Cartoon Retrospective: Hey Arnold!
By JJWeatherman 73 Comments
For anyone reading this that's not informed: I'm writing a series of blogs about cartoons. My loose plan is to feature one cartoon per blog and tell you--dear reader--why I love each featured cartoon. We can then proceed to recall the 'good ole days' of our respective youths.
Full series:
- Part 1 -- "Hey Arnold!" (You're reading it!)
- Part 2 -- "The Magic School Bus"
- Part 3 -- "Rugrats"
- Part 4 -- "Spider-Man"
Hey Arnold!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls:
I like cartoons. However, I don't watch them nearly as much as I used to. The memories I have of watching cartoons in my youth though are pretty dang fond. I think everyone else here likes cartoons too, so I'm going to write some blogs about them. I don't really have a plan for this. I'm just going to sit down every so often and write about whatever cartoons pop into my head, like this one:
So I was born 1990 and grew up in what I have come to believe was the heyday of cartoons. Nickelodeon was in full force, and one of my favrite Nick shows was undoubtedly "Hey Arnold!". Hey Arnold! was great, I think everyone can agree on that. The characters were relatable and fun. The situations Arnold and pals got into were always kind of crazy but plausible. I think those things added a lot to the likablility of the show.
So quick rundown of the characters: Obviously Arnold is the hero of the series. He's a smart, lovable football-headed boy that lives with his Grandparents in a boarding house. Arnold's a great character as he's always helping others with their problems and learning lessons in the process. Then there's the best friend Gerald. You know, the bro with the tube-shaped afro. Gerald's awesome if only for the sweet handshake he commonly performs with Arnold. The sound that their thumb's inexplicably produce is amazing. I couldn't find a video of it, but it's almost as good as this.
The third major character is the girl that torments Arnold but of course has a secret crush on him: Helga Pataki. Helga is delightfully schizophrenic, and never fails to spice up an episode. The great thing about Hey Arnold! is that even the supporting characters are fantastic. Characters like Harold, Stinky, Sid, Phoebe, Brainy, and Rhonda all bring a lot to the table. Brainy in particular is one of my favorites as he is constantly getting hit in the face by Helga--usually just after Helga gets all emotional about Arnold.
I don't know many of the actual names of episodes, but there are a ton that stick out in my mind for one reason or another. I'm not exactly sure why, but the episode where Arnold and friends decide to renovate the old lot in his neighborhood into a baseball field is one that I loved. I actually found this episode on YouTube with some random searching. Turns out is called "The Vacant Lot".
Another great episode was the camping trip one. In this episode, Arnold and Gerald ditch Arnold's grandpa (and his old-school techniques) while camping to hang out with Helga and her dad who brought all the high-tech gear he could fit into his enourmous RV. Long story short, all the fancy technology fails in one way or another and only the wilderness skills that Arnold's grandpa taught him earlier could save the day.
There are seemingly endless terrific episodes of Hey Arnold! that I could reminisce about, but this blog would be 1,000 pages. So this has been my first cartoon retrospective blog. Planning on more to come. Last thing, everyone should check out this video; it's outstanding:
It would be awesome if you guys shared your own favorite "Hey Arnold!" episodes/memories!(You're reading it!)
73 Comments