'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 12

Eating Contest

This cartoon fits into the category of Arnold doing a basic life activity, but like most cartoons of this kind, it makes its basic setup feel like so much more with the characters involved and the quality of the storytelling.  As the title implies, a food festival is coming which includes a contest where all contestants are challenged to eat large assortments of food.  These types of activities always astounded me growing up, though I’ve grown to realize that eating contests are good ways to make a fool of yourself especially since shoving piles of food into your mouth isn’t exactly healthy.  It’s one of those things best suited for animation.  Anyway, the appeal of the first part of the cartoon is how the contest presents a conflict for Arnold.  He writes it off as something ridiculous to even try and doesn’t even see the point of trying to win when he hears of the reigning champion, Seymour “The Disposal,” who can practically eat everything without trouble.  At the same time, he’s constantly told of how competing in the eating contest is the family legacy as shown in an adorable flashback of Grandpa impressing his father through winning the contest in his youth.  Basically, Arnold has good reasons to take part and to not take part.  Although his final decision to be in the contest anyway is a bit on the manipulative side involving Grandpa fake-napping, the following scenes of Arnold training are fairly entertaining anyway, especially considering that they involve Arnold needing to eat a lot.  The intensity is also appropriate when you consider what Arnold’s put himself up against.  Then everything seen in this cartoon comes down to the actual contest.  It’s a fast-paced breeze through different meals from tacos and kielbasa to more bizarre ones like peppers apparently stuffed with socks aided by the music and animation of everyone eating and dropping out in their own way.  Speaking of dropping out, each time a contestant loses the urge to keep eating, the stakes are higher for Arnold to win, especially with Seymour still feeling fine.  When they reach dessert though, Seymour finally makes himself full, and the moment of him passing out in the ice cream cake makes for a dramatic moment of the supposed unbeatable meeting his demise, though he’s most likely still alive....right?  As for Arnold, he wins it all with just one bite while feeling full himself.  Overall, everything the contest provides shows that it was worth the build-up and is full on memorable moments with so many feels mined from something as simple as Arnold and the contestants eating a lot.  It may be basic and not all that important, but the cartoon is executed as a helping you’ll never forget. 9/10

Rhonda’s Glasses

This cartoon is where Rhonda starts getting material completely devoted to her, and that’s great because she’s an interesting character to write for.  True, she does fall into an archetype that makes rich and popular people look bad coming off as vain and judgmental to anyone who isn’t in her status, but that poses as a strong basis for her to be taken down a peg and improve herself.  The opening scene here demonstrates this as she talks down to one girl for her appearance, particularly her glasses, and makes her sit in the back of the bus with other kids she deems geeks.  Then, Rhonda’s attitude gets the better of her when she ends up needing glasses herself.  As a result, she falls victim to all the judgmental practices she set up herself such as sitting in the back of the bus, grouping with the rest of the geeks, and being ridiculed from joining the other cool kids.  Although Rhonda did bring her hardships onto herself, it’s still easy to feel for her.  The taunting she receives from the kids for her glasses as well as other ways she messes up her appearance while trying to get by without her glasses really is no better than what she gave the geeks.  In fact, in some ways it’s harsher from the kids.  She never tries to redirect the taunting and is capable of understanding how hard the geeks have it since they’re excluded to good bus seats, good lunch tables and playground areas.  All the suffering she lives through and witnesses others live through are a major driving force to Rhonda realizing everything wrong with how kids are judged and excluded for their appearances and deserve equal treatment.  It shows that amidst her opinionated persona brought about by her rich status, she really does have a heart and is capable of learning acceptance.  This side of Rhonda’s is especially put to the test when she refuses to go to the back of the bus despite qualifying as a geek.  Once she makes her point of how being judged is wrong, everyone agrees that all kids should have a right to sit where they want, with Rhonda even letting the “geeks” sit in the front with her, further demonstrating her appeal despite her vanity.  One other major thing to note about what Rhonda goes through is how well it ties into the real-world issue of prejudice.  While some might not be aware, people are constantly being judged not just for their appearance, but also race, religion, and sexuality among other things.  It’s only oppressed members who are brave enough to take a stand to push for equal rights throughout history that stands a chance.  Material like this cartoon serves as a strong reminder for anyone dealing with prejudice today to keep fighting the good fight, and that’s why it’s so amazing.  Sure, Rhonda’s glasses themselves don’t appear again, which strongly hints that she went on to get contacts, but that hardly matters given how inspirational it is by itself.  It’s a great first starring role for Rhonda, and its relatability to anyone suffering prejudice out there make it one of this show’s most powerful entries. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Rhonda’s Glasses
2. Harold’s Kitty
3. Helga’s Love Potion
4. Monkey Business
5. Eugene’s Pet
6. Freeze Frame
7. Steely Phil
8. Gerald’s Secret
9. Save the Tree
10. Phoebe Cheats
11. Gerald Moves Out
12. New Teacher
13. Eating Contest
14. Mudbowl
15. Quantity Time
16. Ms. Perfect
17. Big Caesar
18. Ransom
19. The Big Scoop
20. Best Friends
21. The High Life
22. Hooky
23. Arnold Saves Sid
24. Longest Monday

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode when "Eugene Goes Bad" after seeing what goes on behind the scenes, and the show takes a creative and musical turn in "What's Opera Arnold?"

If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.