'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 7: Dangerous Lumber/Mr. Hyunh Goes Country

Dangerous Lumber

Even if you’re not into sports, cartoons of this show on the subject can still be appealing, only using a featured sport as a backdrop for the a certain character's entertaining escapade.  That’s the case with this cartoon, and it does offer an interesting conflict for Arnold to get through, even if it has a few issues with execution. 

The featured sport is baseball and Arnold proves to be very good at it, getting a hit every time he goes up to bat.  Though this means he never strikes out, he also has a bad habit of hurting people every time he hits the ball.  This isn’t even an exaggeration, someone always gets hit with the ball every time Arnold is up to bat which is why the bat is called dangerous lumber whenever he uses it. 

Being a prominently good and moral kid, Arnold feels bad that he hurts someone every time he plays baseball, and he even considers stopping playing altogether.  It certainly doesn’t help that he still keeps hurting people in enclosed areas like a ball shooter facility and arcade baseball games.  It’s honestly sad to see Arnold being such a danger whenever he plays a sport he legitimately likes.  However, there's a big issue of the conflict.  Arnold may hit the ball in the direction of other people, but there’s absolutely no reason why they can’t just run out of the way from the ball.  Or better yet, since the outfielders are meant to try and catch the ball, maybe they’d avoid getting hit if they did that.  The blame shouldn’t all be on Arnold when everyone around him can easily look out for the ball and prevent the pain, but that rarely happens.  It kind of gets frustrating when they tell Arnold to stop hurting them even though this is out of his control and part of the problem is on their accord. 

Fortunately, the magnitude is softened when everyone acknowledges that Arnold’s problem really isn’t a big deal since he still hits the ball every time he’s up to bat. They also keep convincing him to play on account that the opposing team they’re up against consists of walking one-dimensional 5^th grade bully brute stereotypes, including Wolfgang, for their next game.  Understandably, Arnold is too moral and concerned for others’ well-being to play baseball again, and that keeps him likable and sympathetic.  We also get a nice play on the events of the Season 1 cartoon, “The Baseball” when we not only find out what Mickey Kaline’s been doing since retiring from baseball, but he also helps Arnold through his problem like how Arnold once helped him. He shares an old baseball story of another player with dangerous lumber, and how he overcame it by being confident enough to swing the bat and play his best. 

Arnold’s inspired by the story, and shows up at the big game, ultimately hitting a home run, beating the 5^th graders.  It’s unfortunate that he ends up hitting Mickey Kalie anyway, but at least him not knowing this lets him keep his confidence.  That alone is a great strength to this cartoon. It’s not about the sport, but a story of a character getting through a shortcoming set against the sport making it appealing to everyone sports fan or not.  Though not perfect in execution, it’s good enough to enjoy and relate to. 8/10

Mr. Hyunh Goes Country

Mr. Hyunh, may not seem interesting apart from being an immigrant border who stands out from everyone else.  However, when he’s the focus, there’s proof that he’s more complex than he lets on.  While what we learn about him in this cartoon isn’t as deep as his war-related past revealed in a previous special, it’s still an unusual yet remarkable thing to Mr. Hyunh that relates more to him than one may think. 

Given Mr. Hyunh’s nationality, it would be hard to believe that he’d make a good country singer, but Arnold and Gerald hear him sing a country ballad and he sounds amazing.  It’s almost like a completely different person from when he talks.  He also writes his own songs, showing that he truly does have what it takes to be a great country music star.  Gerald sees a huge monetary opportunity with Mr. Hyunh’s talents, so he and Arnold set out to make the Vietnamese boarder into a star.  They convince him to make a CD of his songs, and in a nice callback to “Sally’s Comet”, they make it so that the song goes on the radio, and just like that, Mr. Hyunh hits the big time. 

