''Postcards from Buster'' is an American animated

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

that originally aired on PBS. It is a spin-off of the ''

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

'' TV series. The show features Buster Baxter, an 8-year-old

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

and Arthur's best friend. The television series was created by

Cookie Jar Group The Cookie Jar Group, commonly known as simply Cookie Jar and formerly known as CINAR, was a Canadian animation studio, production company, media production and distribution company that existed from 1976 until it was folded into DHX Media, no ...

(now known as

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. is a Canadian media, animation studio, production company, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest independent library of Children's tel ...

), WGBH Boston, and Marc Brown Studios. A backdoor pilot episode for the series, also titled "Postcards from Buster," originally aired as part of ''Arthurs eighth season on December 22, 2003. The official series aired on

PBS Kids Go! PBS Kids Go! was an American educational television brand used by PBS for programs aimed at school-age children ages 6 to 8, in contrast to the preschool target demographic of PBS Kids. Most PBS member stations aired the PBS Kids Go! block o ...

from October 11, 2004, to February 20, 2012. The series went on a 3 years hiatus between November 2008 and February 2012. In ''Arthur'', it is already established that Buster's parents had divorced, and his father is a pilot. This spin-off series revolves around Buster's travels with his father, Bo Baxter. Arthur Read and many other characters from ''Arthur'' make cameo appearances in this series, with many episodes featuring an ''Arthur'' character playing a minor role.

Premise

''Postcards from Buster'' featured Buster travelling to various locations across North America. Episodes primarily took place in the United States, but also featured destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and many other places. Buster is accompanied by his father, who is a pilot for a band of musicians. In each episode, Buster meets children in the location who introduce him to their real-life families and provide insights into global culture. The sequences featuring Buster are animated, while the segments showcasing the children are live-action, presented from the perspective of Buster's video camcorder. After each location, Buster sends his friend Arthur a "video postcard" tape, providing a summary of his experiences and the people he has met in that specific location. The series aimed to showcase multicultural and diverse families, including a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

family in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and a

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

family in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, among others.

Episodes

Cast

* Daniel Brochu as Buster Baxter * Ellen David as Bitzi Baxter * Marcel Jeannin as Bo Baxter * Elyzabeth Diaga (season 1) and Stephanie Martin (seasons 2–3) as Mora of Los Viajeros * Norman Groulx (season 1) and Glenn Coulson (seasons 2–3) as Carlos of Los Viajeros * Cameron Ansell (seasons 1–2) and Dallas Jokic (season 3) as Arthur Read * Jason Szwimmer (seasons 1–2) and Robert Naylor (season 3) as D. W. Read * Melissa Altro as Muffy Crosswire * Jodie Resther as Francine Frensky

Home media releases

Paramount Home Entertainment has released a series of "Postcards from Buster" DVDs and VHS tapes focusing on specific topics. The releases include themed DVDs of "Postcards from Buster", such as "Buster's Outdoor Journeys", which features episodes like "Sugartime", "Meet Me at the Fair", "The Giant Pumpkins", and "Bayou by Me". Another release is "Buster's Got the Beat", which includes episodes like "Beats by the Bay", "Buster and Beatrice", "The Music Mystery", and "Buster's Sweet Song". There is also "Buster's Buddies", featuring episodes like "Buster's League of Champions", "Best Friends", "A Sense of Direction", and "Sleepy in Seattle". Additionally, there is "Buster's World of Sports", which includes episodes like "Winter Gold", "Swimming in the Desert", "Rock and Roll", and "Rodeo Cowgirl". VHS releases only include the first two episodes from each DVD. On October 12, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1. It also includes bonus episodes of '' Busytown Mysteries'', '' The New Adventures of Nanoboy'', '' Mona the Vampire'', and '' Wimzie's House''.

"Sugartime!" controversy

In January 2005, Margaret Spellings,

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activi ...

, revealed that the show had explored

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Episode #33, "Sugartime!", which features Buster visiting Hinesburg, Vermont, to learn about the production of

maple sugar Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in Canada and the Northeastern United States, prepared from the sap of the maple tree ("maple syrup, maple sap"). Sources Three species of maple trees in the genus ''Acer (plant), Acer'' are predomina ...

, includes Buster meeting several children who have

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

parents.

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

was one of the first states to legalize

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

s for same-sex couples. In the episode, the word ''lesbian'' or ''homosexual'' is never said, and the episode — like all ''Postcards'' episodes — has no sexual content. In "Sugartime!", Buster meets the first lesbian couple: Karen Pike, a photographer, her partner Gillian Pieper, a health educator, and their three children: Emma, Emma's brother David, and her stepbrother James. One scene shows family photos of the three kids, then Buster's attention turns to a framed photo of Karen and Gillian together; Karen is Emma and David's mother, and Gillian is James' adoptive mother. Buster says to Emma, "So Gillian's your mom, too?" Emma replies that she is her stepmom, to which Buster comments "Boy, that's a lot of moms!"; Emma adds that she loves her mother and stepmother very much, and no other comments are made about the couple. After meeting Emma's family, Buster meets another lesbian couple: Tracy and Gina, and their three children at a dairy farm nearby. Later in the episode, both families get together at a bonfire, then take a family picture, with Buster sitting in the middle between the children. PBS vice president of media relations Lea Sloan said at the time, "Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had the opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time." Spellings demanded that PBS return all federal funding that had been used in the production of the episode, claiming that "many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode." PBS decided not to air this episode to its 349 stations, but some member stations across the country chose to air the episode, including WNET in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, KCTS-TV in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and KVIE in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, which are flagship stations; and the show's co-producer, WGBH in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

(which distributed the episode directly to public television stations after PBS's decision). It was, however, included in both the VHS and DVD version of the collection "Buster's Outdoor Journeys". Some of these stations opted to air this episode in prime-time, with some following the episode with a local discussion on the controversy. Shortly after the controversy, PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell announced that she would step down when her contract expired in June 2006, after coming under fire for her support for the episode. Talk show host Bill O'Reilly compared Buster visiting the lesbian couples in Vermont to visiting "a bigamy situation in Utah", or "a S&M thing in the East Village" on his former show, '' The O'Reilly Factor''. After the episode had aired, Pike and Pieper appeared in a PSA by the Family Pride Coalition, along with U.S. Congressman

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...

, and actor

BD Wong Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in '' M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Crit ...

, where they denounced Spellings' decision to cut future funding for ''Postcards from Buster'' for featuring a child of a lesbian couple. Pike, Pieper, and their three children were later on honored at the Provincetown Town Hall in

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

, as part of the Family Pride Coalition's Family Week celebration. Cusi Cram, a writer for ''Arthur'', later wrote a play titled ''Dusty and the Big Bad World'', based on this controversy. In a February 2022 interview with '' Yahoo! Entertainment'', Marc Brown expressed regret that the episode was removed from airing due to a depiction of a gay couple, and appreciated that Mr. Ratburn's wedding to another man in 2019 on the main ''

'' show (" Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone" in Season 22) was received far better due to society's progression.

References

External links