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{{character infobox
|character name = Mr. Ratburn
|image = Nigel Ratburn.png
|gender = Male
|animal = Rat
|voice_actor = '''[[Arthur Holden]]''' (TV series)<br>[[David Kessler]] ([[Living Books]])
|family = [[Rodentia Ratburn]] (sister)<br>[[Lisa Ratburn]] (mother)<br>[[Otto Ratburn]] (father)<br>[[Rodentia Ratburn's child]] (niece or nephew)<br>[[Olga Ratburn]] (grandmother)<br>[[Hans Ratburn]] (grandfather) <br> [[Patrick Ratburn]] (husband) <br> [[Patty Ratburn]] (sister)
|favorite color = Magenta<ref>http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/tradingcards/cards.html#pg-ratburn2</ref>
|cartoon_debut = "[[Arthur's Eyes (episode)|Arthur's Eyes]]"
|book_debut = [[Arthur and the True Francine (book)|Arthur and the True Francine]]
|job = Teacher
|eye = Brown<ref>"[[Buster's Growing Grudge]]"</ref>
|hair = Brown<ref>"[[The Buster Report]]" - he grew out his pube hair when he was in the band.</ref>
|residence = [[Mr. Ratburn's House]], [[Elwood City]]
|book last appeared = [[Arthur Turns Green]]
|complexion = Brown <small>(s1-s5, s16-present)</small><br>Orange <small>(s6-s15)</small>
|age =
}}'''Nigel'''<ref>"[[Dancing Fools]]": "That was Nigel Ratburn and Paige Turner dancing the tango."</ref> '''Charles'''<ref>"[[Bitzi's Beau]]" in 2000 (Priest: "Do you, Nigel Charles Ratburn, take Bitzi Lynn Baxter, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, through sickness and in health, from this day forward, til death do you part?")</ref> '''Ratburn''' (formerly '''Emil Ratburn'''<ref>in "[[Arthur's Baby]]" in 1996 ([[Arthur's Baby (episode)/Transcript|Ratburn's Mom: "Emil, what are you doing?!!"]]) and "[[Background Blues]]" in 1998</ref>) is a third grade teacher at [[Lakewood Elementary School]]. In "[[Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone]]," Mr. Ratburn married a [[Patrick's Chocolates|chocolate shop]] owner named [[Patrick Ratburn|Patrick]].


==Biography==
===Past life===
When Mr. Ratburn was a baby, he wore on a light blue sweater with a white collar, a red bow tie, white cloth diapers with pins, and bright red shoes and blue socks. At the age of one or two, he was already able to write multiplication problems.


As a kid, he had three outfits. Two of them were the [[Glenbrook Academy|Glenbrook Academy's]] uniforms. Then, he had casual clothes that he wore to events, like the Father's Day picnic. They consisted of a blue buttoned shirt with a white shirt under it and blue pants.


'''Arthur''': ''I bet Mr. Ratburn assigns another report today.''
In the episode "[[Arthur Weighs In]]," it is revealed that as a child he used to be overweight (a "fatty rat" as he put it when talking with Arthur) until he began exercising more while learning to play ping-pong.
'''Buster''':''Yeah, he hasn't assigned one since... yesterday.''
''-"[[Arthur Goes Crosswire]]" ''


{{Infobox
As a young adult, he attended [[Elwood City High School]] with [[Bailey]],<ref>"[[The Butler Did... What?]]"</ref> [[David Read]],<ref>"[[Arthur's Almost Boring Day]]"</ref> and [[Mr. Haney]].<ref>"[[Arthur's Almost Boring Day]]"</ref> In "[[Arthur's Almost Boring Day]]", it is revealed that he was a member of the Elwood City High School football team.
|Box title = Nigel Charles Ratburn III
|Image file = Mr_Nigel_Ratburn.gif
|Image size = 200px
|Row 1 title = Role
|Row 1 info = Major Character
|Row 2 title = Gender
|Row 2 info = Male
|Row 3 title = Animal
|Row 3 info = Rat
|Row 4 title = Actor
|Row 4 info = [[Arthur Holden]]
|Row 5 title = First Appearance
|Row 5 info = ''[[Arthur and the True Francine (book)|Arthur and the True Francine]]'' (books)<br>''[[Arthur's Eyes]]'' (cartoon)
|Row 6 title = Family
|Row 6 info = [[Rodentia Ratburn]] (sister)<br>[[Lisa Ratburn]] (mother)<br>[[Otto Ratburn]] (father)
}}
'''Nigel Charles Ratburn III''', often known as '''Mr. Ratburn''' or simply '''Ratburn''', is a fictional character and the main third-grade teacher at [[Lakewood Elementary School]]. He has appeared since the 1st Season. His given name was originally "Emil" as in [[Background Blues]], but was renamed to "Nigel" in subsequent seasons. Mr.Ratburn is the son of Otto Ratburn and Lisa Ratburn.


He is named after [[Marc Brown]]'s seventh grade algebra teacher, Fenton Ratburg; and of course the name "Ratburn" is a play on the last name of Brown's algebra teacher.
In college, he was in a band called the "[[The Ratburn Rats|Ratburn Rats]]."<sup><ref>The Buster Report</ref></sup>


==Appearance and Personality==
===Future life===
Mr. Ratburn's appearance consists of a green suit complete with a solid yellow shirt and bright red necktie (in [[File:Ratburn_home_02_roll.gif|thumb]]the books, his uniform ranges to different colors). Being a rat, he has long whiskers, which he appears to keep trimmed. He has brown clumps of hair in the books; although in the cartoon show, his hair was restricted to thin black lines. He also wears his shirts tucked into his pants and always wears a belt buckle with his pants. His casual clothing consists of a cream-colored T-shirt and faded blue jeans. For formal occasions Mr. Ratburn wears a charcoal or black Tuxedo jacket with a white Tuxedo shirt black bow tie and charcoal or black Tuxedo trousers. When outdoors for something like fossil-hunting Mr. Ratburn wears a dark brown hat with a yellow line on the bottom of the tip of the hat going all around the tip. He also wears a very light yellow or beige shirt a dark blue scarf tucked into the shirt. There is also a short-sleeved beige jacket with two pockets one on each side of the jacket and two shoulder straps one on each side of the jacket. He also wears blue shorts very light yellow or beige socks and light brown boots. He always carries a briefcase with him to class.[[File:Ratburn_card.gif|thumb]]
Mr. Ratburn announces that he will become a fourth grade teacher during the upcoming school year in "[[The Last Day]]". Besides this, not much is known about Mr. Ratburn's future outside of what is depicted in dream sequences. During the futuristic scene in the episode, "[[Buster Makes the Grade (episode)|Buster Makes the Grade]]", it is suggested that Mr. Ratburn will continue his career as a teacher at Lakewood Elementary for many years to come. [[File:Rat1.jpg|thumb|220x220px|An alternate future Ratburn in Arthur's dream]]In Arthur's dream in "[[D.W. and the Beastly Birthday]]", Mr. Ratburn is seen four years in the future, with a beard and glasses. He wears a black suit and turtleneck sweater.


He tends to give out a lot of homework to the kids in his class, sometimes assigning two research projects in the same week. Because of these tendencies, he is often considered the strictest teacher at Lakewood Elementary School. However, many of Arthur and his friends find out he's not as bad as they first thought, although the Brain seems to have no problem with him, but Buster has the strongest dislike for homework.
==Physical appearance==
<gallery type="slideshow" widths="200px" position="left">
Nigel s1.png|Ratburn in seasons 1-5
The Buster Report 17.jpg|Ratburn in seasons 6-15
Ratburn s16.png|Ratburn in seasons 16 to today
</gallery>
Mr. Ratburn's appearance consists of a green suit complete with a solid yellow shirt and bright red necktie (in the books, his uniform ranges to different colors). Being a rat, he has long whiskers, which he appears to keep trimmed.


Though he is a cool and calm character, in some dream sequences, he cackles uncontrollably.
He has brown clumps of hair in the books; although, in the cartoon show, his hair was restricted to thin black lines. He also wears his shirts tucked into his pants and always wears a belt buckle with his pants. He also wears blue pajamas and in one episode he wore a turquoise night shirt and another episode he also wore a tan colored sweater and black pants and wear brown or black slippers.


===Alternate apparel===
His casual clothing consists of a cream-colored T-shirt and faded blue jeans. For formal occasions, Mr. Ratburn wears a charcoal or black Tuxedo jacket with a white tuxedo shirt black bow tie and charcoal or black tuxedo trousers.
<gallery captionalign="left">
 
Nigel Ratburn Casual Clothes.png|Mr. Ratburn in his casual clothes
When outdoors for something like fossil-hunting, Mr. Ratburn wears a dark brown hat with a yellow line on the bottom of the tip of the hat going all around the tip. He also wears a very light yellow or beige shirt a dark blue scarf tucked into the shirt.
Nigel Ratburn's outdoor outfit.png|Mr. Ratburn's outdoor outfit
 
Nigel ratburn's tuxedo.png|Mr. Ratburn in a black tuxedo
There is also a short-sleeved beige jacket with two pockets one on each side of the jacket and two shoulder straps one on each side of the jacket. He also wears blue shorts very light yellow or beige socks and light brown boots. He always carries a briefcase with him to class.
DW-28.PNG|Mr. Ratburn's Summer Clothes
 
Coach Ratburn.png|Mr. Ratburn as a basketball coach
==Personality==
Ratburn jumpsuit.jpg|Mr. Ratburn's workshop jumpsuit.
Mr. Ratburn is primarily known for being a strict teacher, but he has many other hobbies outside of the classroom, including puppetry, playing in a [[The Lost Teachers|rock band]], and bird-watching. He is also seen as a role model by several students. For instance, he encourages Arthur to be more physically active in "[[Arthur Weighs In]]," and he is able to relate to Maria's stuttering problem in "[[Maria Speaks]]."
Mrratburnalternateapparel.png|Mr. Ratburn seen without his green jacket, in "[[The Short, Quick Summer]]"
Ratburnspookypooclothes.png|Mr. Ratburn in a [[Spooky-Poo]] shirt and jeans
Ratburncasualclothes.png|Mr. Ratburn in a white shirt and jeans
Ratburnwinterclothes.png|Mr. Ratburn's outdoor winter clothes
Ratburnsweater.png|Mr. Ratburn wearing a tan sweater and black pants, in "[[Francine's Pilfered Paper]]"
Ratburndro.jpg|As "Lord Ratburndro" in "[[The Chronicles of Buster]]"
</gallery>


