Arnold (Hey Arnold!)
 |
| Arnold Phillip Shortman | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Downtown as Fruits (1996) |
| Last appearance | Hey Arnold! 2: The Jungle Movie (2010) |
| Created by | Craig Bartlett |
| Portrayed by | J.D. Daniels (Pilot Episode) Toran Caudell (1996-1997) Phillip Van Dyke (1997-1999) Spencer Klein (1999-2002) Alex D. Linz (2002-2004) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Arnie Short man Football-head |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Student |
| Family | Miles (father) Stella (mother) Grandpa Grandma |
Arnold Phillip Shortman is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. His head is shaped like an American football, thus earning him the nickname "Football-Head", by Helga. Throughout the series' run, he was voiced by at least five different voice actors: J.D. Daniels (who did his voice in the pilot), Toran Caudell, Phillip Van Dyke, Spencer Klein (who did his voice in the movie), and Alex D. Linz.
Personality
Arnold is a 9-year-old 4th grader who lives in the city in his grandparent's boarding house. He has spiky blonde hair, is always wearing a small blue baseball hat, and his signature wardrobe is a blue sweater over a plaid shirt, blue pants, and black shoes. He is a dreamer and an idealist who always tries to see the best in people and to do the right thing. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, Arnold goes out of his way to help them out, even if it is not sensible to do so (an example being when he tried to protect some of his classmates, who had mooned the school principal). Arnold often acts as the stable center to those around him, whether he is around his "family" in his grandparents' (Dan Castellaneta and Tress MacNeille) boarding house The Sunset Arms, or around his friends at his school, P.S. 118.
Arnold's legal guardians are his grandparents. According to the Parents Day and The Journal episodes, Arnold's adventurous parents, anthropologist Miles and biologist/physician Stella, were sent off to San Lorenzo because a deadly virus was wiping out the population when Arnold was only about 2 or 3 years old. Arnold was left in the care of his grandparents and his parents were supposed to be back in a couple weeks. However, his parents never came back and they were never heard from again. When Arnold was born, his birth coincided with the eruption of a nearby volcano, which the locals of the foreign area his parents were working at the time believed to be an indication that Arnold would one day become a messiah of sorts who would save the world from a great danger. Arnold was not told of these events until later in the series when it was revealed by his grandfather. It is unknown how the "prophecy" may have fit into the series had it continued. It's revealed in one episode that Arnold's hat was given to him by his parents when he was a baby, possibly the reason why it is so special to him. In the series finale, Arnold finds his dad's journal and his grandpa reads the entries, the last one being the day Arnold's parents left and it expresses how much it hurt his mom and dad to leave him behind, but were looking forward to coming back home to him. Arnold finds a map in the back of the journal of the route his parents traveled on their last trip. Craig Bartlett has said that was the starting point of a second movie which would involve Arnold traveling to San Lorenzo to find his parents.
He has a love for music, particularly jazz. He is seen in one episode discussing with his friends various sound systems, owning himself, an advanced sound system. He also taught himself to play harmonica and has played it a few times throughout Seasons 1 and 2. His room contains interesting technology such as a remote control that controls everything in his room and a collapsible couch. His entire ceiling comprises several skylights as well.
Relationships
Arnold has had two major crushes in the series: sixth-grader Ruth MacDougal (through most of season 1), and with a classmate named Lila Sawyer (who was introduced in season 2). His crush with Ruth ended in Arnold's Valentine after going on a date with her, where he decided that she was not really interesting and came to realize he never knew much about her himself; his crush on Lila ended when she didn't approve of his hanging out with his best friend Gerald's younger sister, Timberly in Timberly Loves Arnold. In the episode Crush On Teacher Arnold developes a crush on his substitute teacher Miss Felter and Arnold thought she had a crush on him too. The crush on her ended at the end of the episode when Arnold found out that Miss Felter didn't actually have a crush on him and it was just a misunderstanding.
Arnold's most catalytic relationship is with his classmate Helga Pataki. Unbeknownst to Arnold, Helga is secretly in love with him, though to keep these feelings secret she verbally abuses Arnold so he will never come to that conclusion. As such, Arnold has a more or less, tolerant feeling towards Helga. He states throughout the series that even though she acts bad she really is a good person. Good examples of this are shown in 'Married', near the end of Arnold's dream when he confronts Helga, and 'Patty vs. Helga' whereby Arnold explains to Patty that the reason Helga is mean is that she's insecure of her own feelings, hoping she won't beat Helga up.
In the movie on the series, Arnold finds out that Deep Voice, a stranger who helps Gerald and him throughout the movie, is actually Helga. This surprising him as her father would make a lot of money from the demolition of their neighborhood, making her rich. So after constantly questioning her, Helga tells Arnold of her feelings for him and she kisses him. Later on, at the end of the movie, the two of them agree it was all just in the 'heat of the moment'.