Now’s the best time to talk about the song that makes Mr. Hyunh a big shot, “The Simple Things.”  I think it’s one of the absolute best songs written for an animated series, and not just because I enjoy country music.  It has the makings of a memorable musical sequence with a soothing  greatly performed melody immersed in a country aesthetic, the perfect singer to perform it, and creative lyrics to get its universal message across.  It celebrates the pleasures of living a simple life with only a few necessities and how you can be happy with just them as opposed to big flashy goods offered you.  It’s a great musical work on its own, and it makes sense that it starts Mr. Hyunh’s popularity boost. 

In addition, the song ties into the story’s direction.  Mr. Hyunh is content with his simple life of living in the boarding house and working in a restaurant, so when everyone likes his music and he gets big publicity and mobs of fans, he feels uncomfortable with the whole thing.  Not helping is getting called for bigger gigs in practically no time at all.  He keeps up his skills and is praised for what he does, but it’s clear that the star life doesn’t suits him.  Mr. Hyunh’s popularity hits its peek when he makes it to the Grand Ole Opry, the biggest place for country music concerts, on the verge of going on tour.  He’s about to go through with the plans despite his discomfort, but confesses to Arnold that he’s really doing this to make his friends happy.  Fortunately, Arnold understands Mr. Hyunh’s feelings and reminds him that in the end, Mr. Hyunh has the power to choose where he wants his life to go. 

So, to finish, we get a grand finale where he claims to the whole audience that he’d rather live a simple life than be a star, and as he performs, nearly everyone looks with admiration, accepting his choice.  It’s incredibly pleasing to see Mr. Hyunh be accepted for who he is and what he wants to do, and is fitting of the meaning of the song, which we hear all of as the cartoon comes to an end to my delight. 

That leaves us with an amazing cartoon with strong development for a character not often explored, a message for all aspiring stars to do what’s right for them and not worry about what other people think, and an amazing song that nicely ties into the plot.  It’s crystal clear I’ll stay right here and have this cartoon to remind me to enjoy the simple things. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Crabby Author
4. Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
5. Curly Snaps
6. The Aptitude Test
7. Pre-Teen Scream
8. Olga Gets Engaged
9. Oskar Gets a Job
10. Rich Kid
11. Dangerous Lumber
12. Helga and the Nanny
13. Stinky Goes Hollywood
14. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review features Sid claim Arnold's room as his own to impress Lorenzo, and Helga is forced to fight an even bigger bully than her, Big Patty.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a review of Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2, specifically "Greening the Cube."

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 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 7: Rising Tides, Crashing Skies

Rising Tides, Crashing Skies

Ronaldo is without a doubt one of the unhealthiest functioning characters on the show.  Relating to obsessed theorist fans of shows you commonly find on social media, he’s an embodiment of the worst of those people.  That said, overbearing as he may be, it is admirable that his obsessed theorist ways bring about this uniquely-constructed cartoon. 

The whole thing is a web documentary about the weird occurrences of Beach City and how the Crystal Gems relate to them.  He’s investigated Beach City’s weirdness many times before, but this investigation is more serious tying into the Homeworld invasion that just recently happened.  The documentary itself shows how serious this nut is taking this menial project, utilizing all the associated tropes of the film genre like actual footage and re-enactments of events, and interviews of the Beach City residents. 

Regarding the interviews, they make for some enjoyable interactions as well as interpretations of the invasion and other past encounters with the Crystal Gems.  It helps display the magnitude of the serious Gem events that happen by offering various perspectives.  The other parts of the documentary have a certain charm to their construction with the re-enactments being very primitively made, shoddy sound work, and Ronaldo not bothering to edit out any stumbling points or lines that go off on tangents.  It makes the whole thing feel like a college student project where there’s a lot of effort and desire to do big things with the film, but the lack of professional technical aspects prevent it from really looking great.  In a way, I can kind of relate to this documentary as I look back on my college projects. 

Even if it lacks professional craftsmanship, what Ronaldo covers in the documentary does bring up some good points to the Crystal Gems’ role on Earth.  When he interviews Steven, in addition to dropping a hint of a human zoo theory that later turns out to be true, he finds out that the Homeworld Gems in their giant hand ship were coming for Steven and the Crystal Gems and no one else.  He concludes that the fact that dangerous beings are drawn to them means the Crystal Gems are putting innocent humans in danger.  The big thing about this is that even though the Crystal Gems do often beat the harmful forces and protect everyone, what Ronaldo discovers isn’t inaccurate.  It’s one of those light-hearted moments with underlying meanings that get you to think. 

