The title suggests that this
cartoon is about a magic show. However,
that’s just a small element to the real plot which is all about Helga and her
mean personality. It is true that it
makes sense for her to be so mean to the people around her due to her
neglectful parents, but it’s not surprising that her behavior gets people to
not like her. As a result, we get a
major display of mean behavior from Helga.
She completely neglects her father’s birthday, is rude to all the kids
in the audience of the magic show, including her best friend Phoebe, and when
she’s called to volunteer for the magic show’s disappearing act, she leaves the
act instead of coming out of the box to re-appear as part of a prank to get
people to miss her. Helga’s actions are
clearly despicable, but they do their part to prepare us for what Helga’s about
to go through, and they’re the traits we’ve come to expect from her. As for her prank, it leads to Helga walking
into a pole which leads to the outcome of that prank. As Helga observes the city, she realizes that
everyone’s noticed that she’s gone, but they don’t miss her. They’re happy that Arnold apparently made her
disappear and it appears that they’re lives are better without her
existing. Her parents are closer than
ever and use what used to be her room a place to carry out their creative
passions, Phoebe has a new much nicer friend, and Arnold has reached great success,
and has even hit it off with Ruth. As
mean as Helga was before she committed her “disappearing act” prank, this whole
part of the cartoon is pretty depressing for giving the idea that the world
would be better if Helga didn’t exist.
It could easily be interpreted by anyone watching that they themselves
make the world worse by just existing, and that’s something no one should ever
feel. That’s just a cruel message that
denies people of their potential value.
Thankfully, this cartoon has a few aspects that make it work. It’s not just Helga’s mean actions in the
beginning, but also the fact that everything she saw was in her head. With that in mind, this can be interpreted as
her realizing that maybe being mean isn’t the way to get around further showing
her depth as a character and not just a simple bully. She’s actually aware of the negative effects
of her edginess that can happen. It’s
only fitting that after this reveal, she goes on to show acts of kindness to
everyone in her life, yet she’s still unable to be nice to Arnold. That kind of shows that she hasn’t completely
learned from her dream which is a disappointment, but given that she still wants to
keep her crush a secret, it makes perfect sense sense. Still, this is a pretty strong cartoon for
everything it does for Helga’s character. 9.5/10
24
Hours to Live
Here’s a fun fact: this cartoon is
a reworked version of the original series pilot created in 1994, two years
before this show aired. BTW, check the
original pilot online when you get the chance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssbKhOODcaQ).
Its general idea is that Arnold gets into trouble when he accidentally
beans Harold with a baseball who had been taunting him constantly, and is
scheduled to face him in a fight in 24 hours.
This is a problem because Harold has built himself up to be such a tough
bully figure, and Arnold has little chance at surviving against him. This is a decent set-up for a story, and
Arnold’s fear of what he’s about to face is identifiable, especially if you
look at the situation from the point of view of a kid, since it’s a common occurrence
for them to deal with bullies. However,
the time leading up to Arnold’s confrontation with Harold is not all that
enjoyable mostly because of Helga constantly badgering Arnold about how much
time he has until he “dies” and no one, not even his grandparents, having
anything encouraging to say to him. It
just makes what Arnold is put through not very pleasing to watch not to mention
somewhat annoying on Helga’s part, which is a rare thing to say about her
antics. These points however are why the
cartoon really picks up when Arnold has a dream of when he fends off against
his enemies by acting crazy, showing that he does have a way of fighting back
against a bully. Then we get to the
highest point of the cartoon when Arnold finally faces Harold where he fights
back in the most unique way possible. He
breaks out into an energetic rock number where he declares “I’m Crazy.” It’s fast-paced, has a lot of fun visuals to
go with the lyrics, and it’s a cool way for Arnold to show off some
self-defense. In the end, Harold is
actually amused by how crazy Arnold acts, and that ultimately leads to them
becoming friends. It’s especially good
that the two of them are seen on good terms with each other for the rest of the
series. It also shows the great appeal
of Harold. While, as a bully, he doesn’t
have the same sad background as Helga, he’s one of the show’s most relatable
characters. Even though he acts like a bully with the taunting and pounding
threats, that side is just a cover to his true side as a friendly kid who’s
mostly a softie, which would explain his tendency to cry for his mommy. He’s like a kid who only acts mean to impress
other people, which we’ve all seen or been at least once in life. Overall, it may not be executed in the most
pleasing way, but this cartoon is still a nice look at a day in Arnold’s life,
and the fact that it was based on the original pilot makes it even more
interesting to check out. 8/10
The Rankings
1. Pigeon Man
2. Haunted Train
3. Stoop Kid
4. Arnold’s Hat
5. Wheezin’ Ed
6. Spelling Bee
7. Helga’s Makeover
8. Mugged
9. False Alarm
10. Magic Show
11. Tutoring Torvald
12. The Baseball
13. Olga Comes Home
14. The List
15. Das Subway
16. The Vacant Lot
17. Downtown as Fruits
18. The Old Building
19. Field Trip
20. The Sewer King
21. Sally’s Comet
22. Roughin’ It
23. Gerald Comes Over
24. 6th Grade Girls
25. The Little Pink Book
26. 24 Hours to Live
27. Abner Come Home
28. Arnold as Cupid
29. Snow
30. Eugene’s Bike
31. Door #16
32. Heat
33. Benchwarmer
34. Operation Ruthless
35. World Records
36. Cool Jerk
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the 19th episode of this season: "Part Time Friends/Biosquare."
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