===Past life===
He tends to give a lot of homework, projects and tests to the students in his class, which leads many to believe that he is the toughest teacher Lakewood Elementary School. Despite the heavy amount of school work to do, many of his students come to find out he is not as bad as they initially thought after he explains about organization, self-discipline, and how they can do their homework in time for things they like to do. Arthur, Buster, and Brain consider Mr. Ratburn their friend, and Arthur goes to greet him when he sees him in public.<ref>"[[Lend Me Your Ear]]"</ref>
When Mr. Ratburn was a baby, he was wearing a light blue sweater with a white collar, a red bowtie, white cloth diapers with pins, and bright red shoes and blue socks. As a kid, he had two outfits: A school uniform that was colored blue like Glenbrook Academy's dress code and the uniform that had the school's [[Media:Glenbrook Academy Logo.png|badge on it]]. Then he had casual clothes; which he wore to events, like the Father's Day picnic. That consisted of a blue-buttoned shirt with a white shirt under it and blue pants.


He used to be a "fat rat", until he learned how to play ping-pong.
Even though Mr. Ratburn is calm and cool, he cackles uncontrollably in the dream sequences that the other characters have involving him.


<gallery captionalign="left" orientation="none" widths="174">
Mr. Ratburn is often friendly, helpful and good-natured, rarely showing any hint of malice, and has shown that he truly cares about his students time and time again. In "[[The Last Day]]" and the song "[[Pop Quiz from Ratburn]]," Mr. Ratburn explains that his schoolwork is difficult because he wants to challenge his students and knows they can handle it. Mr. Ratburn takes his role as a teacher seriously and often tries to mentor his students, occasionally in non-academic fields. When the roof of his house collapses, Mr. Ratburn stays with the Read family, and is shown to enjoy watching ''[[Spooky Poo]]'' and other fun things, to Arthur's surprise.<ref>"[[The Rat Who Came to Dinner]]"</ref>
Toddler Mr. Ratburn.png|Mr. Ratburn as a baby
Mr. Ratburn child.png|Mr. Ratburn as a child|link=The Return of the King
Young Ratburn.png|link=1001 Dads
The Buster Report 114.jpg|Mr. Ratburn in the band "The Ratburn Rats" during college.
ratburn.jpg|Mr. Ratburn played football at Elwood City High School
High School Picture.JPG|Mr. Ratburn in his years in High School. Bailey was also in the same class with Ratburn.
</gallery>


===  Future Life          ===
He frequently struggles with new, modern technology, such as using computers, the Internet and his classroom's new interactive "smart" board; for example, the first time he used the Internet, he fell for multiple scams.<ref>"[[Muffy and the Big Bad Blog]]"</ref> This may be why he often uses an old film projector during his class lessons. He does become a bit more acclimated to some technology in various situations, however. He learns to use a tablet device called the [[BoysenBerry]], and he manages to purchase a canoe online in "[[Best of the Nest]]."
Not much has been seen about Mr.Ratburn's future. But if the future in the episode,"Buster Makes The Grade" happens Mr.Ratburn will continue his career as a teacher at Lakewood Elementary.


===Other media===
==In other media==
In the [[Living Books]] computer games, he came out in ''[[Arthur's Teacher Trouble (computer game)|Arthur's Teacher Trouble]]'', even though there's a shadow look-alike of him walking outside while [[Arthur Read|Arthur]] and [[Jane Read|Jane]] are out shopping for party supplies in ''[[Arthur's Birthday (computer game)|Arthur's Birthday]]''. He was voiced by [[David Kessler]] before the [[Arthur|cartoon show]] replaced him with [[Arthur Holden]].
In the [[Living Books]] computer games, he came out in ''[[Arthur's Teacher Trouble (computer game)|Arthur's Teacher Trouble]]'', even though there's a shadow look-alike of him walking outside while [[Arthur Read|Arthur]] and [[Jane Read|Jane]] are out shopping for party supplies in ''[[Arthur's Birthday (computer game)|Arthur's Birthday]]''. He was voiced by [[David Kessler]] before the [[Arthur (TV series)|cartoon show]] replaced him with [[Arthur Holden]].


In the later computer games (such as ''[[Arthur's Thinking Games]]''), Mr. Ratburn's appearance was the same as he looked in the cartoon show.
In the later computer games (such as ''[[Arthur's Thinking Games]]''), Mr. Ratburn's appearance is the same as in the show.


==Students==
==Students==
Mr. Ratburn has 12 students (that sit in groups of 4) in his class. A majority of his students used to be in [[Mr. Marco]]'s 2nd grade class.
''See [[Nigel Ratburn's Class]].''


