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Arthur Read has a gallery at the Elwood City Art Museum.
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Arthur Read
S7E3a Arthur Read
Age 8[1][2]
Grade 3rd
4th ("First Day")
Gender Male
Animal Aardvark
Birthday 25th of a month with 31 days[3]
6 months before D.W.'s birthday[3]
May 25[4][5]
Eye color Blue (books only), Black (TV show only)
Hair color Dark Brown ("All Grown Up")
Complexion Light gamboge
Favorite color Yellow[1]
Residence Arthur's House, Elwood City
Family Jane Read (mother)
David Read (father)
D.W. Read (younger sister)
Kate Read (youngest sister)

Thora Read (paternal grandmother)
Dave (maternal grandfather)
Gustav (maternal great-great-grandfather)
Minnie Read (paternal aunt)
Bonnie (paternal aunt)
Sean (paternal uncle)
George (paternal cousin)
Bud (paternal uncle)
Loretta Read (paternal aunt)
Monique (paternal cousin)
Ricky (paternal cousin)
Loretta's daughter (paternal cousin)
Ryder Read (cousin)
Jessica (maternal aunt)
Richard (maternal uncle)
Cora (maternal cousin)
Lucy (maternal aunt)
Lucy's husband (maternal uncle-in-law)
Fred (maternal uncle)
David's brother (paternal uncle)
Claudia (aunt)
Hilary (aunt)
Ruthie (aunt)
Theodore Read (great-granduncle)
Jane's great-grandfather (maternal great-great-grandfather)
Jane's great-grandmother (maternal great-great-grandmother)
Matthew (maternal great-great-granduncle)
Thora's brother 1 (paternal granduncle)
Thora's brother 2 (paternal granduncle)
Thora's brother 3 (paternal granduncle)
Arthur's great-uncle (paternal granduncle)
Thora's father (paternal great-grandfather)
Thora's mother (paternal great-grandmother)
Thora's mother's great-uncle (paternal great-great-great-granduncle)
R4 (great-grandson)
3W (great-granddaughter)
Job Graphic Novelist ("All Grown Up")
Book debut Arthur's Nose
Cartoon debut "Arthur's Eyes"
Voiced by Michael Yarmush (s1s5, "All Grown Up")
Justin Bradley (s6)
Mark Rendall (s6 re-dub; s7 - s8)
Cameron Ansell (s9 - s11)
Dallas Jokic (s12 - s15)
Drew Adkins (s16 - s17)
William Healy (s18 - s19)
Jacob Ursomarzo (s20 - s21)
Roman Lutterotti (s22 - s25)
Philip Penalosa (singing voice in ANF and APC)

Duncan Wold (LB: ATT; AB)
Kye Sones (LB (UK dub): AB)
Ben Ellis (LB: ARR; ACoA; ACaA; AB (activities); DTPE; AP, A1G, A2G)
Pamela Adlon (AMC, ATG, ARG)
Adam Hillyer (ASCC, APC)
Carr Thompson (AMP)
Wyatt White (TAP)

Arthur Timothy[6] Read[7] is the eponymous titular main protagonist of the series. He is the oldest child and only son of David and Jane Read, and the brother of D.W. and Kate. He is a student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade (and later fourth grade) class at Lakewood Elementary School.

Physical appearance

Book evolution

Evolution of Arthur's appearance as illustrated by Marc Brown

Arthur is an anthropomorphic aardvark, like the rest of his family. In the first Arthur book, Arthur's Nose, Arthur has a long nose and his entire appearance embodies the look of an actual aardvark, including the presence of a long tail. He wears a short-sleeved yellow and orange striped button-up shirt, with no pants. In the next book, Arthur's Eyes, his tail is absent, and the length of his nose is noticeably shorter, though his head remains elongated with raised ears. He wears a yellow sweater over a white button-down shirt, pants, shoes and his new eyeglasses. His appearance, particularly the size and shape of his head, continues to evolve throughout next few books, and eventually settles on a rounded head with raised ears atop a normal human-like body. It is this final appearance that continues with only subtle changes through the remainder of the book series and for the entirety of the television series.

