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All Grown Up

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"All Grown Up"

Season/Series: 25
Number in season: 4B
Original airdate: United States February 21, 2022[1]
Canada March 1, 2022 (DVD)
May 19, 2022 (TV)[2]
Credits
Written by: Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by: Gerry Capelle
Tapani Knuutila
Episodes
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"All Grown Up" is the second half of the fourth episode in the twenty-fifth season of Arthur. It is the series finale.

Marc Brown makes a special appearance as himself.

Summary

The gang finds a fortune telling game while at the library and gets a hint of what their futures might hold.

Plot

After Arthur picks out a book from the library, he and Buster talk about how you don't always get what you expect, but sometimes what you don't expect proves to actually be pretty good. For example, Buster tries tasting a lavender flavored chocolate that is made by Patrick, which he initially recoils at because it tastes like soap, but soon finds he likes it. Muffy tries to show off her new dress to Francine, only for it to get covered in mud by a passing car. After seeing an ad on a bus for a dress that has a similar look, she decides that she's a trend-setter. While choosing players for a baseball game, Francine accidentally picks George, due to a misunderstanding. However, he ends up scoring a home run, thus winning the game for her team. Arthur suggests that sometimes, the unexpected things are what's meant to be—only to discover that Ms. Turner accidentally gave him a book about drawing animals instead of the one that he wanted.

Arthur, Muffy, Francine, and Buster head to the library for Arthur to exchange the book, but Ms. Turner is nowhere to be seen. Another patron informs them that she is in the stacks, so they proceed to go and look for her, only to instead find a hidden room full of stuff not in circulation. They accidentally turn on a fortune telling game called "Oskar the Oracle Octopus", which claims that it can tell their futures based on their personality traits. They decide to play it and see what they will be when they grow up. When told that she will become a public servant, Muffy imagines being a mail carrier, but her friends explain that she could become a politician instead. Francine's prediction is a businesswoman, which prompts her to imagine her harried, older self working in an office, answering phone calls. Buster's prediction is that he'll become a teacher, which his friends find laughable; his fantasy involves teaching a class where all the students are Brain. Arthur attempts to get his prediction, but the game's batteries run out right before it can state it.

As the four kids then leave, the patron from earlier stops Arthur and encourages him to take the book that Ms. Turner gave him by mistake, telling him that there are some good drawings in it. Arthur decides to give it a try and thanks him. Back in the room, the game inexplicably powers up by itself, spewing fog and light that covers the screen...

20 years later...

At The Sugar Bowl, Arthur is sitting at a booth when Buster arrives. As it turns out, Buster is now a creative writing professor, and Kate is a student in his class. He tells Arthur about a story that she submitted in which babies can read the minds of animals. He then inquires about a book that Arthur is working on, but Arthur covers it, saying that he's not sure if it's any good. Francine and Muffy then walk in, with Francine wearing the latest model of sneakers from her shoe company, while Muffy is carrying posters for her campaign to be mayor of Elwood City. George is now running The Sugar Bowl, while Binky is now a weather reporter for a local news station.

The gang overhears a whistle from outside, which proves to be D.W., who's now a police officer, accosting a motorcyclist who has parked in a no-parking zone. Unexpectedly, he turns out to be her old friend, Bud, whom she greets warmly while dutifully writing him a ticket. They then come inside, where the rest of the gang convinces Arthur to show off his novel. Arthur gives in and reveals it is a graphic novel based on his childhood. Having been inspired to enter the field by the book that he received by accident, he begins to read it to everyone, beginning with the story of how he got his glasses...

Characters

Since this is the final episode of the show, it's all the characters' last appearances:

Major

Minor

Cameo

Mentioned

Trivia

  • Moral: You may not like the sound of something or think it is unfitting for you at first, but eventually, you might realize that it is more fitting for you than you realize.
  • In the flash forward at the end, Arthur refers to Buster as Kate's "teacher". However, it is more likely that he's her professor in a college course, since she would be about 21 years old, which is a typical age of a college student.

