The Strange Disappearance of Hey Arnold 

I’m making a movie and I need your help! Link to the Kickstarter is here: kck.st/30QHNvx BIG shoutout to Flamingosis for the outro track!

Arnold had one of the coolest bedrooms in children's television.

This show was surprisingly deep and plot/character driven for a kids show. Especially in 1996. The characters were essentially flawed and felt real, so we not only understood their dilemmas and successes and experiences, but many could relate to them. Like Arnold living with his grandparents. I lived with my grandma three points in my life. When I was 5. When I was 15. And when I was 19. Of course I miss her, so when I watch Hey Arnold I see that bond they have, Arnold and his grandparents. Because I had the same bond with my grandma. Out of all the Nick shows, it was my favorite. Edit: I honestly didn’t think my comment would gain much traction, but since it did I have to clarify something. In no way am I arguing that *Hey Arnold* is Nickelodeon’s greatest cartoon, but that its my personal favorite.

Reminder: Arnold failed to bring Mai back. The clerk didn’t want to work the holiday. It was Helga giving up her boots and pushing the man to pay it forward that brought her to the Boarding House. It was a much better moment because it showed Helga’s true character that she hides under her tough façade.

Hey Arnold was one of the greatest cartoons ever made. Mature, emotionally complex, and at times downright heart-wrenching, it was the best kind of children's program. Arnold's unwavering idealism and Helga's hilarious though touching inner conflict were traits that made the characters in the show feel so real. I just thought it was a pretty neat show when I watched it as a kid, but now as an adult I'm just absolutely floored by its depth. I'll always love Hey Arnold.

I'm in my 30s now and I recently rewatched every single episode of Hey Arnold, and the two films. It was great to appreciate them again on a whole new level.

Hey Arnold didn’t have crazy plot lines and wacky stories like the other shows of the era. What made it so special was that it was authentic. The characters were unique and multi-dimensional. They weren’t caricatures - they were people.

You should really look into the cancelled spin off show “The Patakis” which was supposed to be for a more mature audience and was supposed to air on Nick at Nite. The plot points Craig shared before cancellation seemed really interesting.

At least it didn’t become a franchise zombie like SpongeBob.

I miss Hey Arnold dearly. Remember when you couldn’t wait to get older, and become an adult? What a scam

hey arnold, as told by ginger, and doug! were my favorite cartoons growing up

Even in my late twenties, I still find myself coming back to this show to rewatch a few episodes.

This series really deserves a new season, all the themes, characters, music got me into this show and i adore it.

Fun fact: "Phoebe's Little Problem" wasn't even supposed to be the last episode; it was supposed to be "The Journal," which was supposed to lead into "The Jungle Movie." Craig Bartlett meant the former episode as kind of a challenge to Nickelodeon. That is, it was like, You're not really gonna cancel us after that cliffhanger, are you?" Since then, he's talked about creators needing to be responsible with stuff like that, because a lot of kids were disappointed when it didn't work out. I was impressed with that, because I'm used to shows that are more about profit doing things like ditching characters kids are attached to (Pokemon did a number on me when they replaced Misty). Oh, if you want a source for all this, it's Arun Mehta's interviews with Bartlett. Anyway! Hey Arnold! is my favorite show of all time, period. Which is funny, because, while I loved it as a kid, I wasn't as deeply into it then. When I went to rewatch the series before "The Jungle Movie" came out, I thought, I'll enjoy this, but not like when I was a kid. Haha! No, it became my new obsession. It's not that I didn't understand the broader themes as a kid, but there was a lot of nuance I missed. A lot of things about characters and relationships were subtlely implied rather than outright stated, through things like facial expression and tone of voice. And also just through backstory. Like, as a kid, I tended to think of Arnold as a goody-goody, but as an adult, it became apparent that he just has a deep sense of empathy, and relates a lot to people who feel alone - because of his situation with his parents, because he does have to take on adult responsibilities at a young age, and because most people aren't as empathetic as he is and don't understand his feelings. With Helga, I get the impression that she developed a loud personality because no one really listens to her or reflects her back at herself, so she has to tell herself who she is. She relies on writing and magic to express herself, because she can't talk about her feelings for Arnold, but she still needs some way to express them to give them form (not to mention, she also can't be honest with him, so she has to find some other way to try to connect). The two of them actually connect because they both feel alone and misunderstood, albeit in different ways, and the funny thing is, I get the impression that Arnold is more aware of how they actually connect despite (or, more likely, because of) the fact that Helga's the one who's so obsessed. Honestly, stuff like this goes over most adults' heads. Some of it's so subtle that I thought it was just me, and when I found out it was Word of God confirmed, I had to go back and try to figure out where I was getting my impressions from. Another thing I love about this show is how seriously it takes kids and their emotions. Like, I started experiencing intense romantic feelings in childhood, and Helga was the only character I knew of my own age who reflected that. And, although it's played for laughs a lot, it's also taken very seriously. As an adult, I just relate even more, because I'm more aware of both myself and what's being expressed there. I don't think I've ever seen obsession portrayed in such a nuanced way, especially in how, it's often both deeply meaningful and beautiful, and also awkward and weird and embarrassing. In a lot of kids' shows, kids' troubles are largely situational, and they can rely on adults to help them. Hey Arnold!, on the other hand, understands that kids' emotional lives are no less heavy and complex than adults', and that adults can be childish, too; in fact, they're often the source of kids' problems. It gets into the idea that kids and adults really aren't as different as we often think. I could probably write a whole book analyzing this show.

