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Buster Baxter

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Buster Baxter has a gallery at the Elwood City Art Museum.
Elwood City Art Museum
This article has a gallery to help represent its content. To view it, visit Buster Baxter/Gallery.
Buster Baxter
Buster Baxter
Age 8[1][2][3]
Grade 3rd

4th ("First Day")

Gender Male
Animal Rabbit[4]
Birthday Within the Aquarius zodiac sign[5]
Eye color Blue (books only)
Hair color Blond[6]
Brown[7]
Complexion   Apple greenish white
Favorite color Blue[8]
Residence Buster's Condo, Elwood City
Family Bitzi Baxter (mother)
Bo Baxter (father)
Buster's grandmother
Bitzi's father ( maternal grandfather)
Stu ( maternal uncle)
Bob Baxter ( maternal uncle)
Karen (cousin)
A younger cousin
An older cousin
Buster's aunt
Bitzi's grandfather ( maternal great-grandfather)
Job College professor ("All Grown Up")
Book debut Arthur's Eyes
Cartoon debut "Arthur's Eyes"
Voiced by Daniel Brochu (TV series, AMP and podcast)

Robert Bell (Living Books)
Jon David Bush (ATG) (ARG) (AMG)
Derek Sorrentino (Computer Games)

"I know one person who's always happy. He's never been upset for more than three seconds. Buster Baxter. The happiest, jolliest, most fun..."
– Arthur Read, "Buster's Growing Grudge"

Buster Baxter is a student in Mr. Ratburn's third grade class at Lakewood Elementary School, along with his best friend Arthur Read and the rest of their friends. Later, he is in Mrs. Grimslid's fourth grade class. He resides in Elwood City in a condominium with his divorced mother, Bitzi Baxter. On top of being always hungry, he has an exceptional fascination for the possibility of there being intelligent life outside of Earth and his own theories when provided with even the most minimal of evidence.

Past life

When Buster was a baby, he was wearing a purple shirt, disposable diapers (colored gray instead of white to avoid mixing in with his white complexion), and red and white sneakers. When he was around two years old, he wore a dark bluish-green sweater and light bluish-green shorts and sneakers. It was also revealed in "Arthur's Baby" when he was 2–3 years old, he would cause his mother a lot of trouble by "stealing" foods (basically eating them without having paid for them).

Future life

Teenage Buster Baxter02

Buster Baxter at 13 years old

Buster Baxter is shown as a teenager at the end of the episode "The Contest." His head is more oval-shaped and he is shown wearing a black and brown coat with some yellow, a pair of blue jeans and black shoes. In another episode, he is wearing a blue fancy jacket and white long sleeve shirt.

In "The Curse of the Grebes", Buster is depicted in the future as an elderly man with grandchildren.

In "All Grown Up," it is revealed that Buster becomes a teacher in adulthood. It is implied that he is a college professor of creative writing, as Arthur refers to him as "Kate's teacher" during the flash forward scene 20 years into the future. It would make more sense for him to be a college professor, as Kate would be around 20-22 years old by the end of "All Grown Up". However, it is unlikely that Buster would be a college professor in 'real life', as he and others in Arthur's age group are only around 4 years older than Kate, and becoming a professor typically requires more than 4 years of schooling (after high school).

Family and home

Buster is the only child of Bitzi and Bo Baxter. His parents are divorced;[9] he lives with his mother in a condominium in central Elwood City. His mother is a "worrywart" who often fears for Buster's well-being throughout his daily life, but in later seasons she has learned to relax more. They are extremely close and are like best friends. Buster has gone on many travels with his dad, such as in the spin-off series, Postcards from Buster. His father, besides in Postcards from Buster, has made appearances in a few episodes. He and Buster are also very close, and Buster thoroughly enjoys the few opportunities he has to see his dad.[10]

In recent seasons, Bitzi started dating Harry Mills, a fellow photographer and journalist at the Elwood City Times. After getting over his initial theory Harry was an alien, Buster became best friends with Harry, having shared the same interests in sports, aliens, etc.[11] Buster was disappointed to learn that his mom broke up with Harry much later on in the show,[12] but the three of them remain the best of friends.

