Talkback - Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie

[Cartoonfan13]

I mean a simple (mostly) realistic slice of life show with (mostly) realistic characters in a realistic urban setting isn't something we've had before or since Hey Arnold. Its what made it stand out. It felt real, the characters and the situations they got into felt real. It was so easy to connect and identify with the characters and situations. Even the more fantastical episodes, like The Sewer King, are rooted in the traditions of urban legends that are present in everyone's life to some degree.

The Jungle Movie was the most fantastical Hey Arnold ever was, and the most it ever should be. If we do ever get a Season 6 it should just be more realistic urban slice of life stories. Anything beyond that would betray the spirit of the show.

Agreed.

 

[Light Lucario]

This was next on my list of movies/specials that I wanted to catch up on through Netflix, but I didn't realize that the movie came out nearly three years ago. I really took too long to watch it. Nickelodeon being terrible with how they handle their On Demand section and not having Comcast on their official website didnt' help matters either. I should have bought it off of iTunes instead, but I was just too cheap. Even if I'm super late to the party, I wanted to talk about The Jungle Movie.

I thought that this was really great. I liked how many original voice actors they got back for their roles and the new outfits were pretty neat too. Even though Helga having all of that footage of Arnold was pretty creepy, I liked how it allowed for them to showcase some of the minor/supporting cast in a more natural way, along with having nods to previous episodes. A class trip to San Lorenzo was a pretty cool setup. Right off the bat, it was pretty intense with Arnold and Gerald finding Eduardo's home in shambles. I had a bad feeling about the Eduardo that they first met. Telling Arnold to keep secrets from his friends felt like a pretty big red flag, but I didn't expect that he would be Lasombra instead.

Everyone being upset at Arnold initially for keeping secrets felt a bit much, if only because he was being manipulated just as much as they were, but Lasombra was phrasing it in a way to make everyone upset at Arnold instead of their kidnapper. Helga's anger was a bit more understandable considering her confession was ignored. I didn't expect her to throw away her locket, especially when she also confessed during the first movie. I really liked the scene where Arnold was alone and saying goodbye to his parents. It was a quick moment, but it showed that he was trying to deal with never finding his parents again and grieving for both them and that hope of being a family again. Despite being rejected, that moment was more than enough to make Helga want to help Arnold again. Brainy being the one to get Helga's locket back and being so happy when she kissed him out of gratitude was pretty sweet.

I was surprised with just how intense the movie got at points. Not only were there fights with some pretty dangerous criminals, but there were on screen deaths. Lasombra willingly killed off his own men and even he died a pretty gruesome death. It did fit with the high stakes in the movie, but it was just pretty unexpected, especially when the deaths were pretty brutal. In retrospect, I guess it was the only way to guarantee that Lasombra wouldn't go back to targeting the Green Eye people or chase after Arnold and his family, but I just didn't see it happening initially.

While the bulk of the focus was on Arnold, Helga, Gerald and to a lesser degree Phoebe, most of the other characters got a chance to shine or some funny moment at least, so that was pretty neat. I thought that Abner would play a bigger role besides somehow getting back to Grandpa and Grandma and tell them about what happened to Arnold. It was funny, but seeing such cartoon logic with this more serious plot was jarring. It was pretty hilarious how they actually managed to use beepers to send an SOS message to Helga and Olga's parents. The fight scene was pretty cool, but the bulk of the cast basically disappeared afterwards. It was understandable when they didn't have a map and Lasombra had a tracking device to find Arnold, but it was a bit disappointing, especially when Arnold's grandparents and Helga's parents didn't get to do anything after the fight scene.

I saw Helga using her locket to replace the heart coming, but it was still a thoughtful moment. She was willing to give up what meant so much to her and effectively showing her own heart to Arnold in order to help heal the Green Eye people. The visuals of the butterflies starting to move and the parents waking up were quite nice. I kept wondering how anyone in this civilization could survive when no one was around to take care of these children, but I also was over thinking when this seemed to be more of a magical disease than typical coma. I really liked Arnold rushing over to meet his parents and how they reacted to seeing him for the first time. It was a touching moment and the fact that fans have waited for years to see that reunion made it more satisfying too.

While I'm not sure if I was ever that into the Arnold and Helga pairing, I was pretty happy with how it was ultimately resolved. Even though Helga often tries to be mean, I think that Arnold had seen more signs of her true nature throughout the series to see that she is really a good person. She helped him immensely through their adventure to find the Green Eye people, so I think that made him realize that he felt the same about her. I think it also helped that Helga already confessed her feelings during the first movie and Helga was really not good at hiding her true feelings during this movie either. I was pretty happy with Gerald and Phoebe being a couple since I always thought that they had cute subtle moments indicating that they liked each other too. Helga still seemed to have her default anger reaction to Arnold when they were back to school, but it seemed pretty obvious that they were still in a relationship too.

I didn't think that they would just have everything be a dream, but it was cute how Arnold was so happy that his parents were back. I wish that we had seen Grandpa and Grandma's reactions to seeing them again though. They already lost their son and daughter-in-law for nearly a decade and they were worried about Arnold going to the same country. They were both used for comedy relief, so having them be serious for awhile made them stand out a bit more to me. It was rather cute that Arnold's parents wanted to walk him to school and were eager to wait for him outside.

Overall, this was a really great movie. It finally resolved the cliffhanger series finale in a satisfying way, gave most of the characters a chance to shine, had some funny moments, the adventure was surprisingly intense and gave way to the start of new relationships. This was the series finale we should have gotten years ago. I can better understand now as to why fans have wanted a season six since I do think that there is a bit of wiggle room for a continuation here. They can do more with Arnold's relationship with his parents, how they deal with living in the city after being gone for a decade, the romance between Arnold and Helga now that she isn't just pining away for him and the cast growing up. They were starting their sixth grade year by the end, so seeing what they'd do for the cast now that they're older would be interesting.

I'd love it because of how good the series was and how good this movie is, but I'm okay with ending it on this movie too. It's such a solid and satisfying series finale. There is room to do more with a continuation, but they were smart to not end on another cliffhanger. It's amazing that this movie was made after so many years and I love that they thanked fans for helping to make this movie possible too. That was a neat touch that made me appreciate the movie even more.