History FurryConfusion / Arthur

* And to make the whole thing ''more'' confusing, some episodes have characters ''refer to each other by their species'' (for example, upon agreeing with Buster about something, Binkie replies "the rabbit's right!" [[MindScrew So they're all people but at the same time all animals but there are still animals in their world and humans pop up in it occasionally?]]

* On an unpleasant note, one episode featured a campaign of genocide against head lice. Only the lice were aware of their own sentience.

* Everyone in Arthur's world is an anthropomorphic animal. Whenever a guest voice appears on the show, they are drawn as an (often rather [[UncannyValley eerie looking]]) anthropomorphic animal character. This would seem to imply that everyone in Arthur's world is a Furry animal-person, until the spin-off "Postcards From Buster" came along. The premise is that Buster is traveling the world interviewing the different people he meets along the way. The thing is, the people he meets are all live-action ''human'' children. Either everyone outside Arthur's town is human or they aren't, it depends on the episode.
** Alternatively, "Postcards From Buster" could be interpreted as supporting the FurryLens hypothesis-- the inhabitants of the show's world look like animals to us, but Buster's videos show them as they actually appear in-universe.

* In the original ''Arthur'' book series, the Tibble twins were ''humans''. They had to be the only humans in Elwood City, with the possible exception of their grandmother. Nobody aside from Marc Brown knows why: literally everyone else is a FunnyAnimal. [[AdaptationSpeciesChange They were changed to bears in the tv series]].

* An episode showed a ''human''. It was in a ShowWithinAShow though. Also the later seasons seem to keep on leaning on the "They're human but only look like animals to us" theory much more then before. For example a bear (or possibly aardvark) character had a rabbit mother, and a rabbit character drew a regular rabbit; also, the gang has been shown to cover their "ears" by touching the sides of the heads every once in a while, even when their ears are on top of their head (although it could also be interpreted as holding their heads due to a headache). On the flip side, to confirm that they are animals, you have Buster's ears, George's antlers, and the biggest one of all - ''Bionic Bunny''[[note]] And also Dark Bunny. There's also the fact that Bionic Bunny's actor's name is Wilbur ''Rabbit''.[[/note]]. This would be fine, if it was a [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]]-type world in which [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy humans live among the confusing anthropomorphized "animals"]], but there are no humans in Elwood City, and no animals anywhere else. One must assume that they live in a segregated society.

* And to make the whole thing ''more'' confusing, some episodes have characters ''refer to each other by their species''. [[MindScrew So they're all people but at the same time all animals but there are still animals in their world and humans pop up in it occasionally?]]

* In one episode where Pal and Baby Kate are looking for D.W.'s ImaginaryFriend, Pal is confused by something Kate does and comments, "I'll never understand humans."

* In the original ''Arthur'' book series, the Tibble twins were ''humans''. They had to be the only humans in Elwood City, with the possible exception of their grandmother. Nobody aside from Marc Brown knows why: literally everyone else is a FunnyAnimal.

** The official site adds more confusion to the Brain celebrating Kwanzaa. He explicitly explains that the black balloons symbolise the black people, even though everyone has fur (albeit he has brown fur). So in the ''Arthur'' universe, were brown-furred anthropomorphic animals persecuted in the past?

* The lice in "The Lousy Week", and Pepe and Sale the fleas are supposedly non-anthropomorphic, but they all wear hats, and the lice act more like human soldiers than real lice.

* In one episode, D.W. says she wants a hot dog. In “Sick As A Dog”, she has a hot dog for dinner, but Pal steals it. A few seasons later, and we have Andy Warthog (an Andy Wahol parody-- admittedly, he only appeared in a fantasy scene). Aren’t hot dogs a pork product? (However, there are no non-anthropomorphic pigs, so that might not be an issue).

** Let’s not forget the book “Arthur’s Nose”. Given that he looks somewhat creepy, it’s understandable that the aardvarks no longer resemble actual aardvarks.

* One episode involves a wedding, in this case between two bunnies. One episode shows a future (albeit within a dream and dreams don't always make sense) where Arthur, an aardvark, is married to Francine, a monkey, and as seen in "The Good, the Bad, & the Binky", D.W.'s friend Emily is a rabbit, whose parents are a female rabbit and a male monkey, although families in this series are generally all the same species. Children of InterspeciesRomance couples have mixed body features as well. For example Emily looks like a rabbit but has a monkey-ish nose.

* In "Draw!", Francine insults Arthur by telling him to "go eat an ant sandwich."

* Buster makes a threat to Mr. Ratburn that his mother feeds rats to lizards in "Bitzi's Beau".

** Before he got Alzheimer’s, Grandpa Dave lived on a ''farm''.

--->'''Sue Ellen''': Neither one of you really cares about being a vegetarian. You're just using it as an excuse to fight with each other. You want to know why I gave up eating meat? Because there are some animals whom I consider friends, so I lost my taste for eating them. Frankly, they are a lot better friends than some of the people I know.

