Arnold (Hey Arnold!)

Infobox character
colour = lightblue
name = Arnold


caption = Arnold (left)
first = Downtown as Fruits
last = The Journal
cause =
nickname = Arnie
Short man
Football-head
alias =
gender = Male
age = 9 (beginning of series), 10 (end of series)
occupation = Student
title =
family = Miles (father)
Stella (mother)
Grandpa
Grandma
children =
relatives =
episode =
portrayer = J.D Daniels (Pilot Episode)
Toran Caudell (1996-1997)
Phillip Van Dyke (1997-1999)
Spencer Klein (1999-2002)
Alex D. Linz (2002)
creator = Craig Bartlett

Arnold is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series "Hey Arnold!". His head is shaped like an American football, thus earning him the nickname "Football-Head". Throughout the series' run, he was voiced by at least five different voice actors: J.D Daniels (who did his voice in the pilot), Toran Caudell, Phillip Van Dyke, Spencer Klein (who did his voice in the ), and Alex D. Linz (who did his voice in the last two episodes of the series).

Personality

Arnold is a dreamer and an idealist who always tries to see the best in people and to do the right thing. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, Arnold goes out of his way to help them out, even if it is not sensible to do so (an example being when he tried to protect some of his classmates, who had mooned the school principal). Arnold often acts as the stable center to those around him, whether he is around his "family" in his grandparents' (Dan Castellaneta and Tress MacNeille) boarding house The Sunset Arms, or around his friends at his school, P.S. 118. According to the "Parents Day" and "The Journal" episodes, Arnold's parents, anthropologist Miles and biologist/physician Stella, were doing missions in the Guatemalan jungle when they disappeared.

He has a love for music, particularly jazz. He is seen in one episode discussing with his friends various sound systems, owning himself, an advanced sound system. He also taught himself to play harmonica and has played it a few times throughout Seasons 1 and 2. His room contains interesting technology such as a remote control that controls everything in his room and a collapsible couch. His entire ceiling comprises several skylights as well.

Relationships

Arnold has had two major crushes in the series: sixth-grader Ruth McDougal (through most of season 1), and with a classmate named Lila Sawyer (who was introduced in season 2). His crush with Ruth ended in "Arnold's Valentine" when after going on a date with her, he decided that she was not really interesting and came to realize he never knew much about her himself, and his crush on Lila ended when she didn't approve of him stopping his hanging out with his best friend Gerald's younger sister, Timberly in "Timberly Loves Arnold".

Arnold's most catalytic relationship is with his classmate Helga Pataki. Unbeknown to Arnold, Helga is secretly in love with him, though to keep these feelings secret she verbally abuses Arnold so he will never come to that conclusion. As such, Arnold has a more or less, tolerant feeling towards Helga. He states throughout the series that even though she acts bad she really is a good person. Good examples of this are shown in 'Married', near the end of Arnold's dream when he confronts Helga, and 'Patty vs. Helga' whereby Arnold explains to Patty that the reason Helga is mean is that she's insecure of her own feeling hoping she won't beat Helga up.

In the movie AD3 on the series, Arnold finds out that Deep Voice, a stranger who helps Gerald and him throughout the movie, is actually Helga. Helga tells Arnold of her feelings for him and she kisses him. Later on at the end of the movie the two of them agree it was all just in the 'heat of the moment'.

According to series creator Craig Bartlett, had the canceled "Jungle Adventure" sequel been animated, Arnold would have returned Helga's feelings with a kiss of his own, with his best friend interrupting the moment. The two would have also dated prior to the proposed, but ultimately aborted MTV spin-off The Patakis, where they would have broken up, though they were to remain friends, with Helga sending Arnold letters of her life in a new location. Considering "The Patakis" was canceled, it remains unclear whenever or not this development remains canonical.

Arnold's best friend is Gerald Johansen, whose relationship dates as far back as pre-school. The pair have a distinct handshake consisting of putting two thumbs-up fists together and wiggling the thumbs back and forth.

