Elwood City Central

Arthur => Characters => Topic started by: ralfsmouse on April 24, 2013, 11:00:35 pm

Title: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: ralfsmouse on April 24, 2013, 11:00:35 pm
I'm surprised that nobody has made a thread about Mr. Ratburn yet. These are my thoughts on him:

When I first saw "Arthur And The Real Mr. Ratburn," my initial thoughts were along the lines of, "He really doesn't mess around!" "He is more strict than any of my high school teachers even were" and "Does Mrs. Sweetwater's class do ANYTHING?" One of my least favorite actions of a new teacher was when they began the year with a quiz, even before introducing themselves. I though that he was a bit over the top with his organization of his classroom, and I was always the type who enjoyed strict teachers. Also, I know that Arthur and his friends are kids, but come on, death row? I didn't think that they would listen to such rumors. Additionally, I thought that the producers rounded off his personality nicely with the end of the episode.

I also thought that it was good to pair this episode with "Arthur's Spelling Trubble," as that episode shows Mr. Ratburn continuing to be supportive of his students, such as when he encourages Arthur and compliments him after his victory.

One thing that always struck me as insane is the amount of homework that he gives, in addition to the difficulty of it. In "Mom And Dad Have A Great Big Fight," Arthur is using a big stack of dot-matrix printer paper (does that paper have a proper name) just to do his math homework, which appears to be a lot of long division, a concept that I don't believe is introduced until fourth grade. Sometimes he also gives some insane math for third graders. I have seen math like "(X24)5=(1/2)ME3" on his board before.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: Crossover Dreamer on April 24, 2013, 11:52:10 pm
Yeah, I've brought this up in the thread about Mr. Fink. I can understand Mr. Ratburn giving out extra homework, but in my opinion the homework is way too advanced. Even when comparing it to classical education where reading and history assignments are more advanced than basic public school curriculum. Think of Mr. Pryce-Jones teaching Latin in 3rd grade. Classical education is really like that, where some grades spend a lot of time studying Greek and Roman history and literature, but I'm pretty sure classical education math levels are the same difficulty as public school education.

The lesson I didn't like about "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn" is that learning how to organize isn't always enough for successfully completing your homework. Sometimes the teacher or the textbook isn't clear, and odds are no two students have the same learning style.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: LovingBeagles on April 25, 2013, 12:49:51 am
Yes, he is a strict teacher. And I think we discussed Ms. Fink & Ms. Sweetwater...their classes are the epitome of "kindergarteners in 3rd grade", yet Mr. Ratburn is a "high school/college level teacher teaching 3rd graders". (I also happen to think this is a reference to how mature the 3rd-graders act for their age.)

Anyway...giving a quiz on the first day of school? "(X24)5=(1/2)ME3"? Well, if you ask me, that is meant as sort of emphasis of how hard some teachers can be. Obviously, no 3rd grade teacher in real life would assign anything like that. I think Mr. Ratburn's teaching is supposed to parody the way some kids see their teachers- as burying them in piles of homework. Kind of adds humor to the series, to a degree.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: Snowth Woogle on April 25, 2013, 11:44:02 am
As far Ratburn giving out too much homework, wasn't there one episode where Arthur was in over his head because Ratburn had given them something like 200,000 math problems?

Ratburn, to me, is, while obviously exaggerated, the perfect representation of a tough teacher that every kid faces, I'm sure there are kids out there who can look at Mr. Ratburn and say, "Oh, I had a teacher like that in such-and-such grade" (believe it or not, I can say I had a teacher like Mr. Pricejones in second grade). Speaking of which, "Return of the King" kind of puts Ratburn into a more human light, and for once, you actually feel sorry for him because of the pressure he's under to be just as good (and tough) a teacher as Mr. Pricejones.

Yes, he did seem like a strict teacher, at first, but that aspect of his character seemed to have been toned down after "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn; Arthur's Spelling Trubble".

And, of course, there's also the humorous side to the character as well... admit it, how can you not crack up over, "Oh, so-and-so, I thought I'd drop by to give you the spring reading list and... OH! Are you having cake?!" "The Blizzard" was also funny for both him and Mr. Haney, where we see how the thought of school being shut down sends Ratburn into a tizzy, and how it's serious business to him, whereas Mr. Haney just wants to go home, to the point that when they're finally shoved out the next morning, he's on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: ralfsmouse on April 26, 2013, 12:07:14 am
Ratburn, to me, is, while obviously exaggerated, the perfect representation of a tough teacher that every kid faces, I'm sure there are kids out there who can look at Mr. Ratburn and say, "Oh, I had a teacher like that in such-and-such grade"
I know, many of the Arthur situations and characters parallel to common situations that many children face. I have to admit that I did have my fair share of teachers like Mr. Ratburn. One personal memory of a teacher like that is from my high school (10th grade) chemistry class. My teacher decided one day to teach us about alpha, beta, and gamma decay, despite never having taught us nuclear chemistry before. Pretty much every student had no idea what was going on. We eventually figured it out, but it seems like something Mr. Ratburn would do.

(believe it or not, I can say I had a teacher like Mr. Pricejones in second grade).

Does that mean you learned Latin by second grade? That's pretty good.  ;)
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: Snowth Woogle on April 26, 2013, 04:29:48 pm
Haha, no not quite... just that our teacher in second grade was a really tough and demanding teacher much like Pricejones... but then again, if you can believe it, she was a drill sergeant's wife (and a Marine drill sergeant) at that, so she was quite a strict disciplinarian of a teacher for a bunch of seven-year-olds.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: First King of Lambland on July 10, 2013, 10:58:22 pm
He was, like, extremely evil in his first appearance, and he has slowly become a lovable, agreeable, pleasant person to the students. I mean, come on! There's a lot of examples I just can't think of them right now...
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: JAO93 on August 18, 2013, 06:13:51 am
I hate to 'bump' a thread, but here goes.

Mr. Ratburn was a favorite of mine. The way he was always exaggerated as a strict teacher by this students was priceless. The slightly anguished contrast against the "easy" classes was always funny - even amid Rodentia Ratburn filling in back in Season 1.
His fascination with puppets was an interesting look at his life outside of teaching - his premiere episode was one of the first I recall watching.
Arthur Holden did a great job with his voice - I especially liked Mr. Ratburn's manic cackle used in some episodes.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: ralfsmouse on August 18, 2013, 10:26:03 pm
I hate to 'bump' a thread, but here goes.

Mr. Ratburn was a favorite of mine. The way he was always exaggerated as a strict teacher by this students was priceless. The slightly anguished contrast against the "easy" classes was always funny - even amid Rodentia Ratburn filling in back in Season 1.
His fascination with puppets was an interesting look at his life outside of teaching - his premiere episode was one of the first I recall watching.
Arthur Holden did a great job with his voice - I especially liked Mr. Ratburn's manic cackle used in some episodes.

Mr. Ratburn's voice has always been one of my favorites in the series. It's always been fitting for him and it's never gone through annoying changes.

Also, bumping posts in this forum within the last month or two is usually OK, since this forum is not the most active. Just try to keep it to a minimum.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: Ladonna Compson on October 06, 2013, 01:34:02 pm
oh wow. mr. ratburn is AWSOME!
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: A Lotta Moms on October 13, 2013, 05:06:14 am
Favorite Ratburn moment: when he finally broke down and bought a computer...and then kept falling for Nigerian e-mail scams.   :D

"How am I supposed to read the instructions on the CD if the CD's in the computer?"  ...serious LOL material.
Title: Re: Mr. Ratburn
Post by: Ladonna Compson on October 14, 2013, 04:52:01 pm
IKR?
"Its a paradox!"  :o