‘It will always have a special place my heart’: Arthur fans pay tribute to diverse cartoon that tackled important themes in a light way as show ends after 25 years

metro.co.uk:

Arthur came to an end earlier this week after 25 years and 253 episodes, much to the disappointment of fans.The cherished television show, based on the book series by Marc Brown, was the longest-running children’s animation having first aired in 1996.

It was a staple watch for so many growing up, with Arthur, D.W., Buster and the gang transforming the childhoods of many around the world.‘It just kind of grew and grew, certainly beyond our wildest expectations,’ Brown exclusively told Metro.co.uk as he reflected on its success. ‘It’s been an amazing adventure and I’m so grateful.’We caught up with Arthur fans and creator Brown to celebrate the show’s incredible 25 seasons, while we patiently wait for more details on the feature film with John Legend.Rebecca, 35, grew up watching Arthur and now enjoys watching the cartoon with her three-year-old daughter. ‘It was something I used to watch with my brothers and laugh and learn from at the same time,’ she recalled.

For Rebecca, the diverse characters in Arthur became something she found important after becoming a parent. ‘My partner and I are really conscious when we look at the TV now, we want to show our daughter things that we used to watch and there’s not much diversity at all.

A brown aardvark as the lead protagonist is quite uncommon. In the 90s, you had other shows like Recess and Hey Arnold and they were all predominantly white-ish characters.