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Author Topic: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs  (Read 886 times)

LovingBeagles

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Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« on: March 03, 2013, 05:11:13 pm »
We know that Arthur is a great show altogether (the last few seasons...that's debatable, since some like those episodes, some hate them :P). But, like every other show, it isn't perfect. There are always little (or big) details that we tend to catch that detract from the cohesiveness of the story as a whole. Sometimes we just let them go, other times they become quite annoying.

Okay, what I'm basically saying is that I think we should have a topic highlighting some of the inconsistencies and goofs in the series. Continuity errors/animation errors don't count; I'm talking more about MAJOR plot holes WITHIN episodes or inconsistencies BETWEEN DIFFERENT episodes.

I'll start off.

1. "Best Enemies": Mr. Read said that he had never been fly fishing, but he taught Arthur how to fish with flies in "Cast Away"
2. "Happy Anniversary" claims that Dark Bunny and Bionic Bunny are brothers; in the episode where Dark Bunny is first introduced ("That's A Baby Show!"), Buster said that Dark Bunny was Bionic Bunny's cousin.
3. "Fifteen": George recalls that he received Wally for Christmas, but in "Arthur's Dummy Disaster" George claims to have made him with help from his dad. Also in "Fifteen", Wally was said to be made from the wood of ash trees, but in "The Silent Treatment" Wally says to George in George's dream that he was made from oak.
4. Mr. Haney's name has changed from Herb to Francis in more recent seasons. Mrs. MacGrady's name has changed from Sarah to Leah as well.

Here's one that I have yet to verify: D.W. celebrated her fifth birthday in "D.W.'s Perfect Wish" but her age has dropped back down to four. I can't verify it yet because I can't remember the last time D.W. ever said she was still four.

Any others you may have noticed?

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MCCJ

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2013, 09:07:02 pm »
I don't really have one, but a while ago while watching the episode D.W. Bossy Boots I noticed several things right off the bat. The large presence of 4th Graders there (as well as Jenna). I'm going far out on a limb by saying this, but I don't think any of those 4th graders (except Brian and John) have any siblings at that party, so that was one thing I noticed.

Also D.W.'s cousin was seen there. Did D.W. even know she was there at all? This is one of these things that do need an explanation. Sure there maybe holes in that, but one thing I can say. When we last saw D.W.'s cousin in Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe D.W. did not meet Emily until later on in Season 1. Unless ACC was a prequel I don't think her cousin knew Emily. That alone along with the other 4th Graders being there is two things I found interesting about that episode. These images show D.W.'s cousin by the way.

 

Crossover Dreamer

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2013, 07:53:16 pm »
Yes, on "D.W.'s Perfect Wish" she turned 5 March 1st. But if Arthur's birth date was the same in the episode "Arthur's Birthday" as it was in the book Arthur's Birthday (November 25th), there's a contradiction.

Also, I've said this before, the order that the episodes first aired aren't necessarily the order that the stories take place. Remember, in "Revenge of the Chip," the newspaper article said that D.W. was 5, and that episode aired before "D.W's Perfect Wish." I did think that for "Return of the Snowball" D.W. should have been 5 not 4.

I have a question. Do we know how many times on the show someone said D.W. was 4 and how many times someone said she was 5?
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LovingBeagles

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2013, 12:44:36 am »
I don't really have one, but a while ago while watching the episode D.W. Bossy Boots I noticed several things right off the bat. The large presence of 4th Graders there (as well as Jenna). I'm going far out on a limb by saying this, but I don't think any of those 4th graders (except Brian and John) have any siblings at that party, so that was one thing I noticed.

Also D.W.'s cousin was seen there. Did D.W. even know she was there at all? This is one of these things that do need an explanation. Sure there maybe holes in that, but one thing I can say. When we last saw D.W.'s cousin in Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe D.W. did not meet Emily until later on in Season 1. Unless ACC was a prequel I don't think her cousin knew Emily. That alone along with the other 4th Graders being there is two things I found interesting about that episode. These images show D.W.'s cousin by the way.

