out to me was like someone pointing out a tiny piece of a painting I've never seen before.

But the thing with Arthur is the rare case of using both adult and kid voices. Unfortunately, kids have to be replaced frequently when they go through puberty. So, watching Arthur episodes in order, Arthur's voice gets deeper, then higher, then deeper again... it unfortunately can't be helped. Meanwhile, Buster, Binky and Muffy just went though minor changes.

You've got the kind of basically smother their kids, and are really overbearing, much like Bitzi Baxter... it's really going to ruin Buster as he grows up, he won't be able to leave home when he's an adult because he won't be able to make it out in the real world without his mommy.

Bitzi's ALSO very VERy lonely, and Buster's all she's got. I don't want to say it's because she has a career that keeps her too busy (that's the reason why she broke up with that wacky sports caster guy that Buster liked). But she's a divorced woman who puts a little too much care into the fact she only has a child to keep her company. now, what I really dislike is the fact they threw out the fact she was comedically overprotective (which was REALLY funny and didn't quite get that old when they stopped) and just made her love him too much. Scrambling around to make Christmas special for him in that special was funny. Randomly making up Fallfooey Day and sending him stalkerish letters... well, that's a level of creepy over involvement, and it killed an otherwise enjoyable episode. Especially since Buster didn't come forward sooner OR even get angry at his mother for potentially scarring him for life and estranging him from any woman he'd ever come in contact with.

Now, as for Fern's mother... WHAT happened to her? That was some funny Helicopter parent stuff. There should have been more episodes where she forced Fern into things she didn't want to do. And then she just disappears.

 

[D'Snowth]

the reason why Charlie Brown cartoons are famous for that dry, monotone, almost depressed sound that comes from the characters was due to children parroting delivery from the voice directors. And Charlie Brown cartoons wouldn't work quite the same without that signature sound.

Well and too, Charles Schulz, or Bill Melendez, one, said that in the case of A Charlie Brown Christmas, some of the kids who did the voices were too young and didn't know how to read, which is why they had to parrot the voicce directing; and another thing about Charlie Brown specials, movies, etc, was that they were consistent in their inconsistencies with the voices, because they got new kids just about every project they did, which actually makes the changes less noticable.

Now, as for Fern's mother... WHAT happened to her? That was some funny Helicopter parent stuff. There should have been more episodes where she forced Fern into things she didn't want to do. And then she just disappears.

Now that would have made for a good episode, because I was thrown into that kind of situation before as a kid growing up with that type of mother... heck, one year in "high school", my mom decided I needed more after-school, extra-cirricular involvement, so she signed me up for this politically club that I LOATHED! I mean, not only do I hate politics like a sickness, but this club, even though it claimed to be non-partisan, was uber-Republican, so it was a very miserable experience.

But I'm more curious about her father... I thought her mother was a single parent as well, either as the result of a divorce or a widowing or something, but apparently he dad was featured in a more recent episode, and I believe someone said he's a mailman... say, could he possibly be that mailman who was seen in a lot of the very early episodes? The one who called Mrs. Wood's dog Perky "Jaws"?

 

[Hubert]

But I'm more curious about her father... I thought her mother was a single parent as well, either as the result of a divorce or a widowing or something, but apparently he dad was featured in a more recent episode, and I believe someone said he's a mailman... say, could he possibly be that mailman who was seen in a lot of the very early episodes? The one who called Mrs. Wood's dog Perky "Jaws"?

He has been seen in 2 recent episodes. I don't think it's ever been confirmed that he's a mailman, and he's not Mr. Higgins, the mailman you were referring to. I think that her mother must have originally been intended to be single, as in episodes such as Fern's Slumber Party, even in the evening he is no where to be found. But then he could also have been there but maybe goes on frequent business trips or something.

 

[mr3urious]

Okay, I just watched "In My Africa" on YouTube, and I didn't think it was that bad. All right, Tooth, I can see why you find it so bad, with it being an obvious pilot for a spinoff and mostly made up of stock footage and having elements recycled from "Dear Adil", but I find the song to be kinda catchy rather than the ear-bleeder I assumed it to be coming from you.