I'm from India, and I grew up watching this. It's funny how a cartoon like this can influence someone from the other side of the world speaking a different language cutting across cultures . The ambiance that it creates of New York makes me feel like visiting that city. It would remain the best cartoon in my life.

Every kid wanted his room and as adults, they still do to this day

This really just shows how poorly Nickelodeon has treated the creators of their best shows. Even now they are going against the wishes of the late Stephen Hillenburg (Spongebob’s creator) by making a spin-off of his show.

Nickelodeon missed a golden opportunity. That said, Craig Bartlett got the last laugh because the Jungle Movie was a massive hit.

I watch "Arnold's Christmas" every year at Christmas time because it's so moving and perfectly embodies the holiday spirit.

Hey Arnold truly was ahead of its time and one of the few western cartoons made to be actually enjoyable by both kids and adults and not just a kid friendly show that adults wouldn't be offended by. As an adult that can fully understand and appreciate the themes and concepts they were going for that you probably couldn't as a kid, rewatching it as an adult is almost like a completely different show. The creators really did respect the audiences intelligence. Also, as a kid with family troubles, I can relate to Helga so much even if her problems were completely different from mine.

This show should also be on netflix

I wish you had mentioned that the movie Bartlett put his heart and soul into was supposed to follow up the series ending, where Arnold would finally find his parents. I was also in a Facebook group dedicated to getting Nick to green light the jungle movie and it had a petition with around 10,000 signatures and members sent countless e-mails to Nick urging them make it. Bartlett himself even acknowledged the group at some point or other. It was pretty cool that he never gave up on making that movie, he wanted to make a spin off about Helgas family as well.

Kids everywhere knew about Hey Arnold and connected with the show and it’s sad to see it just go out like that

I come from a very small town on South America, so 99% of people I interact with looks exactly like me; same race, same background, same culture. So when I saw Hey Arnold as a kid, it showed me so much more about the world, so many different races, different religions, different backgrounds, but every single character was developed and had deepness, they were not a stereotype, they were people and they all lived together teaching each other about who they are.

My family moved to Germany in 1997 when I was about ten years old and I basically learned the language by watching Hey Arnold on Nickelodeon. Even disregarding all the nostalgia, it still holds up. It has heart without being sentimental and it respects the sensitivities of a child without treating them like idiots.

Even after all these years Arnold reuniting Mr. Wynn & his daughter for Christmas has to be one of the most beautiful & thoughtful pieces of animation out there intended for children; Arnold is everybodys hero!

Man, I'm in love with all these '90s cartoons, especially Nickelodeon ones. But Hey Arnold is something different, even by these standards. Quite possibly the best cartoon ever made.

Hey Arnold is one of my favorite shows ever. It means a lot to me. I'm from Brazil - and the show gave me this almost surreal sense of what New York is like. I've never been there, but I imagine that, if someday I end up going, the city will have dark blue skies, a cool breeze and jazz as a background sound. Great video, my dude! Cheers

Arnold stuck me as the type of kid I could imagine wanting to become a social worker or psychologist or something, because he's that type of person who likes getting involved in other people's lives and helping them solve their problems.

