Line #37 Literature/Arthur


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/328a090e_d1d4_435d_8ad1_db804b6a57c3.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The cover for ''Arthur's Eyes''.]]
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4	''Arthur'' is a children's book series by Marc Brown. The series stars a young glasses-wearing aardvark named Arthur Read in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals.
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6	The series began in 1976 with ''Arthur's Nose''. Since then, it's expanded into other media, including several ''VideoGame/LivingBooks'' games, a [[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} long-running cartoon that aired from 1996 to 2022]], and a [[WesternAnimation/PostcardsFromBuster short spinoff of the cartoon]]. Due to the popularity of the cartoon, it in itself has also received several children's books.
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8	Additionally, the popularity of Arthur's sister D.W. resulted in a series of spin-off books focused on her character, though these are still generally considered part of the ''Franchise/{{Arthur}}'' franchise and are sometimes marketed with the ''Arthur'' logo.
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10	----
11	!!''Arthur'' provides examples of:
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13	* AardvarkTrunks: In the first book, Arthur had a long flat nose pointing downward, more like a tapir's snout. In following books, his mouth and nose were at the end of his face but then his face was shortened until in his later design (and in the animated series) he and his family have absolutely no snouts at all, making them [[InformedSpecies not even look like aardvarks]]. Awkwardly, said first book was entitled ''Arthur's Nose'', in which Arthur faces bullying for his long nose and learns to accept himself as he is, making for a rather BrokenAesop.
14	* AdaptationExpansion:
15	** In the book ''Arthur's Computer Disaster'', after the Brain couldn't find the problem with the computer, Arthur, D.W. and Buster then go to the computer repair shop.
16	* AnthropomorphicShift:
17	** Arthur was originally a normal aardvark with a long nose. Over time his nose shrunk to the point where he's interchangeable with bears like the Brain.
18	** Early on, the characters weren't all fully-dressed. Some didn't wear pants, while others were outright nude.
19	** FurIsSkin wasn't originally used. Characters had fur-toned colors, such as orange cats or grey rhinos.
20	* BathsAreFun: In ''D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners'' (later retitled ''D.W. Says Please and Thank You'' for paperback), D.W. is shown in the bath holding a toy mermaid in one hand, a rubber duck in the other, and splashing Mrs. Read and Pal. She states that at night, it's not nice to complain about taking a bath or brushing your teeth and you can play while you get clean, but sometimes she plays a little too hard.
21	* BrokenAesop: In the first book ''Arthur's Nose'', Arthur faces bullying for his long snout and considers cosmetic surgery to reduce its size before realizing he should ignore the bullies and accept himself as he is, proclaiming "I'm just not me without my nose!". However, Arthur's nose [[ArtEvolution would get shorter and shorter with every succeeding book]], and by the time of the cartoon, he barely had a nose at all -- presumably ''because'' it looked so awkward. Did his entire family get those nose jobs after all? Nowadays, the most popular incarnation of Arthur is the one with a short nose.
22	* TheBully: Francine bullied Arthur for his nose in ''Arthur's Nose''.
23	* DreamEpisode: ''Arthur in a Pickle'' mostly consists of Arthur dreaming that he is in a town of pickles and later sent to pickle jail.
24	* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference:
25	** ''Arthur's Nose'' features the cast looking far more like the real-world animals they were designed after. As the books progressed, they became increasingly anthropomorphic, with Arthur in particular changing from a realistic aardvark to a teddy bear-esque creature whose species was purely an {{informed\|Species}} one.
26	** Francine originally had a clearly defined muzzle. She also wore dresses, which is something she almost never does.
27	** The Tibble Twins were originally humans instead of bears.
28	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
29	** The first books featured more more non-mammalian animals than usual, such as owls. Arthur's classroom also consisted of characters that were later scrapped. In ''Arthur's Nose'', his best friends were Francine, an unnamed bear, an unnamed bird, unnamed twin cats, an unnamed giraffe, and an owl.