According to series creator Craig Bartlett, had the canceled "Jungle Adventure" sequel been animated, Arnold would have returned Helga's feelings with a kiss of his own, with his best friend interrupting the moment. The two would have also dated prior to the proposed, but ultimately aborted MTV spin-off The Patakis, where they would have broken up, though they were to remain friends, with Helga sending Arnold letters of her life in a new location. Considering The Patakis was canceled, it remains unclear whether or not this development remains canonical.
Arnold's best friend is Gerald Johansen, whose relationship dates as far back as pre-school. The pair have a distinct handshake consisting of putting two thumbs-up fists together and wiggling the thumbs back and forth.
History
Arnold was created in 1986 by Craig Bartlett, who was also responsible for the clay-animated Penny shorts on CBS's Pee Wee's Playhouse. The original Arnold was visualized as a kid with a vivid imagination, who always wore a prep-school uniform (though he attended public school) and a cap, and was rendered in clay in a series of shorts, one of them televised in the 1990s on Sesame Street, and continued to air there, even after the Nick version debuted.
In 1991, the Hey Arnold comic stories, written and drawn by Bartlett (who's also a comic book artist), were published in Simpsons Illustrated magazine (Bartlett is the brother-in-law of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons).
Last name
Arnold's last name has never been revealed on the show. With the exception of a few secondary characters (including Sid and Brainy), the only other notable characters whose surnames are unknown are Arnold's grandparents. They presumably have the same last name as Arnold, since in "Parents Day" and "The Journal" it is revealed they are his father's parents. The mystery surrounding Arnold's full name became a running gag on the show, by the last name almost being revealed, then someone or something interrupting or otherwise preventing it from being heard (much like the location of the "secret spot" on Rocket Power, Fez's home country on That 70s Show, Timmy Turner's parents' names on The Fairly Odd Parents, the Krabby Patty formula on SpongeBob SquarePants, and the state Springfield is in on The Simpsons). Some notable occasions when the name is almost revealed include:
- In a commercial for the show that aired in the early part of the show's run, Arnold talks to the viewer to straighten out some facts about himself (such as the revelation that his notable red outerwear is a shirt, not a skirt). He ends with, "And yes, I do have a last name. It's..." at which point the screen turns into static and the sound cuts off, because the camera's batteries runs out.
- In the episode "Fighting Families" Arnold wins the school's raffle drawing for the chance to be on the game show Fighting Families. The lady doing the drawing announces, "The winner is Arnold...hm, there seems to be a smudge over the last name." Here it is revealed that Arnold is the only one in the school with this first name, thus making his surname somewhat unnecessary.
- A similar instance to the one above occurs in "Eugene, Eugene!", where Tim Curry's character is casting the school kids for an upcoming play, and says, "I can't read my own handwriting", when he's casting Arnold as the villain. However, that scene did at least reveal Lila's last name (Sawyer, as mentioned above).
- In one episode, "Crush on Teacher", in which Helga does one of her many passionate monologues about her love for Arnold, she says that she would one day like to become "Mrs. Arnold...wait, what is his last name?", revealing that she is just as clueless as the viewer.
- In the episode "The Journal", Phil is reading the part of Miles's journal that recounts his and Stella's wedding. He gets to the part when they are pronounced "Mr. and Mrs...." at which point Grandma interrupts with a loud burp.
- Series creator Craig Bartlett had been planning to finally reveal his last name in a second Feature film for the series, which would also deal with his search to find his parents. Craig mentioned in a subsequent online chat: "I had an idea for the Jungle Movie (how Bartlett refers to the planned film), in the opening scene, a man comes to the door of the boarding house, and Arnold signs his name. Right, that's how you find out." However, problems between Bartlett and Nickelodeon, as well as the low gross of the first film, led to the cancellation of this second film.
In 2006 in an online chat with Hey Arnold! fans, Bartlett revealed that Arnold's grandpa used his last name throughout the series, almost confirming that Arnold's last name is "Shortman". (A transcript of this chat can be found here) Craig also mentioned that Arnold's second name is "Phillip".
- In some episodes, other characters can be seen referring to Arnold as Shortman (In the beginning of Arnold Visits Arnie, Helga is telling the other characters their positions in a game of baseball she is quoted saying "Looks like you're on Shortstop, Shortman."
- In a commercial for Hey Arnold, where Bartlett is interviewed, Bartlett promised that Arnold's last name would be revealed, and that the audience has been hearing his name throughout the entire series. Grandpa frequently calls Arnold "Shortman."
Thus, Arnold's supposed full name is Arnold Phillip Shortman.