'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 16: Arnold's Thanksgiving

Arnold’s Thanksgiving

With holiday specials, this show has worked wonders. They've been heartwarming character studies, explorations of different relationships, and crazy occurrences based on real life events.  This Thanksgiving special may not be as impressive as the others, but it’s still really great as a commentary that holidays, no matter what good they stand for, can be rather stressful.  It’s a harsh yet honest theme for a story. 

Arnold and Helga both lament Thanksgiving coming and their yearly family traditions.  Arnold’s family follows Grandma’s holiday delusions, in this case acting like Thanksgiving is the Fourth of July.  While it’s somewhat easy to feel for Arnold being left out of Thanksgiving’s customs, his problems aren’t all that compelling.  He’s usually accepting of his odd yet charming lifestyle, so him dreading how his family celebrates Thanksgiving this much doesn’t feel right.  Grandpa even says that celebrating Thanksgiving as the Fourth of July makes their traditions unique.  You’d think Arnold would realize that on his own. 

Now, Helga’s problems are far more sympathetic.  Tying into her usual neglect from her family, Helga is continuously annoyed by her parents’ habits as they prepare for and celebrate Thanksgiving. Among many issues is everyone praising what Olga does for the dinner while ignoring what she does.  They don’t even seem to care for Thanksgiving’s meaning.  This issue comes to a head while the Patakis say what they’re thankful for before dinner, and Helga, fed up with the torment, admits she’s thankful for nothing.  The incredibly harsh thing about this is that she’s denied dinner because of this which hugely shows how bad the life Helga lives is and how misguided her family is on Thanksgiving.  No one should HAVE to be thankful for something. They should be thankful if they really mean it, and given how Helga’s family approached the subject, they really have no right to judge Helga not being thankful. 

The bright spot out of these bad Thanksgivings is how it gets Arnold and Helga to bond.  They let down their spite towards each other and use their problems to connect, act civil, and work together to find a better Thanksgiving.  It’s truly a highly pleasing moment that sells their appeal as a pairing.  When they head to what they feel is the best place for a great Thanksgiving, Mr. Simmons’ place, the message on how holidays aren’t always as nice as what they stand for is made clear.  Inspiring the play of a wholesome Thanksgiving gathering at the start of the special, Mr. Simmons’ family are extremely hostile to each other. They don't care about being thankful at all, and just eat a lot and pick fights.  The people inspiring such a sweet scene are much worse than anyone Arnold or Helga have come across, yet it’s endearing of Mr. Simmons to still put up with them for the holiday.  It also makes for a solid concluding point that for all their families’ problems, Arnold and Helga realize some people have it worse, and they to go back to their old Thanksgivings.  When they do, there’s a lot of heart from Helga’s family showing genuine appreciation for her being safe and with them. Also, Arnold and the boarders reach a compromise of combining both Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. 

This shows that holiday meanings may not always be felt, but they’re still there for others to think about, and when they do, the results practically make the day.  For that, this is another holiday special from this show you got to make a part of your traditions. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Cool Party
4. Grandpa’s Birthday
5. Crabby Author
6. Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
7. Road Trip
8. Helga Vs. Big Patty
9. Arnold’s Thanksgiving
10. Hey Harold!
11. Curly Snaps
12. The Aptitude Test
13. Pre-Teen Scream
14. The Pig War
15. Olga Gets Engaged
16. Oskar Gets a Job
17. Arnold and Lila
18. Phoebe Takes the Fall
19. Best Man
20. Career Day
21. Gerald’s Tonsils
22. Grand Prix
23. Rich Kid
24. Dangerous Lumber
25. Casa Paradiso
26. Arnold’s Room
27. Helga and the Nanny
28. Roller Coaster
29. Stinky Goes Hollywood
30. Sid’s Revenge
31. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review is on an episode where both featured cartoons are not up to the show's high standards. One brings unfortunate implications that all girls bully for affection messing with the appeal of Helga's character in the process, and the other while shining for messages to follow when pursuing a career in the arts is bogged down by relentless animosity towards Arnold.

Enjoy your Fourth of July plans today, and tomorrow will have another event to celebrate in a Steven Universe review on "Steven's Birthday."

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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