* [[Arthur Read]]
==Relationships==
* [[Buster Baxter]]
*[[Paige Turner]] - They have danced together.
* [[Francine Frensky]]
*[[Mr. Marco]] - They have watched [[Dark Bunny]] together.
* [[Muffy Crosswire]]
*[[Francis Haney|Mr. Haney]] - They went to college together.
* The [[Alan Powers|Brain]]
*[[David Read]] - They went to college together, he loves David's cooking, and was invited to stay with the Reads when his roof caved in.
* [[Binky Barnes]] (twice)
*[[Bailey]] - They went to college and also high school together.
* [[Sue Ellen Armstrong]]
*[[Rodentia Ratburn]] - His sister
* [[Fern Walters]]
*[[Patty Ratburn]] - His sister
* [[George Lundgren]]
*[[Patrick Ratburn]] — His husband
* [[Jenna Morgan]]
* [[Alex]]
* [[Maria]]
 
===Former students===
* [[Prunella Deegan]]
* [[Billy]]
* [[Chris]] (books only)
* [[4th Grade Female Cat (Number 2)]] ("[[Tipping the Scales]]")
* [[4th Grade Male Aardvark]] ("Tipping the Scales")


==Jobs==
==Jobs==
Mr. Ratburn has a numerous amount of jobs. In "[[Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn]]," it's revealed that Mr. Ratburn's a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the school newspaper. In his spare time, he administers puppet shows that are popular among young kids. In "[[The Short, Quick Summer]]," Mr. Ratburn got a summer job at [[Jack's Joke Shop]], where he worked as a cashier and helped [[Sue Ellen Armstrong|Sue Ellen]] learn a card game magic trick.
Mr. Ratburn has numerous jobs. In "[[Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn]]", it's revealed that Mr. Ratburn's a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the school newspaper. In his spare time, he administers puppet shows that are popular among young kids. In "[[The Short, Quick Summer]]," Mr. Ratburn got a summer job at [[Jack's Joke Shop]], where he worked as a cashier and helped [[Sue Ellen Armstrong|Sue Ellen]] learn a card game magic trick.


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
* Mr. Ratburn was taught in the 3rd Grade by [[Mr. Pryce-Jones]] of [[Glenbrook Academy]], who later became a rival of Ratburn's at the Medieval Fair. Ratburn was heavily influenced by Mr. Pryce-Jones, remarking that sometimes he thinks, "..I'm not a tough enough teacher."
* In "[[Dad's Dessert Dilemma]]," Mr. Ratburn is shown to have an unnatural love for cake, to the point of snatching a plate of cake from a child before he has a chance to eat any of it. He used the excuse "I came by to bring you the spring reading list" three times, each time feigning surprise and exclaiming, "Oh, are you having cake?!" His love for cake is also shown in "[http://arthur.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rat_Who_Came_to_Dinner The Rat Who Came to Dinner]." Ratburn is also fond of pecan pie and brownies, as revealed in "[http://arthur.wikia.com/wiki/Arthur%27s_Perfect_Christmas Arthur's Perfect Christmas]."
* Outside of school, Ratburn is shown to enjoy many jovial pursuits, such as magic, puppeteering, and camping.
* Mr. Ratburn didn't know how to use the internet or even turn on a computer until the [[Alan Powers|Brain]] showed him how in "[[Best of the Nest]]."
* The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
* The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
* In ''[[Arthur's Almost Boring Day]]'', he was shown to have gone to the same school as [[David Read|David]] in a grayscale film, and around the same age as David; although in "[[The Return of the King]]," he went to school at Glenbrook Academy, which is a different school than where David went to school.
* In "[[Cents-less]]”, Mr. Ratburn is shown feeding two goldfish, whom he calls [[Vladimir and Estragon]]. It would seem that Mr. Ratburn has named his pets in honor of two characters from [[Samuel Beckett]]'s ''[[Waiting for Godot]]''.
* He went to high school with [[Bailey]], [[Muffy Crosswire|Muffy]]'s butler.
* For the first few seasons, he has brown skin then changed to orange in the next few seasons and back to brown in [[Season 16]].
* Mr. Ratburn is a fanatic of ''[[Spooky-Poo]]'', a play on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera]-based ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo]'' show.
* He may or may not be part Native American (specifically {{W|Cheyenne}}).<ref>{{refquote|In fact, that Ratburn fellow looks a lot like a Cheyenne I used to know named Tahmelapachme. That means "dull knife." (chuckles)|[[Sitting Bull]]|"[[On This Spot]]"}}</ref>
* In "[[Arthur's Baby]]," Mr. Ratburn's mom calls him '''Emil'''.
* He is named after [[Marc Brown]]'s 7th grade math teacher, Mr. Gary Rathbun.<ref>https://www.wgbh.org/programs/2019/12/27/marc-brown-arthur-and-the-real-mr-ratburn-the-rewind</ref>
* He was in a rock band called "The Ratburn Rats" in College.
 
