'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 9: Career Day/Hey Harold

Career Day

A show with a huge cast has the opportunity to give good development to any of them.  This cartoon, which has Arnold’s class join some of the adults to join them for their jobs for career day, fits the bill. 

For most kids, we only get short scenes of them working certain jobs chosen at random.  Some of them are fitting for their characters like Helga as a cop, while others are unusual like Gerald as a firefighter and to a larger extent, Phoebe working in demolition with Ernie.  However, they all adjust to working these careers very well.  Because this only takes up a small part of the cartoon, this isn’t where the character development is. 

These moments contrast how hard a time Arnold has with his assigned career, assistant to the neighborhood’s ice cream man, the Jolly Olly Man.  Before, the Jolly Olly Man has had little scenes of delivering ice cream, and being a totally rude cheapskate trying to raise his ice cream to unreasonable prices in his rare big roles.  Arnold states that the Jolly Olly Man hates kids and is on the brink of insanity.  It feels that way at first with much unpleasantness that comes from Arnold having to work with the Jolly Olly Man.  He forces Arnold to ride in the freezer, refuses to let him help with handing out ice cream, and takes the money from his customers, but rarely gives them the ice cream they want.  Basically, the Jolly Olly Man can really try your patience for how unbelievably unlikable he is all throughout. 

Even if his unlikable moments aren’t enjoyable, they work thanks to the direction the story takes that brings on his development.  For how harsh he is, the Jolly Olly Man is nothing compared to his boss.  He belittles him with harsh insults, threatens to terminate his only job if he doesn’t empty his freezer, and is continuously eying him just waiting for him to fail.  He’s not shown as much as the Jolly Olly Man, but the boss’ brief moments leave an impression far nastier than anything we’ve seen of the other guy.  If that’s not enough, the boss is actually the Jolly Olly Man’s dad, giving the impression that the ice cream man had an abusive childhood, a believable cause for his mean behavior.  That combined with being stuck with a job he doesn’t like flesh the Jolly Olly Man out not as a heartless monster, but as someone far more relatable.  He may hate his job, but knows he has to deal with it after being fired from over 50 jobs before.  It’s all that he has for income and he knows better than to let it go which is something I feel makes sense for most people when it comes to jobs, though normally with the first jobs they ever have. 

From here, with selling all the ice cream as a motivation, he starts coming around through accepting Arnold’s help.  It takes a while to grasp things, which include some slightly disturbing moments, but how well the Jolly Olly Man ends up because of Arnold’s teaching is truly impressive.  By the end of the day, he becomes much friendlier with his customers culminating with him happily giving away the rest of the ice cream to Arnold’s classmates and the people they worked with that day.  Him laughing maniacally when his dad reluctantly says he can keep his job does still give an unsettling vibe from his weak points, but it doesn’t indicate that he lost what he learned. 

As a result, this cartoon comes off as a relatable take on careers with a heck of a character to follow through it.  9/10

Hey Harold!

At this point, it’s clear that Harold has more depth than it may appear.  Whenever there’s a cartoon about him, chances are it’s going to be a high-tier work.  Such is the case with this cartoon that’s all about him going through a relatable phase of life, as well as get through it on his own. 

Nearly all of PS 118 is invited to a party said to include dancing, and Harold continuously shoots down the idea of dancing with a girl and even going to the party.  This starts us off with Harold’s immature and sensitive flaws with the idea constantly hammered in by Sid and Stinky, and even his parents.  Harold gives into the pressure and goes to the party, and while he doesn’t socialize at first, he meets someone who happens to be a lot like him. 

In a remarkable turn of events, this episode gives us another cartoon to develop Big Patty.  Just as before, she’s presented as a bully character with believable reasons for her behavior.  In fact, most are similar to the reasons why Harold is sometimes a bully.  They’re insecure about their appearances and intellects both on their own accord and from what others say, which makes them act out or isolate themselves.  They both find each other when they walk away from the party, and despite starting off rough, mostly fueled by Harold’s constant insistence on not dancing with a girl, they slowly warm up to each other after Harold proves that he can dance with a girl.  Then they bond as the night goes on talking about what they typically get up to in life, and even personal information, right down to doing so long after the party ends.  It may not feel like much, but just the simple moments of two social outcasts who look intimidating finding common ground and bonding over it naturally is impactful in its own right.  They’re shining moments for them to get past their own weaknesses and further prove that even if people have faults, they’re human beings getting through life when all is said and done, one of the most important things for people to learn. 

It’s after this when there’s a lot of discomfort.  Stinky and Sid never stop badgering Harold about the absurdity of hanging out with Big Patty while his parents are keen to rush his relationship with her.  After seeing a lot of them together, it’s impossible not to feel annoyed by how others feel about the idea of the pairing.  Sid and Stinky are especially problematic for how condescending they are about Big Patty.  It makes me wonder why he even considers them his friends.  Along with Stinky’s lack of interesting traits and Sid’s annoying obsessing, together they’re quite the detractor.  In the end, Harold makes up for their insensitivities when after thinking about it, he decides to make his true feelings clear by yelling at Stinky and Sid that he likes Big Patty and doesn’t care what they think.  Is it socially appropriate? No, but what he says still has truth to it, and him finally sitting with Big Patty at lunch is an adorable finish to his arc for the cartoon. 

It closes everything with a moment to sell the appeal of these social outcasts, reminding that at the end of the day, no one should pressure you into thinking a certain way.  As a reviewer, the latter message is especially meaningful, as should be the case with any aspiring reviewers out there. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Crabby Author
4. Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
5. Helga Vs. Big Patty
6. Hey Harold!
7. Curly Snaps
8. The Aptitude Test
9. Pre-Teen Scream
10. Olga Gets Engaged
11. Oskar Gets a Job
12. Career Day
13. Rich Kid
14. Dangerous Lumber
15. Arnold’s Room
16. Helga and the Nanny
17. Stinky Goes Hollywood
18. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review features the residents of Arnold's boarding house try to act as a family when Grandpa threatens to sell the place, and there's an interesting play on voice actors getting replaced when they hit puberty in a cartoon about Gerald getting his tonsils taken out.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, it's another galactic adventure of Voltron: Legendary Defender taking us to "The Ark of Taujeer."

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