'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 11: Phoebe Takes the Fall/The Pig War

Phoebe Takes the Fall

While many things in life bring on Helga’s mean behavior, one of the few things that show her good side is her friendship with Phoebe.  A few cartoons have shown that there’s some good heart between these characters.  Sure, there are times where Helga would take advantage of Phoebe’s generosity, but Helga plays her part in making this friend pairing work.  Whether it’s encouragement to keep going with something new, or comfort when things go wrong, there’s a clear genuineness between them which is especially great for someone like Helga.  This cartoon continues the trend. 

Phoebe’s intellect is a main subject when she and Helga end up competing against each other in a PS 118 Academic Bowl.  Because Phoebe answers the questions better than anyone else in the first round, she’s the student who will most likely win.  That’s when Helga taking advantage of her takes over when she begs her to take the fall in the next round secluded from everyone else.  Despite her restrained tone towards Phoebe as opposed to her usual aggressive authority she gives everyone else, you may think Helga’s being inconsiderate here.  Technically she is, but when it comes to winning competitions, she has a lot of pressure to do so since her home life consists of her parents giving more attention to her older sister for being so accomplished, so Helga’s actions are at least understandable.  Even then, the Academic Bowl is a competition that even Olga couldn’t win, so her parents don’t even pressure Helga into winning, so Helga’s less justified for asking Phoebe to blow the Academic Bowl for her in this regard.  However, it’s believable that Helga’s drive for generally one-upping her perfect sister would exist anyway. 

So, Phoebe’s will to please her friend’s wishes pulls through as she lets Helga win the Academic Bowl win the competition by having her answer a question she knew, and puts herself through intense quizzing sessions to help Helga prepare for the championship although she gets extremely tired.  This combined with Arnold pointing it out to Helga brings out what makes the friendship worth getting behind.  Although Helga has become prepared enough to win the competition, she does have genuine guilt about making Phoebe lose on purpose that grows following Arnold telling her about Phoebe’s exhaustion.  There’s even a surreal dream sequence where while answering questions in front of a grey audience and Arnold suddenly appears making Helga question if she really deserves to be there. 

In the present, while it takes until the night of the championship, it’s still nice that Helga decides that her best friend is more important than boosting her ego.  This makes for a great sequence of Phoebe giving a strong performance in the championship as Helga’s alternate, winning by answering the question that blew Olga’s chances of winning, and even Arnold giving Helga subtle praise for doing the right thing to make the moment happen.  It goes to show that the character relationships present bring out the best in who’s involved. 

It’s debatable how much tolerance you can give the catalysts of what happens, but everything still comes together as something good. 9/10

The Pig War

For any animated series, including slice of life shows like this, creative concepts are always welcome.  Animation is a where anyything can be drawn or planned out and all characters can fit the actions and emotions.  This cartoon is an example of this which also benefits from historical context. 

The historical event referenced is one most people probably don’t know in which the US and the UK were fighting over ownership of San Juan with a war breaking out after an American farmer killed a British pig who wandered into his garden.  The war brought in ships of larger armies, all over a pig mind you which resulted in the island becoming completely American owned.  That historical context is used point-for-point here except San Juan is replaced with the show’s own Elk Island, so this cartoon already gets interesting points for giving light to a not often discussed war. 

The strengths of animation come in when Grandpa announces that he signed up Arnold and his friends for a reenactment of the Pig War as well as Abner as the respective pig.  The kids in battle attire and stationing themselves on the site give a unique perspective to a reenactment of a war and are a special kind of engaging with a childlike feel.  Also captured well is the comedy of the banter between some of the characters especially Grandpa and his old British rival, Rex Smythe-Higgins, who are just as enjoyable arguing as they were in Rex’s first appearance. 

While the approach to the war reenactment is charming, it’s also impressive how there’s seriousness to the scenario with genuine worry about what this could mean for Arnold’s pet.  There’s something suspicious about Abner taking part in a reenactment of a war where a pig is killed, so it’s easy to believe something bad will happen to him even when Grandpa says that the pig will only get a little greased.  However, following a fast-paced, yet slightly sloppily animated, chase scene for Abner, the British capture him and take him back to their camp to roast him since the rules say that can be done with the pig.  It’s a bit concerning for how neglectful of the rules Grandpa was since he really should’ve paid more attention for the sake of his grandson’s pet.  At least it’s lightened by his clear regret and Arnold not holding a grudge as the gang sets out to rescue Abner. 

In their attempts, animation’s versatility is on display again. There’s a creative concept of the American team using a pig-themed Trojan Horse trick to get into the British team’s fort, humorous interactions between Rex and the kids on letting them in, and shots of an intricate device to roast Abner in use while a battle in which everyone is armed with water guns ensues.  There’s even a scene to show that not all in the opposing team is bad when Rex’s grandson, Rex Smythe-Higgins III, helps Arnold save his pet just in time giving the climax a lot of feels from laughs, to suspense, to surprise, to relief.  Everything ends with solid character-based comedy from Rex III explaining his betrayal to his grandfather and Grandpa trying to convince Arnold to do the reenactment again next year right into the credits. 

This leaves us with an interesting take on an interpretation of a lesser-known historic battle with creative and charming scenarios and humorous character interactions with enough room for suspense and heart. It’s one look at history you’ll never forget. 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. The Pig War
11. Olga Gets Engaged
12. Oskar Gets a Job
13. Phoebe Takes the Fall
14. Career Day
15. Gerald’s Tonsils
16. Rich Kid
17. Dangerous Lumber
18. Casa Paradiso
19. Arnold’s Room
20. Helga and the Nanny
21. Stinky Goes Hollywood
22. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review features the return of Coach Wittenberg and his wife Tish as they attempt to remarry, and you're invited to a geek party which accepts everyone in Arnold's neighborhood as opposed to Rhonda's cool party which only invites "cool" kids.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a look into a Voltron: Legendary Defender episode that introduces "The Blade of Marmora."

