Hey Arnold! (1996-2022)

This popular cartoon was on in the mid to late 1990s

Summary

-Arnold is a typical 9 year old kid growing up in the city of Hillwood, Washington, who lives in a multi-ethnic boarding house and has a unique assortment of friends and neighbors

"Stoop Kid"

"Four Eyed Jack"

"Eugene's Bike"

"Arnold Betrays Iggy"

"Heat / Snow"

"Arnold's Christmas". This is a sad, but good episode, where you find out Mr. Hyunh had to give his daughter to a soldier during the fall of Saigon

"Downtown Fruits"

Cast

-Francesca Marie Smith: Helga Pataki / Sheena

-Jamil Walker Smith: Gerald Johanssen

-Dan Castellaneta: Arnold's Grandpa

-Justin Shenkarow: Harold Berman

-Christopher Walberg: Stinky Petersen

-Sam Gifaldi: Sid

-Anndi McAfee: Phoebe Heyerdahl

-Craig Bartlett: Brainy / Radio DJ

-Olivia Hack: Rhonda Wellington

-Tress MacNeille: Arnold's Grandma / Miss Slovak

-Kath Soucie: Miriam Pataki / Marilyn Berman

-Spencer Klein: Arnold (voice)

-Maurice LaMarche: Bob Pataki

-Steve Viksten: Oskar Kokoschka

-Dom Irrera: Ernie Potts

-David Wohl: Principal Wartz / Jerry Berman

-Ben Diskin: Eugene Horowitz

-James Keane: Marty Green

-Adam Wylie: Thaddeus "Curly" Gammelthorpe

-Ashley Buccille: Lila Sawyer

-Nika Futterman: Olga Pataki

-Dan Butler: Mr. Simmons

-Baoan Coleman: Mr. Hyunh

Did You Know?

-The show never really said where Arnold lives. You strongly suspect it might be in New York because of the shots of what looks like the Brooklyn Bridge. But actually the city in which Arnold calls home is a blend of Seattle, Brooklyn and Portland. There also hints that the city is called Hillwood because of the Hillwood Medical Center or Hillwood Zoo. That it's referencing the city of Hillwood, in Washington State

-The girls on the show were based on girls that creator Craig Bartlett knew and liked when he was a kid

-This was said to be the first animated show for children using actual children to provide the voices

-Initially, the show started out as claymation-type animation, one of which appeared on Sesame Street. And, also for a short time, it started out as a Simpsons-style series

-The only person who provided a voice who was not a child between the ages of nine to fifteen was creator Craig Bartlett, who voiced the character Brainy

-This show and The Simpsons have quite a lot in common. Craig Bartlett, who created Hey Arnold! is a brother in law to The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Also, Dan Castellaneta, who voices Homer Simpson, also provided the voice of Arnold's grandpa. And even Gerald's tall hair resembles Marge Simpson

-It was a running gag throughout the show that Arnold's last name was never revealed. His grandpa always called him "short man". It was eventually revealed in the made for TV movie The Jungle Movie that Arnold's last name was Shortman

-The 2017 made for TV movie The Jungle Movie revealed what happened to Arnold's parents

-Mr. Green is the local neighborhood butcher. His character was based on the Ernest Borgnine character in the 1955 film Marty

-In the episode "Arnold's Halloween", he and his friends make a fake broadcast about a potential alien invasion. The "UFO" ends up being a nearby water tower decorated with lights. The name of the place where the UFO will land being Well's Ridge. This is a reference to Orson Wells, who did an actual broadcast, which was mistaken for an authentic alien invasion, for the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds, where aliens came to Earth

-Former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne was the inspiration for Helga Pataki's middle name. It was a running joke throughout the series about Helga's name being Helga G. Pataki. This was confirmed by Craig Bartlett, who verified that he wanted to pay tribute to Laybourne by giving Helga the name Geraldine as her middle name

-On the outside of the Sunset Arms Boarding House, there is a sign that reads "No Children, Pets OK." This sign is also seen at other places, especially at the public pool Arnold and Gerald try to get into in the "Heat / Snow" episode

-The radio DJ in this program is a guy known as Nocturnal Ned who works at the local radio station MJZZ. This is actually a caricature of Craig Bartlett, who also lent his voice to various episodes

-According to the show's creators, Arnold's teacher Mr. Simmons was said to be homosexual

-The character Sid was voiced by two brothers named Sam and Taylor Gifaldi. Taylor for one time and Sam for the rest of the time

-In the episode where Stinky Peterson (Christopher Walberg)  makes a commercial, he walks into a studio called Snee-Oosh Studios. This is the actual name of the studio that made the show

-One of the boarding house residents is an always out of work man named Oskar Kokoschka. The name was taken from a 19th century Viennese painter, whose personality was completely different than this character

-Initially, Ruth P. McDougal was a sixth grader and the object of Arnold's love. Gerald tells him constantly that she is in the sixth grade and that it's hopeless. When Lila was introduced in the episode "Ms. Perfect", Ruth was phased out and reduced to being seen as a background character

-Dino Spumoni was an aging crooner based on Dean Martin

-This program is considered unique in that the music is comprised mostly of instrumental jazz. The show's composer Jim Lang said that the music was inspired by jazz legends such as Kenny Burrell and Thelonious Monk

-Seasons 1-3 were created with traditional cels. Around Season 4, the animators had switched to digital ink and paint, resulting in a slightly different look

-Jamil Walker Smith, who voiced Gerald, was allowed to continue voicing his character, even as he hit puberty. In post-production, his voice was pitched up several levels to sound like a younger voice

-"Eugene the Jinx", a severely unlucky kid whose name was Eugene Horowitz, got his name from actor Michael Landon's actual birth name Eugene Orowitz

-In the episode "Curly Snaps / Pre-Teen Scream", PS 118's resident psychopath Curly locks himself in the principal's office with a bag of kickballs and says "I'm mad as heck, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" This is a tribute to the line "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" from the 1976 film Network

-Arnold's weird cousin Arnie came as a result from a joke people had made about the bad animation they had gotten from another studio

-Many of the stores in the city take their names from writers or directors of the show. Such as Viksten's Pharmacy

-During the first season, the boarding house is home to a mysterious character known only as "Mr. Smith." The creator said he moved out, which is why he was never referenced in later episodes

-Originally Ruth McDougal was meant to have dark blonde hair. But, because it too closely resembled Arnold's hair, it was modified to be more dark red, almost brown

-Arnold's school is PS 118. There is a real life PS 118. It's located in New York City. The one in the cartoon, however, is not a depiction of the actual school

-People think that Arnold is wearing a skirt under his shirt. It's actually a long sleeved plaid shirt with the tails hanging loose under a sweater

-Eugene Horowitz was inspired by Martin Short's character in the 1991 film Pure Luck. He's hopelessly optimistic, but always finding himself on the receiving end of bad luck

-In the beginning of Season 2, Arnold's teacher Miss Slovak was replaced by Mr. Simmons because the principal, known only as Principal Wartz, mentions that Miss Slovak has decided to play golf for a living

-One of Harold's frequent phrases, that he often directs at Helga, is "Madame fortress mommy!" He usually says it under his breath. Justin Shenkarow, who voices Harold, said it one day during a recording session. The show's creator Craig Bartlett asked what it meant and Justin didn't know. Everyone loved it so they kept writing it into the scripts

-Early in the show, the character Lila Sawyer appeared with red hair. Eventually, it was changed to brown hair

-While Lila appears to be sweet and kind, she does develop a slightly darker side. She starts dating Arnold's cousin Arnie in front of Arnold. Fans of the show have considered her to be the most unlikeable character, along with Iggy