Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Drtooth]

Again, since they never know for sure whether the current season they're producing will be the last, I think that's why so many season finales such as "The Best Day Ever" and "The Last Day" have an obvious series fauxnale feel to them: they're obvious enough to make them poignant enough so if it is the end, it can go out on a sweet note, but they're also subtle enough not to overly make it clear it's the end of the show in case they do get renewed.

Seems to me that The Last Day really could have been the last episode and was treated as such. While I'm sure there's a very inside story that could prove me wrong, I can only assume that the animation contract for 9 Story ended this season. If the case was they were going to charge more for renegotiating or they didn't get the chance to by the time the 20th season was announced, either seems likely. Again, unless that's not the case at all. The only thing that's vaguely a clue is the fact they changed animation studios.

 

[D'Snowth]

I honestly don't know what the reasons are for switching animation companies, but I wonder if it's because everybody kept complaining about the Flash animation that 9 Story did. Did anybody say anything positive about 9 Story's animation? All I know is the company they went with has already done business with the show before - they handled a lot of post-production animation and such for previous seasons, but now they're handling the entire animation process.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Wait, Arthur is changing animation studios again?

 

[D'Snowth]

Yeah, they're going with a company called Oasis Animation, which had previously provided post-production services for the show for Seasons 9-15, I believe, but this time around, they're handling the entire animation production for the show. The thing of it is, nobody knows if this means the show will revert back to traditional hand-animation, or if it'll remain Flash; a lot of people are hoping it'll go back to traditional animation, but I'm not exactly holding my breath for that. Although Greg said he still has many of the original physical models and designs (which he says he keeps in his basement, much to his wife's chagrin), they essentially had to redo the models for characters, props, settings, and such for Flash - after going through all that trouble, it seems to me the practical thing they would do is simply migrate that library from one system to another and just continue to use it for future seasons. Not that I would mind seeing the show hand-drawn again, I just don't think it would be practical in this day and age.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Just did a little research on Oasis Animation. Their animation usually seems a bit better than the one Arthur's been using, i'm almost completely confident the art will be better. They've animated some pretty nicely animated flash type things like the show 6teen and the last two seasons of Martha Speaks, which both generally look better than the last few seasons of Arthur. But I think it'll all depend on the budget whether this show looks good or not.

 

[D'Snowth]

Ironically, 9 Story was finally starting to improve. Sure, the character models and designs still had that slight cold, impersonal feel to them, but the animation in general was loosening up a bit, and wasn't quite as stiff and robotic as it was when they first began.

Well, since today is Memorial Day, this would be the one time of year where we'd see a golden oldie: "D.W. Goes to Washington" (also paired with "Arthur's Mystery Envelope") . . . but PBS stopped doing that years ago, I don't think they reserve certain episodes for holidays anymore. When was the last time they actually played the episode where D.W. tries to get James to kiss her on Valentine's Day? Or "The Fright Stuff" on Halloween?

 

[Drtooth]

Just saw this comic on deviant art... http://www.deviantart.com/art/D-W-78-Take-me-to-the-Pilot-part-4-613655521

All I can say is Hecks yeah! I really like how the story of Harry Mills and Buster is handled in this. I don't want to be the fanfic does it better guy because there's probably a nice, good chunk of high quality better than the creators stuff out there, but there's a lot more awful, below amateur level junk just burying it. But darned if I'm not disappointed this was never handled in the show this well.

 

[D'Snowth]

That guy's D.W. comics are so popular, and rightfully so, because he's managed to give us a look into the future at what life is like for D.W. and her friends when they reach Arthur's ages, and at the same time, occasionally give us insight into teen life for Arthur and friends. If there ever were an actual D.W. spin-off series on PBS, this is how it should be, totally.

 

[D'Snowth]

Nice to be getting classic episodes again, including a special gem today, as illustrated by Drtooth:

I heartell "Arthur's Eyes / Francine's Bad Hair Day" will soon be airing for the first time since 2010.

 

[Drtooth]

I caught that one, too. Those are two of my favorites right there in a single half hour episode. They were able to keep these stories that perfect blend of just sitcomy enough and relatable with just a hint of wackiness that's not too cartoonish.

Though, watching the Woogles episode again, the one thing that confuses me is that the writers and artists seem to go back and forth on the Woogles being blind packaged or not. Ratburn and Brain managed to get the very exact characters they wanted, but Muffy and Francine keep getting doubles and extras. It's kind of a strange inconsistency if you think too hard about it. I'll just say that Ratburn and Brain read some number code printed on the back of the package like the Hasbro brand fake Lego figures.