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'Toon Reviews 1: Hey Arnold Season 1 Episode 16

Abner Come Home

 

 

 

 

One of Arnold’s many unique aspects is that he has a pet pig.  However, as this cartoon shows, it’s one thing to have a certain animal for a pet that most people don’t, but it’s another to do something different with the animal from ones commonly kept as pets.  The thing about Arnold’s pet pig, Abner, is that he doesn’t seem to behave differently from other pets, namely dogs.  He begs and pants like a dog, enjoys playing fetch, and even has his own doggie door set up for him.  Basically, Abner may be a pig, but at heart, he’s no different from your average pet.  Still, the opening sequence of him and Arnold enjoying being together is very nice and it really demonstrates their strong bond which in turn gets you to feel for Arnold when Abner gets lost.  Then again, the way Abner gets lost is based around a pretty stupid move on the pig’s part.  Given that Abner behaves like a dog, he gets the urge to chase a cat in the middle of the night, resulting in him getting out of the boarding house and into the real world where he could easily be caught and made into food or a football.  All this because he felt that getting a cat was more important than his family.  This not only gives dogs a bad name, but it also builds the cartoon’s entire conflict on a dumb decision lowering the appeal.  Still, it’s got a lot of strong heartfelt parts throughout the duration.  Since the bond between Arnold and Abner has been established to be a strong one, there’s a genuine feel of despair and sympathy when Arnold realizes Abner is gone and is nowhere to be seen.  As more time is spent focusing on Arnold trying everything he can to find him akin to ways anyone would try to find a lost pet, it’s easy to get invested and hope he finds him.  There’s even a nice moment between Arnold and Grandpa where Arnold is given some nice strong advice on getting over his loss by remembering all the good times he had with Abner which inspires an admittedly clever idea to get Abner home involving creating a scent of his favorite things to follow.  Plus, Abner himself gets a nice moment of heart when he’s reminded of home after catching sight of one of Arnold’s “lost pig” signs.  These moments lead to a joyous conclusion where Abner finally follows the garbage scent back home and he and Arnold reunite while rolling around in garbage, which is an appropriate way of showing the happiness of them being back together with a touch of funny pig mannerisms.  This cartoon is pretty standard when it comes to lost pet plots, but it’s worth a watch for being told well and showing off why Abner coming home is worth hoping for. 8/10

The Sewer King

Here’s another cartoon that explores the out-of-the-ordinary yet highly creative and imaginative lives of the strange inhabitants of Arnold’s city, major emphasis on creative which is just what I like to see in an animated product.  The story gets off to a nice and simple start with Arnold being tasked by Grandpa to get a special pocket watch for him, which is a task he hardly entrusts to anyone.  After Arnold purchases the watch, the creative angle really starts to take effect.  It starts when Arnold and the kids come across a demolition team blowing a hole in the road, resulting in a long way down to the sewers of the city, which is something you certainly don’t come across every day.  Anyway, the watch falls down the hole into the depths of the sewer prompting Arnold and Gerald to venture down to try and retrieve it no matter what happens.  We’re treated to some impressive designs of the sewer which consists of pipe formations, waterfalls, and rats crawling throughout the darkness, all the makings of an adventure that takes you to places you could only imagine going to, in this case the sewers.  Then, we meet the titular Sewer King.  He has a rather interesting way of life, living in the sewers, having only rats for friends, and considers anything from the surface world his rats find to be a “royal icon.”  It’s because of these ways of life that the Sewer King doesn’t just give up the watch to Arnold and Gerald.  Then, of all things, the boys find that the only way to get the watch back is to beat the Sewer King in a game of chess.  Arnold does win every time, but the catch is that the Sewer King keeps making them play until he wins.  Eventually, Arnold catches on to the act and just up and grabs the watch from the Sewer King, resulting in an entertaining chase through the sewers culminating in an escape that reveals another interesting trait about the Sewer King.  He fears the light of the surface world, which could possibly be the reason why he lives the way he does.  So, our heroes escape with the watch that’s rightfully theirs.  Unfortunately, the story ends on way too strong of a downer note.  After all that trouble Arnold went through to get the watch, Grandpa accidentally drops it down the drain and it ends up back with the Sewer King making the plot of getting the watch back from him completely pointless.  Even more pointless is the plot of this cartoon in general as Grandpa later reveals a bunch of backup watches meaning there was really no reason for Arnold to do what he spent the entire cartoon doing.  Then, for his troubles, Grandpa gives him another task to do which really doesn’t seem appropriate.  Still, as much as a major downer the ending is, this is still a highly enjoyable cartoon for its creativity and likable characters. 9/10

The Rankings

1.      Pigeon Man

2.      Haunted Train

3.      Stoop Kid

4.      Arnold’s Hat

5.      Wheezin’ Ed

6.      Spelling Bee

7.      Helga’s Makeover

8.      Mugged

9.      Tutoring Torvald

10.  The Baseball

11.  Olga Comes Home

12.  The List

13.  Das Subway

14.  The Vacant Lot

15.  Downtown as Fruits

16.  The Old Building

17.  Field Trip

18.  The Sewer King

19.  Sally’s Comet

20.  Roughin’ It

21.  Gerald Comes Over

22.  6^th Grade Girls

23.  The Little Pink Book

24.  Abner Come Home

25.  Arnold as Cupid

26.  Snow

27.  Eugene’s Bike

28.  Door #16

29.  Heat

30.  Benchwarmer

31.  Operation Ruthless

32.  Cool Jerk

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the 17th episode of this season: "False Alarm/World Records."