Arthur Read Made TV Debut 30 Years Ago After Starting in Books

NPR News reported that Brown, who was raised in Erie, Pa., was interested in art from a young age and graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1968. He worked as a truck driver, short-order cook and assistant professor before creating Arthur. Brown got the idea when his son Tolon asked for a bedtime story about a 'weird' animal. The first weird animal that came to mind was an aardvark. Brown wrote and illustrated his first picture book about an aardvark named Arthur, Arthur's Nose, published in 1976.

In the second book, Arthur's Eyes, Arthur gets a new pair of glasses. Brown told NPR's Linda Wertheimer in 1997 that he wanted Arthur to face the viewer but could not show his mouth because his nose was so long. He shortened the nose and later spent more time redesigning Arthur's face, making it 'a little rounder' and 'a little more lovable looking.' Brown said the result made Arthur 'more human-like.'

The books were not an immediate commercial success, but they resonated with families, including Carol Greenwald's. NPR News reported that when Greenwald's son was 3 years old, a neighbor gave them an Arthur picture book. After reading it for the seventh time, she realized she was not 'tearing her hair out.' She said many books children love can make parents want to scream when read repeatedly, but this one did not. Greenwald also liked how Arthur dealt with school, personal relationships and activities like reading.

Greenwald, a TV producer at Boston public media station GBH, raised the idea of adapting Arthur for television with colleagues in the early 1990s. She cited research showing that a child who watches a TV show based on a book is more likely to want to read that book, read other books and go to the library.

Brown was hesitant to let Arthur make the multimedia leap, saying he wanted to keep 'control of the character.' NPR News reported that GBH's offer and a jump in book sales made him reconsider. Brown said he went from maybe selling two million books over several years to selling two million books in a month, which he called 'just unimaginable.' He worked closely with the show's writers and artists to preserve the essential little kid that is Arthur.

Produced by GBH and the Montreal-based animation studio Cinar, the first episode of the series premiered on PBS Kids on Oct. 7, 1996. Its storyline draws directly from Arthur's Eyes, with Arthur 're-telling' the story of wearing glasses to school for the first time.

The premiere brought the rest of the Elwood City animal community to life with sound and emotion. Characters include Arthur's aardvark parents and his sister D.W., short for Dora Winifred, and students in Mr. Ratburn's Lakewood Elementary class, including an athletic chimpanzee named Francine and Arthur's best friend, a bunny named Buster. NPR News noted that the show's underlying theme of getting along with others in your community is present even in its joyful reggae theme song, 'Believe In Yourself' by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, as Arthur moves around Elwood City interacting with family, friends and trusted neighbors.