90s | Cartoons | TV | Pop Culture

Sure, It Was A Wonderful Kind Of Day, But Where Would The Cast Of Arthur Be Now?

Elwood city was the place we all wanted to be. It was filled with the best cast of characters ever, and we would have given just about anything to attend Lakewood Elementary School with Arthur and his friends.

The Read family was one that we all had a strong connection to. Whether you favored Arthur or D.W., you probably related to both of them on different days.

The supporting characters on the show are iconic, and even though the show has been on for over 20 years, it's fun to imagine what would have happened to the characters if they had actually grown up.

Arthur Muffy Francine and Buster
PBS

So goodbye third grade, and hello fictional future. Let's see where all of your favorite characters are now!

Arthur Read

Arthur Read
PBS

Arthur is almost 30 now and he's starting to panic. He hasn't really figured out what he wants to do with his life yet, but he's tried a bunch of different things. He's had a lot of jobs over the last few years that pay his rent, but his real passion is still to play the piano. He has a local bar that lets him play on Thursday nights, but sometimes he gets heckled and it really hits him hard.

He has gotten really into Capoeira and is shockingly good at it. He leaves his boring insurance job everyday feeling a little run down, but then he heads to his Capoeria class and gets pumped up. He still talks to his best friend Buster though, at least whenever he can get a hold of him.

Buster Baxter

Buster Baxter
PBS

Buster took to traveling more than anyone would have ever expected. While he was hesitant at first, he ended up loving the process of exploring the world and learning about other cultures. Now, he has found a way to make his love of travelling into his career.

He created his own television show on Netflix, called Backpacking With Buster, which follows him as he tries to adapt to different environments. One time Bear Grylls came on, but even he couldn't keep up with Buster.

Francine Frensky

Francine Frensky
PBS

Francine's athletic ambitions didn't stop in the third grade. She's become a professional athlete, stunt woman, and lifestyle guru. She competed on American Ninja Warrior and won, she is the official stunt woman for all of the Marvel movies, and she just launched her own blog that gives daily workouts and challenges to keep fit.

Buster tried to get her to appear on Backpacking With Buster, but she didn't have time. At least that's what she said to him, but honestly, I just don't think she remembered him.

Alan "The Brain" Powers

The Brain
PBS

The Brain made it through high school faster than intended, graduating three years early. At 14 he was welcomed to Harvard for one year before transferring to Oxford. When he came home he  revealed his newly affected British accent that drives his family insane.

However, despite the fact that he is highly educated, he actually prefers working in the ice cream parlor with his mother. He still writes scientific papers and hosts a weekly podcast where he does a deep dive into the wonders of the world, but most of the time you can find him hanging out with his mom. He says it's because he doesn't want to leave her alone, but I think he's just afraid to grow up.

Muffy Crosswire

Muffy Crosswire
PBS

Entitled and spoiled as a kid, Muffy always came across as a little bit annoying, but when she got older she had a bit of a falling out with her family. She moved out at 16 and emancipated herself from her parents, and moved to a large city on the other side of the country.

She became a youth counselor and works with a lot of charities that help other kids who are looking to break out of their family. Her older brother still keeps in touch and sometimes sends her money without their parents knowing.

But there are still more Lakewood Elementary characters we need to check in on...

Shelly "Binky" Barnes

Binky Barnes
PBS

Binky's love of ballet only grew as he got older. He actually left Lakewood and was granted admission into Julliard. He danced his way in a spot in the American Ballet Company and is known for his ability to be the perfect duet partner.

Sue Ellen Armstrong

Sue Ellen Armstrong
PBS

Sue Ellen's passionate love of nature has turned her into quite the activist. She is always participating in some kind of a rally or march, and she's actually become a lawyer to make sure she can affect change.

She mostly acts as a public defender, but is looking to transition into environmental law to make sure she can help keep the world safe.

George Lundgren

George Lundgren
PBS

George's difficulty in the third grade didn't seem to slow him down at all. Once he made it out of school he got involved in the tech industry, and now all these years later, he is the proud owner of a bunch of different apps.

