The forum pages are fully operational! See this link for the latest forum topics, where users can collaborate or discuss certain topics in one place!
Nigel Ratburn
Arthur: I bet Mr. Ratburn assigns another report today. Buster:Yeah, he hasn't assigned one since... yesterday.
| Mr. Nigel Emil Ratburn III | |
|---|---|
| A promotional image of Nigel Ratburn | |
| Major Character | |
| Gender | Male |
| Animal | Rat |
| Portrayed by | Arthur Holden |
| First appeared | Arthur and the True Francine (books) Arthur's Eyes (cartoon) |
| Family | Rodentia Ratburn (sister) Lisa Ratburn (mother) Otto Ratburn (father) |
Nigel [citation needed] Ratburn, or sometimes just called 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.
He is named after Marc Brown's seventh grade algebra teacher, Gary Rathbun; and of course the name "Ratburn" is a play on the last name of Brown's algebra teacher.
Appearance and Personality
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. 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 is always accompanied to class with a briefcase.
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.
Though he is a cool and calm character, in some dream sequences, he cackles uncontrollably.
Alternate apparel
Mr. Ratburn in his casual clothes
Mr. Ratburn's outdoor outfit
Mr. Ratburn in a black tuxedo
Mr. Ratburn's Summer Clothes
Mr. Ratburn as a basketball coach
Past life
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 child he had two outfits. A school uniform, that was colored blue like Glenbrook Academy's dress code, and the uniform also had the school's 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.
Mr. Ratburn as a baby
Mr. Ratburn as a child
Other Media
In the Living Books computer games, he appeared in Arthur's Teacher Trouble, although there is a shadow look-alike of him walking outside while Arthur and his mom 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, his appearance was the same as he looked in the cartoon show.
Mr. Ratburn in Arthur's Teacher Trouble
Students
Mr. Ratburn has twelve students in his class. His students sit in groups of four. A majority of his students were formerly in Mr. Marco's second grade class.
- Binky Barnes (twice)
Former students
Jobs
Mr. Ratburn has a numerous amount of jobs. In the episode "Arthur and The Real Mr. Ratburn" it is revealed that Mr. Ratburn is a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the School Newspaper. In his spare time, he also administers Puppet shows which are popular amoung young children. In the episode '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
- 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 the episode "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?!"
- 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 Brain showed him how in the episode, "Best of the Nest."
- The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
- In Arthur's Almost Boring Day, he was revealed to have gone to the same school as Arthur's father 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.
- He went to high school with Bailey, Muffy's butler.
- Mr. Ratburn is a fanatic of the show called Spooky-Poo, a play on the Hanna-Barbera-based Scooby-Doo cartoon series.
- Saying something about work makes the students at Lakewood Elementry School no good.
- His mother in the episode "Arthur's Baby," his mother calls him "Emil."
- He was in a rock band called "The Sewr Rats" in College.
- Mr. Ratburn knows nothing about computers. Thinks a blog is a place where people informed in episodes Muffy big, bad blog, DW's Stray Netkitten and The A-Team.
- In the episode "Bitzi's Beau," Mr. Ratburn's full name is said as "Nigel Charles Ratburn" in Busters fantasy.
