Ideas Abound

 

CNN    

In the past week or so, I read that this was to be the last season for the children’s animated series Arthur.  I didn’t even read the article, I just glanced at the headline.  I am vaguely aware of the show.  I remember thinking when I read the headline that it was about a mouse.

Just this morning I tuned in to CNN before starting my workday.  There was a segment on Marc Brown the creator of Arthur.  I was finishing up a cup of coffee and figured I would just watch the segment.   I was surprised that Arthur was actually an aardvark even though in the segments they ran during the interview I still think Arthur looked more like a mouse.

Marc Brown was born in 1946 in Erie, PA.  His grandmother would tell stories to Brown and his sisters.  She also encouraged Brown to take up and excel at drawing.  That encouragement took hold to the point that Brown went to the Cleveland Institute of Art where he studied graphic design.  He ended up at Houghton-Mifflin in Boston illustrating textbooks part time and take a variety of jobs.   He landed a job teaching art at a junior college which went bankrupt before he finished teaching one semester.

At this point, he decided to write and illustrate children’s books.  He was looking for an animal character that was unique, something that hadn’t been used before.  I guess he never made it past aardvark in his alphabetical search.

On the Marc Brown Studios website:

Arthur: the little aardvark with a big agenda. 

Arthur is in the business of trying to make children successful. We are always on the lookout for issues that are important to children and families and presenting them through books and television, in ways that are helpful, instructive, and entertaining.

Back in July on CNN, screenwriter Kathy Waugh of the Arthur TV series said, “Arthur is the longest-running kids animated series in history and is known for teaching kindness, empathy and inclusion through many groundbreaking moments to generations of viewers."  Brown penned 27 popular Arthur books between from 1976 and 2011.  The TV series has 251 episodes and ran for 25 years. 

I am truly mystified that I never read on the Arthur books to my children.  I have no clue if we even had any.  Judging from the popularity of books, we must have had a few.  It is less of surprise that I have never seen the TV show, my children were too old when it debuted, and my grandchildren were too young.

Learning about Arthur and the issues the books and TV series addressed has been eye opening.  The themes and sensitive handling of issues for young children is very similar to My Roger’s Neighborhood.

In his CNN interview this morning, the commentator asked Marc Brown where he got his ideas.  Brown said it was a very good question that a lot of children ask him as well.  He said that the ideas are everywhere, they are all around us.  One just has to be aware and be receptive them.  I loved it because it is the exact same thing I tell folks when they ask me how I come up with ideas and themes to write about.  Certainly, Marc Brown is infinitely more successful, both critically and financially, than my little blog will ever be.  But I was delighted to have this in common with him.  Keep your eyes and ears open, be receptive and the ideas and themes will come to you.  It is an amazing world to witness, figure out, and write about.