And not just the useless ones people use once and delete, he's got the ones that people pay a heck of a lot of money for even though they call it stupid. He's laughing all the way to the bank!

Fern Walters

Fern Walters
PBS

Fern's nervous energy actually found an outlet when she discovered musical theater. Even though you'd think that someone so shy would hate the spotlight, her ability to hide in another character helped her come out of her shell.

She's currently in a Broadway production that is selling out every night, maybe you've heard of it, it's called Hamilton.

Prunella Deegan

Prunella Deegan
PBS

Prunella was an interesting character who was really into the paranormal, and she actually did become a medium. But roughly five years ago, Prunella vanished. She left behind nothing but a crystal ball and a note that said "you can find me in here" and hasn't been seen since.

Obviously her family has been looking for her non-stop, but there are currently no leads. So whether she was sucked into a crystal ball or is just on the lamb, no one really knows.

As crazy as those are, we've got to know, where is D.W.?

Emily

Emily
PBS

D.W.'s friend Emily is actually in jail. I know, shocking. But she got involved in a global smuggling scheme to steal all of Belgium's royal jewels and she was caught at the airport. She thought that her parent's frequent flier miles would let her pass through security but that was horribly inaccurate.

She was actually due to be released this year, but her recent prison break attempt has definitely prevented that from happening for a long time.

Tommy and Timmy Tibble

Tommy and Timmy Tibble
PBS

These two little nightmares are actually both in school still. While they were tiny monsters in kindergarten, they have both aged into responsible young men. They are currently getting their masters degrees, Timmy in nuclear physics, and Tommy in music.

Tommy has a job lined up for the summer as the lead conductor of the local concert band, while Timmy has an internship at the Hubble telescope scheduled. They share a large loft apartment and regularly volunteer at local children's hospitals, luckily no one they know now remembers how terrible they once were.

Katrina "Kate" Read

Kate Read
PBS

The youngest Read sibling is actually on the fast track to becoming a vet. That connection she had with Arthur's dog pal was just the start. She actually has (or at least believes she has) the ability to communicate with animals. She does however try to keep that quiet because she knows how crazy it sounds.

She instead works really hard at school and is in her undergraduate degree on the long road to becoming a vet because she will actually be able to understand them when they need to express what's wrong.

Dora Winifred "D.W." Read

D.W. Read
PBS

D.W. has been a lot of things. She may only be in her mid-twenties, but she's lived roughly 100 lives. The difference between her and her brother, is that the lives she leads are much more exhilarating. While Arthur's jobs are just there to pay the bills, D.W. spends her time living her life as an undercover spy.

She joined a secret agency when she was only 14, and now she's spent the last 10 years infiltrating organizations all over the world. Her parents think that she's a flight attendant, which would explain all the travel, but really she is engaging in dangerous missions.

She has saved the world about five times from complete disaster, and once from a really annoying song that would have been stuck in everyone's heads forever.  

D.W. is an expert at martial arts and an professional level makeup artist that helps her disguise herself as needed for the mission.

She knows that everyone thought she was a brat when she was four, but her theory is that she's more than made up for it now. I mean, she saved the world five times. It doesn't matter how many times she listened to Mary Moo Cow on repeat, she's a hero!

Mr. Nigel Charles Ratburn

Mr. Ratburn
PBS

Mr. Ratburn had a lot to deal with, but after Arthur and his friends moved on he was able to actual reveal his true self. You remember that secret agency that D.W. works for? Well... Guess who her boss is?

That's right, Mr. Ratburn's actually a secret agent as well. He met D.W. while at the school and helped get her involved in the organization. He was able to quietly get out of his undercover position in the school after recruiting her, and now he's back in the head office assigning tasks to the next generation of agents.  

The reunion episode is going to be a really tricky thing to figure out... I guess it's a good thing cartoons stay the same age forever, because it would be really confusing to try and make this a TV show. Although admit it, you'd totally watch this.