I remember I got back into Hey Arnold as a teen over a bored spring break. It struck me as a teen that it, like many other shows on Nick I loved as a kid, very rarely had finales like sitcoms or adult drama shows. They just seemed to have stopped making new ones, creating a sense that the world they lived in never ended. I would read that Nick thought this gave a sense that it never really did end, and make watching reruns for kids more digestible. But reading the wikipedia entries on all these shows as a teen, I saw that they really _did_ end, and not with a bang, but just suddenly and with no fanfare whatsoever. Kinda gave me a weird existential crisis feeling. Glad the 2nd Hey Arnold movie finally got made. But I definitely see how it was supposed to be made with more money and for theatres rather than the other one.

Hey Arnold is so important in my life... I watched this show basically since the day I was born and even now, in my 20s is still teaching me stuff, thank you Arnold

The fact that I was able to relate so dearly to a shows “villain ” helga shows how deep this show was because no character was inherently good or bad. I will show this to my kids someday

This show gave me a fear of fire escapes because every time someone tried to climb one, it would come crashing down.

I think what I love about these popular slice of life animated shows, like this, Recess, and more recently, Craig of the Creek, is that there is always a character in it that kids growing up with the show can relate to. Whether it be the main character, their best friend, or one of the other kids that gets their own spotlight episode. Hey Arnold was especially good about this because everyone seemed to come from a different kind of home with different family dynamics. And we see the effect of those families in how the kids act at school. Anyways, great video. Love Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold felt like a cool sophisticated cartoon to me as a kid

I’ve been rewatching this show on Hulu and damn, it’s still so good!! Honestly I find myself almost crying in a lot of the episodes, alongside lots of laughing! Also the theme song SLAPS

Now need a sequel to this video “The strange disappearance of the “strange disappearance of Hey Arnold” video”

Hey Arnold is one of those shows that had very deep messeges and lessons that everyone, even kids could learn from it. And they weren't even in your face either, they actually made the characters grow and become better people through out the series.

Just seeing part of that scene of Mr. Hyunh and his daughter brought tears to my eyes. Just a suggestion, but would you mind putting credits for the songs you use in the end of the video, during the video, or preferably in the description? I love the music you use and would love to be able to find it.

I watch episodes from time to time in bed before sleeping to help me relax, sometimes I just listen to the voices and the music of the show and fall asleep, such a relaxing vibe

I discovered this show as a grown man, and what struck me about is how every single secondary character on the program had full and complete personality. It truly was one of the best shows of any kind from the 1990s. I remember watching the episode where we found out what happened to Arnold's parents, and breaking down and crying---a grown man in his 30s---at the site of little Arnold wanting his mom and dad after they had died. And then watching that same cartoon face burst into a smile when Grandma tried to distract him by playing bucking bronco. Just a brilliant, moving piece of art.

I like how this video is in 4:3 just like Hey Arnold was back in the 90's

Funny you mentioned Jim Lang's music and how this show introduced a younger generation of smooth Jazz. I feel Jim Lang has left an indellable mark in my musical tastes to this day, and he's partially why lo-fi jazz/hip-hop has emerged as a popular genera of music today.

I hope they don't bring it back. I just watched the whole series and the jungle movie and it's perfect. The closure you seek is in the jungle movie, but rewatch the show first.

Because cities don’t exist like this anymore, it’s all rich people who don’t like their hometowns

Helga is one of my all time favourite characters ever.

Nick did Hey Arnold so wrong! This show will always be a part of my childhood; I remember when it first aired and from then on, I was hooked 💚

And this kids is why Craig Bartlett is now creating shows for PBS Kids.

Hey Arnold: It's a shirt.

Hey Arnold will always be the best cartoon ever to be aired in my opinion, the memories of waking up and watching the new episodes have a special place in my heart. This show also taught me great life lessons. Thank You Arnold.

This show is a classic and offered me guidance in character when it was not present from siblings , friends or parents, this show was way more then just a cartoon in my opinion

That episode effected me. I'm 33 now, I think that was the first time TV effected me emotionally. I cried for the first time due to media. The world got alot bigger for me that day.

Hey man love the channel and the content you put out. By any chance, have you considered making a video showing how children’s shows have changed over the past 10-20 or so years? Just from my perspective, the shows on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, etc. seemed a fair bit more mature and less cringey than the ones nowadays. The ones I’ve caught lately just seem much more dumbed down and lack the same substance/complexity that they had a decade or so ago. (Not saying they were all super complex, but they seemed to be more so in the early 2000’s than they are now). Could just be my personal preference from growing up with those other shows, but I’d love to watch an in-depth breakdown by you, and see an objective opinion on it. Anyways, keep up the great content!