His current standard and most familiar outfit consists of round brown glasses, a yellow sweater with a white polo underneath, a white undershirt tucked into blue jeans with a brown belt, white socks, and red-and-white sneakers. His undergarments vary between white briefs, white boxer shorts with blue polka-dots, blue Bionic Bunny boxer shorts, red Bionic Bunny underwear, and sky blue boxers with dark blue bunnies. While Arthur's trademark is his aforementioned pair of glasses, it is unclear how the glasses stay on (because of his ears being located on top of his head). In the early books, Arthur wears brown shoes (as opposed to his now staple red-and-white ones), like his friends Buster and Francine. Arthur's shoes have white laces in the cartoon, but red Velcro straps in the books.

In the first season of Arthur, Arthur's eyes, when seen without his glasses, appear with white sclera and black pupils but later appear without the sclera like Prunella's, for example. However, his eyes with sclera are shown again during flashbacks before getting glasses and in flash-forwards as an elderly man in the future wearing half-glasses. In the later books, he still has the sclera.

Arthur's summertime attire consists of a blue short-sleeved T-shirt with white accents and dark blue shorts; when swimming, Arthur wears yellow swimming trunks. During wintertime, Arthur wears a red hat, brown winter coat, red mittens, and brown boots. In "Arthur Cleans Up," he wore a green Clean-up Brigade uniform while cleaning up the littered park, where he and his friends like to play Frisbee.

Arthur's baseball uniform consists of a yellow T-shirt and white shorts, both with blue accents. His baseball uniform consists of a yellow baseball cap, a yellow T-shirt with an orange #7 on the rear, and the "LW" logo for his school is sometimes seen on the front (although the front is sometimes blank). His ears originally would stick out from the caps he wears, but in later seasons, his ears are always inside. His football uniform consists of a light green oversized shirt with a green #1 on the front and a green football helmet with a purple stripe and purple face mask. During cool weather outside of winter, he wears two zip-up jackets: One is green with yellow pockets, and another is black.

Arthur's regular sleepwear consists of a blue long-sleeved button-up top, blue pajama pants, and a pair of white bunny slippers. (In the books, his pajamas often have a striped pattern.) When the weather is hot, Arthur wears a purple short-sleeved pajama top and pajama shorts instead.

For formal occasions, Arthur wears either a white suit or a tuxedo. He has two stained tuxedos and a suit. One of his stained tuxedos is light blue and has two buttons on the right side of the jacket and two pockets, one on each side, with the stain near the left pocket. Arthur's suit is made up of the same jacket that he wears when he wears his blue tuxedo. However, he wears a white shirt with no jumper like he does with the tuxedo and wears either a purple bow-tie or a purple four-in-hand tie. The pants are the same as his blue tuxedo, and the shoes are brown. He also wears his usual yellow sweater and a white shirt underneath and a dark purple bow tie. As well, he wears dark blue pants and brown shoes. Arthur's other tuxedo is either black or charcoal with a tuxedo jacket, white tuxedo shirt, black bow tie, matching tuxedo trousers and black dress shoes.

On Halloween, he likes to wear his Bionic Bunny costume that is complete with a Bionic Bunny suit and cape, a red hat with an antenna, and bunny ears that can be worn on his aardvark ears. His Bionic Bunny costume is first seen in "Buster and the Daredevils" during a flashback; the hat and bunny ears are added in "The Fright Stuff," and the costume is shown again in "Hic or Treat." On the front cover of Arthur's Scary Stories on VHS and DVD, his Bionic Bunny costume lacks the bunny ears and he wears gloves instead of having bare hands. His most recent Halloween costume is a mad dentist (a "Frankentist") in "Hic or Treat"[8] and "Arthur and the Haunted Tree House."

From preschool until the time between his first and second-grade years, Arthur wore long-sleeved shirts, shorts, different-colored sneakers, and (sometimes) overalls; he also wore different-colored pajamas.

He started wearing his usual yellow sweater, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers after turning seven; he got glasses during the first semester of second grade when his vision became poor.

Costumes

Click here.

Future life

Arthur's future life has been shown in a few episodes, such as "Buster's Growing Grudge," "The Contest" and "And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids." Unlike his early to present childhood, he seems to have clumps of hair like his father. Many of these instances are not explicitly indicated as being canon to the series (i.e., they are imagined fantasies, or dreams). However, the flash forward scenes in "The Contest" and "All Grown Up" provide a specific time reference, suggesting that these moments are actual glimpses into the future.