In other media

In the Living Books computer games such as Arthur's Teacher Trouble, Arthur's Birthday and Arthur's Computer Adventure, Buster's complexions ranged from white to cream-colored. In these three games, he was voiced by Robert Bell before the cartoon show replaced him with Daniel Brochu.

Physical appearance

Buster is an anthropomorphic white rabbit who wears a long-sleeve cyan polo shirt with salmon pink collar, blue jeans, orange boxer shorts with a UFO design (white briefs in the books), and red and white sneakers. He only wore suspenders on his pants during "Buster's Amish Mismatch." In the books, he wears different-colored shirts. He also has buck teeth that are visible when he opens his mouth (in the early books, his buck teeth were especially visible with his mouth closed, but the TV series and later books had his buck teeth only visible with his mouth open).

His sleepwear includes a purple button-up pajama top with dark pink dinosaur designs, dark pink pajama bottoms, and aardvark slippers. His swimwear includes blue swimming trunks with periwinkle dots. In "D.W. All Wet," his mom required him to wear a bathing cap to keep his ears covered, but in many later episodes, Buster no longer wears the bathing cap. On formal occasions, Buster wears a navy-blue tuxedo jacket. He also sometimes wears a white shirt, red bow tie, matching pants and brown shoes. When he first appeared in Arthur's Eyes in 1979, he had whiskers like a normal rabbit, but the whiskers were removed in Arthur's April Fool in 1983.

Personality

Buster is not always good at solving problems, is more focused on playing rather than working, is an expert at making messes and leaving them there, but still a very good friend. He is easygoing, fun-loving, funny and somewhat odd. He also has a strong interest in space aliens,[13] and claims to have seen flying saucers over Elwood City. Buster's easygoing personality often takes its toll on his performance at school; he sometimes has trouble finishing reports, math assignments, and book reports. However, his poor performance is usually due to laziness and lack of effort rather than low intelligence.[14] As seen with some subjects he has an interest in, such as paleontology, he has given answers smart enough to impress Brain.[15] Generally, Buster has a somewhat short attention span. He doesn't have the patience for reading books, unless it's a book he really likes (such as the Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club Series).[16] He also has trouble keeping secrets.[17][18][19][20]

Buster has a passion for telling jokes and being funny overall. He enjoys providing humor and amusement to others, especially to Arthur, who always laughs at the jokes he makes. Buster takes pride on being funny sometimes, that he can hold a huge grudge and jealousy on others, particularly Binky, who may wrongfully use some of Buster's original jokes, or otherwise act funnier than him sometimes[21]. Despite this, he also enjoys the humor from other people, such as Harry.

Buster also has a strong love for food, and will eat virtually anything, and thus one of the show's running gags features him eating wherever he goes. Some of his eating habits are rather unhealthy though, with him consuming food while following the "five second rule"[22] or ingesting foods that are beyond expiration. In one episode Buster even claims to have eaten a two-year-old cupcake and says that the icing was still soft.[23] He also has a personal food collection in his room from his various travels or simply because he is fascinated with what he eats on a particular day. His mom often has the job of throwing this food out when it goes really bad. However, he is surprisingly lean. He used to eat a lot when he was young too.

Buster also is shown to have poor hygiene, similar to Finn Sawyer from Bunk'd. He sometimes chooses not to wash his hands when he should. He occasionally is very dirty, and doesn't maintain his hair well. In fact, during an outbreak of lice in the school, Buster was the only one unaffected because his hair was simply too dirty to support the vermin.[24] He eventually became a germophobe, until his friends calmed him down, and after which, he became much more hygienic.