Hey Arnold makes my heart smile, cry, laugh. It depicts real kids and grown-ups alike. It shows a family doesn't have to consist of a father, mother and kid/s. He was brought up by his 'crazy', funny, unique, loving grandparents... and grew up to be a boy with a kind heart. The kids here made fun and good move in their youthful life...I miss Hey Arnold. For me, the greatest cartoon ever!!!

This was one of my favorite tv shows ever. Watching this show back then truly made my day, made me happy and had something special to look forward to. Those memories will stay with me forever

At this point in time Hey Arnold is the most underrated cartoon of all time. I hundred percent would take hey Arnold over avatar

This show was sooooooo good. I rewatched it at 30 years of age and it’s still fantastic, if not better.

Nickelodeon's higher ups seem to mess with shows a lot.

Just absolutely stunning. So cool that this exists.

This show was one of my absolute favorites growing up, it just perfectly encapsulated being a kid on top of having a great sense of humor. My sister and I like to quote lines from the show to this very day.

I'm so glad they made a proper close to the series in 2017 with the Hey Arnold Jungle Movie

I'm a Vietnamese and I'm proud of this channel and this show. Nostalgia from the good old days

This honestly makes me angry for the creator. So much talent. But I’m glad that we can appreciate the work and talent even now

Man this show was way ahead of it’s time. The moral principles I learned from this show. What’s great is that it wasn’t always centered around Arnold. You got to learn about everyone’s particular background or internal conflict they were going through. On most episodes you saw how others viewed them or how they wanted to be seen by everyone else. A good example is when Rhonda was no longer rich anymore and actually started living in the boarding house. She went at ends length to do anything to still be perceived as rich or “popular.” In the end she realizes it is no longer the most important thing in the world. That’s just one of many examples.

Hey Arnold and Doug my 2 Favorite Cartoons ever......I’m in my 30s and I still watch those cartoons today lol

I still watch Hey Arnold and show all my students when we have time. This show is a masterpiece. There will never be a show like it again.

Clearly a very personal one for me. Ironically this is probably my favorite cartoon of all time. Probably the basis on what made me like shows from then on: things that were real. Good balance of genres but doesn't deviate from what is real life. Seriously loved this show!

Y’all I remember how shook I was the day I realized Arnold wasn’t wearing a skirt/kilt and it was actually a long flannel shirt

Goooosh when you showed the nick magazine with all the cartoons from my childhood, that kind of page architecture, the giant photos, star fox, an interview with the lady who wrote animorphs... For a moment, you transported me. Thank you.

Still one of my all time favorite shows. The nostalgia and warm feeling the show brings me can never be replaced by another.

Just the images from 4:15 are incredible...how many kids shows, or even any show, has the guts to put that on screen? Very powerful and just great imagery

Thanks for those two last words, once in a while we need to hear them: Keep Creating

The video is missing a mention about all the efforts that Hey Arnold fans did to get the second movie happen. Great video anyway.

This show taught me one of the greatest lessons in life: Don't eat raspberries. Gotta go!

I was pretty sick early this year and decided to watch Arnold cuz I found it by chance, freaking loved it and man, the nostalgia it gave. Finding out the jungle movie was a thing was freaking amazing

I never thought of it like that. Great shows like Samurai Jack, Hey Arnold, or Invader Zim are testaments to the fact that if it's good, then it can survive despite corporate goals. It just so happens all three of these shows ended up getting a follow up nearly two decades later or even getting a proper ending. People love what they love, and they will keep it alive if it's good. Just got to trust that there are those out there who genuinely enjoy your creations.

Totally didn't start tearing up when you started talking about the Christmas episode. Nope. Don't know what you're talking about. But god, I haven't watched it in _YEARS_ but I can still remember _so much_ beat for beat. I can even remember pieces of the _animation_ as they are.... It's easily one of the most powerful pieces of animation ever created.

It was the most deepest cartoon. We were so lucky to have it growing up. 💕

I.. actually really needed to hear that message at the end. I’ve wanted to work in film for so, so long. Any part of film, writing, directing, acting, editing, and so on, and I’ve always known it was a really difficult dream to achieve, and not a very realistic goal. But I still wanted to do it.. that is until recently when I realized that it’s not just getting into the industry, it’s being successful. You can be super talented at something, or suck at it, and end up without a job, or working on a flop either way. And that really dispirited me, despite thee fact I’ve always known it would be difficult but it lately seems like chance, whether your film is successful, whether people like it, whether you get funding.. and that was really hard on me honestly, but your message to just kind of keep trying, even if nothing comes of it made me think. Because sure, I could just give up and pursue something more realistic, or alternatively I could work my whole life at making something great and never get anywhere. But the fact is what if I do end up helping to make something great? Or even if I don’t, what if it becomes popular after I die, or has a small following like Hey Arnold? What if some small thing I worked on gets a video like this dedicated just to it one day? And the chance of that happening sort of gave me hope. It may not happen, I may never get into the industry but you helped remind me that that chance is still there, even if it’s small. So thanks 💜

The sound track of hey arnold is such a vibe and I love the atmosphere that the whole show gave. A lot of shows seem to be going back to that. Like Craig of the creek and amazing world of gumball.