Also, another mild nitpick is that D.W. flawlessly uses big words like "coelacanth" in the song, which seems highly out of character for her and should be more well-reserved for Brain.

 

[Drtooth]

Okay, I just watched "In My Africa" on YouTube, and I didn't think it was that bad. All right, Tooth, I can see why you find it so bad, with it being an obvious pilot for a spinoff and mostly made up of stock footage and having elements recycled from "Dear Adil", but I find the song to be kinda catchy rather than the ear-bleeder I assumed it to be coming from you.

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot would have sung it better. And they probably would have added some actual humor in it too. it's not really a terrible song, sure... but it's VERY cumbersome how they sing about ALL the countries that make up the continent.

Still, That's the kind of episode I agree with D'Snowth with about the show running out of ideas. Please tell me they don't do the same thing with other continents... unless it's North America. That's going to be like 3 verses long.

 

[D'Snowth]

I finally just went to YouTube and took a look for myself, and here's what I think...

First of all, I can agree with Drtooth, this really is a pretty poor episode... the plot itself is... well, it's just dull, though I DO applaud it for really debunking speculations that still exist today that people think Africa is basically a primitive land full of jungles and lions and such (I did get a chuckle out of D.W. mistaking it for a country instead of a continent, mainly because Drew Carey made that same mistake once).

As for the song, I can agree with both Drtooth and mr3urious: while the song really isn't sung very well, and the lyrics are strictly informational with no humor or entertainment to it whatsoever, I do agree that the tune and the melody is a little citchy... but the "slideshow" presentation is really pretty poor, it almost makes it look like it's a YT MV.

But after all is said and done, I don't agree that it seems to be the basis of a pilot; yes, the introduction does make it seem like as if it would be another spin-off series, but the rest of the episode basically plays similarly to "Dear Adil"; not to mention the ending, to me, basically says, no, this is just another episode of this series, nothing more.

 

[Drtooth]

I finally just went to YouTube and took a look for myself, and here's what I think...

First of all, I can agree with Drtooth, this really is a pretty poor episode... the plot itself is... well, it's just dull, though I DO applaud it for really debunking speculations that still exist today that people think Africa is basically a primitive land full of jungles and lions and such (I did get a chuckle out of D.W. mistaking it for a country instead of a continent, mainly because Drew Carey made that same mistake once).

As for the song, I can agree with both Drtooth and mr3urious: while the song really isn't sung very well, and the lyrics are strictly informational with no humor or entertainment to it whatsoever, I do agree that the tune and the melody is a little citchy... but the "slideshow" presentation is really pretty poor, it almost makes it look like it's a YT MV.

But after all is said and done, I don't agree that it seems to be the basis of a pilot; yes, the introduction does make it seem like as if it would be another spin-off series, but the rest of the episode basically plays similarly to "Dear Adil"; not to mention the ending, to me, basically says, no, this is just another episode of this series, nothing more.

The episode seems like a threat of a pilot. The song makes the episode different enough, I'd compare it to Postcards from Buster, the episode, not the show... but I think the show's producers realize that there is no way they're going to have another subpar second series all about 2 characters teaching something specific.

Still, they could have handled the episode much better. The song was just... it went on far too long, and the live action clips are jumbled and bungled together... I mean, the main problem I have with PCFB was the fact that an anthropomorphic rabbit from a planet of anthro characters all the sudden speaks to live action humans... though, to be fair, in the original books Mrs. Tibble and the Twins were originally random humans.

While saying "Africa is not an endless jungle," may have been a nobel feat, there's so many better ways to address it, even at the risk of becoming "Dear Adil 2: Another Part of the Same Continent."

 

[D'Snowth]

I was looking at TV Tropes, and they said that the traditional title cards for episodes we've grown to know and love have been retired in favor of some kind of glimpse/teaser title card instead?