On Monday, PBS Kids’ iconic series Arthur came to an end after 25 years. The beloved series, which originally debuted on October 7, 1996 and followed the titular character, Arthur Read, an anthropomorphic aardvark and his friends and classmates at Lakewood Elementary School in the fictional Elwood City, ended its run with a segment titled “All Grown Up” that gave fans young and young at heart a glimpse at what the future holds for Arthur, Buster, Muffy, Francine, and the gang — and here’s how it all came to pass.
In the segment, Arthur, Muffy, Francine, and Buster go to the library to exchange a book with Arthur who was mistakenly given a book about drawing animals that he was given by mistake. While looking for the librarian, the quartet end up finding an old game that tells them their “future”, declaring that Muffy will be a public servant, Francine will go into business, and Buster will become a teacher, though the imagined versions of these futures each envisions are not good. The game seemingly runs out of battery before giving Arthur his future and the group leaves, with Arthur ending up keeping the drawing book. However, the episode then flashes forward more than two decades, and we discover that the mysterious old game was indeed correct about those futures — and a few more fates are revealed.
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Read on to see what the future holds for the beloved characters of Arthur as revealed in the show’s finale, “All Grown Up”.
Buster Baxter
While Buster was prone to wild stories and some sketchy science throughout Arthur, in the future Buster has become a teacher and when he meets up with Arthur at the Sugar Bowl, he eagerly tells his friend about his students’ stories. While it’s not explicitly stated that Buster is teaching college, it’s implied as he mentions Kate Read, Buster’s little sister, as one of his students, who would be in her early twenties at this time.
Binky Barnes
Binky isn’t physically present with the others in the Sugar Bowl, though his future is also revealed. Binky is shown to have become a local news reporter as a television in the cafe broadcasts the news and features Binky delivering an update about the weather.
George Lundgren
George is shown to be the new owner of the Sugar Bowl Cafe. He’s happy to support Muffy’s mayoral campaign and is eager to see her defeat Mayor Hirsch.
Francine Frensky
Rocking an edgy new hairstyle and a snazzy, casual style, Francine is revealed to have indeed gone into business. She’s the owner and CEO of a company that makes sneakers and quips that she gets a lot of exercise running a company that makes sneakers.
Muffy Crosswire
Muffy is shown to have indeed become a public servant, or at least is trying to become one. Muffy is running for mayor of Elwood City, hoping to defeat Mayor Hirsch who is still in office after all these years.
D.W. Read
Arthur’s little sister D.W. grows up to become a police officer. The episode shows D.W. ticketing a motorcyclist. That motorcyclist turns out to be Bud Compson, D.W.’s childhood friend who had previously moved away to Oregon. D.W. is happy to see Bud and offers to buy him coffee… but that doesn’t get him out of the ticket.
Arthur Read
While Arthur didn’t get a glimpse of his future via the old game found in the library, the library trip ended up being a pivotal moment for the young aardvark. It’s revealed that Arthur went on to become a comic book creator who as completed his first graphic novel. Fittingly, that novel is about his childhood, with the very first story lining up to the very first episode of Arthur.