Although Buster is generally a nice person and a loyal friend, he has been shown to resort to stealing if he sees something he wants, but cannot have. Buster will feel guilty about the theft and sometimes worry about being arrested for breaking the law. In the end, however, Buster returns the item to its owner[25][15] or otherwise attempts to right his wrong.[26] It has also been established that if Buster gets angry about something, he'll tend to hold a grudge, and it is usually the only thing he'll talk about until he can either forget the situation, deal with the situation, or speak to the person who caused the problem with him if this is the case.[27] Most of the time, he follows a strong moral code, like insisting that Arthur give James a refund for the defective toy he bought.[28]

Whenever something happens with no known explanation, Buster will almost always become completely convinced that he has seen UFO's or comets, or that the cause was aliens. The suggestion is usually put down by his friends, yet Buster will continue to suggest aliens or UFOs or comets whenever something unexplainable happens, and that can occasionally cause him to get anxiety. Occasionally when something unexplainable happens, another one of the gang will suggest aliens before Buster does. Buster then genuinely believes them until the person points out that the only reason they said it was because they knew Buster would've said it if they hadn't.

Buster can sometimes be influenced in a very big way; when Mr. Ratburn's class went on a field trip to an Amish farm, Buster became fascinated by their way of life for a short time and even wanted to become Amish himself.[29]

Buster can also be extremely lazy at times, especially when it comes to tests, exams, or homework. As he will just carry on with watching TV and hanging out with his friends before getting started on his work at the last minute. This was revealed in the episode "Buster Makes the Grade" that he will need to repeat the third grade unless his grades improve.[30]

Relationships

Family

  • Bitzi Baxter - Buster and his mother get along well, and his mother cares dearly for him (for example, in "Arthur Makes the Team", she asks Oliver Frensky if the baseball is hard, and if the cap is made of wool because he's allergic to it.
  • Bo Baxter - Even though Bitzi and Bo are divorced, Buster sees his dad often. Buster and Bo travel together throughout the world.
  • Buster's grandmother - She is Buster's grandmother and the mother of Bitzi and Stu. She lives in the same apartment as her daughter and grandson. She loves her grandson very much.

Friends

  • Arthur Read - He is the best friend of Arthur and they share some interests, like Bionic Bunny. Arthur values Buster as a friend, going far to even help Buster out with his family problem, as shown in "1001 Dads". Arthur also enjoys having Buster to keep him company, even laughing at the jokes and humors Buster makes. However, Arthur thinks his food collection is nasty and UFO's do not exist.
  • The Brain - He is another one of Buster's friends, despite the fact that whenever he thinks something was caused by aliens he attempts to try to prove him wrong (which has always been successful.)
  • Francine Frensky - Like Arthur, Francine is one of Buster's close friends as they have known each other a long time[31]. Despite this, Francine sees Buster a mere nuisance sometimes, to the point, she will have to take extreme measures against him[32].
  • George Lundgren - During "George Blows His Top", Buster is shown to constantly ask George to borrow something of his. After borrowing George's tape recorder, Buster comes across a recording of George explaining how he feels about being taken advantage of, and then Buster comes and returns George's stuff and apologizes and then explains if he knew he was hurting George's feelings, he wouldn't have been doing what he was doing asking to borrow his stuff all the time. Buster then explains to George to try to be more honest with him because it'll save both of them a lot of trouble.
  • Binky Barnes - In earlier episodes, Buster was scared of Binky, due to his bullying behavior. Over time, as Binky starts to calm down, Buster became more confident in interacting with Binky. Despite this, there are occasions when Buster and Binky would not get along. In "Buster's Growing Grudge", Binky used Buster's King Tut joke on his report about Christopher Columbus without Buster's permission. This led Buster to hold a strong grudge towards Binky. Eventually, Buster calms down and attempts to forgive Binky. Binky, likewise, not realizing that he wrongfully stole Buster's joke, paid him $0.73, a sticker of a cool car, and a button, for the troubles. The two have become very close ever since.
  • Muffy Crosswire - Buster was one of the contenders for Muffy's new best friend in, "Muffy's New Best Friend."
  • Sue Ellen Armstrong - In "Sue Ellen Moves In", Buster witnessed a lot of strange, foreign objects in their new house. This led him to believe that Sue Ellen and her family were likely aliens from outer space. Over time however, Buster grew closer to Sue Ellen. In "The Ballad of Buster Baxter", Sue Ellen comforted Buster when he felt alienated from his friends, after being away from Elwood City with his father for a few months. Although Sue Ellen may sometimes feel annoyed with Buster's overactive imagination on aliens, they are still close friends, nonetheless.
  • Prunella Deegan - In early seasons, Buster and Prunella seldomly interacted. However, Prunella invited Buster to her half-birthday party in "Misfortune Teller" and her whole birthday party in "Prunella Gets it Twice", which suggests that she and Buster can get along well. In "Misfortune Teller", Prunella helped Buster predict his future if he can get an A on his next test in school, which turned out to be true. As a result, Buster requests Prunella again in "Prunella Sees the Light", to help him predict his future on his upcoming math exam. Seeing that Prunella was also heartbroken about her recent feud with Marina, Buster explains to Prunella that Marina did not like her fussing over on her blindness, based on his own experience he had when his friends fussed over about his asthma.
  • Jenna Morgan - In "Buster Makes the Grade", Jenna invites Buster to have an ice cream cone with her.
  • Steve Pappas - He tells them that he is unable to come outside and play until he finishes studying. A statement which causes them both to faint with shock.
  • Billy - He was also seen in the door at Buster's house, with Steve in "Buster Makes The Grade".
  • Maria Pappas
  • Samir Chopra - Buster meets Samir in "Arthur's First Day" and the two of them team up to solve the clues left in their desk.

