Believe it or not, it’s been 20 years since Hey Arnold! first premiered on Nickelodeon! That’s right — on October 7, 1996, everyone’s favorite football head graced our TV screens, bringing his tall-haired best friend, an angry unibrowed little girl and a gaggle of other weird, wonderful characters along for the ride. To celebrate, we put together a list of fun facts you should know about the series. Read on, and enjoy Hey Arnold! every night on The Splat!
1. Hey Arnold! began as a series of claymation shorts creator Craig Bartlett developed independently. The third short was made for Sesame Street.
2. Craig and a handful of other Hey Arnold! alumni also worked on another Nickelodeon show — Rugrats.
3. Jim Lang, the composer for Hey Arnold!, actually wrote the melody for the theme song back in the 1970s, originally imagining it as the music for a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial.
4. A lot of Craig’s original Hey Arnold! staff, including Raymie Muzquiz, Jerry Richardson, Steve Lowtwait and Miyuki Hoshikawa returned to work on The Jungle Movie.
5. Hey Arnold! was the first Nickelodeon cartoon to use child voice actors.
6. During Hey Arnold!’s run, four different voice actors played the role of Arnold (five, if you count the pilot).
7. When designing Gerald, Craig decided that because Arnold was short and wide, his best friend should be tall and skinny.
8. The G. in Helga G. Pataki stands for “Geraldine” — as in Geraldine Laybourne, a member of the team that created Nickelodeon.
9. Only four Hey Arnold! characters know for sure that Helga loves Arnold: Dr. Bliss, Lila, Phoebe and Brainy.
10. Each girl character on Hey Arnold! was based on a real-life crush the creator had when he was younger.
11. The studio Hey Arnold! was produced in was located on 4040 Vineland Street. In the show, the boarding house is on 4040 Vine street.
12. Hillwood, the city in Hey Arnold!, was named after the elementary school Craig attended in Seattle.
13. Craig based Arnold’s city after Seattle (his hometown), Portland (where he went to art school) and Brooklyn (where he has relatives).
14. Painter Edward Hopper (who is mentioned in “Helga on the Couch”) is part of the inspiration for the Hillwood cityscape.
15. Craig voiced a number of characters, including Brainy, Abner, Ned the radio DJ and Arnold’s dad, Miles.
16. Ned’s look is also based off the appearance of Craig.
17. Originally, Arnold had no last name, but as a joke the writers settled on “Shortman” — Grandpa Phil’s nickname for his grandson.
18. PS 118’s school colors are green and orange.
19. Though many thought Arnold was wearing a kilt, it was really just a long button-down shirt under his sweater.
20. Hey Arnold! has saved lives! After a little girl watched the episode “Eugene’s Bike,” in which Eugene nearly chokes on a hotdog until Arnold gives him the Heimlich Maneuver, she used the same move on a friend who was choking on a jawbreaker.