While as a teenager and young adult, he wears a shirt with red and blue stripes (which he also wore in the book Arthur's Lost Puppy), gray jeans and brown loafers.[9] He still wears the same glasses like his childhood.

On many futuristic occasions, Arthur appears to be married to Francine.[10][11]

If the intro to the episode "The Election" happens, he will go to future President Muffy's inauguration and be arrested by future Binky.

AFDArthurOldMan

Arthur imagined as an old man in "Arthur's First Day"

As an elderly man, he wears half-glasses, a teal sweater with a white shirt underneath, gray pants and gray shoes.[11] In "Arthur's First Day," he wears a yellow jacket, a green shirt, a red tie, jeans and dark blue shoes.

In "All Grown Up," it is revealed in a flash forward that Arthur will be an author in the future. He will write his own graphic novel called Arthur, which is actually based on his childhood.

Appearances

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Other Media

In the Living Books computer games that are based upon the books, Arthur had a light brown complexion in Arthur's Teacher Trouble and it was changed to pale in Arthur's Birthday. This was likely due to color and tone restrictions during the 16-bit era of computers and software. He was voiced by Duncan Wold and Ben Ellis before the TV series replaced them with Michael Yarmush.

In the later games during the 32-bit era of computers and software (such as Arthur's Thinking Games), Arthur's appearance is the same as he looks in the TV series.

Personality and skills

Arthur card

Skills

Generally, Arthur is regarded as an average person.[12][13][14]

Arthur is a mediocre pianist, though he has shown that he can truly play when he is motivated. However, he typically neglects to practice unless his parents nag him.[15][16] He was originally taught by Mrs. Cardigan, who retired in "Arthur Plays the Blues," and was transferred over to Dr. Fugue's, but was once temporarily expelled for not practicing enough.

Although he does average to well in school most of the time, he occasionally receives help from Brain.[citation needed]

Arthur enjoys reading books and loves the library.[17] His best friends were shocked after he left a book on the ground in "Arthur Goes Crosswire." He remembers reading many exciting books in "The Short, Quick Summer."

At times, he helps out Buster, who has a general dislike in homework, who he feared was falling behind and may repeat the third grade.[18]

He was the champion of the school Spell-a-thon,[19] plays piano in the band, and is one of the founding members of the Lakewood Pride Committee.[20]

Arthur is indeed not into contests. While he has shown immense skills in winning game shows, he backs out at the last minute. Other times, he cheats, or otherwise uses other people's ideas to support his own.[13][21][22][23]

Sports

Arthur is seen playing many sports throughout the show. He usually just plays baseball and soccer with his friends, but in "D.W. Goes to Washington," he has a daydream about him playing golf with the President.

In "Team Trouble," he plays American football. He is forward and goalkeeper for the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team.

Arthur also competes on Lakewood's track and baseball teams, as well as on a bowling team against Mighty Mountain.[24]

Popularity

Arthur wants to be popular, and loves celebrities and fancy living.[25] He ran in a class election and was more humble than Muffy, his opponent.[26]

At times, Arthur is very focused on his popularity, to the point of being awkward.[27] He does not understand other people's jokes,[9] and takes advantage of people in an attempt to gain popularity.[28][29]

Arthur is often mocked by other classmates, especially Francine, for having bad things happen to him or for liking unpopular things. For example, in the episode Arthur's Eyes, most of his classmates teased him, especially Francine, who started the teasing. This episode was taking place in second grade. [30][31][32][33][34][35]

When In Trouble

Despite himself being friendly, Arthur sometimes has a tendency to break promises his parents have given him, such as to not touch the computer during his mother's tax season,[36] to clean up his room as he's told,[37] to not dig in the yard,[38] and to practice the piano on time.[16]

He is known to mumble his words whenever he evades somebody's questions.[29][39] He is also known to "play with his glasses" whenever he lies, which D.W. has caught him doing before.[40][41] Sometimes, he lies at first, then he changes his answer to an exaggeration but finally confesses immediately afterward.[42][43] He (because of Buster) is known as the "World's Greatest Gleeper".[33] In this case, Arthur never intentionally meant to lie but does not know how nor when to tell the truth. When he does finally tell the truth, he is scolded by Rattles and lectured to by Binky Barnes moments before they all run off to play sports together.

