Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold! was an American animated television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 1, 1996 through June 8, 2004. Created by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's brother-in-law Craig Bartlett, and based on his clay animation shorts on Sesame Street, it stars grade-schooler Arnold, who lives with grandparents Phil and Gertrude, proprietors of the Sunset Arms boarding house. (His doctor parents Stella and Miles went missing while on an international rescue mission).

The supporting characters include Arnold's best friend, Gerald Johanssen; his eccentric, free-spirited Grandma, who has been known to walk around in the rain wearing a scuba outfit, and acerbic classmate Helga G. Pataki, who presents a guise of hating Arnold but secretly loves him. The series takes place in Hillwood City, a fictional locale resembling Brooklyn of New York City and San Francisco, California. In an episode involving Helga and her mother taking a road trip, the two, returning home, see the left half of a sign reading, "WELCOME TO WASHINGTON STATE". Bartlett himself is from Seattle. (Also, the episode entitled The Pig War involves the celebration of an event loosely based off of a real-life incident, an 1859 US-British dispute over San Juan Island which lies between Washington and Vancouver) (see Pig War).

Hey Arnold! is the second longest-running Nicktoon behind Rugrats. In Great Britain, the show previously aired on ITV1 (as part of CITV) but still airs on Britain's NickToons network. Some of the original clay animation shorts were shown on Sesame Street. The television series was produced by Snee-Oosh, Inc. for Nickelodeon.

A 2002 theatrical movie involved the characters' exploits to save their neighborhood from an unpopular redevelopment project. There had been plans for a second movie (working title: Hey Arnold! 2: The Jungle), involving Arnold's search to find his parents (and also meant to finally reveal Arnold's last name). However, contractual problems with Nick ^*, among other things, have since led Bartlett to leave the channel for the Cartoon Network. Nick had also earlier turned down plans to spinoff the Helga character (and her family) into her own series, The Patakis

The first appearance of Hey Arnold was as a theatrical short subject preceding Harriet the Spy, a film produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

Characters and voice actors

Arnold (Toran Caudell, Phillip Van Dyke, Spencer Klein, Alex D. Linz)
Gerald Martin Johanssen (Jamil Walker Smith)
Helga G. Pataki (Francesca Smith, also known as Francesca Marie Smith)
Harold Berman (Justin Shenkarow)
Phoebe Hyerdahl (Anndi McAfee)
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd (Olivia Hack)
Stinky Peterson (Christopher P. Walberg, Toran Caudell in "Downtown as Fruits")
Sheena (Francesca Smith. also known as Francesca Marie Smith)
Sid (Sam Gifaldi, his brother Taylor in "April Fool's Day")
Eugene Horowitz (Christopher Castile, Jarrett Lennon, Ben Diskin, Blake Ewing)
Thaddeus "Curly" Gamelthorpe (Adam Wylie)
Arnold's Grandpa Phil (Dan Castellaneta, Bradford LaPerous for one episode)
Arnold's Grandma Gertie (Tress MacNeille)
Stella (Arnold's Mom) (Antoinette Stella)
Miles (Arnold's Dad) (Craig Bartlett)
Brainy (Craig Bartlett)
Wolfgang (Toran Caudell)
Ludwig (Phillip Van Dyke)
Iggy (Tress MacNeille)
- a reference to Iggy Pop
Big Bob Pataki (Maurice LaMarche)
Myriam Pataki (Kath Soucie)
Mr. Huynh

The only Vietnamese character in the show, excluding Mr. Huynh's daughter that appeared in the episode "Arnold's Christmas"
- Oskar Kokoshka
- a reference to Oskar Kokoschka, the modern painter
Suzie Kokoshka
Ernie Potts (Dom Irrera)
Dino Spumoni (Rick Corso)
- a reference to Frank Sinatra and/or Dean Martin
Ruth McDougal
Mickey Kaline
- a reference to Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline, the famous baseball players

Recurring Jokes

Examples of the Gilligan Cut

One of the series' main recurring jokes is the frequent use of a gag originally seen in Gilligan's Island, known as the Gilligan Cut ^*. For example:

Mr. Kokoschka: Don't worry, Arnold, I can't lose.
(frame changes)
I can't believe I lost.

("Arnold as Cupid", Oskar has just gambled Arnold's CD player, and lost on an unlikely hand from his opponents)

Helga: There is no way I am taking the subway.
(frame changes)
I can't believe I'm taking the subway.

("Das Subway")

Gerald: There is no way we're fishing in a swan boat!
(frame changes)
I can't believe we're fishing in a swan boat.

("Big Caesar", all the rental boats have been taken, and Arnold has just spotted a swan boat)

Helga: There is no way I'm gonna go back in there, tell them the truth, and wind up washing dishes.
(frame changes)
I can't believe I told them the truth, and I wound up washing dishes.

("Dinner For Four", Helga talks to Nadine about releasing a cockroach into a French restaurant so that Helga can get out of having to pay for a dinner; she discovered on the bill that they were eating at the restaurant opposite from where she had won a voucher for)

Arnold: Stinky, there is no way we're calling our go-kart the Mauve Avenger.
(frame changes)
I can't believe we called our go-kart the Mauve Avenger.

("Grand Prix", Arnold decides to take parts from Eugene's totalled go-kart to fix his go-kart)

Brainy Gag

Another recurring gag involves Brainy:

Helga: Watch it, Football Head! (Arnold)...how I hate you...and yet...brings out locket with Arnold's picture...I love you! After giving her heartfelt monologue, Helga usually discovers Brainy wheezing down the back of her neck; annoyed, she gives him a backwards punch in the face.

Arnold's Name-teaser Gag

Occasionally, the creators of the show will tease viewers with the revelation of Arnold's last name, only to pull back, either because it is not legible or the speaker is interrupted. An example of this includes in the episode "Fighting Families" (Which was a spoof to Family Double Dare,American Gladiators,and Family Feud), when the school is holding an assembly and the woman presenting the assembly announces that a student from the school will be selected to participate. While announcing Arnold's name she reveals she cannot read the last name.

Contest Lady: And the winner is Arnold... there seems to be a smudge over the last name.
Stinky: I reckon she means you, Arnold, on account of you're the only Arnold in school.

Episodes

Movies

The Movie (2002)
The Jungle Movie (unproduced)

Trivia

Along with the Games Animation episodes of Ren & Stimpy, Hey Arnold is one of the few Nicktoons to use mild profanity. The word crap is sometimes either said or mentioned.
Helga is often the victim of humorous child neglect by her parents, who often forget that she exists or call her by her older sister's name, Olga.
During certain episodes, a man can be seen running around town, yelling, "Monkeyman!" Monkeyman later got his own episode.
Arnold first appeared on a clay-mation for Sesame Street.
In Arnold's room his clock has a small figure of himself which says "Hey Arnold!" several times to wake him up. This clock is also powered by a potato.
WrestleMania was sometimes heard by Helga.
Arnold has a doppelgänger cousin named Arnie.
Characters in the Hey Arnold! universe have their own such cartoon, called Yo Earnest!, which is mentioned in several episodes.
In the episode "Road Trip," the mechanic is an obvious caricature of Karl from Sling Blade.

External links

Hey Arnold! area on nick.com

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