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Difference between revisions of "Arthur's Perfect Christmas"

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==Trivia==
==Trivia==
===Notes===
===Notes===
*This is the third time when Arthur cries. The first was [[Lost!]], the second was [[Buster's Back]], and the fourth will be a fantasy sequence in [[Is There a Doctor in the House?|Is There a Doctor In The House?]].
*This is the third time when Arthur cries. The first was [[Lost!]], the second was [[Buster's Back]], and the fourth is a fantasy sequence in [[Is There a Doctor in the House?|Is There a Doctor In The House?]].
*When D.W. said that she isn't upset, her mouth started shaking when she starts to cry.
*When D.W. said that she isn't upset, her mouth started shaking when she starts to cry.
*The snow didn't fall until near the end of the special.
*The snow didn't fall until near the end of the special.

Revision as of 21:15, 17 November 2012

For other uses of "Arthur's Perfect Christmas," see Arthur's Perfect Christmas (disambiguation).

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Arthur's Perfect Christmas has a gallery at the Elwood City Art Museum.
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"Arthur's Perfect Christmas"
ArthursPerfectChristmasTitle.jpg
Original Airdate: November 23, 2000
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Read transcript

Arthur's Perfect Christmas is an hour-long Arthur special that first aired on November 23, 2000. It has since been released on home videos.

The cover art for the book, DVD, VHS and CD
Arthur buying the glass bird

Plot

The special opens with scenes of citizens of Elwood City busy preparing for Christmas, while Pachelbel's Canyon is played in the background on piano. Arthur then sings the first of many of the special's musical numbers, "Perfect Christmas," in which he lays out his list of the things he wants in the upcoming Christmas:

  1. A large amount of snow
  2. An amazing dinner-turkey and the whole works
  3. A spectacular Christmas tree—most importantly, one without tinsel
  4. Everyone will love the presents he gets for them.

However, things don't always work out quite as Arthur wanted it to. As the special progresses, a number of other storylines are revealed: D.W. wants a new toy called "Tina the Talking Tabby," for Christmas and Santa Claus is unable to find it at any store as soon as he gets the letter. So on Christmas Morning D.W. got a duck and pitched a big fit before taking a liking to the duck. Uncle Fred is going on a trip to Florida, but his car just so happens to break down in Elwood City on the way there. So for the meantime, he and his dog, Rory, are staying at the Reads' for Christmas.

The timing of Francine's family's celebration of Hanukkah conflicts with that of Muffy's "holiday extravaganza," causing her to miss the party. When Muffy states that Hanukkah isn't as important as Christmas, Francine stops speaking to her and calling her. And ever since Buster's parents got divorced, Christmas has been a difficult time for him and his Mom. She wakes him up early on the days before Christmas and makes him pancakes, thinking that it's Christmas Day. Then he has to explain to her that it isn't Christmas yet. While Arthur, Buster, and their friends are at the party, they suggest he create his own holiday, Baxter Day. Buster is unsure, but he agrees to give it a try.

Every Christmas, Binky volunteers at a homeless shelter with his Dad, and this year, he's trying to bake something special to bring. However, he's forgetting some things in the recipe, like not removing the shells of the pecans when he makes pecan pie. Meanwhile, Brain's family is celebrating Kwanzaa.

George's family is revealed to be Swedish and they celebrate Saint Lucia Day.

In the end, things don't work out quite as everybody may have hoped they would, but it seems to be for the better - well, maybe, assuming Arthur can ever get D.W. to stop her new toy, "Quackers", from singing "Quick, quack, quaddy-quack."

Trivia

Notes

  • This is the third time when Arthur cries. The first was Lost!, the second was Buster's Back, and the fourth is a fantasy sequence in Is There a Doctor In The House?.
  • When D.W. said that she isn't upset, her mouth started shaking when she starts to cry.
  • The snow didn't fall until near the end of the special.
  • When Muffy yelled "How Rude," That catchphrase was from Stephanie in Full House.
  • When Bitzi spots a light in the sky and asks Buster if it is a UFO,
  • This is one of the VERY few times in the series where it features bathroom humor.
  • D.W. says near the end of this film. "Can I have a soda?" D.W. essentially said that in the episode Bleep! which most likely took place before this special aired.
  • This special aired right after Season 5 had concluded.
  • This was the last time where Michael Yarmush voiced Arthur.

Goofs

  • When Arthur saw a snowflake, he thought it was going to snow, but there was actually rain coming in.
  • During the scene where Mr. Ratburn eats one of Binky's brownies, we see in the background a brown rabbit on the other side of Mr. Ratburn in his normal wear, but seconds later we see him in a red vest talking to Brain, but when Mr. Ratburn asks him if he put sugar in the brownies, the rabbit is white and is wearing a green shirt.
  • When Francine groaned, Her mouth doesn't move.
  • In Arthur's fantasy when his mom opens the gift, She pulled the top off, but when Arthur opened the gift to see if it was okay, he pulled the ribbon off to open it.
  • In school, Buster's eyes were opened, But after school, his eyes were half-opened/half-closed.

Songs

  1. Perfect Christmas (By Arthur & his family)
  2. Jingle Bells
  3. The First Noel
  4. Boogie Woogie Christmas (Rock & Rolling song)
  5. Here We Come A-wassailing
  6. O Little Town of Bethlehem
  7. Silent Night (By Fern)
  8. Fum, Fum, Fum
  9. It's Kwanzaa Time!
  10. What Child is This?
  11. What`s the Use of Presents? (By Muffy)
  12. Baxter Day (By Buster)
  13. I'm Not Scared of Santa (By Binky)
  14. We Three Kings
  15. Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
  16. Sevivon
  17. Sankta Lucia (In Swedish)
  18. Nu Är Det Jul Igen (Swedish for "Now It's Christmas Again")
  19. Angels We Have Heard on High
  20. Boogie Woogie Christmas
  21. Chanukah Blessing (By Francine & her family)
  22. Perfect Christmas (Finale with Nu Är Det Jul Igen) (By Arthur & the gang)
  23. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
  24. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
  25. O Tannenbaum
  26. Joy to the World
  27. Perfect Christmas Reprise

Many of these songs were not featured in the program itself, but are available on an officially released soundtrack album.

Home Video release

The special has been released on DVD and on VHS prior to the format's demise. VHS copies are no longer in production. The original DVD and VHS releases were made available in 2000. A DVD re-release carrying the PBSKids logo was released on October 9, 2012. The special may be viewed via the Amazon Video service and costs $1.99 to rent, $5.99 to purchase and may be streamed freely at any time by subscribers to Amazon's Prime service.

Funding

"Funding for Arthur's Perfect Christmas is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by... Lego, a proud sponsor of Arthur, wishes you the best holiday season you could ever imagine. This program is made possible in part by a grant from Libby's Juicy Juice. Juicy Juice, 100% juice for 100% kids. And by contributions to your PBS station from Viewers Like You. Thank You!"


See Also