He is occasionally referred to by his full name when he gets into trouble, although his middle name, "Timothy," was not actually mentioned until "Arthur's Big Hit" from Season 4. It's mentioned again in "Grotesquely Grim Bunny."

He occasionally cheats when he feels overwhelmed, or his friends insist he competes in a contest.[22][23]

Despite Buster Baxter having a reputation for eating too much food, Arthur also loves to eat desserts. Arthur is regarded as a messy eater.[36][42] He tends to eat any junk food he can find.[29][44][45][46][47] After learning about his unhealthy habits, he stops obsessing over desserts.[48]

Arthur also is reluctant when it's time for bed. This often gets him into trouble.[42][49]

Mistakes

Arthur has the potential to be an intelligent person, but tends to be one who doesn't use common sense, much to the annoyance of his parents. An example of this is in "Arthur's Knee," where he tells D.W. to not tell Jane and David that he cut his knee from a lima bean can at the dump (D.W. wanted to explain to David why lima beans are "bad" for you, but Arthur was afraid he'd be punished, because his parents had told him not to go to the dump.).

Arthur usually takes advantage of people until they are exhausted and frustrated.[22][29]

Arthur made a mistake with the responsibility of giving tax documents from Mr. Haney to Jane Read. Arthur was so afraid that what the principal sent him home with was about him, that he avoided giving it to her.[50]

In "Besties," Arthur suspects that Ladonna has become Buster's best friend. He tries multiple approaches to get Buster to be his best friend again, including lying to Ladonna that Buster said something mean about her. However, Arthur apologizes, and they become friends again.

Arthur has a dislike for large but warm sweaters.[citation needed]

In "Locked in the Library!," he insults Francine more than once by saying she looked like a marshmallow, due to a sweater she was wearing, and does not apologize to her. However, they make up after Arthur becomes worried about her safety.

In "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh," Arthur teases Sue Ellen about a sweater she wears. While Sue Ellen does find it funny at first, Arthur starts going too far with the joke. This includes taping an insulting note to Sue Ellen's locker, emailing her a rude image, and writing her an insincere apology note. After realizing that Sue Ellen wants to change classes because of him, he runs outside and sincerely apologizes to Sue Ellen.

Rage

Arthur is also not one to get angry so easily, but when he snaps, the other kids are quite frightened by it.

In "Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest," he is on a tirade during most of the episode. After his friends do not play the single how he wants, he shouts, "This is MY jingle, so we're gonna play it MY way!"

In "Arthur Cleans Up," while cleaning up the park, with Pal for company, he passes by the Tough Customers. They litter right in front of him and tease him about it, but after Pal starts choking on their garbage, Arthur angrily scolds them to help him clean up.

While Arthur sometimes gets frustrated a lot with D.W., it's very rare that he gets physical with her. In "Arthur's Big Hit," D.W. tries to make Arthur's model plane fly and "flies" it out the window. The plane breaks, and he yells at D.W. that she was warned not to touch it. Arthur's anger gets the better of him, and he aggressively punches D.W. in the arm.

In "A is for Angry," Arthur and Brain play in a checkers tournament. Initially, Arthur is excited, while Brain is bored, resulting in Francine and Muffy starting pep rallies to support Arthur and shun Brain. Arthur gets annoyed by this, telling them to give it a rest, only for Francine and Muffy to start pep rallies to support Brain and shun Arthur. When Arthur learns about this, he screams and announces that he's quitting the competition.

In "The Feud," he gets in a fight with Buster over a video game. He and Buster have different opinions on how the fight happened, and that causes the whole gang to get in a feud and be on each friend's side. (Muffy, Ladonna, and Fern are on Arthur's side, while Francine, Brain, and Sue Ellen are on Buster's side). But then Binky (who is "late" for the feud) got involved, and he doesn't pick anyone's side. Instead, he makes his own team, called "Team Binky" where only himself could be allowed. Soon, Arthur and Buster both join "Team Binky" after that.

In "Arthur's Big Meltdown," Arthur gets furious when someone spills a smoothie over his new sneakers.

