Friday, October 27, 2017

'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 13


Eugene Goes Bad







It’s astounding how much this season has expanded on many of the supporting characters even going as far as giving cartoons to characters who never took the spotlight before.  This cartoon continues the trend of expanding on side characters by giving an interesting direction for a usually good-natured kid like Eugene to take.  At the start, he’s shown to be a huge fan of a TV show called The Abdicator and is very influenced by and admirable of the titular superhero, making it seem like he thinks the Abdicator is really real.  However, when he goes to see the shooting of an episode that takes place in the neighborhood, he’s abhorred to see that the Abdicator is just an immature, rude, and whiny Hollywood actor who can’t do his own stunts, nothing like he is on the show.  On one hand, it’s kind of silly for Eugene to be this deeply affected by this because everything he’s seen of the Abdicator was just part of a show that isn’t even real.  On the other hand, the way he reacts to the actor’s behavior really shows how much Eugene has valued his work and how he always looked up to the Abdicator to do good.  To see that the Abdicator is nothing like he appears to be is clearly not what he would want to discover.  Even if Eugene’s change of heart isn’t perfectly understandable, it makes enough sense.  Plus, the scenes of Eugene going bad offer an interesting change of pace.  We’re so used to seeing him being so positive and chipper even when constantly hurting himself, so seeing him go through life as a bad kid spices his scenes a lot, including one of him deliberately pulling the fire alarm without a probable cause, a twist to the events of Season 1’s “False Alarm.”  However, through being a bad kid, it becomes clear that Eugene really has become a reflection of the Abdicator, acting nice and happy while watching his show only to go bad after discovering that his hero is not what he seems.  The latter point is especially reflective of him when a random little kid who conveniently has always looked up to Eugene despite us never knowing him before this cartoon decides to go bad just like him.  However, as soon as the little kid goes bad by going out past his bedtime, the influential cycle is brought to an end where even in his bad streak, Eugene is far from heartless.  He rushes to action when he finds the little kid hanging from a fire escape in danger.  It’s here where the real Eugene shines again where he rushes to do right only to get in danger himself.  Then, it’s the Abdicator actor, who amazingly decides to better himself after Eugene’s rant and saves him and the kid deciding that everyone really does need a hero.  Ultimately, despite its questionable motives and plot conveniences that don’t affect much later on, this is a solid story of what it’s like to have idols and interesting new directions for the characters involved. 9/10


What’s Opera Arnold?










When it comes to entries in this series that break from the slice of life norm, this cartoon is really the only one of that kind.  As a result, it takes the time to put the characters in something creative and show off some impressive music and visuals in the process, and the final result is an amazing experience.  In terms of story, there’s not exactly much to it.  Arnold and his class go on a field trip to the opera, and Arnold and Helga daydream while listening to it.  The same can be said for the dreams themselves which involve both of them trying to impress their love interests which by the way show that Arnold still has some hots for Ruth McDougal even after learning she’s really not what she seems back in “Arnold’s Valentine.”  However, the lack of weight to the story doesn’t matter because, as is customary for the animation medium, it takes the barebones concept and mines it for many grand, creative, and memorable sequences.  A lot of the appeal of what goes on has to do with how well the opera concept is initialized in the dreams that take up the majority of the cartoon.  Largely revolving around the opera, Carmen, we have the kid cast of the show from the main players to the background characters populating the scenes of the show.  They revel in the opera environment by singing all their lines to the tune of famous pieces not just from Carmen, but also other famous operas like Pagliacci and Ride of the Valkyries.  Moments like these are easily the cartoon’s highlight with the kids’ vocal performances as well as the speed and timing of the animation on them matching the music pieces perfectly and getting across their emotional tone.  Some memorable ones include the sorrow of Harold dressed as a clown singing from Pagliacci when Arnold first finds himself in the opera dream, the fury of Helga as she rages at Arnold crushing on Ruth instead of her to Ride of the Valkyries, and the excitement when Curly appears to propose himself to Helga and later duel Arnold for her.  There’s also a charm to these operatic performances with the many visual cues on how all that’s happening is a stage production.  It’s felt through Arnold suddenly changing clothes to fit the Carmen scene, Ruth being thrown down a trap door to below stage giving Helga a chance to fill the leading lady role, the action stopping for Helga to don the Carmen costume, a shot of the actual orchestra at one point, and the scene and props coming down as the show, and Helga’s dream end.  All these elements of the opera dreams put together give the cartoon the status of a big event making it seem almost like a real opera and one to inspire you to look into operas.  In fact, the cartoon is so impressive in that regard that you wish that the show would step out of its comfort zone more often.  However, that just makes this amazing animated work truly special. 10/10
The Ranking
  1. What’s Opera Arnold?
  2. Rhonda’s Glasses
  3. Harold’s Kitty
  4. Helga’s Love Potion
  5. Monkey Business
  6. Eugene’s Pet
  7. Freeze Frame
  8. Steely Phil
  9. Gerald’s Secret
  10. Save the Tree
  11. Phoebe Cheats
  12. Gerald Moves Out
  13. New Teacher
  14. Eugene Goes Bad
  15. Eating Contest
  16. Mudbowl
  17. Quantity Time
  18. Ms. Perfect
  19. Big Caesar
  20. Ransom
  21. The Big Scoop
  22. Best Friends
  23. The High Life
  24. Hooky
  25. Arnold Saves Sid
  26. Longest Monday
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the last episode of the season, the creatively structured and truly frightening Halloween special, "Arnold's Halloween."
If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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