Movie Review: Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie 11-24-17
I know I stated that I only review movies that were released in theaters, but this is important to me.
Before The Loud House, before Avatar: The Last Airbender, and before SpongeBob SquarePants, the most popular Nicktoon was Hey Arnold. It was about a football-headed kid named Arnold Shortman, who would go on many misadventures in the city of Hillwood. The series ran from October 1996 to June 2004. Many of the characters in the show included Gerald Johansen, Arnold's African-American best friend with Marge Simpson-like hair, Arnold's wisecracking grandparents Phil and Gertie, Eugene Horowitz, an optimistic kid who is secretly a jinx, and Harold Berman, a kid who seems like a bully, but is secretly a big softy. And then, there's Helga Pataki. She picks on and insults all the other kids in school, especially Arnold. However, she secretly has a crush on him.
In 1998, Nickelodeon gave series creator Craig Bartlett the permission to make two Arnold movies. In 2001, around the time Season 5 was almost complete, Bartlett and company engaged production on the first film, Arnold Saves The Neighborhood. This project was originally going to be direct-to-video, but because of the success of The Rugrats Move and Rugrats in Paris, the executives at Paramount Pictures decided to release Arnold Saves The Neighborhood in theaters, and rename the project Hey Arnold! The Movie. However, the film ended up being a box-office bomb, feeling more like an extended episode with the overused 'save the farm/city/studio' plot we have seen in movies like Herbie Rides Again, Home on the Range, The Muppets, and Sing. Also, releasing Hey Arnold! The Movie around the same time as Disney's Lilo & Stitch didn't help.
In November of that year, an hour-long episode of Hey Arnold, The Journey, aired on Nickelodeon, and gave some insight on what happened to Arnold's parents. The special was supposed to be a prequel to the next Arnold film, The Jungle Movie, but unfortunately, Craig Bartlett left Nickelodeon after the failure of the first Arnold film. However, fans were upset that there was going to be no 'Jungle Movie'. Some fans, using information from conversations with Craig Bartlett, wrote their own versions of The Jungle Movie as fanfics.
In September 2015, Nickelodeon officially announced that Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie was finally pulled out of development heck and put into production. Is this made-for-TV movie worth waiting for? Let's find out.
Arnold is upset that his parents have been missing for his whole life. When the local humanitarians host a special competition, the prize is a trip to San Lorenzo, which is also where his parents have been lost, Arnold struggles to film the best humanitarian video. With the secret help of Helga, Arnold's class manages to win the contest and go to San Lorenzo in Central America. However, La Sombra, a river pirate who captured Arnold's parents, wants to kidnap Arnold so La Sombra can find the city of the "Green-Eyed People".
Who would've thought of the day that a TV movie would be superior to most theatrical animated movies released this year? The characters have been kept in tact, the animation is actually theater quality, and the writing is full of nostalgia and great jokes from characters like Arnold's grandparents, Curly, and, my personal favorite, Harold. Want to know the best part? Olga, Helga's respected older sister, returns for this event!
Interesting to note, Nika Futterman, the voice of Olga Pataki, is also the voice of Luna Loud in The Loud House. She voices two Nicktoons sisters.
The movie also features one of the greatest Nicktoons villains since Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, in the form of La Sombra.
In conclusion, Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie is a treat for Hey Arnold fans everywhere, and deserves to win a local Emmy award.
Rating: Four stars out of five
If you are reading this Craig Bartlett or Joseph Purdy, I am sure that John Lasseter or Ed Catmull would love to hire you to work at either Pixar or Walt Disney Animation Studios.
No comments:
Post a Comment