Growth

It is hinted in a few episodes that Arthur wants to be a lot bigger in size, for unknown reasons. In "D.W.'s Snow Mystery", he views himself as someone 1.5 times his normal size.

In "The World Record," he fantasizes as being the tallest person in the world. In the opening of "Buster's Best Behavior", he views himself as being able to make himself much taller.

Relationships

Family

Arthur home 04 roll

A recurring theme in the Arthur series is the tensions between Arthur and his younger sister. Arthur is constantly pestered and annoyed by his four-year-old sister D.W. Read, and even though she celebrated her fifth birthday during the TV series' third season, Arthur still refers to her as a "four-year-old" in the episode "Return of the Snowball", which aired in the seventh season.

Arthur gets frustrated a lot with D.W. She frequently interrupts his sleep,[51][52][53] comes to his room while he does his homework and fights over the television. Despite all of the shenanigans between the two, they are still a great brother and sister team, and they genuinely care for each other. (Grandma Thora Appreciation Day, Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm, Lost!, Clarissa is Cracked, Just Desserts, Dad's Dessert Dilemma, Arthur's Mystery Envelope, The Big Dig, Arthur's Knee, Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight, Arthur's Family Feud, Is There a Doctor in the House?.) D.W. often hugs Arthur most of the time when either Arthur or she does something that's a big deal, like in the episode, "D.W.'s Perfect Wish" from Season 3, Arthur talks about all the great stuff that D.W. did, and when he finished the story, D.W. hugs him because Arthur told her all the great stuff she did when she was four. Another episode is "Operation: D.W.!" from Season 10, where D.W. hugs Arthur probably because she's brave and for all that nice stuff Arthur did for her before the Operation.

He is also jealous of her for being a better songwriter, storyteller,[54] and fly fisher;[55] which embarrasses him, and makes him believe she's a "show-off".

When his baby sister Kate Read came home, Arthur was close with her, while D.W got jealous because of the lack of attention she got during Kate's newborn days. In Arthur's Baby, he was shown to be nervous about how his new baby sister would act towards until he burped her to stop her from crying to which she then seen snuggled into him and kissed his cheek. This carried on in the episode "D.W.'s Baby" where he fed her milk bottle to her with no problem. Arthur has also been seen to make Kate laugh, starting with the episode "Arthur the Unfunny" where he was purposely making mistakes on the piano while making funny faces. In "Binky Barnes, Wingman," Arthur dresses as a spider and brings Kate to school dressed as a fly to help with his report on spiders.

Arthur's parents include his mother, Jane, who is a work-at-home accountant, and his father David Read, who runs a catering business. Arthur's mother often breaks up the arguments between D.W and Arthur.

Friends

Arthur and Buster meet for the first time

Arthur and Buster meet for the first time in a flashback in "Team Trouble"

