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"Arthur's Faraway Friend"
Season/Series: 2
Number in season: 12a
Original Airdate: United States April 7, 1998[1]
Canada September 8, 1998[3]
United Kingdom July 27, 1999[2]
Germany February 8, 2002[4]
Credits
Written by: Joe Fallon
Storyboard by: Brian Anderson
Episodes
Previous
"Buster Hits the Books"
Next
"Arthur and the Square Dance"
Read transcript

"Arthur's Faraway Friend" is the first half of the twelfth episode in the second season of Arthur.

Summary[]

When Arthur hears that Buster will be away with his dad for a couple of months, he fears it may be the end of their friendship.

Plot[]

The episode starts off with a fantasy sequence. Arthur as Robin Hood scales the wall of a castle in the middle of a forest. He climbs through a barred window into a jail cell where Pal's being held captive. Robin Hood Arthur scoops up his pal, Pal then makes his escape.

Not so fast—the guards rush in. All of them look like Binky, dressed like Norman soldiers. They try to trap Robin Hood Arthur by lowering the portcullis, shaking fists, and chasing him. Arthur manages to escape from the castle, but the guards are hot on his heels... he needs a getaway vehicle.

Buster, as Friar Tuck, comes around the corner in a big 1930's convertible roadster. He wants Arthur to get in. Arthur, still holding Pal, says that there weren't convertibles in Robin Hood's time.

The scene repeats. This time Friar Buster comes around the corner in a wagon pulled by two horses. Robin Hood Arthur jumps on and the two ride off with Pal while the Binky guards shake their fists and shout at them. Robin Hood Arthur tells Friar Buster that they make a great team. Even Pal agrees, by barking.

Arthur's Faraway Friend

Arthur and Buster are up in the tree house, finishing up a book about Robin Hood. While they are satisfied with the ending, they also wish that there were more adventures for Robin Hood and Friar Tuck to go on. The boys soon start to imagine themselves as Robin Hood and Friar Tuck, fighting off brigands from all over the place, including a few riding on hang-gliders and a few riding in on a dinosaur.

However, Arthur is soon snapped back to reality at school, when Buster reveals that he's going to be staying with his dad for a while. Arthur is shocked at first, but then comes up with an idea to keep Buster from leaving: Digging a pit underneath Arthur's house. Buster rejects the idea, largely because he actually does want to spend time with his father, even if it's only temporary. This sends Arthur into a bit of a depression.

At the park, Arthur explains his feelings about Buster leaving to Sue Ellen, who in turn tells Arthur to try looking at the situation from Buster's point-of-view: even if Buster really does want to spend time with his dad and is excited about traveling to different places, he's still going to be leaving all of his friends behind and will have to adjust to living in a new place, which will likely be very difficult for him. Thinking this over, Arthur decides to make the best of the situation and goes around Elwood City with Buster as he says goodbye to everything and everyone.

The day of Buster's departure soon arrives and Arthur shares one last goodbye with his best friend before Buster and his mom go to the airport. For the first few days, Arthur struggles with Buster not being around anymore, but eventually, he gets a package in the mail from Buster, and the package is full of souvenirs along with the pages for the next chapter of his and Arthur's book.

Arthur soon imagines himself and Buster going on more adventures as Robin Hood and Friar Tuck. Later on, when his parents say that Buster will be back before he knows it, Arthur says that even though he misses Buster, he is not in any hurry to have Buster come back, since he is having a lot of fun.

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Trivia[]

  • At the end of the 2000 rerun intro on PBS Kids before this episode, Arthur’s crashing sound remains the same.
  • At the time of production, Daniel Brochu, the voice of Buster, decided to take a sabbatical to Australia. As the producers did not want to replace him, it was written into the show that Buster would be traveling with his father.
  • This episode has the last major appearance of Buster in Season 2, though he has cameos in later Season 2 episodes such as "Arthur and the Square Dance," "Arthur the Unfunny," and "Arthur the Loser". Buster becomes a major character again starting with the Season 3 premiere "Buster's Back."
  • In Arthur and Buster's own Robin Hood story, the two riding the dinosaur are Binky and a white Rattles
  • Arthur is not seen crying, but he's briefly heard crying as soon as Buster leaves.

Episode connections[]

Cultural references[]

Errors[]

  • When Buster waves goodbye to Binky, Binky is colored like one of the Binky's from Arthur and Buster's story.
  • When Arthur's mom look at the calendar, it's shown Buster will come back at the end of August on the 30th, as if Buster would be gone for the summer. However, in most of the episodes when Buster is away, Arthur and his friends are shown in school.

Behind the scenes[]

  • The reason for Buster's extended absence beginning in this episode was revealed in Jason Szwimer's podcast Finding D.W., in which Daniel Brochu explains that he traveled to Australia for a year. It was decided that Buster would not be recast; instead, Buster would be temporarily written out of the show while traveling, much like Brochu himself. Brochu also mentioned that eventually he would record his lines while in Australia as some of the crew flew down to see him.[5]

Production Notes[]

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