‘Arthur’ Finale Reveals the Futures Of Each Main Character
After 25 years on PBS Kids, Arthur has concluded its final season. The beloved animated series about an anthropomorphic aardvark — based on the best-selling children's books by Marc Brown — wrapped things up by giving us a glimpse into the futures of our favorite characters.
Arthur’s finale ended with a segment titled “All Grown Up,” in which Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and Francine discover an old fortune-telling game at their local library while Arthur is trying to return a book on how to draw animals. Each character — minus Arthur — briefly learns what the next few decades have in store, but none of the friends are particularly excited about their fates. Arthur ends up keeping the drawing book.
Flash forward 20 years later, and we’re at the Sugar Bowl, where Buster greets Arthur in a booth. Buster has become a teacher, sharing that Arthur's younger sister Kate is one of his students — implying that he's instructing at the college level. Muffy walks in with a campaign sign, as she is running for mayor. She asks George, who now runs the Sugar Bowl, if she can hang one up. Then Francine stops by, revealing her company's latest sneaker design.
A quick look at the television reveals that Binky has become a local news reporter, updating the Elwood City residents on the weather. D.W. has become a police officer, doling out a parking ticket to a motorcyclist — who turns out to be her childhood friend, Bud. She offers to buy him coffee, but still ends up giving him the ticket.
Finally, it is revealed that Arthur — inspired by the drawing guide from earlier in the episode — has become a graphic novelist. His first published work? Arthur. In a meta twist, Arthur opens up the book and begins reading from the first page: “Chapter 1: How I got my very first pair of glasses.” Good luck trying not to tear up.
You can watch the Arthur finale in full below on PBS Kids’ official YouTube page. The “All Grown Up” portion of the episode begins around the 14:30 mark: