It's one of the quintessential '90s Nick toons. It taught us about unrequited love,
the horrors of war and the courage to finally leave your stoop.
That's right. My name is Tim and today on Channel Frederator we're counting down 107 facts about "Hey Arnold".
Let's get started.
Hey Arnold! premiered on October 7, 1996. That was almost twenty years ago! Way to make
a '90s kid feel old.
The series was created by Craig Bartlett who
previously served as a writer on Rugrats.
Bartlett has since gone on to create a children’s
animated series titled "Dinosaur Train". (Is that anything like "Snakes on a Plane"?
That sounds awesome!)
Bartlett originally intended to become a painter,
but became interested in animation during a trip to Italy.
Which confuses me because I always thought of Italy as a place of great painters.
Bartlett’s inspiration for Hey Arnold! came
from a minor character he created while he was working on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.
The character’s name was, of course, Arnold.
Bartlett and five other writers from the Rugrats were teamed up by Nickelodeon to develop animation
projects. The team wasn’t really getting anywhere with executives, and Bartlett ended
up playing tapes of his previous Pee-wee’s Playhouse claymations to the higher ups. He
wanted to highlight the lead character, Penny, but executives zeroed in on Arnold instead.
The rest of the show’s cast is inspired by people he grew up with in Portland, Oregon.
Bartlett has said, “A lot of the characters are an amalgam of people I knew when I was
a kid. The girls in Hey Arnold! are girls that either liked or didn't like me when I was in school.”
Hey Arnold!’s pilot episode was created
in Bartlett’s living room back in 1994.
Official production of the series began in 1995.
Production of Hey Arnold! ended in May 2001.
The show finished airing three years later on June 8, 2004.
It's clear from the show that Arnold loves music. His favorite genre seems to be jazz,
but he also listens to funk, disco, country, and rock.
Hey Arnold! consists of 100 episodes and a
feature film titled Hey Arnold!: The Movie.
Bartlett has said that when developing Arnold,
the team “came up with a reluctant hero who keeps finding himself responsible for
something, making the right choices, doing the right thing.”
Craig Bartlett left Nickelodeon in 2004 after a contract dispute. Nickelodeon wanted Bartlett
in an exclusive contract that would keep him from working at other studios. Bartlett declined
because he was in the midst of working on a pilot for Cartoon Network.
Bartlett’s falling out with Nick led to the cancellation of Hey Arnold!
and Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
If you can’t get enough of Arnold, you can also find him in a trilogy of claymation shorts
from 1988 to 1991 titled Arnold Escapes from Church, The Arnold Waltz, and Arnold Rides
a Chair. One of them aired as a filler short on Sesame Street.
Arnold also appeared in an eight-minute short titled Arnold, which was shown in theaters
before Nickelodeon’s film Harriet the Spy.
Time for a family fact. Craig Bartlett’s brother-in-law
is none other than Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons! Bartlett is married
to Groening’s sister, Lisa.
This is why Arnold used to have a comic strip
in the magazine Simpsons Illustrated. The strips were drawn by Craig Bartlett himself.
Many voice actors for Hey Arnold! also performed roles on The Simpsons.
What will that get me?
Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
NOTHIN'!
In September 2015, Russell Hicks, the president of Nickelodeon, announced that the company
was thinking of rebooting some of its older series. Including Hey Arnold!
Craig Bartlett revealed that Arnold’s last name is Shortman.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU SHORTMAN? HAHAHAHAHA!"
According to the show’s creators, Arnold’s teacher Mr. Simmons is gay.
His voice actor, Dan Butler, is also openly
gay. Frasier fans may recognize Dan as Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe.
There’s no point in trying to guess what city Arnold lives in because it’s more than
just one. The city is a combination of Seattle, Brooklyn, and Portland.
It's just hipster towns you guys...
It can be deduced that the city is called
Hillwood, based on locations like the Hillwood Medical Center or Hillwood Zoo.
Hey Arnold! was the first Nicktoon series to use actual children as voice actors. The
kids in the show were voiced by other kids ranging from ages 9 to 15.
The series was going to end with three half-hour episodes, but those episodes ended up becoming
Hey Arnold!: The Movie.
Arnold has been voiced by three different actors over the course of the show.
In Season 1, he was voiced by Phillip Van Dyke. In Seasons 2 and 3, he was voiced by Spencer Klein.