  • Buster Baxter - Buster is Arthur's best friend.[56] They do many things together, such as watching movies,[57] going to Wonderworld,[58] and eating at The Sugar Bowl. Arthur and Buster share multiple interests, such as Henry Skreever books,[59] Bionic Bunny, and playing checkers, baseball and soccer.
  • Ladonna Compson -Ladonna is Arthur's four-houses-down neighbor. Arthur and Ladonna became friends shortly after Ladonna moved to Elwood City,[60] and have remained friends since.
  • Francine Frensky - She is another one of Arthur's best friends. According to "Locked in the Library!," they first met in preschool; but in "Desperately Seeking Stanley" from Season 8, it was seen that she went to his third birthday party. Francine sometimes teases Arthur, although they always remain friends in the end. She gave him Spin-the-Bottle for his eighth birthday,[61] and other than that, there are many rumors that they have a crush on each other; this is evidenced heavily in the book Arthur's Valentine, when she appears angered that Arthur has given a "mushy" (in her words) valentine to Sue Ellen Armstrong. Another example is in "Arthur and the Square Dance," where Muffy (upset that she has to dance with a clumsy Binky) spreads a rumor (with Binky's help) that Arthur and Francine are in love. This later scares the two of them, and they admit that there are no romantic feelings between them. At the end of "And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids," they are shown as an elderly couple in the future, watching The Magic Toolbox on VHS. Also, a third hint that Francine may have a crush on Arthur is in the 2001 book Arthur's First Kiss, when she tries to kiss him but fails.
  • Muffy Crosswire - She and Arthur are good friends. They both share the same birthday (May 25th),[62] and although they don't hang out with each other often, they are still good companions. Their own parents are close friends with each other: His mother works as a tax accountant for her father, who runs Crosswire Motors, and he is often the customer for desserts that Arthur's father bakes and delivers to people.[63][64] While Arthur is sometimes quite annoyed by Muffy's antics, like when she talks about shopping or gloats about her wealth, he'll still lend her a helping hand if she needs it. An example is in "You Are Arthur," where he notices her about to bump into a railing. He asks her if she is alright, and helps her up.
  • Alan Powers - Another one of Arthur's friends, whom he and others nickname as "Brain." Brain occasionally helps out Arthur with his homework. He also stayed at Arthur's for the weekend while his parents were out to the Ice Creamer's Convention, and was neat as a guest; but when he went back to his own house, Arthur found out that Brain wasn't as neat as expected.[65] Arthur is a frequent customer at Brain's Ice Cream Shop. When Buster temporarily left Elwood City in "Arthur's Faraway Friend", Brain replaced Buster for the rest of season 2 and would often be seen hanging out with Arthur until Buster returned in season 3.
  • Binky Barnes - Despite Arthur fearing Binky in the earlier episodes, and sometimes casting Binky as the villain in his stories, Binky usually does not want to harm Arthur. Arthur and Binky have been shown to get along, like in "Big Brother Binky" and "Baby Steps." From season 2 onwards, Binky usually is seen hanging out with Arthur and the others.
  • Sue Ellen Armstrong - She is said to be one of Arthur's best friends,[66] although they don't hang out much. In the book Arthur's Valentine, he expected her to be his secret admirer after she transferred to his school. In "Arthur's Faraway Friend," she gives him the advice to spend time with Buster before his long trip with his dad. In "Sue Ellen's Lost Diary," he and three of their friends are able to retrieve the diary she once lost in the Elwood City Public Library, and return it to her, unread. In "The Secret Guardians," she invites him to sail her model ship with her near the tree house. In "The Best Day Ever," when she, Arthur and some of their friends talk about their best day ever, Sue Ellen tells the group that Arthur returning her diary to her was her best day.
  • George Lundgren - Even though they might not hang out very often, they're together enough times to have formed a friendship. In "Arthur's Dummy Disaster," when George's dummy, Wally, falls apart when he is supposed to read a poem out loud, Arthur talks to George and helps him overcome his shyness while helping him realize he can have the courage to speak without the use of Wally. George recounts this as his best day ever.[67] In "The Silent Treatment," Arthur and his friends plan a surprise party for George.
  • Fern Walters - In earlier seasons, interactions between Arthur and Fern were rare; however, as the show progresses, more episodes feature them together. This is evident in episodes like "The Boy Who Cried Comet" and "Tales of Grotesquely Grim Bunny," where Buster, Fern, and Arthur appear as a trio.
  • Alex Davidson - In "Arthur's First Day", Alex talks to Arthur and shows him some books from the Multiverse series, and even sits together with him at lunch. They eventually hang out after school.


Development

Arthurbustersig

Arthur's signature, along with Buster's, from the "Arthur's Guide to Children's Hospital Boston" website feature.

Creation

Marc Brown first imagined the character of Arthur Read in 1976, when his son, Tolon Brown, asked him to tell him a bedtime story featuring a "weird animal." Brown then came up with an aardvark named Arthur, who worried that his nose was too long.[68] He decided to round the character's face off in the second Arthur book, so as not to frighten children.[69] Brown describes the character as being an "Every kid who experiences all the milestones, those things that are so important in the lives of children."[70]

Voice acting

For the first five seasons of the television series, Arthur was voiced by Michael Yarmush. For season 6, Yarmush was replaced by Justin Bradley, and for seasons 7 and 8, the character's voice was provided by Mark Rendall. Rendall also redubbed Season 6 due to complaints from Carol Greenwald stating that Bradley's voice was too low and he lacked the vocal range of Yarmush.[citation needed] After Rendall left, Cameron Ansell took up the role from seasons 911. From seasons 1215, he was voiced by Dallas Jokic. During seasons 16 and 17, he was voiced by Drew Adkins. During seasons 18 and 19, he was voiced by William Healy. In seasons 20 and 21, he was voiced by Jacob Ursomarzo. He was voiced by Roman Lutterotti for seasons 22 through 25. Michael Yarmush voiced the adult Arthur in the series finale episode, "All Grown Up."

