50 Fun Facts About Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett was story editor on which of these shows for three years?

He also directed on The Ren & Stimpy Show before pitching Arnold in 1993.

In which fictional city is Hey Arnold! set?

Bartlett said the city was a blend of Seattle, where he grew up, Portland, where he went to art school, and Brooklyn.

What is the name of the boarding house where Arnold lives with his grandparents?

Its lodgers include Ernie Potts, Oskar Kokoshka and Mr. Hyunh.

How old is Arnold during the series?

He and his classmates are fourth-graders at P.S. 118.

What is Arnold's surname, hinted at in the series and confirmed in The Jungle Movie?

Grandpa Phil calls him 'Short Man' throughout the show, which turned out to be a literal clue.

Which of Arnold's classmates bullies him to hide the fact that she is in love with him?

She has built numerous shrines to him, including one made of chewed gum.

Who voiced Helga Pataki throughout the series?

She also returned for the feature-length finale film years later.

What number is on Gerald Johanssen's shirt?

Along with his tall Kid 'n Play-style hair, it is his most recognisable feature.

Arnold is often thought to wear a kilt. What garment actually hangs below his teal sweater?

His tiny hat covers only a fraction of his football-shaped head.

Which Simpsons voice actor played Grandpa Phil?

Grandma Gertie was voiced by Tress MacNeille, another Simpsons regular.

According to the episode 'Grandpa's Birthday', how old is Grandpa Phil?

He is a World War II veteran whose war stories are a running feature of the show.

Where did Craig Bartlett's clay-animated short 'Arnold Rides a Chair' air in 1991?

The first short, 'Arnold Escapes from Church', dates from 1988.

Craig Bartlett is the brother-in-law of which famous cartoonist?

Bartlett married Lisa Groening in 1987 and Arnold strips ran in Simpsons Illustrated.

Before Hey Arnold!, Bartlett animated clay segments for which live-action children's show?

He learned stop-motion at Will Vinton Studios in Portland before moving to Los Angeles.

Hey Arnold! was a Nickelodeon first for what casting decision?

Arnold himself was voiced by four different boys over the run as their voices broke.

How many different actors voiced Arnold over the original series?

Lane Toran, Phillip Van Dyke, Spencer Klein and Alex D. Linz took turns; Mason Vale Cotton voiced him in The Jungle Movie.

On what date did Hey Arnold! premiere on Nickelodeon?

A ten-minute pilot called 'Arnold' had been shown in cinemas that July before Harriet the Spy.

How many episodes did Hey Arnold! run for, across five seasons?

Most episodes were split into two segments, giving 185 stories in all.

What is the name of the school Arnold and his friends attend?

Its principal is the strict but open-hearted Principal Wartz.

Which character is a teenage boy who lives on his front steps and never leaves them?

His fear of leaving the stoop is the subject of a famous first-season episode.

What business does Helga's father, Big Bob Pataki, run?

Her mother Miriam struggles with alcohol and her sister Olga is the family's golden child.

Which classmate is described as the class jinx, forever suffering comic accidents?

Despite everything, he stays relentlessly optimistic.

Stinky Peterson's family originally comes from which U.S. state?

Tall, lanky and slow-talking, he is one of the most-quoted side characters.

What is the real first name of the class oddball known as Curly?

Curly Gammelthorpe is described in the show as the class sociopath.

In Hey Arnold's Christmas episode, Mr. Hyunh had asked a soldier to fly his daughter out of which country?

Her name is Mai, and the episode is often cited as one of the most moving in Nicktoons history.

What kind of animal is Arnold's pet Abner?

Abner was a wedding gift to Arnold's parents from the Green-Eyed People of San Lorenzo.

What is boarder Ernie Potts's job?

Short and hot-headed, he shares the house with the moocher Oskar Kokoshka.

Which sixth-grader was Arnold's first crush?

Lila, the farm girl from 'Pleasantville', became his later, more painful crush.

Crooner Dino Spumoni, a recurring character, was based on Frank Sinatra and which other singer?

The show's jazz-flavoured score by Jim Lang gave the whole city a lounge-era feel.

Chocolate Boy's nanny fed him chocolate before leaving for a 'far away land' called what?

The joke is that Delaware is neither far away nor exotic.

Which geeky girl in Arnold's class does not like violence and has the medical condition of giantism?

Nadine, by contrast, is a budding entomologist and Rhonda's best friend.

Who is Arnold's sensitive and caring teacher from the second season onward?

Fans later learned that Bartlett intended Simmons to be gay, a subtext the network never addressed on air.

The 2002 theatrical movie began life as a television special under what title?

Paramount decided to release it in cinemas after strong test screenings; it grossed about $15 million.

Which Goodfellas actor voiced the developer Scheck in Hey Arnold!: The Movie?

Jennifer Jason Leigh voiced the spy Bridget and Christopher Lloyd voiced the Coroner.

In the 2002 movie, the mysterious informant 'Deep Voice' who helps Arnold turns out to be whom?

She confesses her love to Arnold on a rooftop, then both agree to pretend it was 'the heat of the moment'.

In which year did Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie finally premiere?

Nickelodeon announced the revival in 2015 after years of fan campaigning; the premiere drew 1.63 million viewers.

In The Jungle Movie, Arnold's parents are found alive in San Lorenzo after nine years of what?

The villain Lasombra is hunting a treasure called La Corazón that belongs to the Green-Eyed People.

What did The Jungle Movie win at the Emmys?

It also holds a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, a sharp contrast with the 2002 movie's 29%.

Nickelodeon rejected a spinoff about a teenage Helga as 'too dark'. What was it to be called?

Bartlett has said the show would have been closer in tone to Daria than to Hey Arnold!.

Which two PBS Kids series did Craig Bartlett go on to create after Hey Arnold!?

Dinosaur Train was made with The Jim Henson Company.

Which fourth-grader was held back several years for poor maths and towers over his classmates?

Harold is also older than the rest, but Torvald is the giant of the class.

Who is the wheezing kid who is always lurking behind Helga and usually gets punched for it?

In The Jungle Movie he finally helps Helga rather than getting flattened.

The pilot short 'Arnold' was shown in cinemas in July 1996 before which Nickelodeon film?

It was Nickelodeon's first feature-length film, and the ten-minute pilot ran ahead of it.

Hillwood's ballpark, 'Quigley', is a nod to which real Chicago stadium?

Bartlett called the city an amalgam of Seattle, Portland and Brooklyn, with touches of Chicago.

Who voiced Arnold's grandmother Gertrude 'Pookie' Shortman?

Grandpa Phil was played by fellow Simpsons regular Dan Castellaneta.

Why was Gerald the one boy character never recast during the original series?

The change was written into the episode 'Gerald's Tonsils'.

Which country's film board banned Hey Arnold! in 2017 alongside The Loud House and Steven Universe?

The board claimed the shows were 'glorifying homosexual behavior'.

In the rejected spinoff The Patakis, Big Bob was to be modelled on which TV character?

MTV also passed on the show, saying it was too similar to Daria.

Who directed the 2002 theatrical film Hey Arnold!: The Movie?

Paramount took it to cinemas after strong test screenings, buoyed by the success of the Rugrats movies.

Which actor voiced the villain Lasombra in The Jungle Movie?

Nineteen original voice actors returned, while Mason Vale Cotton took over as Arnold.