Award-winning kids animated series ‘Arthur’ ends after 25 seasons
The wonderful kind of days are coming to an end.
The “Arthur” animated series, which airs on PBS, will end after its 25th season concludes on Monday.
It will leave the airwaves as the longest-running kids animated series.
Reruns of the show, based on the books of writer-illustrator Marc Brown, will still run on PBS Kids, which is available over-the-air and online in several formats.
“It’s amazing that what began as a simple bedtime story for my son eventually evolved into over a hundred books and a collaboration with GBH and PBS KIDS that would last 25 years,” Brown said in a statement. “Now more than ever the last line of my first book “Arthur’s Nose” rings true: ‘There is a lot more to Arthur than his nose.’”
In January, the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series kicked off its 25th season with a marathon of “more than 250 episodes and movie specials back-to-back” before ending Feb. 21 with new episodes, including one featuring a time jump that showers viewers the future of characters like Arthur, DW, Buster, Francine, Binkey, Muffy, Brain and Mr. Ratburn, among others.
“For more than 25 years, Arthur and his friends have kept viewers learning and growing through their true-to-life experiences,” Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager at PBS KIDS, said. “We can’t wait to debut these episodes and introduce new “Arthur” content that will give fans more ways to engage with their favorite aardvark.”
Arthur and friends will live on in podcasts and in short videos that “tackle timely and compelling topics,” PBS said.
“It’s been a privilege to work with an extraordinary and talented team to bring to Arthur to public television audiences for more than two decades,“ Carol Greenwald, Senior Executive Producer at GBH Kids, said. “We’re excited about Arthur’s next chapter – sharing the stories and experiences of Arthur and his Elwood City community to the media platforms where the next generation of kids and families will connect with them for years to come.”
The show, which debuted in October 1996, ran for 259 episodes and won multiple awards including the Outstanding Children’s Animated Program Daytime Emmy in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2007 and a Peabody in 2001. The show added Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming at the 2019 Television Critics Association Awards.
