Hey Arnold! 

The everyday life of Arnold, a 4th-grader in a nameless city that resembles Brooklyn, New York, who lives in a multi-racial boarding house with his grandparents and a motley assortment of neighbors and friends.

Creators:

Craig Bartlett, Steve Viksten, Joe Ansolabehere

Stars:

Francesca Marie Smith, Jamil Walker Smith, Dan Castellaneta

3 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Francesca Marie Smith	...	Helga Pataki / ... 86 episodes, 1994-2004
Jamil Walker Smith	...	Gerald Johanssen / ... 81 episodes, 1994-2003
Dan Castellaneta	...	Arnold's Grandpa / ... 75 episodes, 1994-2004
Justin Shenkarow	...	Harold Berman / ... 71 episodes, 1994-2004
Christopher Walberg	...	Stinky Petersen / ... 70 episodes, 1996-2004
Sam Gifaldi	...	Sid / ... 58 episodes, 1996-2004
Anndi McAfee	...	Phoebe Heyerdahl / ... 56 episodes, 1996-2004
Craig Bartlett	...	Brainy / ... 50 episodes, 1996-2004
Olivia Hack	...	Rhonda Wellington Lloyd / ... 43 episodes, 1996-2004
Tress MacNeille	...	Arnold's Grandma / ... 42 episodes, 1994-2004
Kath Soucie	...	Miriam Pataki / ... 41 episodes, 1996-2003
Lane Toran	...	Arnold / ... 40 episodes, 1996-2001
Spencer Klein	...	Arnold 36 episodes, 1999-2004
Steve Viksten	...	Oskar Kokoshka / ... 36 episodes, 1996-2002
Phillip Van Dyke	...	Arnold / ... 36 episodes, 1997-2000

Storyline

The adventures of a daydreaming, jazz-loving, football-headed 9-year-old, who lives in a boarding house with his grandparents and some eccentric boarders; encounters life in the city with his best friend Gerald, a loofah-haired kid who is the keeper of the urban tales and coolest kid in class; and is tormented by Helga, who loves him secretly.

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Plot Keywords:

young boy | eccentricity | young girl | jazz score | secret love | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

TV-Y7

Details

Official Sites:

Nickelodeon

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hey, Arnold!

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nicktoons Productions, Nubian Nights Worldwide, Games Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (100 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hey Arnold! started as 3 claymation shorts from creator Craig Bartlett. The third aired on Sesame Street (1969) In 1990 & would eventually catch the eye of Nickelodeon.

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Goofs

In "Phoebe Cheats", she wakes up and talks to the statue trophy she illegitimately won, and repeatedly changes from a blue sweater to a night grown and back again between shots.

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Quotes

Helga: [From the intro] Move it, football head!

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the closing credits, the "Games Animation Inc" title appears as chalk graffiti Arnold made on a brick wall.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Cartoon Psychopaths (2016)

User Reviews

I remember when Arnold was a boy of clay

My first exposure to Arnold was long before the show's key audience was born, let alone heard of him. It was in a small clay-mation film "Arnold Escapes from Church," which was one of many at the 21st Tournee of Animation in at the Huntington Arts Cinema on Long Island. The football-headed kid that we all know and love sits in church with his family while the pastor reads "The Lord's Prayer," and imagines all kinds of weird things happening in the process. At a time when anti-media zealots were frantically trying to censor anything they assume will warp children's collective imaginations, so much so that they virtually eliminate their imaginations, this was one of a few 'toons(other than perhaps MUPPET BABIES) that made it seem acceptable. By the early-to-mid 1990's though, such a mentality seemed all too common-place, and the Arnold Universe was less focused on the world in his head than the world around him.

Arnold is street-wise, rational, and good-natured to a fault. He lives in a boarding house owned by his grandparents, which CLAIMS that kids aren't allowed, but makes an exception for him and one other. He's got perhaps the coolest bedroom any kid could possibly have. Not even three-dimensional FedEx from the remake of "Cheaper by the Dozen" has a room as cool as Arnold's, even though that was a cool bedroom as well. Arnold's rural neighborhood is surrounded by eccentric kids and adults. And who are the people in his neighborhood, to paraphrase the late Fred Rogers? Well, the kids consist of Gerald, Helga, Stinky, Eugene, Lila, Rhonda, Harold, Sid, Phoebe, and others. The adults consist of his grandparents(Phil and Pookie), Mr, Hyunh, Oskar, his wife Susie, Ernie Potts, and a host of other eccentrics. One can not say anything about "Hey Arnold!" without focusing on Helga Pataki, who has the kind of relationship with him you might expect from nine-year-old girls and boys. Helga, of course publicly insults and torments him, but privately agonizes over her desire for him, and frequently beats herself up over how she treats him. And who can blame her for her guilt? He's the kind of kid who knows you don't have to be a superhero to do good. In "Stoop Kid," he teaches a bullying brat not to be afraid to leave the stoop of his apartment. In "Pigeon Man," he befriends a neighborhood recluse who's treated like a freaky urban legend, because he'd rather spend time with homing pigeons. In "Runaway Float" he stops the title from crashing into City Hall, and taking his friends with it. In "Grandpa's Sister," he mends a long standing grudge that began over the death of a beloved family pet. In "Crabby Author," he visits a favorite children's author who's now a reclusive, bitter old woman, and inspires her to return to the career that made her famous. He even makes an impact on Helga Pataki, sometimes intentionally.

One thing's for sure, Craig Bartlett really knows how to celebrate the holidays, whatever those holiday may be. In the unforgettable "Arnold's Christmas," Arnold struggles to reunite Mr. Hyunh with his South Vietnamese daughter who he hasn't seen since the Fall of Saigon. In "Arnold's Halloween," we see Arnold and Gerald repeat their own adaptation of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds," only in their case they WANT to cause a panic! In "Veteran's Day," we find how Arnold's Grandfather contributed to the allied victory in the Battle of the Bulge by giving the Nazis bad experimental lunch-meat, and Gerald's Dad was a reluctant Vietnam Vet who was assigned to desk duty and saved the life of a wounded G.I. with his paperwork(literally!) after a major NVA attack.

In truth, Bartlett does not write children's television. He writes adult television with kids as his central characters, that are not excessively violent or sexually suggestive. An outstanding 'toon if there ever was one on Nickelodeon, which will be difficult to replace.