* Mr. Ratburn knows nothing about computers. Thinks a blog is a place where people informed in episodes "[[Muffy and the Big Bad Blog]]," "[[D.W.'s Stray Netkitten]]," and "[[The "A" Team]]."
==Appearances==
* In "[[Bitzi's Beau]]," Mr. Ratburn's full name is said as '''Nigel Charles Ratburn''' in Buster's fantasy.
*Specials
* Maybe Emil is Mr. Ratburn's middle name.
**[[Arthur's Perfect Christmas]]
* In "[[Cents-Less]]," Mr. Ratburn is shown feeding two goldfish, whom he calls [[Vladimir and Estragon]]. It would seem that Mr. Ratburn has named his pets in honor of two characters from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett Samuel Beckett]'s ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot Waiting for Godot]''.
**[[Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll]]
[[Category:Characters]]
**[[D.W. and the Beastly Birthday]]
[[Category:Lakewood Elementary Staff]]
**[[Arthur and the Haunted Tree House]]
[[Category:Rodents]]
*Season 1
[[Category:Teachers]]
**[[Arthur's Eyes (episode)|Arthur's Eyes]] (Cameo) 10101
[[Category:Adults]]
**[[Francine's Bad Hair Day]] 10102
[[Category:Ratburn]]
**[[Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn]] 10201
**[[Arthur's Spelling Trubble]] 10202
**[[Buster's Dino Dilemma (episode)|Buster's Dino Dilemma]] 10302
**[[Arthur's Lost Library Book]] 10402
**[[Locked in the Library! (episode)|Locked in the Library!]] 10601
**[[Arthur Accused! (episode)|Arthur Accused!]] 10602
**[[Buster Makes the Grade (episode)|Buster Makes the Grade]] 10702
**[[Francine Frensky, Superstar]] 11002
**[[Arthur's Baby (episode)|Arthur's Baby]] 11101
**[[Arthur Writes a Story (episode)|Arthur Writes a Story]] 11201
**[[Buster's New Friend (episode)|Buster's New Friend]] 11302
**[[Meek for a Week]] 11701
**[[Arthur's Almost Boring Day]] 12001
**[[The Half-Baked Sale]] 12002
**[[Sue Ellen Moves In]] 12101
**[[Team Trouble]] 12202
**[[Misfortune Teller]] 12302
**[[Arthur's Tooth (episode)|Arthur's Tooth]] 12401
**[[My Dad, the Garbage Man]] 12601
**[[Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble]] 12702
**[[I'm a Poet]] 12801
**[[My Club Rules]] 12901
**[[Stolen Bike]] 12902
*Season 2
**[[Arthur Meets Mister Rogers]] (Cameo) 20101
**[[Draw!]] 20102
**[[Arthur's Lucky Pencil]] 20202
**[[Arthur's Underwear (episode)|Arthur's Underwear]] 20501
**[[Arthur's TV-Free Week]] 20701
**[[Night Fright]] 20702
**[[The Big Blow-Up]] 20802
**[[The Short, Quick Summer]] 20902
**[[Arthur's Mystery Envelope (episode)|Arthur's Mystery Envelope]] 21002
**[[Buster Hits the Books]] 21102
**[[Fern's Slumber Party]] (Cameo) 21502
**[[Love Notes for Muffy]] 21601
**[[D.W. Blows the Whistle]] 21602
**[[Arthur the Loser]] 21702
**[[Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard]] 21801
**[[How the Cookie Crumbles]] (Mentioned) 22001
*Season 3
**[[I'd Rather Read It Myself]] (Mentioned) 30202
**[[Arthur Goes Crosswire]] 30301
**[[Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous]] 30302
**[[Background Blues]] 30401
**[[And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids]] 30402
**[[The Chips are Down]] 30501
**[[Binky Rules (episode)|Binky Rules]] (Cameo) 30601
**[[Meet Binky]] (Cameo) 30602
**[[Arthur Rides the Bandwagon]] 30701
**[[Dad's Dessert Dilemma]] 30702
**[[Popular Girls]] 30801
**[[Buster's Growing Grudge]] 30802
**[[Arthur's Treasure Hunt]] (Cameo) 30901
**[[The Return of the King]] 30902
**[[Attack of the Turbo Tibbles]] (Mentioned) 31001
**[[Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival]] 31102
**[[Clarissa is Cracked]] 31202
**[[Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight]] 31401
**[[Arthur and D.W. Clean Up]] 31501
**[[The Long, Dull Winter]] 31502
*Season 4
**[[D.W.'s Library Card (episode)|D.W.'s Library Card]] 40101
**[[Arthur's Big Hit]] 40102
**[[Muffy's New Best Friend]] 40202 (Cameo)
**[[The Blizzard]] 40501
**[[The Rat Who Came to Dinner]] 40502
**[[Prunella Gets it Twice]] 40602
**[[Binky Barnes, Wingman]] 40701
**[[To Beat or Not to Beat]] 40702
**[[1001 Dads]] 40801
**[[Prunella's Prediction]] (Mentioned) 40802
**[[What is that Thing?]] 40901
**[[That's a Baby Show!]] 41002
*Season 5
**[[Double Dare]] 50102
**[[Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto]] 50201
**[[Nerves of Steal]] ((Fantasy) 50202
**[[It's a No-Brainer]] 50301
**[[The Shore Thing]] 50302
**[[The World Record]] 50401
**[[The Cave]] 50402
**[[The Lousy Week]] (Cameo) 50501
**[[You Are Arthur]] 50502
**[[The Election]] 50601
**[[Sleep No More]] 50701
**[[Bitzi's Beau]] 50802
**[[Just Desserts]] (Fantasy) 50901
*Season 6
