Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Drtooth]

Well, the new episode was on... I give it a hearty meh...

The animation isn't quite terrible if you get used to it, though its only slightly better animated than Jacob Two-Two. Not quite as good as Martha Speaks.

Ladonna wouldn't SHUT THE CRAP UP for the first 5 minutes of the episode. She sort of redeems herself at the end of the episode, but I can't help think why the heck do we need even MORE characters? She also has a brother with a toy dinosaur that acts as an imaginary friend (which, as annoying as it sounds, isn't the worst one of those on PBS)... so that's 3 more characters to have to deal with.

So the basic premise is that Ladonna CAN'T SHUT THE CRAP UP, and has to keep making up stories for people to like her because, as I said, she doesn't SHUT THE CRAP UP! And I fail to see an in and out impersonation of Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob as a Loosiana accent. Canadians!

 

[D'Snowth]

Heh, sounds like me as a little kid... when I was in elementary school, people always said I talked too dang much.

 

[Drtooth]

I over simplified the plot...

The character basically wanted everyone to like her and tried to make a good first impression... but she was babbling. Then she turned into someone who basically told weird stories. That's when kids started liking her, but then she accidentally told the same stories, and thought that was the reason why kids liked her. So she basically started making stuff up, Brain corrects her, and Francine calls her out on it. Arthur wants to give her another chance, none of the others do... and then something strange and unbelievable happens to her and no one believes the story.

Essentially, a raccoon stole her hat when she was looking at an eagle, she found a watch, returned it but got a dollar in change, put it into a juice machine, got a fortune in quarters out of it, found a hat exactly like the one she lost at the clothing exchange, and it cost exactly the amount of quarters she got out of the juice machine. No one believes her, she tries to show Arthur... yadda yadda... they found the raccoon with the hat.

I REALLY hope this character and her little brother (oh boy, another friend for D.W.) aren't incredibly invasive the rest of the season.

 

[Drtooth]

This episode was more like it... not extremely great, but pretty typical (that's a good thing). Seems they're pairing up ALL the episodes this season on certain characters (an upcoming episode has 2 Buster cartoons in one full episode).

Whoever designed Muffy's profile in these character libraries did a lousy job. Her nostrils are in the wrong place, making her nose look huge. And they're airing these clearly out of order again, since the first episode of this season referenced a Corsswire Motors commercial from this episode.

 

[D'Snowth]

Yep. Apparently, the Compsons are like the new Molinas.

 

[Drtooth]

Yep. Apparently, the Compsons are like the new Molinas.

The Compsons only appear in 2 of 10 segments so far (I dunno about the next batch of 10... that's a 6+ month wait), and the brother Bud has an integral role in the last cartoon of the sub-season. I have to admit, I made a mountain out of a mole hill again, and these new episodes weren't as bad as I thought. Not great, and the one about the White Board was unrealistic yet also the best one. My sister loved the one about D.W. worrying that Baby Kate is underdeveloped, mainly because they mentioned object permanence (she's studying to be a child psychologist, after all) and the fact that adult Kate in her own memory looked funny.

Of course, the sleepover episode wasn't what I was expecting, and they kinda got away with James thinking the Tibbles were meaning to kill him (kinda dark, if you think about it). It was all about James dreading it, and the actual sleepover was told in flashback form. Essentially, the Tibbles were so tuckered out after planning the Sleepover, they collapsed and James spent the entire night with Mrs. Tibble, who made so many treats, James had to stay home sick with a stomach ache. Actually... Fridge Brilliance here... it almost parallels to Arthur's Halloween. Considering the fact it's someone who's afraid of going to Ol' Widow Tibble's house and imagines terrible things happening to them, only to be rewarded by treats by succumbing. That's basically that book in a nutshell.

As far as the animation goes, I found out what bugged me. When they have Flash shows like this, they have stock character library models. Ones for the character's heads, bodies, and facial expressions. In close up, the outline appears too thick. it looks like the one where D.W. tells The Odyssey. It doesn't look too good with that thick outline.

 

[D'Snowth]

Eh, I really don't feel like paraphrasing all of my feelings, so...

Here's the thread about the new season over at Hubert's Arthur forum, you can read my episode-to-episode reviews there:
http://elwoodcitycentral.createaforum.com/arthur-news/season-16/

 

[Drtooth]

With all due respect, I'm not looking to join another forum right now, but you brought up some very good points there.

Personally, I'm happy Cheik was just there. His parents were also just there in the one about D.W. at the school play episode.

Now, the one thing I'd complain about with the Flash animation is that they'd keep a library of props, but the show already did that for some reason. Especially the "I Ching/ You Ching" magazine in the last couple of seasons.

 

[Ignatz]

Not reading all the posts but I'm guessing I may be the minority who likes the Baby Kate and Pal stories. 'Ah quit hitting me guys'
Also I don't know if this is a recent episode because I'm watching in Australia but the episode with Matt Damon had a pretty great line when he was on the phone to his agent.
'Moby Dick?.....Alright, but I want 50%!...and I want to play the whale!'

 

[Drtooth]

Not reading all the posts but I'm guessing I may be the minority who likes the Baby Kate and Pal stories. 'Ah quit hitting me guys'

Some of them are good, some of them really stink. I love the one about Mr. Toad cornering the market on socks, forcing everyone to temporarily switch to the Lint Standard. But Around the world in 11 Minutes was just bad.

They speak to me as one of those "this should be its own show" circle of friends.

After much consideration and deliberation, I realized that my favorite character they focus stories on has to be Binky. His episodes are always good.