And in Season 4 he was voiced by Alex D. Linz.
Due to the fact that he had the longest run as the character, and also because he voiced
Arnold in the film, Spencer Klein is the preferred Arnold of many fans.
The character Sid has been voiced by two people who happen to be brothers. Sam Gifaldi voiced
him for the majority of the series, but once, Sam’s brother Taylor took over for him.
The boarding house where Arnold lives is called the Sunset Arms Boarding House.
The sign outside the Sunset Arms Boarding House reads “No Children, Pets OK”.
The aforementioned sign is a recurring gag in the series and can be found in other episodes.
One notable occasion where it’s appeared is in the episode “Heat.” It’s at the
pool that Arnold and Gerald unsuccessfully try to visit.
Nocturnal Ned, or Nashville Ned, is the DJ who works at the radio station MJZZ. The character
is a caricature of the show’s creator, Craig Bartlett.
Craig Bartlett actually voices Ned, along
with several characters in Hey Arnold! including Brainy and Miles.
Mr. Green, the butcher, is inspired by Ernest Borgnine’s character Marty in the 1955 film
of the same name.
Arnold’s grandfather drives a Packard.
Packard was a real auto manufacturer that ceased producing cars in 1958.
Eugene Horowitz’s name comes from the birth name of Michael Landon, which is Eugene Orowitz.
In the Hey Arnold! episode “Arnold’s Halloween”,
Arnold and his friends fake an alien invasion. The location “Welles Ridge” is mentioned
in the episode, and is a reference to the iconic theater, film, and radio figure Orson
Welles. Welles once caused nationwide panic with a radio broadcast titled “War of the Worlds",
which unintentionally fooled listeners into thinking there was a real Martian invasion happening.
You have to remember that this was time before the internet.
Also in “Arnold’s Halloween”, Maurice LaMarche, the voice of Bob Pataki, voices
another character named Douglas Cain. When voicing Cain, LaMarche uses the same voice
he used when acting as Brain on Pinky and the Brain. His Brain voice was meant to be
a parody of Orson Welle’s speech pattern, which is perfect because Cain is based on Welles.
The G in Helga G. Pataki stands for Geraldine.
Craig Bartlett has confirmed that Helga’s middle name, Geraldine, was a tribute to former
Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Ladybourne.
Oskar Kokoschka’s name was taken from none other than Oskar Kokoschka! For those of you
who have no idea who that is, Kokoschka was a Viennese painter from the turn of the 20th
century. He and Hey Arnold!’s Oskar may share a name, but their personalities are
completely different.
Hey everyone, we're taking a quick break just to thank you for watching.
Remember, if you like 107 fact videos we air them every Tuesday and Thursday.
So coming up next Tuesday we have 107 facts about "Teen Titans" AND IT'S THE GOOD ONE!
And then on Thursday on Channel Frederator, we have 107 facts about the "Rugrats",
which is an awesome '90s cartoon and you should totally check it out if you haven't already.
Once again, thank you and now we will get back to the facts.
In the episode “Stinky Goes to Hollywood”, Stinky films most of his commercials at “Snee-Oosh
Studios”, which is the name of the actual studio that worked on Hey Arnold!
A good number of locations in the city are named after writers and directors on the show.
For example, Viksten’s Pharmacy is named after writer Steve Viksten.
In the episode “World Records”, there’s a record in Arnold’s book that was set by
Frannie Caudell. The first name comes from Francesca Smith, who was Helga’s voice actress,
and the last name comes from Toran Caudell, who was Arnold’s voice actor at the time.
Hey Arnold! is one of the most diverse Nicktoons of all time. In addition to Mr. Simmons being
gay, the show portrays characters from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, which is something
it continues to receive praise for.
In all its one hundred episodes and its one feature film, Hey Arnold! never got around
to revealing what really happened to Arnold’s parents. Their fate would likely have been
revealed in Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
Arnold’s mother Stella is voiced by Antoinette Stella.
Wonder where they got her name from…
Similarly, Vincent, the Pigeon Man, is voiced by Vincent Schiavelli.
The dancing instructor Carlos, from the episode “Summer Love”, is voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.
Phoebe’s father is played none other than George Takei, who you may recognize as Sulu
from Star Trek: The Original Series. Resist your urge to say "Oh MY".
