Eugene's Birthday / Stinky's Pumpkin (Hey Arnold Season 4 Episode 1) - 'Toon Reviews 28

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I’m surprised by how long it’s been since I last talked about this show.  Well, now it’s finally time I look into another season of it and see how well it keeps up its strengths four seasons in.

Hey Arnold (Season 4)

BASIC PREMISE

After reviewing three seasons worth of the classic Nickelodeon series, Hey Arnold, there isn’t much more I can add to it going into a review of the next season.  It’s a slice-of-life show that proves to be more than what it seems with how deep the characters and the everyday problems they face can be.  It’s truly a series that can appeal to all ages by simply relating to the audience watching.  That’s all the strengths of the show boil down to at this point, but that’s all I need to get really excited to bring it back to the review spotlight.  After all, this show was the very first one I talked about on this blog.

Through looking back at what I’ve discussed with the show so far, you can tell that I feel it remains very strong three seasons in.  That said, I know that it’s normal for shows to start losing steam as more seasons are produced since there’s really only so much that can be done with a series.  This is especially true for shows that don’t have a huge underlying story.  While Hey Arnold does have a few, one that took almost 15 years to convince Nickelodeon to complete, at its core, it’s a show open to any story idea.  The thing is when I look back on Season 4, as well as the final season that follows, I have plenty of positive memories.  The strongest of the batch in particular are among some of the best of the series.  Considering that we’re entering the home stretch with the series now, it’s just great that we’re at the point where I can share my thoughts on it.  It should be noted that this season is where the animation gets a big modernized bump noticeably going from traditionally drawn to being created through digital means.  For that, expect a major change in the overall look of the series.

Anyway, the big question is how good is Season 4 compared to what came before it?  That’s what we’ll cover with these reviews.  There’s nothing left to say except, move it Football Heads!

Now on with the reviews:

Eugene’s Birthday

To say the least, it’s interesting that we’re starting with a cartoon about Eugene.  Ever since the beginning, his thing was that so many bad things keep happening, yet he’s very cheerful and optimistic, usually to a fault.  Very rarely does this guy actually take in how badly life treats him which isn’t exactly healthy.  Adding insult to injury, Eugene’s bad luck doesn’t even let up for his birthday, though Eugene is not entirely at fault in this matter. 

As he cheerfully explains his party plans to Arnold, the usual string of mishaps on him convince Arnold to mail the invitations.  Bumping into the mailman causes Arnold to mix up the invitations with a stack of completely unrelated letters. As a result, none of the other kids are able to work around their schedules and come.  As for the actual party, excruciating detail is shown how much of a bust it is with sparse presents, drooping decorations, cake gone bad, and ice cream melted.  In his usual oblivious manner, Eugene says nothing about how disappointing the affair is and even calls him the luckiest kid in the world.  This may be true compared to poor suffering people out there, but since the party could have easily turned out better, this is kind of sad. 

Arnold realizes this too, and since his thing is to always help people, he vows to throw Eugene a newer better party.  However, his second attempt is a big bust too when he plans the party at one place appealing to Eugene’s interests while the others go to one at a place to fit their interests.  This is an even more disappointing bust since it was outside ignorance that ruined things. 

Then, Arnold’s friendliness works against him as he apologizes immensely not just for the parties, but also the other bad things that happened to him throughout the series.  Eugene has the nerve to conclude that his mishaps happening around Arnold technically makes Arnold the jinx.  Arnold may have been around for the mishaps he recounts, but this claim just makes Eugene ignorant of how much Arnold tries to help and stick up for him. On an interesting note, Arnold gets greatly annoyed at being called a jinx, and though he vows to throw another makeup party, he does so very tensely.  It’s not all the time you see characters aggressively say they’re going to do something nice for someone. 

Throwing another party is just what Arnold does with safety precautions all around.  However, the jinx label starts applying to Arnold more as it starts raining specifically on the party and everyone gets impatient while waiting for Eugene.  Speaking of him, Eugene is at first firm about not going to the party and that Arnold’s a jinx, but he thankfully realizes his friend’s efforts and shows up anyway.  At first, it seems like the party’s a strong payoff with everyone there, the sun and a rainbow coming out, and Eugene getting a nice scooter as a gift.  Then the good of the affair is dashed when water falls on Eugene, the cake is ruined and everyone leaves in disgust.  For a birthday cartoon, it’s quite depressing that all parties don’t go as planned.  At least, Eugene is reasonably happy for the great gift he got, and while Arnold’s seen as a jinx here, his status as the reliable friend he is still persists for much of the show anyway. 

This is a story that can go either way as a sad watch of someone going crazy over doing something thoughtful or an interesting take on the concept of everyone’s special day.

B+

 Stinky’s Pumpkin

I’ve often said that Stinky is not one of the strongest characters in the cast.  He’s given conflicts of self-consciousness every now and then, but they mostly come off as average and are far less compelling than other stories.  It says a lot when his dialect is more memorable than his personality.  I’m not one to put down cartoons just because of the characters featured though.  What really matters is what’s done with them.  With this cartoon about Stinky, his self-esteem issues are at their most interesting thanks to the story they unfold in. 

It starts the way most stories on the subjects do with Stinky lamenting about how he can never get anything right and has no special talents.  Making this instance stand out is revealed background on Stinky’s family.  Apparently all the males are also named Stinky, and as confusing as this sounds, they’re all able to roll with it.  There’s also a little backstory of the family where the family used to be farmers from the country, but hard times led them to move to the city where nothing could grow.  It could be argued that this background could apply to any family from the country, but it does make Stinky slightly more interesting and gives depth to his anxieties. 

Then with the coming of spring, the class hears about a vegetable growing contest with prizes for the largest one.  Arnold convinces Stinky to enter, but of course he’s too hesitant.  However, there are subtle signs that in his own mind, Stinky does have an interest in at least trying.  The biggest one is a dream of his more desolate than average yard and has a humorous talk with an easily-agitated God about how all he has to do to grow vegetables is plant seeds. 

Going off his own dream, Stinky sets out to plant what he can in spite of all opposition, mostly from his family.  He reads up on all the steps it takes to start a garden and how to plot soil, and his efforts clearly show.  Eventually, even his father acts supportive of Stinky’s attempts to grow something in the garden.  He still thinks he’s a fool for trying, but is totally accepting of his son’s thoughts.  He even provides Stinky with the proper tools for the garden and actual seeds to plant.  Stinky’s efforts soon lead to one small leaf, but of course, there’s lots of room to keep building upon what he has to get something even better.  That’s just what Stinky does as he stays by his plant’s side through all kinds of extreme weather “all in the same dang week.” 

He apparently gives it the right amount of the essential elements allowing the seeds to grow into one huge pumpkin.  It’s still a challenge for him to move it to the contest, but the resolution makes good use of an earlier scene of Ernie and his wrecking ball.  At the contest, Stinky surprises everyone with his talent for planting and easily wins first prize.  For all the genuine hard work he put in, this is where it’s the easiest to care for how Stinky has overcome his self-esteem challenges.  It’s just too bad that his starring roles before and after this one don’t come close to how interesting and compelling this one is.  Also, while it’s implied at the end that the pumpkin rots away after Stinky makes it into a clubhouse, it’s disappointing that the pumpkin is never brought up again. 

While Stinky cartoons literally never get better than this, I give this one credit for being one of a kind.

A

The Ranking

1. Stinky’s Pumpkin
2. Eugene’s Birthday

The next Hey Arnold review has Helga act sophisticated for a dinner date with Arnold, and Phoebe deals with 6th grade jerks after a transfer.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, check out the "Ducky Horror Picture Show" from DuckTales.

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