Beloved children’s cartoon Arthur is set to finish up very soon. The show about the young student aardvark holds the record for the longest running animated cartoon series in US history.
PBS Kids confirmed the news on Wednesday, saying that the show’s final season will air in the US Winter of 2022.
Kathy Waugh, one of the original writers for the show from 1996-2017, appeared on an episode of the Arthur-themed podcast Finding DW to speak on the future of the show. During the interview, she revealed that the team had already disbanded, and production had finished almost two years ago.
“‘Arthur’ is no longer in production,” she told the host, Jason Szwimer. “We had our wrap party two years ago.”
Carol Greenwald, one of the show’s executive producers, confirmed the news yesterday, however she did not offer a reason for the show’s cancellation.
“‘Arthur’ is the longest-running kids animated series in history and is known for teaching kindness, empathy and inclusion through many groundbreaking moments to generations of viewers,” she said.
She did say that the show’s producer, GBH, and PBS Kids were “continuing to work together on additional Arthur content, sharing the lessons of Arthur and his friends in new ways.”
Waugh said she did not know the reasons behind the show’s cancellation either. She did say that she feels as though PBS were making a mistake. “To me it just felt evergreen, like it was never going to end. But it did end,” she said.
She also talked about the impact Arthur had amongst children, and how the show validated their “bad feelings, their mad feelings, their hurt.”
Originally based on Marc Brown’s series of kids books titled Arthur’s Adventures, the show began airing in 1996. In its 25 years, the show won a number of Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program, as well as a Peabody Award.
Arthur has been cancelled after 25 seasons. pic.twitter.com/GkSMQwxcJE
— Elliot Gonzalez (@elliot_gonzalez) July 28, 2021
