Not too long ago, Nickelodeon made the announcement that they will be reviving some of their older IPs for today's viewers and to bring in the nostalgia factor for the older fans. Invader Zim and Rocko's Modern Life are among those IPs given a revival. Just this weekend in the US, Nickelodeon released the first of their revived properties - Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
The movie is itself a continuation of the Hey Arnold! television series that aired from 1996 to 2002. In particular, it is a follow-up to the two-part episode "The Journal" from Season 5, as well as the first Hey Arnold! movie back in 2002. For a quick refresher for those aren't familiar, Hey Arnold! it's essentially about the everyday life of the title character, distinguishable by his football-shaped head, and his sense of optimism and quick thinking. It was a very popular series at the time and the original ending has Arnold finding a journal that provide clues on the possible whereabouts of his missing parents, Miles and Stella.
The Jungle Movie begins with Arnold entering a contest where he showcases his humanitarian efforts for the local town, with the grand prize being a field trip to San Lorenzo, the place where Arnold's parents where last seen. Things went bad for Arnold when the homeless raided his project. But with the assistance of his rival Helga, the mean girl who is secretly in love with him, along with his best friend Gerald, and the rest of the townsfolk, Arnold's project was completed and he wins the contest.
In San Lorenzo, Arnold meets Eduardo, the local guide who also happens to be his parents' best friend. Eduardo informs Arnold of the Green-Eyed people, a local tribe who have hidden themselves from the outside world, but have close ties to Miles and Stella. Eduardo believes that by finding the Green-Eyed people, they would know the whereabouts of Arnold's parents. Eduardo also warns Arnold of the pirate La Sombra, who had a run in with Arnold's parents before.
Arnold is told not to give this revelation to anyone, which results in a strained relationship with Gerald, who along with the rest of the class, found out anyway after their boat came under attack and everyone later being captured. La Sombra reveals himself to be masquerading as Eduardo and masterminded the contest to lure Arnold to San Lorenzo. He is after the treasure of the Green-Eyed people known as the "Corazon", and Arnold is the key to its location.
With help from Gerald and Helga, and after a brief reconciliation, Arnold escapes and the trio began looking for the Green-Eyed people, unaware that they are being tracked by La Sombra. After some puzzle solving and a pinch of Indiana Jones here and there, the trio finally entered the city of the Green-Eyed people and are surprised that it consists entirely of children. They then learn of the tribe's history.
A sleeping sickness befalls all the adults of the tribe, leaving the children to fend for themselves. Miles and Stella first arrived with the cure, but did not bring enough, so they spent their time with the tribe developing more but succumbed to the sickness. The Corazon is a heart made of gold that is locked in a trapped puzzle chest that only Arnold can open.
La Sombra arrives and captures Arnold and coerces him to open the puzzle chest. Unaware of the trap, La Sombra was hit by a poisoned dart on the head and falls off the cliff. The real Eduardo arrives to the rescue, revealing that he's been trailing Arnold's class ever since arriving in San Lorenzo. La Sombra comes back and after a brief scuffle, falls down the cliff a second time after succumbing to the poison, along with the Corazon.
The Corazon turns out to be a key in operating a machine that would spread the cure to the Green-Eyed people. Using Helga's heart-shaped locket of Arnold as a substitute, they managed to operate the machine and spread the cure. Arnold is hailed as the tribe's hero and he is reunited with his parents. Arnold then speaks to Helga and finally deduces that she is in love with him and the two kiss. The movie ends with Arnold back at school for 6th grade, but this time with his parents accompanying him.
I find it a bit of a letdown that the introduction of the main villain La Sombra was already foreshadowed in the opening film. The trope is expected, yes. But it also drowns out any tension in the film of La Sombra's acts, and his big reveal is like "Well, duh! It was so obvious even a 5-year old can tell!". Fortunately, this does not carry to the second half of the film.
Another is Helga's confession to Arnold a quarter of a way into the film, which felt somewhat rushed. Personally it would've been better if she did it a little later. But thankfully, it didn't really wrinkle the film and it worked out in the end and Arnold and Helga became an actual couple, though I am amused that Helga still does her Tsundere persona towards Arnold, even though she no longer has to. Helga also steals the movie as her solo monologues where she struggles over her feelings for Arnold are the movie's best parts.
I won't lie the writing does have a number of plotholes here and there. For one, how weird is it that you're only 11 and your parents entrusted you on a dangerous mission when you haven't seen them in 10 years? Nevertheless I enjoy the writing overall and the way the narrative is handled from a child's point of view. The movie also has a lot of laughs and even though it's the first one in 15 years, it retains the charm of the television series.
I'm amazed that even though The Jungle Movie is a continuation of the TV series, it is structured in a such manner that even if you never watched Hey Arnold! before or you pretty much have forgotten about it, you can easily dive in and not get lost in the plot. For the movie's 1 hour 20 minute runtime, you are re-introduced to the world of Hey Arnold! and its cast and just like that, you've got everything you need to sit back and enjoy the movie like you would with the original show.
I got to hand it to creator Craig Bartlett on how he handled Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie. He managed to maintain the charm of the TV series without straying too far off, and is attractive to both fans and non-fans. At the same time, the movie serves as closure to the series overall. And frankly, it was well deserved. Some would like to have more adventures of Arnold, but I believe the movie closes the book for good. Besides, you are leaving the movie feeling quite optimistic for a better tomorrow, just as Arnold has from the very beginning. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie. A 4 out of 5.
