'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 18: Helga's Show/The Flood

Helga’s Show

Everyone has different tastes in entertainment.  Certain things that are hilarious to some people may do nothing good for others, but to me, the right thing to do is try and understand why a style of entertainment can be funny even if you don’t always agree with it.  For that, I admire that this cartoon portrays this very theme. 

There’s an after-school lounge called the Coco Hut in which the students of PS 118 gather to perform comedy acts for all the attendees, and Helga has her own style of comedy by doing impressions of various people she knows.  As someone who enjoys hearing, as well as doing, impressions of real-life people and TV characters, I personally enjoy Helga’s act.  However, while some enjoy their own impressions or don’t get that they’re the ones being impersonated, the rest of the kids Helga impersonates take offense for how her act capitalizes on their primary habits like Harold’s cries for his mommy, Rhonda’s sense of fashion, and Stinky’s newly revealed love for lemon pudding.  They proceed to ignore Helga, feeling hurt by her act and see no appeal in her style of comedy at all which seems believable to anyone who doesn’t agree with certain entertainment styles. 

In a pleasing turn of events, Helga, who normally would use brute force to get others to see her point of view, feels bad that some of her friends don’t get her style of entertainment so much so that she’s led to confide these feelings to her best friend.  Through doing so, she discusses her own reasons for why her comedy came out as it did, claiming that if the kids can laugh at the impressions of others, they can laugh at their own which makes sense and shows how she felt it could work.  However, Helga’s flexible enough to see how her style of comedy wouldn’t work when the kids she wronged deal with their hurt feelings by doing impressions of Helga, and she sees their point. 

What follows is a rare moment where she shows consideration for kids other than Arnold by attempting to do another act to celebrate what’s good about her friends through a poem even if she doesn’t see the comedic appeal.  That said, her feelings about how unfunny the whole thing is are justified when she goes on stage, performs the poem, and while no one’s hurt from the act, no one is moved by it either.  It’s at this moment where the kids, and to an extent Helga herself, discover the humor of watching someone impersonate their quirks after hearing an unenthused poem about how great they are.  Right then and there is the appeal of forms of entertainment they might not always agree with. 

Ultimately, the cartoon closes with Helga bouncing back from the funk and returns to her old impressions, including people she originally didn’t impersonate in full force giving the kids something truly funny especially since they can now laugh at themselves like Helga felt they would.  It does make you wonder if Helga truly learned anything through all this since she simply goes back to doing what she did in the beginning while everyone else has a change of heart, but other than that, this is highly enjoyable, especially for those who always feel the need for solid entertainment. 9/10

The Flood

Some of the best stories in my opinion are those that bring different people together during a bad situation which make for different ways of dealing with what happens.  This cartoon features one of those stories and the use of characters and moments that come from the situation make it as great as it is. 

The situation presented is one that’s hard to imagine happening everyday (depending on where you live of course), which makes what happens interesting.  Mr. Simmons’ class ends up stranded at PS 118 for the night due to a flood roaring outside all because he felt the need to keep them longer to teach them.  This is particularly concerning to the kids who just want to leave for spring break. 

From here, the cartoon shows everyone living through the flood providing a variety of experiences.  Most of the students act up for much of the ordeal with constant fighting and annoying each other.  This could make the kids unenjoyable, but since they were on the verge a whole week off from school and they probably would’ve beaten the flood if Mr. Simmons didn’t keep them longer, it’s at least believable that they’d be so stressed that they’d let it out the way they do. 

Also Mr. Simmons shows a great display of his strengths of trying to stay positive in a bad situation, but his positivity is his downfall against the angry students.  Even his attempts at being firm have no effect because he’s simply not good at acting in such a way, so when the flood gets worse with water flowing into the building, the tensions rise significantly enhanced by believable angst from the kids and desperation from the teacher. 

In the process, the intensity of the entire flood is lightened a bit by a few laughs.  The bickering from the kids has a fair share of humor, but strong laughs are also found elsewhere.  They include brief breaks from the fighting and annoying such as when Helga attempts to break out of school running into Principal Wartz in a strange dance getup which works for how random it is.  There’s also a subplot of Grandpa making a raft to rescue Arnold and his friends while Oskar schemes to make a quick buck out of the flood by charging rescues which includes many funny interactions with clashing personalities and senses of morality made more exciting as the flood gets worse. 

These many moments from the flood build up to an exciting climax when the kids, for all their rowdiness, show that they do have hearts when after breaking from Mr. Simmons, they fear for his safety when he’s gone for a long time.  They find him dangling on a broken ladder above the raging floodwaters while he was trying to signal for help.  It’s the sense of danger that gets the kids to work together to save their teacher.  The speed of them tossing him a weight to reel him in, the strain as they pull, and the basic intensity is perfectly felt and tie into the music and visuals of the moment especially when Helga falls in and needs to be rescued too.  Then everything in the scene ties into a relieving finish with both Helga and Mr. Simmons dragged to safety and everyone finally able to leave the school on Grandpa’s raft. 