 

Yeah, I did notice that, for some reason, a lot of the older kids showed up at the party.

Anyway, I'm not sure if those pictures of the aardvark girl are the same person; they have different color hair. If they are, is it possible that DW's cousin somehow met Emily outside of the time frames of the episodes?

MCCJ

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2013, 01:17:06 am »
I don't really have one, but a while ago while watching the episode D.W. Bossy Boots I noticed several things right off the bat. The large presence of 4th Graders there (as well as Jenna). I'm going far out on a limb by saying this, but I don't think any of those 4th graders (except Brian and John) have any siblings at that party, so that was one thing I noticed.

Also D.W.'s cousin was seen there. Did D.W. even know she was there at all? This is one of these things that do need an explanation. Sure there maybe holes in that, but one thing I can say. When we last saw D.W.'s cousin in Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe D.W. did not meet Emily until later on in Season 1. Unless ACC was a prequel I don't think her cousin knew Emily. That alone along with the other 4th Graders being there is two things I found interesting about that episode. These images show D.W.'s cousin by the way.

 

Yeah, I did notice that, for some reason, a lot of the older kids showed up at the party.

Anyway, I'm not sure if those pictures of the aardvark girl are the same person; they have different color hair. If they are, is it possible that DW's cousin somehow met Emily outside of the time frames of the episodes?

That is the same girl. Some characters that appeared in Season 1 have since gone through some changes. Ricky was seen in Season 11 as well as Loretta and Monique. That could be a possibility. The question for that is did she tell D.W. about Emily before or after that episode aired many years ago. That is the million dollar question there.

Snowth Woogle

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2013, 09:50:52 pm »
Unless it's an example of D.W.'s lack of counting skills, then she would also be five in "Arthur's New Year's Eve", as she mentions, "I'll never be Arthur's age, he's always gonna be three years older!" If she were still four, then three years older would make Arthur seven, but we know he's eight, so again, unless D.W. miscounted, then she's five in that one.

But when did they change Mr. Haney's first name to Francis? I haven't noticed this yet, but I did notice the whole Sarah to Leah thing with Mrs. MacGrady... but noticing that "The Great MacGrady" was both written by and dedicated to writer Leah Ryan, my assumption was they changed her name to Leah for that episode in her honor. What I REALLY don't understand about that episode is, looking at Buster's journal thing or whatever towards the end, he documents the day, and apparently it's Saturday June 2... now I suppose Lakewood Elementary might not get out till June like some schools (our schools always got out in May), so that can be overlooked... but why are they at school on a Saturday?
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LovingBeagles

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2013, 05:59:16 pm »
Unless it's an example of D.W.'s lack of counting skills, then she would also be five in "Arthur's New Year's Eve", as she mentions, "I'll never be Arthur's age, he's always gonna be three years older!" If she were still four, then three years older would make Arthur seven, but we know he's eight, so again, unless D.W. miscounted, then she's five in that one.

But when did they change Mr. Haney's first name to Francis? I haven't noticed this yet, but I did notice the whole Sarah to Leah thing with Mrs. MacGrady... but noticing that "The Great MacGrady" was both written by and dedicated to writer Leah Ryan, my assumption was they changed her name to Leah for that episode in her honor. What I REALLY don't understand about that episode is, looking at Buster's journal thing or whatever towards the end, he documents the day, and apparently it's Saturday June 2... now I suppose Lakewood Elementary might not get out till June like some schools (our schools always got out in May), so that can be overlooked... but why are they at school on a Saturday?

Mr. Haney's name change was revealed in episodes like "Buster the Lounge Lizard", and "Get Smart". I'm not sure if "Arthur's Number Nightmare was one of them. I understand the changes, such as that of Mrs. MacGrady's name to honor Leah Ryan, but it kind of annoys me to some extent because it's like the show forgets its own characters. (Maybe Leah or Sarah is her middle name?)

