ARTHUR Creator Marc Brown Announces New Show
By Movieguide® Contributor
ARTHUR creator Marc Brown announced his new preschool series HOP will find its home on streaming service Max.
HOP will be targeted towards preschoolers and highlights characters with disabilities. The titular character, Hop, is a young frog with one leg shorter than the other.
“Even before ARTHUR ended, I was nurturing a new project about a little frog named Hop, for a younger audience. As Hop’s world grew in my imagination, I drew inspiration from the great work my friend Fred Rogers had done. With ARTHUR, we occasionally introduced characters with disabilities, but they never became part of the ensemble cast in any meaningful way,” Brown said.
“The characters in HOP reflect many kids who are underrepresented in the media. Some of our characters have disabilities but they never define who they are or what they can achieve. Kids are kids and each one is unique and filled with potential. And kids love to have fun – that’s what HOP is all about,” he continued.
Hop is voiced by stage actor David Connolly, the first amputee to perform on Broadway. The show will also include Hop’s older sister Penny (Moneesha “Misha” Bakshi), a fun-loving owl named Hoot (Makeda Bromfield), a fiercely intelligent squirrel named Filipa (Charlotte Walker) who is neurodivergent, a timid allegator named Benny (Jake Shannon), and a wide-eyed beaver named Alfred (Bromfield).
The characters live in the community Fair Village and, per the show’s description, “discover that they can overcome any obstacle with perseverance, creativity, and teamwork.”
“We’re extremely proud of our work and collaboration with industry experts on representing characters in an inclusive way,” Epic Story Media founder, Ken Faier, said. “It is an honor to have developed HOP with Marc, Peter and Tolon who know how to engage not only today’s youth, but parents looking for quality content. We believe HOP will have longevity in the marketplace for many years to come.
While ARTHUR experienced some controversy in the later seasons due to its teaching of non-biblical values – such as affirming homosexuality – the show as a whole taught moral lessons. HOP will hopefully limit its teaching to lessons found within the Bible. Movieguide®, however, does advise discretion when it comes to using the Max streaming service in general. The platform hosts vile content, such as GAME OF THRONES, alongside its increasing library of family friendly content.
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