As it stands, the whole flood experience is easily one of the best entries for the season with a wide range of moments being funny, relatable, and especially intense stemming from a natural disaster. 10/10

The Ranking

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

The next Hey Arnold review is on a full-length special covering the kids performing a school play of Romeo and Juliet.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the Steven Universe Season 2 finale "Log Date 7 15 2."

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.

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

'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 4

Ransom

Some of the best, and potentially strongest, bonds to portray in a film or TV show are family bonds, mainly because the people involved with them are those who are a part of you for life, so them finding a way to get along is what’s the most worth seeing from them.  However, siblings can get on each other’s nerves, especially when they’re very different, such is the case with Gerald and his younger sister, Timberly.  While he’s usually isolated from her to hang with his friends, Timberly is usually just what you’d expect from a cutesy little sister who also has a particular fascination for a TV show character called Wally, whose show honestly feels more like a commercial given his theme song just tells viewers to buy his toys.  Anyway, right at the start, it’s made clear that Timberly wants nothing more than to hang out with her brother, but Gerald doesn’t want anything to do with her.  On one hand, you can get Gerald’s feelings since Timberly is being a pest when he’s in the middle of something, but since there’s nothing really bad about her behavior, her feelings are understandable too.  This conflict is a significant force in the main plot which soon gets going when Timberly’s Wally doll goes missing with a ransom note in its place and Gerald and Arnold are roped into helping her find it.  The three are led into an entertaining detective case with a lot of interrogations with everyone they come across.  We have the debut of a kid called Chocolate Boy, serving as an interesting allegory for addicts, who talks when he’s fed malted milk balls, Harold being pushed to talk while he eats while also revealing he has his own Wally doll with an eye missing, and Curly getting out of his rather tense interrogation by revealing he does ballet.  These moments greatly display the appeal of these characters and are easily the highlight of the cartoon.  As for the resolution, when Gerald and Arnold feel that the only way to get Wally is to pay the ransom, they eventually discover that Timberly rigged the whole kidnapping so she could hang out with them.  While Gerald is unhappy that his sister lied this whole time, it’s nice that he understands the reasons for her actions which further showcases the appeal of sibling bonds.  It begs the question though that if Timberly lied about Wally being kidnapped, where did the doll go?  Plus, at the last minute we get a squabble that undermines the sibling bond only just witnessed, but it’s nothing compared to moments between Gerald and his other sibling who's older than him, but those are for looks at later seasons.  Overall though, despite its basic setup and little moments, this is a well put together and perfectly entertaining cartoon of sibling bonds. 9/10

Ms. Perfect

This cartoon is the introduction of a girl who would become one of the most prominent kids in the cast, Lila.  Right when she enters the main 4^th grade class, the cast, as well as the audience, gets a good taste of what she’s like.  She’s essentially every positive trait you can think of, being friendly with everyone, smart whenever there’s a question to be answered, knowledgeable on humorous anecdotes to share with everyone, and looking oh so adorable in appearance.  It’s no surprise why these qualities make Lila one of the most divisive characters to fans of this show.  A character with so much positivity with little to no flaws at all is not one most people can relate to making them feel unbelievable and at times grating especially with her constant usage of phrases like “ever so.”  For her debut appearance though, Lila seems to be utilized fairly well for this story.  Her unbelievably positive demeanor makes her seem perfect thus making other girls in the class like Helga, Phoebe, and Rhonda feel inferior and overshadowed, so they spend much of the cartoon going to incredibly harsh means to ruin her perfect image.  A lot of them backfire in hilarious ways, mostly leading to Helga getting beaten up by a student called Big Patty, but then they finally have a successful attempt that gets Lila covered in garbage.  When she refuses to come to school the next day and the other girls offer to bring over her homework, that’s when Lila’s appeal really shines through.  They discover that Lila lives in a poor part of the neighborhood with a decrepit house and little food, and her single father is struggling to get a job.  This sad background gives a whole new layer to Lila’s positive outlook.  It must be hard for her to remain this positive when her home conditions are so poor, and all she really wanted was to fit in and make friends, and because of the other girls’ cruel prank, she’s now without any hope to move forward.  One thing even better than this layer to Lila’s character is how this reveal genuinely gets the other girls to feel bad for how awful they were to Lila, especially shown through Helga giving an overdramatic speech about it.  They make amends with Lila just as her life slowly begins to turn around, and when she’s back at school, they all start accepting her perfect demeanor.  While this cartoon brings interesting background to Lila’s character, the background is unfortunately never developed further during the rest of the series with her enjoying her perfection for the sake of it, especially when Arnold (by the way, it's worth noting that this is the only cartoon in the series where he never speaks) gets involved.  So, for this being the only time Lila’s perfect persona is given depth, this cartoon is all the more exclusive. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Save the Tree
3. New Teacher
4. Ms. Perfect
5. Ransom
6. The Big Scoop
7. Hooky
8. Arnold Saves Sid

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Helga is put through a major emotional experience when she thinks she has a money-related disease in "Monkey Business" and Arnold and Gerald go fishing for the urban legend known as "Big Caesar."

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