What the discovery leads to isn’t as powerful as it could be though.  For one thing, when Ronaldo confronts the Gems to ban them, even if he acts like he did something big, they act so passive about what he enforces that it’s easy to tell they’re not actually going through with the ban.  Also, the thing that gets Ronaldo to go back on his ban is realizing with the Crystal Gems gone, he won’t have anything to blog about since Beach City won’t be weird anymore.  This wouldn’t be much of an issue if his investigations didn’t make him so obsessed and obnoxious.  Again, this is a support of an out-of-control behavior that paints Ronaldo as one of the weakest members of the cast. 

Even if his unhealthy mannerisms don’t make what we see as great as it could’ve been, the documentary approach and even some strong points on the Crystal Gems’ role make this cartoon entertaining and creative enough to check out. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Full Disclosure
3. Reformed
4. Joy Ride
5. Say Uncle
6. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
7. Love Letters

The next Steven Universe review covers Garnet's status as a fusion and how it's threatened by remnants of Homeworld's treatment towards Earth.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 7, consisting of "Dangerous Lumber" and "Mr. Hyunh Goes Country."

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 Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 6: Arnold Betrays Iggy/Helga and the Nanny

Arnold Betrays Iggy

This show has such an amazing track record of strong cartoons, but the crew behind this show are only human, so it’s natural for them to miss the mark of a good quality work every now and then.  I’ve covered weak material from this show before, but they were redeemable in parts.  This cartoon, however, doesn’t have a lot of redeemable qualities, and ends up as an actually bad watch.  It’s not the worst thing for an animated series, but the story choices keep the experience from being pleasing on the whole. 

When Arnold brings homework to a kid named Iggy who was out sick for the day right after being told how cold he is by Sid and Stinky, he notices the strange and embarrassing sight of Iggy wearing bunny pajamas.  Iggy begs Arnold to not tell anyone that he was wearing them, and Arnold keeps his promise, but then Sid and Stinky keep asking questions about Arnold’s visit to Iggy. They themselves guess by chance that he was wearing bunny pajamas and tell everyone after promising not to. 

When Iggy is laughed at for this embarrassing secret, he’s understandably mad, but it doesn’t feel like Arnold deserves the scorn.  He didn’t say the secret, two random kids guessed it out of the blue.  Yet while they don’t have to suffer anything bad, Arnold gets torment for his misdeed which isn’t really a misdeed because he never revealed anything.  Iggy shuns him, gives him death glares, and every time Arnold tries to make amends, he stubbornly refuses to forgive him no matter how much Arnold shows that he’s sorry.  It would’ve been better if at some point Iggy demanded to know why Arnold broke his promise and find out the truth about Sid and Stinky.  Instead, the story makes Iggy look like a total jerk for putting Arnold through hardships and staying mad for a very long time, and it’s not a pretty sight. 

It is admirable that Arnold is willing to do anything to get Iggy to forgive him though, even if it means even bigger humiliation.  You see, Iggy reveals that the only thing to make everything ok is if Arnold goes out in public wearing the bunny pajamas. Considering that Arnold wasn’t really at fault in the matter, this is a disproportionate punishment, especially since we don't see a lot of Iggy getting teased.  Sid and Stinky then state what really happened, and Iggy finally hears the truth and somewhat redeems himself by trying to stop Arnold.  It’s too late though, and we’re treated to merciless humiliation from everyone, even his friends and Grandpa, towards Arnold in the pajamas.  From the incessant laughing to Arnold looking sad, there’s no entertainment to what goes on.  Even if Iggy now knows the truth, it doesn’t change that Arnold is put through torture he didn’t deserve, making it near impossible to enjoy anything about the scene. 