**[[Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked]] 60101
**[[Best of the Nest]] 60102
**[[Prunella's Special Edition]] 60301
**[[The Boy Who Cried Comet]] 60501
**[[Citizen Frensky]] 60601
**[[The Boy with His Head in the Clouds]] 60701
**[[Rhyme for Your Life]] (Cameo) 60801
**[[The Good Sport (episode)|The Good Sport]] 60901
**[[Crushed]] (Cameo) 60902
**[[Friday the 13th]] 61002
*Season 7
**[[Ants in Arthur's Pants]] 70301
**[[Elwood City Turns 100!]] 70500
**[[Jenna's Bedtime Blues]] 70602
**[[Buster's Amish Mismatch]] 70702
**[[The World of Tomorrow]] 70801
**[[April 9th]] 71000
*Season 8
**[[Dear Adil]] 80101
**[[Bugged]] 80302
**[[Fernkenstein's Monster]] (Cameo) 80401
**[[D.W., Dancing Queen]] 80402
**[[Vomitrocious]] 80501
**[[Desk Wars]] 80701
**[[Muffy's Art Attack]] 80801
*Season 9
**[[Castles in the Sky]] 90101
**[[Tipping the Scales]] (Cameo) 90102
**[[George Blows His Top]] 90202
**[[Arthur Weighs In]] 90301
**[[The Law of the Jungle Gym]] (Cameo) 90302
**[[Buster's Green Thumb]] 90401
**[[All Worked Up]] 90502
**[[A is for Angry]] 90702
**[[The "A" Team]] 90801
**[[D.W. Beats All]] (Cameo) 90901
**[[Breezy Listening Blues]] 91002
*Season 10
**[[Happy Anniversary]] 100100
**[[The Squirrels (episode)|The Squirrels]] 100201
**[[Desert Island Dish]] 100301
**[[Family Fortune]] 100402
**[[D.W., Bossy Boots]] (prologue) 100702
**[[Do You Speak George?]] 100901
**[[What's Cooking?]] 101001
**[[Buster's Special Delivery]] 101002
*Season 11
**[[Germophobia]] 110102
**[[Mind Your Manners]] (Cameo) 110202
**[[Prunella Packs It In]] 110302
**[[Phony Fern]] 110401
**[[Brain's Shocking Secret]] 110402
**[[Dancing Fools]] (Cameo) 110602
**[[Mr. Alwaysright]] 110702
**[[Francine's Pilfered Paper]] 110801
*Season 12
**[[Is That Kosher?]] (Cameo) 120101
**[[The Frensky Family Fiasco]] 120202
**[[D.W.'s Stray Netkitten]] 120301
**[[For the Birds]] 120401
**[[Ungifted]] 120402
**[[The Chronicles of Buster]] 120501
**[[On This Spot]] 120502
**[[The Cherry Tree]] 120601
**[[War of the Worms]] 120701
**[[Do You Believe in Magic?]] 120902
**[[The Perfect Game]] 121001
*Season 13
**[[The Great MacGrady]] 130100
**[[Arthur's Number Nightmare]] 130301
**[[Brain Gets Hooked]] 130302
**[[MacFrensky]] 130401
**[[The Good, the Bad, and the Binky]] (Cameo) 130402
**[[No Acting, Please]] 130501
**[[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble]] 130701
*Season 14
**[[The Buster Report]] 140102
**[[Muffy and the Big Bad Blog]] 140702
**[[Arthur Unravels]] 140801
**[[All the Rage]] 140802
**[[D.W., Queen of the Comeback]] (Flashback) 140901
**[[The Long Road Home]] 141002
*Season 15
**[[Fifteen]] 150100
**[[I Wanna Hold Your Hand]] 150201
**[[Cents-less]] 150401
**[[Buster the Lounge Lizard]] 150402
**[[S.W.E.A.T.]] 150502
**[[Prunella the Packrat]] 150701
**[[What's in a Name?]] 150702
**[[Muffy's Classy Classics Club]] (Cameo) 150801
**[[Through the Looking Glasses]] 150902
**[[The Butler Did... What?]] 151001
**[[The Trouble with Trophies]] 151002
*Season 16
**[[Flippity Francine]] 160201
**[[Muffy Takes the Wheel]] 160202
**[[Get Smart]] 160401
**[[Buster's Book Battle]] 160801
**[[So Funny I Forgot to Laugh]] 161001
**[[The Best Day Ever]] (Flashback) 161002
*Season 17
**[[All Thumbs]] 170501
**[[Pets and Pests]] (Mentioned) 170701
**[[Framed!]] 170902
**[[Brain Freeze]] (Cameo) 171002
*Season 18
**[[The Case of the Girl with the Long Face]] 180301
**[[The Substitute Arthur]] 180302
**[[Best Wishes]] 180401
**[[The Tardy Tumbler]] (Cameo) 180402
**[[Arthur Calls It]] 180502
**[[Arthur Read: Super Saver]] 180801
**[[Shelter from the Storm]] 1810
*Season 19
**[[Brain Sees Stars]] 190102
**[[Maria Speaks]] 190601
**[[Carl's Concerto]] 190701
**[[Too Much of a Good Thing]] 190702
**[[Mr. Ratburn's Secret Identity]] 190901
**[[The Last Day]] 1910
*Season 20
**[[Buster's Second Chance]] 200101
**[[That's MY Grandma!]] 200402
**[[Lend Me Your Ear]] 200501
**[[Prunella's Tent of Portent]] 200601
**[[The Hallway Minotaur]] (Cameo) 200701
**[[Ladonna's Like List]] 200702
*Season 21
**[[Binky's 'A' Game]] 210101
**[[Brain and the Time Capsule]] 210102
**[[Francine & the Soccer Spy]] (Cameo) 210301
**[[Sue Ellen & the Last Page]] (Cameo) 210302
**[[Muffy Misses Out]] (Cameo) 210401
**[[Slink's Special Talent]] 210402
*Season 22
**[[Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone]] 220101
**[[The Feud]] 220102
**[[When Rivals Came to Roost]] 220201
**[[Muffy's House Guests]] 220301
**[[Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants]] 220302
 