In the Living Books computer games: Arthur's Teacher Trouble and Arthur's Birthday, he was voiced by Duncan Wold and Ben Ellis.

In the direct-to-DVD CGI film, Arthur's Missing Pal, he was voiced by Carr Thompson.

In The Arthur Podcast, Arthur is voiced by Wyatt White.[71]

Trivia

  • Arthur's bedtime is at 9:00 pm.[72]
  • There are multiple episodes of the show where Arthur does not appear.
  • He started on the show when he was eight years old, three months, and 22 days.[73]
  • It is implied in some episodes that, in the future, Arthur and Francine will be married.[10][11]
  • The reason Arthur's nose was gradually reduced in size to give him a more oval-shaped faced in the later years was due to it obscuring his mouth and also limiting his facial expressions. Because of his current design, some fans often confused Arthur for a mouse instead of an aardvark.[74] This confusion becomes a gag in the show itself.[9][75]
  • Sue Ellen hints she has a crush on Arthur at the end of "Sue Ellen's Lost Diary", resulting in him blushing.
  • Arthur's favorite color is yellow, the color of his shirt.[1]
  • His iconic yellow sweater was given to him by his grandmother.[76]
  • The only title card Arthur has narrated is the one for "When Carl Met George."
  • On Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman, starting with the fourth season, the theme song of the show ended with Ruff Ruffman saying, "You know, I bet Arthur doesn't have to deal with stuff like this." Fetch! was another production of WGBH that also aired on PBS.
  • Arthur likes pancakes, his dog Pal, and hanging out with his best friend, Buster.
  • When he is older, he becomes a graphic novelist.[77]
  • His favorite joke is "I once took Pal to see a flea circus, but he stole the show."
  • Mount Everest is the place Arthur has always wanted to visit, according to his trading card.
  • Arthur and his family are of the Catholic faith.
  • He wants to live in a mansion with a robotic butler and lots of new technology and sleep in a mansion.[78]
  • He was the one who trained Pal.[79]


Gallery

Show Quotes:

- "It's 'only' children, D.W! A lonely child is what your gonna be when I sell you. " (Sue Ellen's Little Sister)

-"This is my jingle, and were going to play it, my, way! Any questions?" (Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest)

- "I get it, I'm not funny.... "(Arthur the Unfunny)

- "I told you, not to, touch it!"(Arthur's Big Hit)

- "Great, I wreck dogs and I lose them!"(Arthur's Pet Business)

- "...the most embarasing thing that ever happened to me didn't really happen. It was just a dream."(Arthur's Underwear)

- "Pretty cool stairs. "(Arthur and Los Vecinos)

- "Well, maybe the happily ever after part will come true." (Just Desserts)

- "Get your books. We're gonna study!" (Buster Makes The Grade)

- "D.W., please move your big, enormous, large, gopher-looking head."(D.W's Name Game)

- Everyone will laugh at me

- "I'm just as edible as anybody!" ( The Contest. )