Episode connections

  • Patrick previously demonstrated his experimental chocolate flavors in his debut episode, "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone." Buster ends up trying one in this episode and takes a liking to it.
  • The cold open features Muffy being inspired by a picture of Capri di Vapida. She was previously inspired by di Vapida in "Pet Projects" and "All the Rage."
  • George's hall monitor hat appears in the cold opening. He first wears it in "The Hallway Minotaur."
  • Buster uses his inhaler in the library, which is a callback to Season 4's "Buster's Breathless."
  • Buster gets excited upon seeing the book 101 Uses for Butter Churns, which is a reference to the events of "Buster's Amish Mismatch," including his attempt to make butter at home.
  • Some of the questions that are featured in the game are similar to the ones asked in a teenage magazine that was featured in "Popular Girls."
  • The desert island question in the game is similar to the assignment Mr. Ratburn gave to the class in "Desert Island Dish."
  • The game being a magical octopus could be a reference to "D.W. All Wet" as well as the long-running gag of octopuses in the series.
  • When Muffy is told by the magical octopus that she will be a public servant, Buster happily suggests that she'd be a mail carrier. Buster previously showed excitement for mail in "Buster's Special Delivery."
  • Francine and Muffy both complain about what they end up with and then defend their dads, who are in the said careers. Ed Crosswire's job as a car salesman and Oliver Frensky's job as a garbage man were both shown in depth in "My Dad, the Garbage Man" and were later referenced many times throughout the series.
  • Buster refers to Kate's story assignment about a baby who can read animal minds. This is a reference to "The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies" and other "dog and baby" episodes.
  • The kids' careers in young adulthood are hinted at to some degree previously in the show's history, some more explicitly than others.
    • The beginning of the graphic novel Arthur wrote is a reference to the premiere episode of the show, "Arthur's Eyes." His interest in writing stories goes back to "Arthur Writes a Story."
    • D.W. using a whistle and penchant for law and safety was first shown in "D.W. Blows the Whistle."
    • The Oskar the Oracle Octopus game characterizes Buster as "curious, imaginative, and kind," predicting that he would become a teacher. In general, these are all traits that are true to Buster's real personality. For example, Buster's curiosity for world cultures, traditions and food was spotlighted throughout the Postcards from Buster spinoff series; and he uses his imagination whenever he uses the existence of aliens to explain unanswered questions.
    • The events of "The Master Builders" are referenced in relation to Francine's future as a businesswoman. Francine also expresses interest in athletic sneakers in "Spoiled Rotten!" and "Francine's Cleats of Strength." Her love of sports and athletics is also a key component of her character.
    • Muffy's political career was previously foreshadowed in "The Election," and she put together a very popular class president campaign.
    • Binky is shown reporting the weather as a television news personality. He previously became interested in reporting in the season premiere "Binky Wrestles with a Story." He also had a desire to be on camera for a television commercial in "Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants." He has long been a showman; he plays his clarinet and dances ballet on-stage in many episodes, and stars in Prunella's play in "The Pea and the Princess."

Cultural references

  • The mysterious room in the library is numbered as "A-113": this is a reference to the A113 animation Easter egg, an inside joke in various animated projects referencing one of the room numbers at CalArts.

Production notes

  • As the series finale of Arthur, this is the last episode for several things:
    • The final appearances of all characters featured in this episode (see the Characters section for the full list).
    • The final episode to be produced by Oasis Animation and GBH.
    • The final appearance of the Arthur theme song.
    • The final appearance of A Word from Us Kids.
    • The final episode to use the 16:9 HD widescreen format.
    • The final episode to be released in the 2020s.
  • Although this is the last episode of the full-form television series, the Arthur series of shorts began their initial release in 2020, about two years before this episode premiered. New shorts have been released each year since the series finale episode. See List of shorts.
  • This episode includes several Easter eggs paying tribute to the series and its history:
    • Patrick and Rafi are prominently featured in the cold opening. Though neither speak, their presence is an acknowledgment of the show's history: Patrick's presence is a nod to his debut, the landmark episode "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone," while Rafi is voiced by Cameron Ansell, Arthur's voice actor from Seasons 9 to 11.[3]
    • Upon seeing a picture of an aardvark in the book on how to draw animals, Buster remarks, "I never knew their noses were so long." The very first Arthur book, Arthur's Nose, depicted Arthur as having an appropriately long one.
    • Muffy is running for mayor against Mayor Hirsch, a previously existing character named for head writer Peter K. Hirsch. Francine and George remark that he has been in charge forever, and suggest that he retire, poking fun at their writer.
    • Marc Brown plays himself once again, interacting with his own creation for the first time in the entire series and encouraging Arthur to give drawing a try.
    • After 22 years since he last played the role in Season 5, Michael Yarmush, the original voice of Arthur, reprises his role by voicing the adult Arthur. Yarmush previously voiced Jay in the 10th anniversary episode "Happy Anniversary" and voiced Slink starting in Season 9.
  • The adult D.W.'s speaking role in the final scene is the first and only time she has been voiced by a female (Nissae Isen) in the entire series. With the exception of video games, she has almost exclusively been voiced by males.
  • Adult Arthur is the final character to speak in this episode, making him the final character to speak in the entire series. Fittingly, Michael Yarmush is the first voice heard in the series at the very beginning of "Arthur's Eyes," and the last one in this episode.

Home video

DVD

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ http://www.utahitv.org/index.php/schedule/full_day/2022-02-21%2018:00:00
  2. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CdolN39r9XY/
  3. ↑ Article confirming intentional presence of characters and several easter eggs.



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