Deconstructing Arnold

Deconstructing Arnold

September 18, 1999 TV Episode Hey Arnold!

Studio
Games Animation, Sae Rom Productions Co., Ltd.
Distributor
Nickelodeon.

Synopsis

The other kids in Arnold's class get tired of Arnold giving them advice- until they discover there's no one else there to do it.

Characters

Arnold, Helga, Gerald, Peapod Kid, Phoebe, Brainy, Eugene, Harold, Iggy, Reporter, Jackie Lee, Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, Johnny Stitches, Curly

Credits

Directing

Director
Frank Weiss

Producing

Producer
Steve Viksten
Executive Producers
Craig Bartlett, Mary Harrington

Writing

Writer
Michelle Lamoreaux

Voices

Voice
Spencer Klein (Arnold), Francesca Marie Smith (Helga), Jamil W. Smith (Gerald, Peapod Kid), Anndi L. McAfee (Phoebe), Craig Bartlett (Brainy), Christopher J. Castile (Eugene), Justin Shenkarow (Harold, Iggy), Downtown Julie Brown (Reporter), Kathie Lee Gifford (Jackie Lee), Olivia Hack (Rhonda Wellington Lloyd), Michael McKean (Johnny Stitches), Haley Joel Osment (Curly)

Music

Music
Jim Lang

Editing

Editor
Christopher Hink

Crew

Creator
Craig Bartlett
Developed by
Craig Bartlett, Joe Ansolabehere, Steve Viksten
Layout Supervisor/BG Design
Brian Mark
Storyboards
Chris Headrick

Production notes

Hey Arnold! showed us that having a football-shaped head is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the struggles of being an orphaned fourth grader.

The title star of Hey Arnold! was an unkempt, wise-beyond-his-years blonde boy. Arnold's guardians were his senile Grandfather and his Grandmother, a former librarian with an active imagination. The family of three lived in the grandparents' urban boarding house, along with a cast of odd grown-ups who often acted more like children than adults.

Arnold was just like any other kid growing up in the city, assuming those kids also had a room operated by a remote-control and a pet pig. He liked to hang out with friends, play stickball with kids from the neighborhood, and get into trouble–like when he and his best friend Gerald accidentally wound up downtown, DRESSED AS FRUIT! Gerald was remarkably cool, calm, and collected for a ten year-old. Arnold's other friend (and sometimes enemy) was Helga, a thick-skinned girl who both hated Arnold and loved him.

Along with Phoebe, Brainy, and resident jinx Eugene, this amusing group of fourth-graders had what it took to survive life in the big city. They even managed to survive the rigors of a regular television series, as Hey Arnold! became yet another successful "Nicktoon."