- "My name is Arthur, and I'm not a clown!" (Looking Through The Glasses)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 card #4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "pbskids.org" defined multiple times with different content
  2. "Sorry, Arthur, only five more years!" — David telling Arthur when he can see a PG-13 movie, "Arthur Makes a Movie"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Arthur's Birthday (episode)
  4. Arthur's Birthday (book)
  5. In "Letters To...," if you ask Arthur "By the way, when's your birthday?" he responds with, "My birthday is May 25th. Prunella says that makes me a Gemini, whatever that is."
  6. Middle name, Timothy, first revealed in "Arthur's Big Hit"
  7. Spelling of "Read" confirmed in written form in episodes such as "Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe" (see image), in addition to numerous Arthur books and the title of Arthur Read: Super Saver
  8. "Check this out: I'm going as Frankentist. Half Frankenstein, half dentist. Scary, huh?"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "The Contest"
  10. 10.0 10.1 Arthur and the Square Dance
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 "And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids"
  12. "Best of the Nest"
  13. 13.0 13.1 "A is for Angry"
  14. "Nicked by a Name"
  15. "Arthur vs. the Piano"
  16. 16.0 16.1 "Arthur Plays the Blues"
  17. "D.W.'s Library Card"
  18. "Buster Makes the Grade"
  19. "Arthur's Spelling Trubble"
  20. "The Pride of Lakewood"
  21. "Arthur and the Big Riddle"
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest"
  23. 23.0 23.1 "Arthur the Loser"
  24. "Francine's Split Decision"
  25. "Arthur Goes Crosswire"
  26. "The Election"
  27. "Through the Looking Glasses"
  28. "Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest (episode)"
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 "Dad's Dessert Dilemma"
  30. "Arthur's Eyes"
  31. "Arthur Accused! (episode)"
  32. Arthur's Baby
  33. 33.0 33.1 "Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper"
  34. "The Rat Who Came to Dinner"
  35. "That's a Baby Show!"
  36. 36.0 36.1 "Arthur the Wrecker"
  37. "Arthur and D.W. Clean Up"
  38. "Arthur's Treasure Hunt"
  39. "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day"
  40. "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers"
  41. "Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked"
  42. 42.0 42.1 42.2 "The Perfect Brother"
  43. "Team Trouble"
  44. "Sick as a Dog"
  45. "Just Desserts"
  46. "D.W. Gets Lost"
  47. "D.W.'s Name Game"
  48. "Arthur Weighs In"
  49. "Lost!"
  50. "Arthur's Mystery Envelope"
  51. "Arthur and the Whole Truth"
  52. "The World of Tomorrow"
  53. "Arthur's Perfect Christmas"
  54. "D.W. Tale Spins"
  55. "Cast Away"
  56. "Besties"
  57. "The Long, Dull Winter"
  58. "D.W.'s Imaginary Friend"
  59. "Buster Gets Real"
  60. "Based on a True Story"
  61. "Arthur's Birthday"
  62. "Arthur's Birthday"
  63. "Dad's Dessert Dilemma"
  64. "The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies"
  65. "The Perfect Brother"
  66. "So Funny I Forgot to Laugh"
  67. "The Best Day Ever"
  68. Arts in America; An Aardvark Gets to the Top (Literally) at a Museum. Sara Rimer, New York Times. August 4th, 1998. Retrieved on December 29th, 2008.
  69. KING 'ARTHUR' PBS' GENTLE AARDVARK RULES KIDS' TV; HIS SECOND SEASON BEGINS ON MONDAY. Paul Schultz, Daily News Entertainment. Tuesday, October 14, 1997. Retrieved on December 29th, 2008.
  70. Arthur the Aardvark accepts a Mission. Glenn Collins, New York Times. November 10th, 1996. Retrieved on December 29th, 2008.
  71. https://pbskids.org/arthur/podcast - Episode Credits
  72. "Arthur Changes Gears"
  73. Backstreet Boys in Elwood City: AOL Chat Transcript. PBS Kids (August 29, 2002). Archived from the original on December 4, 2003.
  74. Eng, Monica. “Q. If the Main Character of the...” Chicagotribune.com, 28 Aug. 2018, https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2000-01-23-0001230271-story.html.
  75. "D.W. and the Beastly Birthday"
  76. "Go Fly a Kite"
  77. "All Grown Up"
  78. "Blockheads"
  79. "Arthur's New Puppy (episode)"



External links

Read Family
Arthur Read . David Read . Jane Read . D.W. Read . Kate Read . Pal . Dave . Thora Read . Gustav . Minnie Read . Bonnie (aunt) . Sean (uncle) . George (cousin) . Bud (uncle) . Loretta . Monique . Ricky . Loretta's daughter . Ryder Read . Jessica (aunt) . Richard . Cora . Lucy . Lucy's husband . Fred . David's brother . Claudia . Hilary . Ruthie . Theodore Read . Jane's great-grandfather . Jane's great-grandmother . Matthew (sailor) . Thora's brother 1 . Thora's brother 2 . Thora's brother 3 . Arthur's great-uncle . Thora's father . Thora's mother . Thora's mother's great-uncle . R4 . 3W
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