Bitzi encourages Buster to have "older male influences"[33] in his life, particularly since his father is not living at home with the family.

  • Mike - Mike befriends Buster through the local Big Brother/Big Sister program.[33]
  • Mr. Morris - Buster and Mr. Morris have been buddies for a long time. Mr. Morris even gave Buster his accordion Beatrice. They have two things in common: they believe that aliens exist and they both have asthma. Buster is upset in "April 9th" when Mr. Morris decides to retire and moves to New Mexico, but they keep in touch afterward.[34][35]
  • Fritz Langley - Although Buster thinks Fritz is "weird"[36] at first, Buster learns to appreciate Fritz's role in the Community Gardens. Much like Mr. Morris, Fritz also moves away for retirement, but Buster keeps in contact with Fritz.

Trivia

  • In some episodes of Season 2, Buster made cameos, since he left Elwood City in "Arthur's Faraway Friend", and didn't officially return until the season 3 premiere "Buster's Back".
  • Buster says he used to have a puppy, but his mother gave the dog away while he was at school because it was too much trouble for them to look after.[37]
  • Buster has asthma.[38]
  • Buster is nicknamed the "Sandwich King."
  • Buster types ten words per minute.[39]
  • Buster first appeared in the 1979 book Arthur's Eyes.
  • Buster is a forward for the Lakewood Elementary Soccer Team.[citation needed]
  • Buster is a fan of the Elwood City Grebes, and witnessed the historic moment when the Grebes won the World Series.[40]
  • Buster didn't like Bionic Bunny after he watched Top Supermarket Clerk.[41] But in the later seasons, he is shown to like Bionic Bunny again.
  • He also has his own spin-off series of Arthur titled, Postcards from Buster.
  • The first three letters of Baxter's phone number are '243'.[42]
  • His favorite flavor of jelly bean is jalapeño.[43]
  • His favorite type of pie is either Boston cream[11][44] or boysenberry.[45]
  • His favorite citrus fruit is a clementine.[46]
  • Even though he can get annoyed with D.W., he doesn't mind her hanging out with him and Arthur. There are sometimes that he enjoys her interests like Crazy Bus,[47] and a Mary Moo Cow board game.[48]
  • Buster's feet are very sweaty, this is addressed throughout the series, and in the episodes "Buster's Sweet Success" and "Kidonia", he is seen to have high-rampant foot odor.
  • Buster's favorite color is blue.[49]
  • Buster owns a food collection.[50]
  • The inspiration for Buster's character, including a curiosity for outer space aliens, comes from author Marc Brown's own childhood best friend, Terry Johnson.[51]
  • In the books, Buster's parents Bo Baxter and Bitzi Baxter are married but in the TV series, they're divorced.
  • His bedtime is 9 P.M, similar to Arthur's.[52]
  • He wants to live in outer space, in a house like his actual house but made of cheese.[53]