* Marina is a rabbit, however, when wearing headphones, they go on the side of her head, not on her actual ears.

* In an old commercial for ''Postcards From Buster'' that would be attached to the ends of episodes, Buster introduces himself as "Buster Bunny here!" This is especially odd since he doesn't actually have a SpeciesSurname-- his last name is Baxter.
* On one episode after a comment from Buster, Binky remarks, "The rabbit's right as rain!"

** The pets often refer to their owners as their "humans", like in "Show Off". This possibly provides evidence that the show is meant to be seen through a FurryLens, but as the above examples show, sometimes the characters do seem to know that they're animals.

* In “D.W.’s Deer Friend”, D.W. makes friends with a non-anthro deer named Walter.

--->'''Francine''': I do declare, that moose sounds just like a mouse!

* A WTF moment from one episode involves a non-anthro bear and chicken kissing.
* In one episode, D.W. says she wants a hot dog. In “Sick As A Dog”, she has a hot dog for dinner, but Pal steals it. A few seasons later, and we have Andy Warthog (an Andy Wahol parody-- admittedly, he only appeared in a fantasy scene). Aren’t hot dogs a pork product?

* Dolls such as Polly Locket and the World Girls are shown as anthropomorphic animals. However, a talking stuffed animal is shown that is clearly not anthro. Neither are Arthur’s teddy bear and D.W.’s Net Kitten. Likewise, Brain says he used to sleep with a stuffed pig.

* In “Slink’s Special Talent”, Slink thinks that a woman’s hair looks like a hedgehog.
* The “prehistoric aardvarks” in ''D.W. Tale Spins'' look a lot like their real-life counterparts, complete with long noses.
* Then there's the {{Meme|ticMutation}} about [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/arthurs-headphones Arthur's headphones]] from the scene in "Binky's Music Madness" where Arthur is wearing headphones like a human aka. nowhere near his ears, which are on top of his head.

** A very early version of Francine shows her looking more like a monkey than she does now. Also, one of the teachers was a giraffe.

** In "Buster's Back", the singer explicitly calls him a bunny, and is referred to as a moose.
* In one episode two of the movie posters are of "Kung-Fu Koala" and "The Ram Pack". While they could be in-universe FunnyAnimal flicks (which "Kung-Fu Koala" probably is, since it's a ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' parody), they could also be films referencing the actors' species.

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these [[FurryReminder Furry Reminders]] come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. Most episodes from Season 4 onwards-- after the departure of writer Joe Fallon, who wrote many of the above episodes -- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans. While instances of the characters calling themselves humans existed before then, they became much more common after season 4, while references to them being animals more or less disappeared.
** The pets often refer to their owners as their "humans", like in "Show Off". This possibly provides evidence that the show is meant to be seen through a FurryLens, but as the above examples show, sometimes the characters know that they're animals.

* Buster says in one episode that he is “made of fur”. However, in the episode where D.W. wants earrings and glues them to her ears since her parents won’t let her get piercings, she says “glue is for paper, not skin”. Given that real-life aardvarks are generally hairless, it makes sense... until you see her explicitly fur-covered friend Emily with earrings.

* Molly and her brother James are both rabbits. However, their mother is a dog.

* In one episode, D.W. says she wants a hot dog. In “Sick As A Dog”, she has a hot dog for dinner, but Pal steals it. A few seasons later, and we have Andy Warthog (a pun on Andy Warhol). Aren’t hot dogs a pork product?

* In one episode, a humanoid-looking banshee is shown.
* Dolls such as Polly Locket and the World Girls are shown as anthropomorphic animals. However, a talking stuffed animal is shown that is clearly not anthro. Neither are Arthur’s teddy bear and D.W.’s Net Kitten.
* Brain says he used to sleep with a stuffed pig.

* In “When Carl Met George”, Carl is a rabbit, but his mother is an aardvark.
* The “prehistoric aardvarks” in one episode look a lot like their real-life counterparts.

* In one episode, there is a comic about “flying sheep zombies”, which aren’t anthropomorphic. However, one of the substitute teachers in another episode IS an anthro. She asks the class to spell the word “leather”. FridgeHorror kicks in when you learn what leather is made of.

* Dolls such as Polly Locket and the World Girls are shown as anthropomorphic animals. However, a talking stuffed animal is shown that is clearly not anthro. Neither are Arthur’s teddy bear and D.W.’s NetKitten.

* Nadine is really confusing. If we assume all the characters are literally humans then what is she? She isn't InexplicablyTailless like everyone else and she is a BarefootCartoonAnimal. So would D.W.'s ImaginaryFriend be a human or a FunnyAnimal? Of course, this isn't a huge issue as she's an imaginary being, and is subject to the whim of her creator. How Kate and Pal can communicate with her [[{{Tulpa}} is another question entirely]].

