Arthur fans asked to wish Mr Ratburn and his husband happy anniversary. Things got weird
Fans of the children’s TV show Arthur were invited to wish Mr Ratburn and his husband Patrick a happy second wedding anniversary. The responses were weird. (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
Fans of the beloved children’s TV show Arthur were asked to wish Mr Ratburn and his husband a happy second wedding anniversary, and the responses are wild.
Arthur, which is a Canadian-American animated TV series for children, premiered in 1996 and has run for 24 seasons. The PBS Kids show surprised fans in 2019 after revealing its character Mr Raterburn is gay as he got married to another male character named Patrick. The episode stunned and delighted viewers who were happy to see more inclusive content on a children’s educational TV programme.
In a post on Thursday (13 May), the official Arthur facebook page celebrated the historic event. The account said that fans were “invited to one of the best weddings Elwood City has ever seen” two years ago. It added: “Let’s wish Mr Ratburn and Patrick a happy two year anniversary!”
Fans shared their enthusiasm and wished the cartoon characters a happy second wedding anniversary. But other responses were a bit more creative.
One person questioned how the couple could be celebrating two years “when Arthur is still in fourth grade”.
An Arthur fan comments on an anniversary post for the cartoon characters Mr Ratburn and Patrick. The comment reads: “How are they celebrating 2 years when Arthur is still in 4th grade???” (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
Another person commented that they would wish Mr Ratburn a happy anniversary, but they “heard he gives too much homework”. The comment refers to the fact that Mr Ratburn is the teacher of the titular character Arthur, an eight-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark.
An Arthur fan comments on an anniversary post for the cartoon characters Mr Ratburn and Patrick. The comment reads: “I mean I would be happy for him but I heard he gives too much homework”.(Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
Someone else wrote that Mr Ratburn and Patrick’s marriage “seems better than mine ever was”.
An Arthur fan comments on an anniversary post for the cartoon characters Mr Ratburn and Patrick. The comment reads: “Happy Anniversary. Your marriage seems better than mine ever was”. (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
One fan said that “congrats” is actually “short for consummated gay rat wedding”.
An Arthur fan comments on an anniversary post for the cartoon characters Mr Ratburn and Patrick. The comment reads: “Congrats boys! (Congrats is short for consummated gay rat wedding)”. (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
A different person simply commented: “When rats are happier than you”.
An Arthur fan comments on an anniversary post for the cartoon characters Mr Ratburn and Patrick. The comment reads: “When rats are happier than you”. (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
Other fans enjoyed the fact that a children’s TV show normalised LGBT+ relationships. One person said that “more gay story lines need to happy in [children’s] books and TV shows to show it is NORMAL”. They added that they appreciated how Arthur revealed that Mr Ratburn was gay.
“No mention of the word gay once, no gay bashing,” they wrote. “Just LOVE and SUPPORT. The way it should be!”
An Arthur fan comments how the TV show and marriage of Mr Ratburn and Patrick normalised LGBT+ relationships. (Facebook/@ArthurPBS)
In the 2019 episode titled “Mr Ratburn and the Special Someone”, Arthur and his friends discover Mr Ratburn is engaged. The group are in disbelief that their teacher has a life outside of school, and they even spy on Mr Ratburn to learn more about his future spouse.
They mistakenly believe that Mr Ratburn is marrying a woman and arrive at the wedding to stop the nuptials.
But when they arrive, they discover that Mr Ratburn is marrying Patrick, an aardvark who sells gourmet chocolate in Elwood City. The group sees how happy the couple are and decide not the break up the marriage after all.
