A screenshot showing Actimates Info from the Arthur website.
ActiMates were a series of interactive toys released by Microsoft in February 1997, which were in the form of licensed dolls which could interact with certain episodes of their respective television series on VHS videocassette which were bundled with the doll or special ActiMates-compatible video cassettes and computer games. Microsoft released seven characters including Arthur, his sister D.W., the Teletubbies, and Barney. The dolls could interact with the TV and a Windows 95 PC (the Teletubbies could not interact with the PC) and Arthur and D.W. could interact with the Arthur website. The toys were marketed as educational tools and gave positive affirmations for correct answers from the user. They could also be played without the packs for the VCR and computer. In 2000, Microsoft discontinued the dolls, along with the technology and lost the patent rights to the toys five years later.
However, despite this, Teletubbies episodes were still ActiMates-compatible up until 2001, the toys still interacted with reruns of their respective shows (from ActiMates-compatible years) during that time for a few more years, and Arthur and D.W. could still interact with Arthur VHS releases from 2000-2005 (releases that feature episodes from seasons 1-4). ActiMates Barney could also interact with airings of seasons 4-6 of Barney & Friends on PBS Kids Sprout.
Trivia[]
The watchface on the dolls' watches do not have hands on them.
Bar code visible on the left edge of the frame
There was a black and white "bar code" along the left side of the video frame of participating episodes which allowed the toys to function with television broadcasts from PBS. By the late 2000s, the use of widescreen digital television sets became much more common, making the flashing codes much more evident to viewers, especially considering reruns were still in a 4:3 aspect ratio. By the 2010s, the bar code area was cropped out on American prints of the episodes, resulting in the left side of the pillarbox being slightly wider than the right. In the current print of Arthur Rides the Bandwagon, the bar code is still partially visible at the beginning of the episode.
List of Tapes (may be incomplete)[]
Arthur's TV Free Week
Arthur's Tooth
Arthur Makes The Team
Arthur's Family Vacation
Arthur's Birthday
Arthur's Computer Adventure
Arthur's Chicken Pox
Arthur's Baby
Arthur's First Sleepover
D.W. The Picky Eater
D.W.'s Blankie
Arthur's New Puppy
D.W. Rides Again
Tapes that are not officially marketed as ActiMates compatible, but with ActiMates Arthur and D.W. still able to interact with one or more episodes[]