30	** Arthur's family wasn't named in the original book.
31	** Arthur was a first grader in ''Arthur's Nose'', not a third grader.
32	** The books featured humans early on.
33	* GuiltInducedNightmare: In "Arthur in a Pickle", Arthur lies to Mr. Ratburn [[ADogAteMyHomework that his dog Pal ate his homework]] and Mr. Ratburn tells him he's "in a pickle". He has a nightmare that night about being trapped in a world full of literal pickles.
34	* HonestyAesop: The book "Arthur in a Pickle", Arthur lies that [[ADogAteMyHomework his dog Pal ate his homework]]. Due to his guilt (and because Mr. Ratburn told him he was "in a pickle"), he [[NightmareSequence has a nightmare]] about a world of pickles. The next day, he apologizes to the principal Mr. Haney and admits that he had forgotten to do his homework, so Mr. Haney doesn't punish him.
35	* InformedSpecies: While aardvark characters ''did'' have long noses in early books, they curved downward rather than being straight like real aardvarks' noses, making them more closely resemble tapir-like trunks. As the art style of the books changed, this became even more prominent, with aardvark characters looking closer to teddy bears.
36	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: The first few books featured humans, but this was later done away with for a WorldOfFunnyAnimals.
37	* LooseToothEpisode: In "Arthur's Tooth", Arthur has his first loose tooth. Francine and the other kids make fun of him for not losing any teeth yet, so he does everything he can to get his tooth out. At the end, Francine accidentally whacks him in the face when she's pretending to be the tooth fairy and this causes his tooth to finally fall out. This was also made a [[Recap/ArthurS1E24ArthursToothDWGetsLost TV episode]].
38	* MessyHair: The picture book ''D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners'' depicts D.W. with messy bed hair in the morning before heading off to preschool.
39	* NotWhereTheyThought: In "Arthur's Eyes", Arthur goes into the girls' bathroom [[BlindWithoutEm after ditching his glasses]] and is initially confused as to why Francine is in there until she screams at him to [[GetOut get the heck out]] because this is the women's room.
40	* PetContestEpisode: In ''Arthur and the Dog Show'', Arthur tries to train his dog Pal to win a competition. While Pal is unable to learn tricks, he ends up winning the competition due to being the most loving dog.
41	* ScarilySpecificStory: In the book ''Arthur Babysits'', Arthur draws the misbehaving Tibble twins out of hiding by mentioning a swamp monster. He says the monster likes eating boys (especially twins) and describes it approaching an old mansion, like the Tibbles' house. When the door opens, they scream... only for it to be their grandmother returning home.
42	* SicknessEqualsRedness: When Arthur is sick in ''Arthur's Nose'', the front of his snout is red.
43	* TokenHuman: In the early books, the Tibble family were the sole humans in a town of {{Funny Animal}}s,
44	* TrainingThePet: In "Arthur's New Puppy", the recently-adopted Pal annoys the Reads by keeping them up all night and tearing up things in the living room (among other things). Arthur decides to teach Pal tricks, and by the end of it, it works and David and Jane say Pal no longer has to stay in the garage.
45	* UnconventionalFoodUsage: In the book "Arthur's Halloween", Buster uses Jell-O, spaghetti and peeled grapes for [[GrossoutFakeout fake brains, hearts, and eyeballs]] for the Halloween party. Arthur is too squeamish to touch them, much to Francine and Muffy's amusement.
46	* WorldOfFunnyAnimals: The world of ''Arthur'' is a mundane world, except that it's populated by ([[WorldOfMammals predominantly mammalian]]) {{Funny Animal}}s instead of humans.
47	* WrongBathroomIncident: In "Arthur's Eyes", Arthur [[BlindWithoutEm ditches his glasses, but due to how bad his eyesight is]], he ends up walking into the girls' bathroom by mistake. Francine yells at him to GetOut.

Context Literature / Arthur