History

Arnold was originally created in 1986 by Craig Bartlett, who was also responsible for the clay-animated "Penny" shorts on CBS's "Pee Wee's Playhouse". The original Arnold was visualized as a kid with a vivid imagination, who always wore a prep-school uniform (though he attended public school) and a cap, and was rendered in clay in a series of shorts, one of them televised in the 1990s on "Sesame Street", and continued to air there, even after the Nick version debuted.

In 1991, the "Hey Arnold" comic stories, written and drawn by Bartlett (who's also a comic book artist), were published in "Simpsons Illustrated" magazine (Bartlett is the brother-in-law of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons).

The familiar, cel-animated Arnold came about in the mid-1990s when Nick picked up the new series. Apart from the animation style, Nick's Arnold now wears a sweater, with his plaid shirt untucked (resembling a kilt). Only Arnold's beloved cap remained from the original wardrobe.

Last name

Arnold's last name has never been revealed on the show. With the exception of a few secondary characters (including Sid and Brainy), the only other notable characters whose surnames are unknown are Arnold's grandparents. They presumably have the same last name as Arnold, since in "Parents Day" and "The Journal" it is revealed they are his father's parents. The mystery surrounding Arnold's full name became a running gag on the show, by the last name almost being revealed, then someone or something interrupting or otherwise preventing it from being heard (much like the recipe for the Krabby Patty on "SpongeBob SquarePants", Malcom's last name on "Malcolm in the Middle", Timmy Turner's parents' first names on "The Fairly OddParents", the location of the "secret spot" on "Rocket Power", and the state Springfield is in on "The Simpsons"). Some notable occasions when the name is almost revealed include:
* In a commercial for the show that aired in the early part of the show's run, Arnold talks to the viewer to straighten out some facts about himself (such as the revelation that his notable red outerwear is a shirt, not a skirt). He ends with, "And yes, I do have a last name. It's..." at which point the screen becomes "snowy" and the sound cuts off, because the camera's batteries runs out.
* In the episode "Fighting Families" Arnold wins the school's raffle drawing for the chance to be on the game show "Fighting Families". The lady doing the drawing announces, "The winner is Arnold...hmm, there seems to be a smudge over the last name." Here it is revealed that Arnold is the only one in the school with this first name, thus making his surname somewhat unnecessary.
* A similar instance to the one above occurs in "Eugene, Eugene!", where Tim Curry's character is casting the school kids for an upcoming play, and says, "I can't read my own handwriting", when he's casting Arnold as the villain. However, that scene did at least reveal Lila's last name (Sawyer, as mentioned above).
* In one episode, "Crush on Teacher", in which Helga does one of her many passionate monologues about her love for Arnold, she says that she would one day like to become "Mrs. Arnold...wait, what is his last name?", revealing that she is just as clueless as the viewer.
* In the episode "The Journal" Phil is reading the part of Miles's journal that recounts his and Stella's wedding. He gets to the part when they are pronounced "Mr. and Mrs...." at which point Grandma interrupts with a loud belch.
* In the episode "Married" Helga dreams that she is married to Arnold, and that she is the president. In her opening speech, she introduces Arnold as "Arnold Pataki."Series creator Craig Bartlett had been planning to finally reveal his last name in a second feature film for the series, which would also deal with his search to find his parents. Craig mentioned in a subsequent online chat: "I had an idea for the Jungle Movie (how Bartlett refers to the planned film), in the opening scene, a man comes to the door of the boarding house, and Arnold signs his name. Right, that's how you find out." However, problems between Bartlett and Nickelodeon, as well as the low gross of the first film, led to the cancellation of this second film.

In 2006 in an online chat with "Hey Arnold!" fans, Bartlett revealed that Arnold's grandpa used his last name throughout the series, almost confirming that Arnold's last name is "Shortman". (a transcript of this chat can be found here http://heyarnold.twotoasts.de/media/Craig/Chat-06-10-07.pdf)
* In some episodes other characters can be seen referring to Arnold as Shortman (In the beginning of Arnold Visits Arnie, Helga is telling the other characters their positions in a game of baseball she is quoted saying " Looks like you're on Shortstop, Shortman"