‘Arthur’ continues to teach lessons on DVD

Recently, PBS Kids released two new DVD compilations of old Arthur episodes. Although no longer as popular as other family-oriented characters, Arthur and his friends still make for quality TV entertainment. The lessons behind each episode are subtle, but definitely present. The values of friendship, dedication and teamwork are abundantly clear as the aardvark explores his local neighborhood.

On Arthur: The Good Sport, the lovable main character heads out on eight sport-centered journeys. There are many guest voice actors, including Johnny Damon, Lance Armstrong and Mike Timlin. Each episode is broken into two parts, with a middle segment on real-life stories of inspiration. Sometimes there’s even a final morsel of information at the end of each episode (like when creator Marc Brown talks about hiding his children’s names in each Arthur book).

The usual suspects are all included, including Buster, D.W., Binky, Francine and The Brain. They live in their pitch-perfect world where no one grows up and adults always have too many rules.

Even though Arthur is intended for the youngsters, it should bring a lot of memories for adults. Marc Brown’s universe has been in full swing for decades, and even if you don’t know the TV series, there’s a good chance you’ll know the many books featuring the aardvark.

In the Good Sport DVD, the following segments are included: “The Curse of the Grebes,” “Arthur Changes Gears,” “Room to Ride,” “The Good Sport,” “Arthur Makes the Team,” “The Frensky Family Fiasco,” “Crushed” and “D.W. Rides Again.” Note to first-time viewers: Each episode consists of two segments.

PBS Kids has also released a sister compilation called Arthur: Hooray for Health! There are several classic segments on this set, including “Arthur’s Tooth” and “Arthur’s Chicken Pox.” As the title suggests, the episodes all focus on sickness, health and proper eating habits.

One of the great pleasures of Arthur is that the creators of the series don’t hit the audience over the head with their lessons. The story comes first, while the lessons are laced in throughout the scenes.

Still, there’s always a “sit-down” moment between Arthur and his parents, and, to be honest, they can appear rather cheesy. The music swells, the aardvarks nod their heads, and hugs are usually given out freely. But other than this scene (usually coming at the end of an episode), Arthur stays focused on enjoyable adventures featuring bicycles, baseball games, chocolate and ghost stories. It’s a series created by adults, but for children. And its wholesomeness is infectious.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Arthur: The Good Sport

• Arthur: Hooray for Health!

• Each DVD includes eight adventures (four episodes)

• Running time: 104 minutes each DVD

• Rated: TV-G

• Rating: