- Stinky
I was really excited when Hey Arnold! was going to premiere back in 1996. It was part of Nickelodeon's new television schedule in showing programs at the 8:00 hour on weekday nights and it was the very first show to kick it off on Monday. The appeal to me was that the animated show would explore and use its urban landscape and bring in some sense of reality while being a show for young kids. I wasn't expecting it to be The Wire but I did receive a funny little show that touched on social life and issues. Sadly, the show seemed to lose its way as it continued on. With various voice actor changes, pushing Arnold into the background for more stories of the extensive cast, and constant appearances of the annoying jinx character Eugene, Hey Arnold! fell apart.
During its first season, the show presented "Arnold's Christmas", its Christmas special that I consider to be the best episode of the series. It is the first thing I think about when someone brings the show up. When the holiday season rolls around, I always think back on this episode. I find it to be a great cry for people with its finesse in sentimentalism and it is a very touching and important moment in animated television. Re-watching it, the episode is still very effective and a joy, though there are some odd and awkward elements.
Arnold's boarding house family decides to play "Secret Santa." Instead of the usual boarding roommates such as Oscar Kokoshka or Ernie Potts, Arnold is assigned to Mr. Hyunh, the eccentric Asian resident. Mr. Hyunh always feels depressed during the holiday season and Arnold decides to give him something he has wished for many years while living in America. The only person who can help Arnold, and his tagging best friend Gerald, with this Christmas miracle is Mr. Bailey, a grouchy office worker voiced by the late great character actor Vincent Schiavelli. After being blown off by me, Arnold overheards a conversation he has with his wife and asks for a fair agreement. In order to receive Mr. Hyunh's gift from Mr. Bailey, the two need to help buy all of the Christmas gifts for his family with 300 dollars before 6 PM.
I have been deliberately hiding and toying with what Mr. Hyunh wanted for Christmas. The reason for it is what makes the episode more memorable and shocking to have featured in anything Christmas related. Now, I have seen a lot of shocking and disturbing moments in animated television shows: The shooting and near-death of Elisa Maza, the return of Darkseid, the entire run of Invader Zim. But this episode has something that is never touched upon a lot, especially on Nickelodeon shows.
The Vietnam War.
In a very sad back-story, the viewer learns that Mr. Hyunh originally lived in South Vietnam with his daughter Mai. During the last days of American involvement and the arrival of Northern Vietnamese soldiers, they try to leave the country on the last American helicopter. Unable to leave as with the rest, Mr. Hyunh enacts a hard decision, modeled after Sophie's Choice, and decides to have Mai be the one to escape to freedom. He has been searching for her since then, around the city that she was said to be residing in.
Of course, the Vietnam War isn't explicitly told to the viewer. Despite the haunting and depressing imagery, it is only referred to as "the war", one of the infamous lame standards-and-practices excuses used to censor out actual historical facts from television shows. The background artists seemed to not be happy with this decision, as they decide to include a hidden Easter egg. During a scene where Helga, Arnold's female bully and secret admirer, is listening in on a conversation, the building behind her has a helicopter picture on its window display. It says in clear words, "Saigon Helicopter."
Other than the sentimental melodrama and the thrilling ending to the proceedings, my favorite elements used in the episode are the freedom given to the main characters and its alternate look at spending holiday time with family. Arnold, Gerald, and Helga spend practically the entire time on their own, making their own decisions and following their mission goals to the end. They are not deterred by their age or what the adults say to them. The three truly believe in bringing a Christmas miracle to someone and are willing to fight for it. This also coincides with their fear of the home, being stuck with their actual families. The three kids have their own share of problems. In the beginning of the episode, Gerald decided to buy all of his loved ones a tie instead of something special seemingly due to his often strained family life. Arnold doesn't want to let down Mr. Hyunh, someone who has become a part of his new family. However, he fails to buy the final necessary gift for Mr. Bailey, a pair of Nancy Spumoni snow boots, and is embarrassed that he left him with nothing. Helga would rather spend her time in the material world than spend a minute with her much documented dysfunctional family. New viewers can notice it by her insistence on calling her mother "Miriam."
Though I enjoyed this special again, I did notice some problems that did take away some of the prestige. The dialogue is very odd with a lot of exposition dumps and having the characters speak out their emotions. Of course, this is what the show often had for a normal episode but it is still too stilted. There is also some missed opportunities that could have helped the depth. Arnold's mission for the return of the Hyunh family could have been fueled by his own sad back-story. Fans of the show would know that Arnold's real parents disappeared when he was a child. This is never touched upon, only theorized by fans to be existing subtly in Arnold's proceedings.
Despite the newly viewed problems, I still was struck by the special and entertained. It is one of the few Nickelodeon Christmas specials that didn't focus or feature Santa Claus. Instead, it shows the depression and the power of the holiday, the ability to bring good will and closure to human beings and their problems.
TOMORROW'S ENTRY: We end the look at Nickelodeon specials with the most darkest depiction of Christmas ever to be aired.
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