To me though, Arnold getting rightfully mad at Iggy for putting him through said humiliation does soften the pain a little bit, giving Iggy a taste of his own medicine that could’ve been avoided if he just listened.  In this regard, this cartoon can be seen as something to teach the importance of listening to those who disappoint you, but it’s hardly worth the relentless mean-spirited moments the whole thing is filled with.  It’s not the show at its worst (that will come in looks at later seasons), but it’s still one cartoon I simply can’t recommend. 4/10

Helga and the Nanny

 

When you look into Helga’s background, you can easily see that her home life is a sorry sight.  Her parents make little effort to show love and care for her and lead unhealthy lifestyles in general.  It’s an interesting direction to take when developing characters and with the detail we see of Big Bob and Miriam’s neglectful parenting, Helga almost always is sympathetic. 

This cartoon attempts to give Helga someone in her life to take the sting out of her neglect.  When her mom takes up a job of her own, leaving no one to look after the house during the day, Big Bob hires a nanny named Inge.  Inge turns out to be the very person the Pataki household needs.  She’s passionate about her job showing clear effort in her responsibilities.  She’s also incredibly kind with everyone and quickly wins over Helga’s friends. 

However, Inge’s role as nanny brings a conflict.  For all the good she does for her lifestyle, Inge also enforces certain things onto Helga, like what to eat, how to dress, and what activities to do.  In other words, Inge is molding Helga into something she’s not which honestly is not ok.  Everyone should be free to express themselves and not fit certain molds.  It robs individuality and identity.  Sure, Helga’s true identity may seem like it’s in need of change, but her mean behavior is just a cover for her true decent self, resulting from the stress of her bad parents.  For that side to shine should be under her power at her own pace, not at someone else’s power. 

This is why Helga’s side of the conflict is understandable as she tries to stage incidents to get Inge fired who happily finds a solution around them.  So not to make Helga’s attempts repetitive and one-sided, she succeeds in her plan by making it look like Inge stole Big Bob’s lucky beeper emporium belt.  Regarding the conflict, while Helga’s side is perfectly understandable for what Inge’s caretaking methods have done to her individuality, Inge is understandable to an extent.  Her passion for her job is clear and genuine, and her scenes make it feel like she wanted to help Helga better her attitude.  It’s even made clear how problematic the house is without her around.  Even if she was forceful with customs, Inge was probably the most caring authority figure Helga has had at this point, and certainly did not deserve to lose her job. 

It’s great that Helga realizes this on her own and strives to fix everything.  The outcome, however, turns out to be somber when not only does Inge accept being blamed for a crime she didn’t commit and return home without hope for another job, but Helga is left with consequences of her own.  She may have gotten away with framing Inge, but now she’s driven away the only person who’s truly cared for her, and is stuck being as mean as always.  At least the last moments show her cope with this by trying some of the activities Inge taught her. 

The conclusion would’ve been better if what Inge did wrong was recognized and show that Helga could still improve while also keeping to her true interests, since forcing Helga to be someone she’s not wasn’t good either.  While this makes the overall conflict significantly weaker, what we have is still impactful.  The message is thought-provoking, some character moments are strong, and it’s overall fascinating to see the depths of Helga’s poor upbringing. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Crabby Author
4. Curly Snaps
5. The Aptitude Test
6. Pre-Teen Scream
7. Olga Gets Engaged
8. Oskar Gets a Job
9. Rich Kid
10. Helga and the Nanny
11. Stinky Goes Hollywood
12. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review covers a baseball-themed cartoon that presents Arnold with an interesting challenge to get through, and a cartoon with an interesting concept of Mr. Hyunh becoming a country western star, featuring one of the best songs put to TV animation.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is Episode 7 of Steven Universe Season 2, "Rising Tides Crashing Skies."

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 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 6: Sworn to the Sword

Sworn to the Sword

Here’s a cartoon that utilizes many strengths of the series, crafting a wondrous experience of heart, emotion, character development, and even music. 

The whole thing centers on Steven and Connie who have a lot of sweetness  to their genuine bond.  Through simply hanging out at the start, how much they like each other’s company is completely apparent, and you’re fully invested in what they get up to.