Appearances

Arthur

The Arthur Podcast

Show Quotes

"Yeah, sometimes Francine gives me a headache too." (Arthur's Eyes)


Buster: "...how am I ever gonna get a 'B'? I can barely name the 40 states of America!"

Muffy: "Buster, there are 50 states."

Buster: "See how dumb I am?" (Buster Makes the Grade)


"I kept a cupcake since first grade---Well actually, it's just half a cupcake. I ate some of it last week and you know what? The icing was still soft." (April 9th)


"This report's going to be worse that any of them. I haven't stopped a robbery or saved a hamster from a fire. I haven't done anything impressive at all. I don't even know why George chose me." (The Buster Report)


Buster: "Just because Brain is a genius, doesn't mean we should ask for his help every time something is hard. We can do this on our own, people!"

Arthur: He's in Texas visiting family. (Buster Spaces Out)


Francine:  "Buster, how many favors has he [Arthur]  done for you?"

Buster: "Let's see, there was yesterday, a couple the day before that, that one on Monday, about ten last week so, that's fourteen, carry the one... Uh... a lot." (I Owe You One)


Buster: Besides, I already know why she [Jenna] won't go to Muffy's party. Because it takes place at night...when do masked crimefighters from other planets do their best work? (Jenna's Bedtime Blues)

Gallery

Main article: Buster Baxter/Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 2011 archive of trading cards, card 13/52 says "Age: 8 Grade: 3"
  2. ↑ "You're eight years old, Buster!" Arthur Read to Buster Baxter, All Thumbs.
  3. ↑ Buster in Fright Night: "I'm almost nine!"
  4. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/parents/arthur/help/answers/faq_friends.html (archived page)
  5. ↑ In "Buster Isn't Buying It", Arthur says that Buster's horoscope sign is Aquarius, which is typically between January 21 and February 18 in the real world.
  6. ↑ "Buster's Growing Grudge" - He grows out his hair longer as president.
  7. ↑ "To Eat or Not to Eat"
  8. ↑ http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/tradingcards/cards.html#pg-buster2
  9. ↑ "1001 Dads"
  10. ↑ "1001 Dads"
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Bitzi's Beau"
  12. ↑ "Bitzi's Break Up"
  13. ↑ "Elwood City Turns 100!"
  14. ↑ Buster Makes the Grade
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Buster's Dino Dilemma
  16. ↑ "The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club!"
  17. ↑ "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers"
  18. ↑ "Arthur's Underwear"
  19. ↑ "Arthur Loses His Marbles"
  20. ↑ "Arthur's Toy Trouble"
  21. ↑ Buster's Growing Grudge
  22. ↑ "Vomitrocious!"
  23. ↑ "April 9th"
  24. ↑ "The Lousy Week"
  25. ↑ "Nerves of Steal"
  26. ↑ "Buster's Sweet Success"
  27. ↑ "Buster's Growing Grudge"
  28. ↑ Arthur Sells Out
  29. ↑ "Buster's Amish Mismatch"
  30. ↑ "You won't have the pleasure of joining your friends in the 4th grade."-Buster Baxter in Buster Makes the Grade. If Buster is insulted or something he owns is insulted he will get quite angry about it,<ref>"So Funny I Forgot to Laugh<ref> or even cry, and doesn't talk to the person much afterwards. However, when he does, although he is still generally still mad at them, he will usually forgive them after an apology is given or an explanation is made.