I always thought many schools got out in June. Some earlier, some later. I've rarely heard of a school that got out in May. I hadn't noticed them being in school on a Saturday. Are you sure it was the same day that Buster wrote the entry?


Snowth Woogle

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2013, 01:15:18 pm »
I took a look again: there's a scene transition in the form of a calendar on the wall, with all the days being marked off. The month on the calendar is May, and May 31st, according to the calendar, is a Thursday... then, we hear Buster's voice-over of his latest lunch journal, dated as June 2nd, which according to the two blank spaces on the calendar, would mean June 2nd would be a Saturday.

But yeah, where I live, the school system usually sent us kids back to school early-to-mid August or so, while the last day of school was usually like May 25 or so (ballparking it), so it always seems really strange to me whenever a kid is talking about, or still attending school, at any point during the month of June.
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Snowth Woogle

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2013, 04:31:42 pm »
I thought of another one...

Sometimes Lucy ("D.W. Thinks Big") is said to be Arthur and D.W.'s aunt, and other times she's said to be their cousin.
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LovingBeagles

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2013, 09:10:16 pm »
I thought of another one...

Sometimes Lucy ("D.W. Thinks Big") is said to be Arthur and D.W.'s aunt, and other times she's said to be their cousin.

Really? What are some examples of them saying she is their cousin?!

Mr. Rocketburn

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2013, 11:33:39 pm »
To add to the "DW's Age" observations, Emily is already 5 in "D.W.'s Perfect Wish", but "D.W. Bossy Boots" shows her 5th birthday party, so that episode takes place before D.W.'s Perfect Wish (and that's ignoring the fact that Emily had her newer look there, of course).

In "Buster's Amish Mismatch", Brain says that there's a "lack of farmland in the area". Though there are at least three episodes that show farmland that is suggested to be close to Elwood City: the insanely long line to get Binky tickets in "Meet Binky", the end of "Buster's Carpool Catastrophe" (the cooking class couldn't have been that far away), and when Buster tells George he's 2/3 of the way to Elwood City from Crown City in "The Long Road Home".

And another calendar/school inconsistency: In "The Long Road Home", George has his walk scheduled for July 26 on his calendar, but there are scenes that take place in school that same week.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2013, 11:35:40 pm by Mr. Rocketburn »

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2013, 11:04:20 pm »
Yeah, about the calendar in "The Long Road Home," it drives me nuts when they have an episode set during obvious summer vacation time, but they're still in school. Example: the second half of season 2 when Buster's away with his dad.

And about Emily's age, during "Read and Flumbergast," didn't she celebrate her 4th birthday at preschool while Bud was there?
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Mr. Rocketburn

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2013, 05:50:49 pm »
Just remembered another one. In "Sue Ellen Chickens Out", during Sue Ellen's fantasy, Beauregard Poulet says that the Sugar Bowl doesn't have a deep fryer, but in "DW the Picky Eater", Arthur and friends are eating french fries there, and I think there is a recent episode where someone is eating them, too. Either way, anyone notice how more Sugar Bowl scenes in recent episodes have shown people eating actual food instead of ice cream or milkshakes?

ralfsmouse

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2013, 11:16:05 pm »
Either way, anyone notice how more Sugar Bowl scenes in recent episodes have shown people eating actual food instead of ice cream or milkshakes?
It's possible that the producers don't want to show Arthur and his group constantly eating candy and drinking milkshakes without eating real food, considering how often they used to eat desserts at the sugar bowl.

Just remembered another one. In "Sue Ellen Chickens Out", during Sue Ellen's fantasy, Beauregard Poulet says that the Sugar Bowl doesn't have a deep fryer, but in "DW the Picky Eater", Arthur and friends are eating french fries there, and I think there is a recent episode where someone is eating them, too.
It could just be that the sugar bowl is ripping off its customers by serving frozen french fries instead of ones that they make.

Crossover Dreamer

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Re: Inconsistencies & Inter-Episode Goofs
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2013, 11:22:54 pm »
Frozen french fries? Sounds like an episode of Restaurant Impossible.
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