Everything's put into motion when Steven sees Connie’s potential as an asset to fighting evil when seagulls swoop in on his jam snack and she wards them off with a violin bow.  He convinces Pearl to train Connie to sword fight, and how Pearl opens up to the idea is interestingly executed.  It's well known that the Gems don’t want humans to get involved with fighting for their protection, but when Connie explains her willingness to fight for Earth, Pearl is clearly touched and quickly starts the sessions.  To see one of the Crystal Gems get on board with building up a mere human as a fighter is a nice break from the norm and what follows is an engaging story. 

There’s believable progression to Connie’s skills.  She starts off taking the training lightly, but through times for necessary adjustments, and fighting through injuries, she becomes a sword-fighting prodigy.  We also get some creativity in this progression fitting into this show’s usage of music to emphasize what goes on.  It’s in the form of a song, “Do It for Her,” which puts all of Pearl’s teachings and Connie’s growing talents to flowing, melodious music allowing this training sequence to stand out from all others.  It also brings some interesting meanings to Pearl’s ways of the sword like fighting for someone you care about, even if it means seeing yourself destroyed.  Overall, the song is a major highlight for the cartoon, further impressing how well this show can leave so many impacts through the power of music. 

Regarding the meaning of the teachings, Steven further reads up on them when he learns that during the Gem War, Pearl constantly threw herself into danger to fight to protect Rose Quartz which often got her destroyed.  Steven is quick to see Pearl in Connie, as well as that, unlike Pearl, she can’t regenerate should she get destroyed while protecting him.  What follows is another example of this powerful bond when Steven rushes to snap Connie out of her training mindset just after she agrees that she means nothing when protecting Steven in battle.  He tells her she does NOT mean nothing while protecting her from an attack, and in their own adorable way, they agree they should protect each other as the “jam buds” they are. 

As for Pearl, when Steven and Connie confront her as a team, she lets it slip that her training really was used to recreate what she and Rose had, further showcasing how much Rose meant to her and how effected she is by her loss.  Despite that, through a civil conversation, she realizes her protecting Rose actually made her feel like everything instead of nothing, and since Steven and Connie really care for each other, it truly is best for them to fight together.  It’s incredibly heartwarming for the power of such a genuine friendship go noticed, especially since Steven and Connie continue to train as a team to this day. 

With that at the center of everything, this cartoon is a masterful work of strong friendships, beauty in something like sword fighting, and enriching presentations. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Full Disclosure
3. Reformed
4. Joy Ride
5. Say Uncle
6. Love Letters

For the next Steven Universe review, we go from great moments from Steven and Connie to not nearly as great, though fine to an extent, moments with Ronaldo.  Things are made interesting through a documentary approach though.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a review of one of the more frowned-upon Hey Arnold cartoons, "Arnold Betrays Iggy" along with a slightly better cartoon, "Helga and the Nanny."

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 Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 17: Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2 Episode 3: Shiro's Escape

Shiro’s Escape

Now, the whole team is finally back together moving in a more plot-connected direction.  In the process, we start so see even more depths to the antagonizing forces.  I said before the Galra Empire consist of boring and interchangeable antagonists, all having monstrous designs and thinking seriously.  However, Prorok sounding scared of Zarkon and Haggar’s interrogations gave a little depth to the Empire, showing that they might not all think as alike.  This trend continues here. 

While recovering from his Galra wound, Shiro relives a memory of how he escaped from prison.  It was one of Zarkon’s own followers named Ulaz who got him out and prompted him to return to Earth and find the blue lion.  So not only did Ulaz personally help Shiro, but he also started our heroes’ entire mission which suggests depths of the Galra’s morality.  From the coordinates picked up from his artificial hand, Shiro urges the team to follow them to track down Ulaz, believing he can help defeat their enemies.  There’s a believable feeling of distrust from the rest of the team.  It can be hard to imagine good from an alien race known for conquering planets, and it makes sense for Allura to mistrust Ulaz the most since the race he’s a part of destroyed her home.  Then again, she DID withhold important information that Shiro’s black lion once belonged to Zarkon, which shows she has no say for judgements, so the decision is made to follow the coordinates. 

