Review: Hey Arnold! The Movie

Hey Arnold! The Movie is a feature length adaptation of the popular animated TV show Hey Arnold. Written and produced by Craig Bartlett, it was released on the big screen in June 2002. Here, you will find out all that you need to know about the movie.

History of Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold debuted on Nickelodeon in October 1996 and ran for five seasons up until June 2004. The series follows the events of Arnold, a fourth grade schoolboy with a head of the size of a basketball. Arnold lives with his grandparents in the fictional town of Hillwood and spends his days, helping classmates in overcoming problems or finding ways out of his own predicaments.
Urban legends A running theme of the show, and a factor that made it so popular, are the urban legends told by Arnold's friend Gerald. These generally featured exaggerated themes such as superheroes and monsters.

The movie

Hey Arnold! The Movie sees Arnold make his big screen debut along with the shows' favourite characters: friends Helga and Gerald and grandparents Grandpa 'Steely' Phil and Grandma 'Gertie' Pookie.
Mission
When the friends hear about the evil plan of businessman Scheck to bulldoze Hillwood and build a fancy shopping mall, they decide that something must be done. Not impressed by the adults' idea of blowing up the neighbourhood streets, Arnold, Gerald and Helga hatch a more intelligent mission. They discover that Hillwood is a historical landmark and set out to prove the facts before Scheck's men commence the destruction. The movie features the voices of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Lloyd and Dan Castellaneta.

Critical reception

Although, the TV series received great critical reception, the big screen version of Hey Arnold! is seen somewhat of a failure. The movie currently holds a score of 5.3 on the Internet Movie Database and a poor Rotten Tomatoes rating of only 30% (23 Fresh against 54 Rotten votes).
The movie's storyline Whereas the series is admired for its entertaining high jinx events and witty stories squeezed into 30 minute slots, the critics feel that the movie's storyline lacks a certain degree of imagination and drags on. Nevertheless, a sequel, Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie, has been penned although, with no official release date.