Phoebe’s fencing skills most likely come from her father’s side. Sulu from Star Trek
was also great at the sport.
Another voice actor related gag appears in the episode,
“Mr. Hyunh Goes Country.” When Arnold hears Mr. Hyunh sing, he declares
that Mr. Hyunh “sounded like a professional!” That’s because he was a professional.
Mr. Hyunh’s singing voice was provided by renowned country singer Randy Travis, who has garnered
six Grammy awards.
Hey Arnold! consists of 187 total segments.
Each episode is generally two segments, but some were made of just one longer segment.
Steve Viksten, who we mentioned previously, wrote an entire third of the show’s segments!
During its run, Hey Arnold! competed with the likes of Recess and Doug.
Doug was a Nickelodeon series prior to it's acquisition by Disney.
Personally, I prefer Pigeon Man to Quail Man.
Speaking of Pigeon Man, the original ending to the episode “Pigeon Man” was a little more morbid.
Instead of being flown off by birds into the sunset, Vincent would have jumped off a building and committed
suicide. Unsurprisingly, network executives didn’t like this ending and its message
of hopelessness, so it was changed.
According to Craig Bartlett, the character of Lana Vail was originally going to have
a larger role in the series. The boarding house resident would have had a crush on Arnold,
making the nine year old a bit uncomfortable. Of course, Nickelodeon wasn’t too keen on
this awkward relationship and turned down the concept.
Writers attempted to retool Lana after the rejection, but were unsuccessful. This is
why she doesn’t really appear much after Season 1.
The episode “Parents Day” was held back from airing in the U.S. for three whole years.
Craig Bartlett has said that Eugene is "kind of 'proto-gay,' so he's uncomfortable getting
together with any girl."
Eugene has been played by four different actors
over the course of the show.
Ben Diskin, Eugene’s voice actor from Season
2 to Season 4, is best known for playing Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 2 in Codename: Kids Next Door.
Helga’s voice actress, Francesca Smith, also voiced Campfire Lass, Sheena, and Stinky’s girlfriend Gloria.
Helga seems to be a fan of Nancy Spumoni’s clothing line. Nancy Spumoni is loosely based on the real fashion brand Roxy.
When the show began, beepers were still in style,
which explains why the Pataki’s could live off of them. By the time Hey Arnold!
was ending, however, the technology had largely been replaced by cell phones.
"Aagh! Mother scratcher!"
Jamie O, Gerald’s older brother, was originally voiced by Ben Aaron Hoag. Hoag was later replaced
by Phil LaMarr.
Curly also underwent multiple voice swaps.
Interestingly enough, his second voice actor, Adam Wylie, was replaced and reinstated on
two separate occasions.
At one point, Curly was being portrayed by Haley Joel Osment. You may know him as the
kid from the Sixth Sense. Or as Sora from the Kingdom Hearts!
The episode “Arnold Betrays Iggy” is a
much despised one, by fans, critics, and Craig Bartlett himself. Bartlett hates it so much,
he tried to remove it from the show’s airing rotation, which is why it’s rarely played.
Bartlett was so angry at the writers and directors
for “Arnold Betrays Iggy” that he made them publicly apologize for making it.
Another thing to come from “Arnold Betrays Iggy” was Iggy’s reduced screen time.
Bartlett made sure the character never had a major role in any following episodes.
Hey Arnold! takes place in the Pacific Northwest in what is likely Washington state. In addition
to other hints, like mentionings of the Skookumchuck River and Ivar’s Restaurant, there is “Welcome
to Washington State” sign in the episode “Road Trip.”
Craig Bartlett has said that Arnold’s cousin Arnie “was a joke about when we get really
ugly animation back from the studio.”
Craig Bartlett has said in an interview that Lila has a repressed dark side.
It's always the nice ones.
The Patakis was a planned spin-off of Hey Arnold! that would have aired on Nick at Nite.
The series would have centered around the life of a teenage Helga Pataki. Craig Bartlett
wrote a pilot script with Michelle Lamoreaux in 2000, but it was rejected by Nick for being “too dark.”
The Patakis was also offered to MTV, but they
also declined it due to its similarities to Daria.
Craig Bartlett has given bits of information on The Patakis that give a glimpse into the
future of the Hey Arnold! kids. Most everyone is still around, but Arnold has moved away.