They end up in a field of crystal clusters where a strange intruder enters the castle ship.  After an exciting action sequence of the Paladins pursuing him with a lively commentary from Coran, he’s recognized as Ulaz.  From there, the Paladins take the time to learn more about Ulaz which offers more proof that not everyone from the Galra Empire is a heartless conqueror.  In fact, Ulaz is part of a secret group called the Blade of Marmora which resists all rule of Zarkon.  With this information, it helps one to respect the opposing force more especially when Ulaz gives huge support to the Paladins in many ways from showing them a major communication hub for the organization to offering to help Pidge find her family. 

While it seems that Ulaz is a loyal source of healp, Allura is not easily moved given that he’s still Galra, and when a Robeast finds the Paladins, it’s not too far-fetched that Ulaz may have given Zarkon their coordinates.  Even an earlier scene of him and Haggar locking onto them doesn’t rule out the possibility.  In other words, there’s a believable reason to have some doubts in him.  However, in an exciting battle with the Robeast which sucks up everything in sight, even things as big as the castle, when things look hopeless, Ulaz proves that he was loyal after all.  He makes the ultimate move to defeat the Robeast by letting it suck him up, and he destroys it from the inside, sacrificing himself.  Such a drastic move finalizes the idea of the Galra Empire having actual depth, although the wounds of their actions are still felt with Allura still feeling Ulaz was the reason Zarkon found the Paladins. 

As you can see, when all is said and done, there are many impactful aspects along with the believable depth of the antagonist side.  There’s a reveal of a whole resistance to Zarkon, buildup to plot threads of the Paladins trying to find them as soon as they find out how Zarkon keeps finding them, and a genuine emotional aspect from Ulaz’s sacrifice.  It’s an episode that enhances the story in many great ways, allowing the series to truly reach its full potential. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Shiro’s Escape
2. Across the Universe
3. The Depths

The next Voltron: Legendary Defender review follows Pidge learning that there's more to life than technical stuff during a mission to the planet Olkarion.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is one of the greatest Steven Universe episodes, "Sworn to the Sword."

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 Voltron: Legendary Defender reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 5: Helga Blabs it All/Harold the Butcher

Helga Blabs it All

The thing that makes Helga such a dynamic and complex character is how she acts like a bully, but is really a decent human being and hopeless romantic.  We know how deep her love for Arnold is, and considering her neglectful and overachieving family, I’d say she can gush over him as much as she pleases.  Even more interesting is how Helga is aware of the downsides of her near-obsessive love and uses her mean behavior picked up from the stress at home to cover it.  The lengths she goes through to hide her feelings show how strong her love is and are entertaining to watch.  The things she does to keep her secret safe in this case are especially entertaining right down to the creative way it’s put at risk. 

While getting a cavity filled at the dentist, Helga is subjected to a large quantity of laughing gas.  The gas does what it’s meant to do, but it also has an effect commonly associated with most drugs by making Helga feel unusually happy and light-hearted, leading her to discuss in detail about Arnold.  It even offers a little background on her love when she states that she’s known him for six years. This is expanded upon in the following season.  Anyway, Helga becomes so positive from the gas that she calls Arnold, and gives a long, passionate soliloquy expressing her true feelings, in front of a crowd of patients, which ends up on the boarding house’s answering machine.  It’s only after Helga sends the message when the laughing gas wears off and she realizes what she just did. To prevent humiliation, she takes action to get rid of the answering machine's tape. 