* In the episode "Jenna's Bedtime Blues", while trying to figure out why Jenna won't come to Muffy's slumber party, Prunella (who's a rat), says her sister told her that she used to strangle cats. Jenna herself is a cat (albeit a rather weird looking one) which blows one's mind.

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these [[FurryReminder Furry Reminders]] come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. Most episodes from Season 4 onwards-- after the departure of writer Joe Fallon, who was wrote many of the above episodes -- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans. While instances of the characters calling themselves humans existed before then, they became much more common after season 4, while references to them being animals more or less disappeared.

* Everyone in Arthur's world is an anthropomorphic animal. Whenever a guest voice appears on the show, they are drawn as an (often rather eerie looking) anthropomorphic animal character. This would seem to imply that everyone in Arthur's world is a Furry animal-person, until the spin-off "Postcards From Buster" came along. The premise is that Buster is traveling the world interviewing the different people he meets along the way. The thing is, the people he meets are all live-action ''human'' children. Either everyone outside Arthur's town is human or they aren't, it depends on the episode.

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these [[FurryReminder FurryReminders]] come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. Most episodes from Season 4 onwards-- after the departure of writer Joe Fallon, who was wrote many of the above episodes -- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans.

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these [[FurryReminder FurryReminders]] come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. More recent episodes-- especially from Season 4 onwards, after the departure of writer Joe Fallon, who was responsible for much of the above instances-- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans.
* Sometimes, the old "cats v. dogs" thing comes up, with Nemo being Pal's nemesis and a licensed game saying that if you say you hate "Arthur's New Puppy", he'll assume it's because you like cats. Trouble is, Binky and Fern get along fine with Sue Ellen and Jenna.

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these [[FurryReminder FurryReminders]] come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. More recent episodes-- especially from Season 4 onwards, after the departure of writer Joe Fallon-- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans.

* In "Shelter from the Storm," Brain visits a therapist to deal with anxiety issues after the hurricane. In the background you can see a cardboard cutout of a FunnyAnimal character who is [[AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal nude except for his bow-tie and glasses]]. Those sorts of characters are normal for humans but wouldn't it seem weird in a world populated with {{Funny Animal}}s? At the end of the episode, one character tells a dog licking ice cream on the floor that ice cream is for "people."

* On one episode after a comment from Buster, Binky remarks "The rabbit's right as rain!"

* Alternatively, "Postcards From Buster" could be interpreted as supporting the FurryLens hypothesis-- the inhabitants of the show's world look like animals to us, but Buster's videos show them as they actually appear in-universe.

* In general, most {{Furry Reminder}}s are from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early episodes]]. Later episodes usually imply the characters are [[FurryLens humans depicted as animals]]... [[DependingOnTheWriter Usually]].

* It should be noted that, in general, most of these FurryReminders come from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the earliest seasons of the show]]. More recent episodes-- especially from Season 4 onwards, after the departure of writer Joe Fallon-- essentially always have the characters refer to themselves as if they were humans.

** Mei Lin (Binky's baby sister) can also speak to animals, apparently Vicita used to be able to, and the episode "Paradise Lost" suggests that all babies can speak to animals until they learn to talk. This could be chalked up to a strange ability that babies in the Arthur universe have, but it doesn't explain why they can talk to ''imaginary'' creatures.

* In one episode ("Buster's Dino Dilemma"), Ratburn mentions that dinosaurs were around before upright mammals, which brings up a whole other mess of issues (namely the fact that not all of the anthropomorphic animals are mammals; although rare, there have been crocodiles and ducks seen).

* In an old commercial for ''Postcards From Buster'' that would be attached to the ends of episodes, Buster introduces himself as "Buster Bunny here!"

* Quite possibly the creepiest instance of this is in the in-universe TV show ''Bionic Bunny.'' The titular character is played by an actor named Wilbur Rabbit, but the show's intro explains that he was "created by a combination of super science and ''radical animal husbandry'' to fight crime," going so far as to show a non-anthropomorphic rabbit being raised in a laboratory! If the residents of the world Elwood City is in use both a regular rabbit and a humanoid rabbit to portray Bionic Bunny, they must know that they are animals, but are higher in intelligence than feral animals they use as pets. It's really logically hard to look at this from a human perspective.
* In many episodes, an anthropomorphic dog is seen walking his dog down the street.

* Quite possibly the creepiest instance of this is in the in-universe TV show, ''Bionic Bunny.'' The titular character is played by an actor named Wilbur Rabbit, but the show's intro explains that he was "created by a combination of super science and ''radical animal husbandry'' to fight crime," going so far as to show a non-anthropomorphic rabbit being raised in a laboratory! If the residents of the world Elwood City is in use both a regular rabbit and a humanoid rabbit to portray Bionic Bunny, they must know that they are animals, but are higher in intelligence than feral animals they use as pets. It's really logically hard to look at this from a human perspective.

* In an old commercial for Postcards From Buster that would be attached to the ends of episodes, Buster introduces himself as "Buster Bunny here!"