Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie
Promotional release poster
Genre	Action-adventure Comedy-drama
Written by	Craig Bartlett Joe Purdy Laura Sreebny Justin Charlebois
Directed by	Raymie Muzquiz Stu Livingston (co-director)
Starring	Mason Vale Cotton Francesca Marie Smith Benjamin Flores Jr. Anndi McAfee Dan Castellaneta Tress MacNeille Alfred Molina
Music by	Jim Lang
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Craig Bartlett
Producer(s)	Lizbeth Velasco Raymie Muzquiz (supervising producer)
Editor(s)	Christopher Hink
Running time	81 minutes
Production company(s)	Snee-Oosh, Inc. Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	November 24, 2017 (2017-11-24)

Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie is an animated TV movie from 2017. It's based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series Hey Arnold!, which was created by Craig Bartlett. The original show ran from 1996 to 2004. This movie follows up on the 2002 film Hey Arnold!: The Movie and continues the story from a two-part episode called "The Journal".

This film acts as a big ending for the Hey Arnold! series. It finally answers a major question fans had for years: what happened to Arnold's missing parents? The movie first aired in the United States on November 24, 2017, on Nickelodeon. It also played at the same time on Nicktoons and TeenNick. In 2018, the movie won an Emmy Award for its amazing animation.

Story of the Movie

During the summer after fifth grade, Arnold and his best friend Gerald want to win a trip to San Lorenzo. This is a country in Central America where Arnold's parents were last seen. They try to make a video showing them building a home for their friend, Monkeyman. But the plan goes wrong, and Arnold feels sad.

Helga, who secretly likes Arnold a lot, has collected many videos of Arnold doing good things. She uses these videos to make a special film. Everyone in town surprises Arnold with this video. Arnold's teacher, Mr. Simmons, then tells everyone that Arnold's video won the contest! So, Arnold, his classmates from P.S. 118, and Helga's older sister, Olga, all fly to San Lorenzo.

On the plane, Arnold's pet pig, Abner, hides in his backpack. When they arrive in San Lorenzo, Arnold's parents' old friend, Eduardo, greets them. On a ship, Eduardo secretly warns Arnold about the dangers of the jungle. He gives Arnold an amulet that is said to lead to the "Green-Eyed People." These people live in a lost city in San Lorenzo. Later that night, Helga tries to tell Arnold how she feels. But then, pirates attack the boat! After learning a secret Arnold kept, Gerald and the others get upset with him.

When the group reaches a base camp, "Eduardo" shows his true self. He is actually a bad guy named Lasombra. He tricked Arnold and the others by pretending to be Eduardo. Lasombra and his men trap everyone. He explains that the contest was a trick to get Arnold to San Lorenzo. Lasombra wants Arnold to help him find the lost city and its treasures. He also tells the class about a deal he made with Arnold, which makes them even more angry at Arnold.

Helga and Gerald hear Arnold crying for his parents. They realize he wasn't part of Lasombra's plan. They manage to escape and free Arnold. They use Arnold's father's old journal to find the lost city. But they don't know that Lasombra put a tracking device on Arnold's green-eyed necklace. Arnold and his friends avoid the lost city's traps. Lasombra chases them, losing many of his men to the traps.

Meanwhile, Abner the pig escapes and goes back to Arnold's grandparents, Grandpa Phil and Grandma Gertie. They see this as a sign that Arnold is in trouble. They meet Helga's parents, Big Bob and Miriam, at the airport. Helga's smart best friend, Phoebe, had sent them an SOS message. The group flies a rented plane to San Lorenzo. There, they help the other kids fight Lasombra's gang.

Arnold and the others reach the city. They find it is full of children because of a "sleeping sickness." This sickness has made the adults sleep for nine years. The group finds a statue that holds the Corazón. This is a treasure that might cure the sickness. Lasombra corners them, takes Arnold hostage, and steals the statue. Gerald and Helga chase him. Lasombra forces Arnold to open the statue using the amulet. When Lasombra tries to take the Corazón, the statue's defense system shoots him with a poisoned dart. Lasombra falls over a cliff.

A mysterious man arrives and reveals he is the real Eduardo. He explains that the "pirate attack" earlier was him trying to save them from Lasombra. Lasombra climbs back up from the cliff. He fights briefly with Eduardo, knocking the Corazón off the cliff. Then, he dies from the poison and falls again. The group returns to the city. Arnold finally sees his parents, Miles and Stella, who also have the sleeping sickness. The Corazón is gone, so Helga uses her locket with Arnold's picture as a replacement. The temple releases the cure, and the sick adults wake up. Arnold and the city's children reunite with their parents. Arnold thanks Helga for being so loyal. He finally understands how much she cares for him, and they share a kiss.

A few months later, life is back to normal at Arnold's grandparents' boarding house. Miles and Stella are now living there too. Arnold says goodbye to his parents as he heads off for his first day of sixth grade. He walks with Gerald, Phoebe, and Helga. Gerald and Phoebe are holding hands. Arnold and Helga are also implied to be a couple, even though Helga pretends to be mean to Arnold in public. Arnold's parents walk with him and his friends to school. Arnold promises his mom and dad he'll see them at 3:30 as the doors close behind him. This ends the film and the series.

Characters and Voice Actors

Characters: Arnold, Helga, Gerald, Phoebe

The movie's voice cast includes 20 actors from the original Hey Arnold! series. There are also 11 new voice actors. These new actors replaced original ones who had retired, grown up, or passed away.

Making the Movie

How the Story Was Written

According to Craig Bartlett, the creator of Hey Arnold!, the story for The Jungle Movie was first written between 1998 and 2001. Steve Viksten, Jonathan Greenberg, and Bartlett himself worked on it. They even made early drawings and test videos.

After the movie was first cancelled, Bartlett shared many details about the plot. He confirmed that Arnold's full name would be revealed at the start. He also said Arnold still had the jungle map from the "Journal" episode. Bartlett also mentioned that Lasombra was looking for the Corazón, a special jewel of the Green-Eyed people. These were the people Arnold's parents, Miles and Stella, had helped in the past. The relationship between Helga and Arnold would also grow, especially after Helga kissed Arnold in the first Hey Arnold!: The Movie. Craig Bartlett said that The Jungle Movie was the first idea he suggested when he returned to Nickelodeon.

In June 2016, Bartlett confirmed the TV movie would take place one year after the original series ended, with the kids going into fifth grade. In July 2016, Variety magazine showed some new drawings of the main characters.

A preview during the NickSplat premiere showed that the movie's script was originally twice as long. One part that was cut was a parade scene in San Lorenzo. In that scene, Olga appeared on one parade float, and Helga was on another dressed as a monkey. In the final movie, you only see a very quick shot of the parade.

Choosing the Voice Actors

On June 13, 2016, news came out about the voice cast. Many original actors returned for their roles. These included Francesca Marie Smith (Helga), Anndi McAfee (Phoebe), Justin Shenkarow (Harold), Olivia Hack (Rhonda), Nika Futterman (Olga), Dan Butler (Mr. Simmons), Dan Castellaneta (Grandpa), Tress MacNeille (Grandma), Antoinette Stella (Stella), Carlos Alazraqui (Eduardo), Dom Irrera (Ernie), Maurice LaMarche (Big Bob Pataki), Kath Soucie (Miriam), Danielle Judovits (Big Patty), Danny Cooksey (Stoop Kid), Jim Belushi (Coach Wittenberg), and the creator Craig Bartlett (Miles).

The original voices for Arnold and Gerald, Lane Toran and Jamil Walker Smith, returned to voice tour guides in San Lorenzo. New actors took over the main roles: Mason Vale Cotton became Arnold, and Benjamin Flores, Jr. became Gerald. Alfred Molina was cast as Lasombra, the main bad guy. The next day, more casting news came out. Gavin Lewis was cast as Eugene, Jet Jurgensmeyer as Stinky, Aiden Lewandowski as Sid, and Laya Hayes as Nadine.

Release of the Movie

Promoting the Film

On July 10, 2017, Nickelodeon shared a first look at the new character designs. Craig Bartlett narrated this preview. Eleven days later, on July 21, a short scene from the movie was released at San Diego Comic-Con. In this scene, Arnold sees a special film about all the good things he has done for his neighborhood. The movie's official trailer came out on October 6, 2017. Another trailer was released on the NickSplat YouTube channel on November 7, 2017.

During November, NickSplat, a TV block on TeenNick, showed Hey Arnold! episodes every night. From November 17 to 24, NickSplat aired a long marathon of all the series' episodes.

Where and When It Aired

The movie first aired on YTV in Canada on January 5, 2018. It also had a short time in theaters in Australia during February 2018, only at Hoyts cinemas. Then, it aired on Nickelodeon Australia on March 2, 2018.

On March 9, 2018, the movie had a special one-day showing in select Showcase Cinemas in the United States.

Watching It at Home

The TV movie was released on DVD in Region 1 on February 13, 2018. It was released by Paramount Home Entertainment. It then came out on DVD in Region 2 on August 13, 2018.

Streaming Online

The movie became available on Hulu on October 1, 2019. Later, it was released on Netflix on November 1, 2019. This marked the return of Nickelodeon shows and movies to Netflix since 2013. The film was also added to Paramount+ (which was CBS All Access at the time) in September 2020.

Awards the Movie Won

• Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie on Netflix

See also

In Spanish: Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie para niños