Arthur Read

Arthur Timothy Read, originally voiced by Michael Yarmush, then by Justin Bradley, Mark Rendall, Cameron Ansell, and currently by Dallas Jokic, is the title character of both the book series and the PBS children's television show Arthur which was created by Marc Brown. He is eight years old, in third grade, and lives in Elwood City. His birthday is on May 25th.

Appearance
Arthur is an eight-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark with light brown fur. He wears a yellow sweater with a white shirt underneath, faded blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. His most notable trademark is his pair of brown eyeglasses, with rounded lenses. In the first few seasons of the series, Arthur's eyes, when seen without his glasses, were drawn with visible whites, but later on they were redrawn completely black.

In the first Arthur book, Arthur's Nose, Arthur had a long nose and he resembled an actual aardvark. However, his design evolved over the first half dozen books; he now has a much shorter nose, and many more human features.

Family
A recurring theme in the Arthur series are the tensions between Arthur and his younger sister. Arthur is constantly pestered by his four-year-old sister D.W. Read, and even though she celebrated her fifth birthday during the TV series' third season, Arthur still referred her as a "four-year-old" in the episode Return of the Snowball, which aired in the seventh season. D.W. usually tries to get Arthur into trouble, although there are times when Arthur can also be mean to D.W. or retaliate. Despite that, Arthur tries to ignore D.W.'s annoying antics most of the time, and often does her favors - sometimes on his parents' behest - against his will.

Arthur's parents include his mother Jane, who is a work-at-home accountant and his father David Read, who runs a catering business. His mother is from the Pittsburgh area, and knew Fred Rogers as a child. He also has a baby sister named Kate and a pet dog named Pal.

Appearances from Arthur's extended family include Grandma Thora, Grandpa Dave, Uncle Fred, Uncle Richard (Dave's father), Aunt Jessica, Aunt Loretta, Aunt Lucy, Great-Grandma (Thora's mother) and his cousins Cora, Monique, Ricky, and other unnamed relatives. However, the only two members of Arthur's extended family who have appeared more than once as of today are Grandma Thora and Grandpa Dave.

Grandma Thora lives in a house not too far from Arthur's in Elwood City and is known to be a bad cook, but a loving grandmother and a world-class marbles player. Grandpa Dave lives on a farm that he claims has been in the Read family for 150 years.

Friends
Arthur's best friend is Buster Baxter, a jolly but naive rabbit who enjoys works of science fiction(aliens) and eating, and has a knack for telling jokes. He lives with his single mother(Bitzi Baxter) who is divorced from his father, an airplane pilot. Arthur's other good friends include:


 * Francine Frensky, a tomboyish monkey who can be quite bossy and loves sports.She is also an exceptional singer and drummer.
 * Mary Alice "Muffy" Crosswire is also a monkey whose father is the wealthiest businessman in Elwood City, and hence she tends to be spoiled. She has a craving for fashion and design.
 * Alan "The Brain" Powers, a very intelligent bear, hence his nickname, who also excels at sports and is known for his politeness.
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong, a friendly cat. She has lived abroad in many countries and practices martial arts.
 * Fern Walters, a dog. She is a quiet girl who loves reading, especially mysteries and horror stories, and also enjoys writing poetry.
 * George Nordgren, a timid, dyslexic, moose, who daydreams regularly. George is a skilled ventriloquist and has a giraffe puppet named Wally, that he sometimes talks through. He loves to build things.
 * Binky Barnes, a bulldog who is repeating third grade. Although his first appearances portray him as a bully, it was later revealed that he enjoys fine arts, such as ballet and playing the clarinet. He actually has a very soft personality, which he hides in order to be accepted by the tougher fourth-graders.
 * Jenna Morgan, a cat who is very good at sports(particularly badminton) and won the Athlete of the Year award but prefers to keep a low profile at school.
 * Prunella Deegan, a poodle who enjoys fortune-telling, yoga, and the Henry Screever series, an obvious pun of Harry Potter. She is also a fourth-grader, and prone to superstition. She has an older sister, Rubella.

Creation
Mark Brown first imagined the character of Arthur Read in 1976, when his son, Tolon Brown, asked him to tell him a bedtime story featuring a "weird animal." Brown then came up with an aardvark named Arthur, who worried that his nose was too long. He decided to round the character's face off in the second Arthur book, so as not to frighten children. Brown describes the character as being an "Everykid who experiences all the milestones, those things that are so important in the lives of children."

Voice Acting
For the first four seasons of the television series, Arthur Read was voiced by Michael Yarmush. For season five, Yarmush was replaced by Justin Bradley, and for seasons six through eight, the character's voice was provided by Mark Rendall. After Rendall left, Cameron Ansell took up the role for seasons nine, ten and eleven. Arthur is now voiced by Dallas Jokic.

Reception
Arthur Read's original voice actor, Michael Yarmush, received a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Performance in a Voice Over in a Feature or TV - Best Young Actor, for voicing the character. However, his nomination lost to Courtland Mead's role as Gus in Disney's Recess. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Arthur Read No. 26 on its list of the "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time."

Cultural Influence
In May of 1998, the Children's Museum in Boston opened an exhibit titled "Arthur's World", featuring the character and his haunts in the fictional Elwood City. The museum's president Lou Casagrande commented that as the motive for the museum is to get behind well-known children's icons in media and culture, it was natural to have an Arthur-related exhibit. Marc Brown, creator of the Arthur books and television series, said that he felt overwhelmed seeing the twenty-two foot tall inflatable statue of Arthur at the top of the museum; meant to advertise the exhibit within. "Arthur's World" drew in a large amount of visitors; which increased by 40 percent over the summer of the year it opened.