In the series finale of PBS' beloved children's series Arthur, devoted fans were treated to a glimpse of the future of many of the series' main characters. A flash-forward sequence at the end of Arthur's last episode showed how the characters' lives and appearances had changed 20 years later.
While most of the original series' run took place in the third grade year for Arthur and his classmates, the flash-forward followed a brief glimpse of their daily lives as 24- to 28-year olds. What the series revealed about their careers was definitely surprising for some, but some of the biggest surprises came in the way these characters' appearances had drastically changed, too.
Bud Compson
As a 4-year-old rabbit, Bud Compson has a very distinctive style. He is always seen wearing a neon green T-shirt and a bright blue vest, along with jeans and sneakers. But the most memorable part of his look is the large red hat with ear flaps he wears over his floppy brown hair.
20 years later, as a 24-year-old rabbit, Bud Compson's style has changed a lot but his color palette has remained the same. He has swapped his red hat for a red motorcycle helmet, and his blue vest for a blue biker's jacket. But the green shirt and the jeans are the same, and his brown floppy hair is floppier than ever.
Binky Barnes
There are a lot of characters in the world of Arthur who don't have much hair as children, since they lean more toward the animal side of the "humanoid animal" character type that Arthur is known for. Binky Barnes, a bulldog, is one of these characters, as he is only ever shown to have a few spiky hairs as a 9- and 10-year old. He also always wears an orange buttoned shirt and blue jeans.
But as a 29- or 30-year old meteorologist, Binky's appearance has completely changed. Binky now has a distinctive tuft of brown hair between his bulldog ears. He also now wears glasses and a striking green suit while delivering his forecast.
Muffy Crosswire
Muffy Crosswire is a character whose appearance changed in a few different ways over the years. In the earliest episodes of the series, Muffy, a monkey, has very prominent buck teeth. This design choice soon disappears, but Muffy's style otherwise stays the same. She has red hair always worn in braids, and she always wears a white blouse, purple dress, and Mary Janes.
As an adult monkey, now running for mayor, Muffy's style is still definitely prim and proper in keeping with her snobby personality, and she even keeps the same color palette. Her red hair is now pinned up in a bun, more befitting of her age than the little girl braids would have been. She also now wears a purple pantsuit along with her traditional white blouse.
George Lundgren
George Lundgren is one of the few characters whose appearance doesn't change all that much from the series' main timeline to the flash-forward sequence. As an 8-year-old moose, George's most distinctive features are his lengthy antlers, which often get him into sticky situations. His style is relatively simple, consisting of an orange buttoned shirt much like Binky's, and a pair of khakis.
As an adult, George's style relaxes a little more. He swaps the khakis for a more comfortable and laid-back pair of blue jeans, and the orange shirt is replaced with a beige one. His head also appears to have elongated somewhat, which makes his antlers look much more to scale with his body type.
Francine Frensky
Out of all the characters featured in the main cast, Francine Frensky definitely has Arthur's most shocking adult transformation. As an 8-year-old monkey, Francine always wears her dark brown hair in a simple bob with yellow barrettes keeping it out of her face. When she is not playing sports, she can always be seen wearing a red sweater, blue jeans, and sneakers.
In the future timeline, however, Francine is almost unrecognizable. She sports a much more conventionally "hipster" look, from her loud and layered black and pink shirts to her brown highlight-streaked mop of hair and her severe undercut. She also wears large gold hoop earrings, but the sneakers are still part of the look, given her work in the sneaker industry.
Buster Baxter
Buster Baxter has one of the most traditional senses of style, both as an 8-year-old rabbit and a 28-year-old rabbit. As a kid, Buster is always wearing a soft green and pink polo shirt with blue jeans and sneakers. He has only a few pieces of hair that stick up between his floppy ears, and his rabbit buck front teeth can occasionally be seen.
As an adult, Buster still only has a few pieces of hair on his head, but they are much longer and combed to the side. Since he is now a teacher of some sort, his clothing style is still fairly reserved. He wears a blue-green T-shirt underneath a brown blazer with brown slacks, and he even carries a briefcase, too.
D.W. Read
D.W. Read has maybe one of the most iconic looks in the entire Arthur franchise. After all, she is also one of Arthur's most beloved characters, thanks to D.W.'s hilarious and often shady sense of humor. She wears a dark pink jumper over a white blouse, paired with blue Mary Janes. Her haircut is an iconic statement all on its own, a simple light brown bob with carefully curled and combed bangs.
As an adult, it seems like D.W. keeps her classic hairstyle, even though it is partially concealed underneath her police officer cap. She is only seen in full police officer uniform in the flash-forward, so it's hard to know what her real style is like. But overall, D.W. looks very similar.
Arthur Read
As previously mentioned, many of the characters on Arthur, especially the boys, aren't shown as having hair when they are children. Arthur Read is another one of these characters. As an 8-year-old aardvark, Arthur has no hair between his big rounded ears. He wears large round-rimmed brown glasses, a cozy yellow pullover sweater over a white shirt, blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. Everything about Arthur's original design is incredibly nostalgic for 90s kids everywhere.
Arthur as an adult, however, is virtually a completely different person. He still wears the same style of glasses, but they are partially obscured by his newly grown brown fluffy hair, which swoops down over his forehead and sits between his ears. He also sports a light stubbly goatee and wears a red and yellow Bionic Bunny shirt with a green vest over it.