==Gallery==
{{fullgallery
|image2 = Ratburndro.jpg
|width2 = 150
|image = Ratburn.jpg
|image1 = Ratburn card.gif}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Lakewood Elementary Staff]]
[[Category:Lakewood Elementary Staff]]
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[[Category:Teachers]]
[[Category:Teachers]]
[[Category:Adults]]
[[Category:Adults]]
[[Category:Ratburn]]
[[Category:Ratburn family]]
[[Category:Glenbrook Students]]
[[Category:Glenbrook Students]]
[[Category:Main characters]]
[[Category:Main characters]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Brown hair]]
[[Category:Original Characters]]
[[Category:A to Z]]
[[Category:Pages with Wikipedia links]]
[[Category:Characters with medical conditions]]
[[Category:LGBT Characters]]

Latest revision as of 11:48, 6 October 2022

Nigel Ratburn
Nigel Ratburn.png
Gender Male
Animal Rat

Eye color Brown[1]
Hair color Brown[2]
Complexion Brown (s1-s5, s16-present)
Orange (s6-s15)
Favorite color Magenta[3]
Residence Mr. Ratburn's House, Elwood City
Family Rodentia Ratburn (sister)
Lisa Ratburn (mother)
Otto Ratburn (father)
Rodentia Ratburn's child (niece or nephew)
Olga Ratburn (grandmother)
Hans Ratburn (grandfather)
Patrick Ratburn (husband)
Patty Ratburn (sister)
Job Teacher
Book debut Arthur and the True Francine
Cartoon debut "Arthur's Eyes"
Voiced by Arthur Holden (TV series)
David Kessler (Living Books)

Nigel[4] Charles[5] Ratburn (formerly Emil Ratburn[6]) is a third grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School. In "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," Mr. Ratburn married a chocolate shop owner named Patrick.

Biography

Past life

When Mr. Ratburn was a baby, he wore on a light blue sweater with a white collar, a red bow tie, white cloth diapers with pins, and bright red shoes and blue socks. At the age of one or two, he was already able to write multiplication problems.

As a kid, he had three outfits. Two of them were the Glenbrook Academy's uniforms. Then, he had casual clothes that he wore to events, like the Father's Day picnic. They consisted of a blue buttoned shirt with a white shirt under it and blue pants.

In the episode "Arthur Weighs In," it is revealed that as a child he used to be overweight (a "fatty rat" as he put it when talking with Arthur) until he began exercising more while learning to play ping-pong.

As a young adult, he attended Elwood City High School with Bailey,[7] David Read,[8] and Mr. Haney.[9] In "Arthur's Almost Boring Day", it is revealed that he was a member of the Elwood City High School football team.

In college, he was in a band called the "Ratburn Rats."[10]

Future life

Mr. Ratburn announces that he will become a fourth grade teacher during the upcoming school year in "The Last Day". Besides this, not much is known about Mr. Ratburn's future outside of what is depicted in dream sequences. During the futuristic scene in the episode, "Buster Makes the Grade", it is suggested that Mr. Ratburn will continue his career as a teacher at Lakewood Elementary for many years to come.

An alternate future Ratburn in Arthur's dream

In Arthur's dream in "D.W. and the Beastly Birthday", Mr. Ratburn is seen four years in the future, with a beard and glasses. He wears a black suit and turtleneck sweater.

Physical appearance

  • Ratburn in seasons 1-5

  • Ratburn in seasons 6-15

  • Ratburn in seasons 16 to today

Mr. Ratburn's appearance consists of a green suit complete with a solid yellow shirt and bright red necktie (in the books, his uniform ranges to different colors). Being a rat, he has long whiskers, which he appears to keep trimmed.

He has brown clumps of hair in the books; although, in the cartoon show, his hair was restricted to thin black lines. He also wears his shirts tucked into his pants and always wears a belt buckle with his pants. He also wears blue pajamas and in one episode he wore a turquoise night shirt and another episode he also wore a tan colored sweater and black pants and wear brown or black slippers.

His casual clothing consists of a cream-colored T-shirt and faded blue jeans. For formal occasions, Mr. Ratburn wears a charcoal or black Tuxedo jacket with a white tuxedo shirt black bow tie and charcoal or black tuxedo trousers.