Helga and Arnold would have dated, gone through stormy times, and broken up. They would still
keep in touch, though. And Helga would still be in love with the football head.
And still, presumably, punching the lights out of anyone who hears her confess.
Big Bob’s beeper business would have become a cell phone business.
Miriam would be working at a TV station, and would be attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
It's hinted in Hey Arnold! that Miriam is an alcoholic.
She’s often seen making smoothies and is emotionally attached to her blender.
She frequently passes out on the couch, and slurs her speech. It’s also mentioned in
an episode that she’s had her license taken away. Likely because it’s been suspended
for a DUI.
Mr. Smith, the most mysterious tenant of the boarding house, is never mentioned after the
first season. Craig Bartlett has said that it’s because he moved out.
Mr. Smith’s name is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1941 film, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”.
Mr. Hyunh’s last name is Vietnamese.
Its true spelling should be “Huynh”, but it is intentionally misspelled in the series.
Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie wasn’t the only film cancelled by Nickelodeon around
the same time. The network also pulled the plug on “Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: The Movie”,
“Ren & Stimpy: The Movie”, “Jimmy Neutron: The Search for Carl”, “Pelswick: The Movie”,
“Invader Dib”, “Catscratch: Saving Waffle”, and “Doug: The Movie”. “Doug: The Movie”
ended up being made with the title “Doug’s 1st Movie” once the property switched hands to Disney.
The character Mr. Purdy was named after Hey Arnold writer
Joseph Purdy, who also voiced the character. He’s only in the series once,
and Craig Bartlett confirmed that he moved out of the boarding house.
I'm starting to get the imprssion that "Moved out of the boarding house" means something else...
"Mr Purdy... I'm here for the rent."
"Oh, uh, Arnold! I, uh, didn't hear you come in!"
Gerald was voiced by Jamil Walker Smith, whose voice was digitally mastered to a higher pitch for the character.
As the series went on, Jamil Walker Smith
went through puberty, which led to the creation of the episode “Gerald’s Tonsils”. The
episode enabled Jamil Walker Smith to continue voicing the character by giving an in-show
explanation for the change in his voice.
Lila’s personality may come from Becky Thatcher,
a character from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain.
Similarly, her last name, Sawyer, may come from the same book’s titular character.
In her first four appearances, Lila’s hair was red. Afterwards, it was brown.
Lila’s not the only character to abruptly go brunette.
Helga’s father Bob has grey hair in the series, but brown hair in the film.
Helga’s father drives a large Hummer and a Lincoln Continental Mark V
with vanity license plates that say “BIG BOB”. The latter vehicle is his main ride
and the family car.
In one episode of the show, Helga states that Olga attends Bennington College. This is contradicted
by Olga’s report card, which says that she attends Wellington College. Both schools exist in real life.
Bennington College is a school in Vermont, and Wellington College is located in England.
Helga is allergic to strawberries. They give her hives.
Sheena has said that Helga has a gastrointestinal disorder. This is supported by a moment in
the episode “School Play”, when Helga’s mother asks her if she’s taken her constipation medicine.
Helga made a cameo in The Angry Beavers episode
“Dumbwaiters”. A mask of her face is shown by the beavers alongside other “scary masks”.
Over the course of the series, Helga has broken into the boarding house seven times.
Based on the show and comments by Craig Bartlett, only four characters know about Helga’s
crush on Arnold. They are Dr. Bliss, Phoebe, Lila, and Brainy.
Helga’s birthday falls between the dates
of March 19 and March 31. She was born in the year 1987.
Arnold is the only character to have appeared in every episode of the series.
It may look like Arnold wears a kilt, but it’s actually just his untucked shirt hanging down.
Arnold and Helga both like tapioca pudding. Now that’s a match made in heaven.
Arnold’s favorite author is Agatha Caulfield, whose name is likely derived from the author
Agatha Christie and the character Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye.
Thanks for watching everyone! If I missed any really awesome "Hey Arnold!" facts, let me know below in the comments!
I wanna read them all because as much as I liked this show when I was little,
reading these facts taught me a lot more that I didn't know. So I bet there's more out there.
And remember, if you haven't downloaded the Channel Frederator app already, you can be entered to win amazing prizes just by doing so.
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