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Pop Culture | 00s | 90s

10 Facts About 'Arthur' That'll Make You Have A Wonderful Kind of Day

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Arthur came out in the mid-'90s and became one of the highest-rated shows on PBS KIDS. Let's be real, most parents loved watching the show with their kids, and I wouldn't be surprised if adults watched a few episodes alone too.

The show was entertaining and loaded with life lessons that helped us navigate the world as children. Arthur has received dozens of Emmy nominations and won seven of them.

The show has averaged 10 million viewers weekly in the U.S. and has aired in more than 80 countries.

Here are 10 facts about Arthur and his friends that'll make your day a little more wonderful.

1. We have Marc Brown and his son to thank for bringing Arthur to life.

Marc Brown's son, Tolon, wanted to hear a bedtime story about a "weird animal," so he thought of an aardvark. His boy loved the story so much that Brown made an original book series out of it. Years later, Tolon became the producer of the show!

Have you ever seen an aardvark?

Arthur is much cuter.

2. The theme song is an earworm that is loved by EVERYONE.

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers's "Believe In Yourself" was the most popular theme song of the '90s.

The theme song was also covered by the Backstreet Boys and sampled by Chance the Rapper and Wyclef Jean.

3. Many of the children characters are voiced by real kids.

Voice actors are super talented and can make anyone believe that the character they're listening to is a real animal or a real kid; however, in the case of Arthur, the characters who are supposed to be children are actually voiced by child actors.

Arthur, for example, was voiced by Michael Yarmush from season one to five.

4. The show became the first daily program to make use of Descriptive Video Service in 1997.

The main goal of the show was to encourage positive social skills, and to do so they made it accessible to blind or visually impaired viewers.

5. Arthur will never grow up, meaning his life is essentially perfect.

The show is still airing, surpassing 230 episodes to date, and Arthur is still a boy. There are many images of Arthur and his friends all grown up circulating around the internet, but we're not so sure if that's ever going to happen...

These next facts are juicy...like Francine and Arthur's relationship...

6. Francine and Arthur were hooking up and we had no idea at the time.

Francine loved to tease Arthur, so we all know what that meant...

There are many references in the show that allude to Arthur and Francine growing up and getting married. Remember that episode where both of them freak out after thinking the other has a crush on them?

7. A bunch of famous celebrities guest starred on the show.

Each guest star provided a voice for their talking animal counterpart, such as Lance Armstrong, Joan Rivers, Matt Damon, Art Garfunkel, Alex Trebek, Larry King, and many more.

8. Elwood City is very similar to Boston, Massachusetts.

The animated show was produced in Boston, so it would make sense that the fictional town would resemble Beantown. However, Brown also made references to his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, such as the local shopping mall called "Mill Creek Mall."

9. The show is not as American as you'd think.

The production of the show and the voice acting were done in four different countries: Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the U.S.

10. Arthur talked about a variety of serious topics that appealed to kids.

There wasn't one episode on Arthur that didn't have some kind of important message to get across to children. They talked about cancer, dyslexia, Asperger Syndrome, asthma, death, divorce, and the list goes on and on.

What did you love about Arthur?