    Relationships

    Family

    • Bitzi Baxter: Buster and his mother get along well, and his mother cares dearly for him (for example, in "Arthur Makes the Team", she asks Oliver Frensky if the baseball is hard, and if the cap is made of wool because he's allergic to it.
    • Bo Baxter: Even though Bitzi and Bo are divorced, Buster sees his dad often. Buster and Bo travel together throughout the world.
    • Grandmother-She is Buster's grandmother and the mother of Bitzi and Stu. She lives in the same apartment as her daughter and grandson. She loves her grandson very much.

    Friends

    Buster tends to stick with people in his class to be his friends, but he did make friends with Irwin and Sanjeev in Home Sweet Home while they shared a bunk at Camp Meadowcroak.<ref>"Home Sweet Home"

  31. ↑ "Locked in the Library"
  32. ↑ Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "Buster's New Friend"
  34. ↑ "Buster Isn't Buying It"
  35. ↑ "Alien Adventure"
  36. ↑ "Buster's Green Thumb"
  37. ↑ "Arthur's New Puppy"
  38. ↑ "Buster's Breathless"
  39. ↑ "Wait up! I type ten words a minute and I can start right away!" — Buster Baxter, "Don't Ask Muffy"
  40. ↑ "The Curse of the Grebes"
  41. ↑ "Buster Gets Real"
  42. ↑ "Buster's Carpool Catastrophe
  43. ↑ "A Bridge Back Home"
  44. ↑ "Aww. I missed the Boston cream pie last week too. It's my favorite." — Buster Baxter, "George Blows His Top"
  45. ↑ "Besties"
  46. ↑ "Lend Me Your Ear"
  47. ↑ ”Play it Again, D.W.”
  48. ↑ ”Bats in the Belfry”
  49. ↑ http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/tradingcards/cards.html#pg-buster2
  50. ↑ "Something's glowing in my food cabinet."-The Blackout
  51. ↑ https://www.wgbh.org/programs/2019/12/27/marc-brown-arthur-and-the-real-mr-ratburn-the-rewind
  52. ↑ This must be what college is like, except we still have to be in bed by nine and can't drive."Francine's Pilfered Paper"
  53. ↑ "Blockheads"



Baxter Family
Buster Baxter . Bitzi Baxter . Bo Baxter . Bitzi's mother . Bitzi's father . Stu . Karen (Buster's cousin) . Buster's cousin (That's a Baby Show!) . Buster's cousin (Arthur's Birthday) . Buster's aunt . Bitzi's grandfather
v • d • e
Lakewood Elementary School students
Kindergarten
Third Grade
Mrs. Fink's class:
Beulah • Jessica • Kenny • Mary • Paul • Dog boy
Miss Sweetwater's class:
Mary • Cindy • Edith • Dog boy • Rabbit boy • Rat boy
Mr. Ratburn's class:
Alex • Arthur • Binky • Brain • Buster • Fern • Francine • George • Jenna • Ladonna • Maria • Muffy • Norbert (books only) • Sue Ellen
Ms. Yollanda's former class:
Bear • Bird • Cats • Giraffe • Owl
Other:
Aardvark boy • Aardvark girl • Aardvark girl • Bear boy • Bear girl • Cat boy • Cat girl • Dog boy • Dog boy • Dog boy • Monkey boy • Rabbit boy • Rabbit boy • Rat boy
Fourth Grade
Prunella's classmates:
Brian • Chris (books only) • Helen • John • Luke • Marina • Nancy • Patrick • Prunella • Steve
Tough Customers:
Billy • Fletcher • Kiefer • Molly • Rattles • Slink • Aardvark girl • Dog boy • Rabbit boy
Mr. Ratburn's former class:
Arthur lookalike • Brain lookalike • Buster lookalike • Fern lookalike • Francine lookalike • George lookalike • Jenna lookalike • Maria lookalike • Muffy lookalike • Sue Ellen lookalike
Other:
Jack • Norman • Otis • Aardvark girl • Bear boy • Bear girl • Bear girl
Other
Former
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