Being a cartoon, this is the perfect place to unleash wild imagination for the insane things Helga has to do to simply retrieve a tape. In animation, there’s nothing stopping you from bringing completely anything to entertaining life.  We start with Helga ambushing a Campfire Lass and stealing her uniform to get into the boarding house, and making up excuses to people and hiding anywhere close by just when she’s about to get the tape.  It doesn’t sound exciting at first, but then there’s exactly where Helga ends up hiding.  It’s in the air vents of the boarding house, a place you don’t usually see people hide in, which is a major example of a ridiculous situation made believable by the animation medium.  It’s staged believably too with Helga looking cramped while hiding in the small vent as she watches over the answering machine and people passing it.  Adding to the suspense is a close call where it seems like her secret will be revealed, but she’s saved by Arnold’s grandma humorously mishearing the message.  The crazy creativity expands even more when after Helga gets the tape, her escape leads her through the pipe and rafter-filled walls of the boarding house which is another place we hardly see in shows and real life for that matter.  Then it’s all capped off in with hilarity where she ends up in Arnold’s room and walks out in front of him and his friends…and no one cares.  So, Helga’s secret is safe and the mission is all over but the consequences for stealing that uniform. 

It all results in an intense and highly creative mission to prevent a potentially embarrassing discovery with one exciting moment after another and a great multi-layered character like Helga to follow. 10/10

Harold the Butcher

One of the more fascinating characters in the show is Harold.  He may look and act like a one-dimensional bully character, but a frequent trope with him is that he’s a vulnerable, misguided individual.  This cartoon offers more of this trope as he finds his true calling. 

It starts off with his typical misguidedness when his hunger leads him to steal a ham from Mr. Green the butcher.  It’s interesting enough that Harold would be dumb enough to go this far with getting food, but the story goes the extra route by adding to the seriousness of his act when Harold’s religion gets involved.  When he’s sent to the rabbi, Harold learns that in addition to it simply being wrong to steal, him stealing a ham is even worse because it’s a forbidden food to Jewish people (though I’m sure there are Jews out there who eat ham anyway).  However you look at it, this is still a thought-provoking observation on Harold’s crime, more detailed and fleshed out than how most thievery is portrayed and a strong way to bring on the bulk of the plot. 

To teach Harold a lesson , it’s decided that he should work at Green Meats for a week.  There’s a natural progression to how Harold feels about the job.  At first, he dreads working despite bringing it on himself like what one would expect from kids with Harold's maturity being punished, and is a major pain for Mr. Green to deal with.  As the days go by, Harold complains and messes up less, and learns interesting things about meat, sharing what he learns wherever he goes.  When the week is nearly over, Harold is already researching how to become a butcher on his own and fantasizes about being one.  It’s all a natural and believable progress anyone deciding what to do in life can go through starting on rough terms but then growing to love the trade, and given Harold’s primary traits, this is strong development for him uncovering a hidden talent. 

His newfound love of meat is so strong, it’s easy to feel for him when the week is up and Mr. Green allows Harold to go.  Harold goes to many lengths to get Mr. Green to let him keep his job, even by stealing another form of meat for the sole purpose of working in the shop again, but even that doesn’t change Mr. Green’s mind, and through it all, Harold is fully sympathetic.  It’s clear that he’s passionate about meat and just wants to do more with it.  Fortunately for him, and even Mr. Green, Harold gets a chance to use his knowledge of preparing and serving meat when he helps Mr. Green through a huge meat sale, and it goes by faster and easier than it would if Mr. Green was all by himself.  Also, after so much time of getting annoyed with Harold even after he improved, Mr. Green realizes Harold’s talents and makes him his apprentice butcher, making for an admirable ending that gives hope for even people like Harold to find their true purpose.  It would be great if we see more of Harold being a butcher after this cartoon, but at least nothing ever implies that it isn’t happening off screen. 

As it stands, we’re left with one of Harold’s best starring roles which ends up being inspirational, insightful, and relatable. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Crabby Author
4. Curly Snaps
5. The Aptitude Test
6. Pre-Teen Scream
7. Olga Gets Engaged
8. Oskar Gets a Job
9. Rich Kid
10. Stinky Goes Hollywood

After talking about two great Hey Arnold cartoons, the next review is going to cover a really low point of the series, "Arnold Betrays Iggy." On the plus side, it comes with a slightly better review of a cartoon about Helga getting a nanny who forces many customs on her despite her good intentions.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a high point of Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2, "Shiro's Escape."

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