When outdoors for something like fossil-hunting, Mr. Ratburn wears a dark brown hat with a yellow line on the bottom of the tip of the hat going all around the tip. He also wears a very light yellow or beige shirt a dark blue scarf tucked into the shirt.

There is also a short-sleeved beige jacket with two pockets one on each side of the jacket and two shoulder straps one on each side of the jacket. He also wears blue shorts very light yellow or beige socks and light brown boots. He always carries a briefcase with him to class.

Personality

Mr. Ratburn is primarily known for being a strict teacher, but he has many other hobbies outside of the classroom, including puppetry, playing in a rock band, and bird-watching. He is also seen as a role model by several students. For instance, he encourages Arthur to be more physically active in "Arthur Weighs In," and he is able to relate to Maria's stuttering problem in "Maria Speaks."

He tends to give a lot of homework, projects and tests to the students in his class, which leads many to believe that he is the toughest teacher Lakewood Elementary School. Despite the heavy amount of school work to do, many of his students come to find out he is not as bad as they initially thought after he explains about organization, self-discipline, and how they can do their homework in time for things they like to do. Arthur, Buster, and Brain consider Mr. Ratburn their friend, and Arthur goes to greet him when he sees him in public.[11]

Even though Mr. Ratburn is calm and cool, he cackles uncontrollably in the dream sequences that the other characters have involving him.

Mr. Ratburn is often friendly, helpful and good-natured, rarely showing any hint of malice, and has shown that he truly cares about his students time and time again. In "The Last Day" and the song "Pop Quiz from Ratburn," Mr. Ratburn explains that his schoolwork is difficult because he wants to challenge his students and knows they can handle it. Mr. Ratburn takes his role as a teacher seriously and often tries to mentor his students, occasionally in non-academic fields. When the roof of his house collapses, Mr. Ratburn stays with the Read family, and is shown to enjoy watching Spooky Poo and other fun things, to Arthur's surprise.[12]

He frequently struggles with new, modern technology, such as using computers, the Internet and his classroom's new interactive "smart" board; for example, the first time he used the Internet, he fell for multiple scams.[13] This may be why he often uses an old film projector during his class lessons. He does become a bit more acclimated to some technology in various situations, however. He learns to use a tablet device called the BoysenBerry, and he manages to purchase a canoe online in "Best of the Nest."

In other media

In the Living Books computer games, he came out in Arthur's Teacher Trouble, even though there's a shadow look-alike of him walking outside while Arthur and Jane are out shopping for party supplies in Arthur's Birthday. He was voiced by David Kessler before the cartoon show replaced him with Arthur Holden.

In the later computer games (such as Arthur's Thinking Games), Mr. Ratburn's appearance is the same as in the show.

Students

See Nigel Ratburn's Class.

Relationships

Jobs

Mr. Ratburn has numerous jobs. In "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn", it's revealed that Mr. Ratburn's a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the school newspaper. In his spare time, he administers puppet shows that are popular among young kids. In "The Short, Quick Summer," Mr. Ratburn got a summer job at Jack's Joke Shop, where he worked as a cashier and helped Sue Ellen learn a card game magic trick.

Trivia

  • The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
  • In "Cents-less”, Mr. Ratburn is shown feeding two goldfish, whom he calls Vladimir and Estragon. It would seem that Mr. Ratburn has named his pets in honor of two characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
  • For the first few seasons, he has brown skin then changed to orange in the next few seasons and back to brown in Season 16.
  • He may or may not be part Native American (specifically Cheyenne).[14]
  • He is named after Marc Brown's 7th grade math teacher, Mr. Gary Rathbun.[15]

Appearances

Gallery

Ratburn card.gif
The full image gallery for Nigel Ratburn may be viewed at Nigel Ratburn/Gallery.

References

  1. ↑ "Buster's Growing Grudge"
  2. ↑ "The Buster Report" - he grew out his pube hair when he was in the band.
  3. ↑ http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/tradingcards/cards.html#pg-ratburn2
  4. ↑ "Dancing Fools": "That was Nigel Ratburn and Paige Turner dancing the tango."
  5. ↑ "Bitzi's Beau" in 2000 (Priest: "Do you, Nigel Charles Ratburn, take Bitzi Lynn Baxter, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, through sickness and in health, from this day forward, til death do you part?")
  6. ↑ in "Arthur's Baby" in 1996 (Ratburn's Mom: "Emil, what are you doing?!!") and "Background Blues" in 1998
  7. ↑ "The Butler Did... What?"
  8. ↑ "Arthur's Almost Boring Day"
  9. ↑ "Arthur's Almost Boring Day"
  10. ↑ The Buster Report
  11. ↑ "Lend Me Your Ear"
  12. ↑ "The Rat Who Came to Dinner"
  13. ↑ "Muffy and the Big Bad Blog"
  14. ↑ "In fact, that Ratburn fellow looks a lot like a Cheyenne I used to know named Tahmelapachme. That means "dull knife." (chuckles)" — Sitting Bull, "On This Spot"
  15. ↑ https://www.wgbh.org/programs/2019/12/27/marc-brown-arthur-and-the-real-mr-ratburn-the-rewind



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