The Strange Disappearance of The Strange Disappearance of Hey Arnold.

I still cry when I think about Mr Hyunh’s story in Arnold’s Christmas

There will never ever be another Hey Arnold... Yet the world needs this show now more than ever

Your final words of encouragement to all of us that are creators, that honestly meant so much to me, as someone in the midst of writing and audio drama, because you manage to hit on all of my fears and concerns, but thank you so much, those are words I needed to hear, and awesome perspective on the show hay Arnold in general. Again, thank you very much.

I had no idea they did this. I wasn't big on the show as a kid because it honestly depressed me seeing the Helga situation, but I like it now and I wish they'd give shows better treatment. Nick always seems to do this, either cutting something early or milking it until it's nothing like what made it good.

I thought last episode was about his parents diary

For anyone wanting to know what the re-upload changed, there was a big pause when the Korean guy was staring out the window and it would have made for a great sad lofi background

You explained all the reasons this was My favorite childhood cartoon.

This was well put together. I enjoyed it. I watched Hey Arnold as an adult with my daughter. It was a show we both enjoyed. I almost forgot about it.

"The future is now with future tech industries." The first Hey Arnold! Movie may not have been great but I watched that shit on repeat as a kid. It holds a special place in my heart, love this show

“The Strange Disappearance of Hey Arnold” I wanna know the strange disappearance of this video?

"Let's all hold hands here on the subway because we've been stuck in the dark for way too long"

Another good reminder to all potential creators, remember to keep your characters consistent with their choices and keep treating them with respect. That show could literally be the only thing keeping people going some days, the only thing keeping them alive. No matter how unimportant the show may seem to a creator or otherwise, it could be someone's sole reason to keep breathing, don't disrespect that viewer.

Living in Cleveland ohio, this show felt so REAL compared to other cartoons. From the kids, to the adults, to the settings. It felt soooo grounded

This makes me hate Nickelodeon even more.

Growing up in the 2000s, I look back and view most of my early years as the “2010s but still 1990s”, because as technology was beginning to rapidly develop I still owned a great collection of Thomas & Friends and VeggieTales VHS tapes. So when I watched Hey Arnold! in the early-mid 2010s, sure it was a cartoon made in the 90s made for 90s kids, but I could still relate to going to play w/ my friends and the other aspects that weren’t so old fashioned that the show provided. You can’t get that when trying to relate to kids turning 10 this year because of the rapid boom in technology, having everything at the simple tap of a finger. And this could or could not be the reason why kids today have shorter attention spans which could be why some or the majority can’t sit through a Hey Arnold! episode like they would for a Thundercats Roar or a TTG! episode but hey, they still might not take the risk of trying. My point being is that Hey Arnold! had a great reach in age demographic as well as generation gap, because if I could watch this show without taking my eyes off it, so could others around my age (interest in the show may vary but you get the point).

Let’s be honest, Cartoon Network has a diamond era, a golden era, and a bronze era, and sadly nick only has a golden era, a bronze era, and an era that’s only good show is spongebob

Fuck. As soon as you showed a slice of Christmas, a very pungently sad part in the depth of the trenches of my brain just WOKE UP Why, just why did you have to remind me of that episode

Man, this quarantine made me go back to watch my old favorite cartoons, and Hey Arnold is my top one. He taught me so many things, specially in music... it’s a shame Nickelodeon treated Arnold so bad but as my dad told me, companies don’t have a heart. I love Hey Arnold even after all these years, and my little siblings loved him too after I showed them this show. I’ll try to keep it alive showing old gems like this one to my siblings so they can show show other kids what a good cartoon really is, not the trash they’re making nowadays... (not all cartoons are bad, but man... some are really bad)

This is why I loved shows like Hey Arnold rugrats etc bc it takes place in a more realistic world with relatable stories today’s shows are stupid