Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Ignatz]

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.

The sock market one was probably my favourite of the episodes. I find I like the concept of the baby Kate and Pal stories often more than how they are executed, I think it's a great idea that the babies and dogs have their own world and are mostly smarter and more mature than the adults and kids on the show. What happens in Around the Worls in 11 Minutes? I don't think I've seen it.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Is Around the World in 11 Minutes the one with that annoying talking flea (voiced by Daniel Brochu)?

 

[D'Snowth]

No, that would be, "Flea to Be You and Me".

 

[Hubert]

Though I'm pretty sure that Pepe the flea makes a return appearance in "Around the World in 11 Minutes."

 

[Ignatz]

Oh yeah I hated that flea!

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, even though we pretty much already know by now, we now have further evidence that Ladonna is now a permament character on the show, as she now has her own character page on PBS' Arthur website:

http://pbskids.org/arthur/friends/ladonna/index.html

 

[Drtooth]

And people hate on Corporal Capeman.

Poor, poor Corporal Capeman. Making a joke far before it's time.

What am I saying? Clearly, Arthur needed some sort of hybrid between Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob and Pip from Animaniacs. I can't wait for Ladonna to drone on about Baloney and Cheeseball sandwiches.

 

[Drtooth]

Guess what famous children's author I attended a lecture of and met last night?

I might as well share some highlights while they're fresh in my memory. If someone wants to relay them to the Arthur Message Board, they can.

He's NOT kidding about writing what he knows and basing characters on friends. Strangest case, and I wouldn't believe it if I didn't hear it directly from him... Muffy IS based on a real person who's dad DID own a car dealership! And her name really was Muffy. Francine is actually based on one of his sisters, and D.W. was based on all three of his.

He hated the Interactual Arthur toy. He told a story about how WGBH was in a partnership with Microsoft and they got a licensing deal. He called it an "elitist toy" that no parent could afford, added to a 30 dollar box to connect to the TV.

I feel sorry for, and will no longer complain about, Postcards from Buster. He described in detail that the episode where the kids just so had lesbian parents got the show to lose it's funding (no thanks to the Bush era Department of Education jerk), and Marc had to explain to the little girl why her family wasn't allowed on TV. She was actually in attendance, but I didn't meet her.

They're working on an 18th season, but Arthur Goes Green may be the last Arthur book. Respectfully, Marc wants to explore different kid's book venues and mediums. He worked on a book with collage as the medium.

And the reason why it took so long to get an Arthur cartoon? He turned down a LOT of other offers because he couldn't stand the animation outlets at the time. It was PBS that he allowed make a cartoon series, and that's after a LOT of writers being screened. There were some of the bigger names in kid's television (he didn't name any), and he didn't care for any of the scripts.

 

[D'Snowth]

Really interesting, thanks for sharing Drtooth!

 

[mr3urious]

He hated the Interactual Arthur toy. He told a story about how WGBH was in a partnership with Microsoft and they got a licensing deal. He called it an "elitist toy" that no parent could afford, added to a 30 dollar box to connect to the TV.

You mean ActiMates, right? They're was something that actually came before that called TV Teddy, which is pretty much the spiritual successor to Teddy Ruxpin.

Is it just me, or is that Kath Soucie (Phil and Lil from Rugrats) voicing him?

And the reason why it took so long to get an Arthur cartoon? He turned down a LOT of other offers because he couldn't stand the animation outlets at the time. It was PBS that he allowed make a cartoon series, and that's after a LOT of writers being screened. There were some of the bigger names in kid's television (he didn't name any), and he didn't care for any of the scripts.

I'm glad it wound up on PBS in the end. Imagine all the executive meddling it would go through on other networks.