"A Big Problem for a Big Head"
| None | Light | Moderate | Heavy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language | ||||
| Violence | ||||
| Sex | ||||
| Nudity |
Watch:
What You Need To Know:
HEY ARNOLD! has a lot of heart and is a very humorous, entertaining movie. The movie ends with an exciting ride on a runaway bus. Older children will enjoy watching Arnold and his friends defeat the oily villain Scheck, who has a secret motive of vengeance for tearing down the neighborhood. They will also enjoy Arnold’s interaction with the people who live on his block, especially Arnold’s nemesis, Helga, who has a love-hate relationship with him. Parents will be pleased that the movie has a couple positive references to prayer and an important reference to God’s Providence.
Content:
(BB, VV, M) Moral worldview with positive references to prayer, one of them in Hebrew, and girl character says, “God speed, Arnold”; no obscenities or profanities, but adults say “heck” several times and some toilet humor; significant cartoon violence, especially at the end, including people throw tomatoes, explosion, runaway bus crashes into things, and fighting; no sex, but one big kiss and child feels sick, says he needs to lie down, girl says she’ll go with him, and he replies, “There’s no time for that”; no nudity; no alcohol use; no smoking; and, lying, stealing and revenge.
More Detail:
Nickelodeon and Paramount have moved into the feature animation business with their RUGRATS movies, based on the popular TV series. Now, they’re set to add two other television franchises to their repertoire. This summer, they have a movie based on HEY ARNOLD! Later, they plan to release a feature movie based on THE THORNBERRYS.
HEY ARNOLD! THE MOVIE opens with Arnold, the blond-haired boy with the football-shaped head, learning that his neighborhood is scheduled for the wrecking ball. A mean-hearted developer named Scheck, who owns Future Tech Industries, wants to build a new shopping mall there. Even the boardinghouse where Arnold lives with his grandparents has got to go!
As the clock ticks down for demolishing the neighborhood, Arnold discovers that the block is actually a national landmark from the American War for Independence. If he can locate the document that declares his block a historical site, Arnold can save the neighborhood.
Arnold and his pal, Gerald, follow a trail leading them to the document. Helping them is a mysterious caller identified only as “Deep Voice.” When it turns out that Schreck already has the document in his office, they turn to the local spy kid, Bridget. Meanwhile, Arnold’s grandfather and his friends decide to blow up the street so that the bulldozers can’t enter the neighborhood to tear it down.
HEY ARNOLD! is a very humorous, entertaining movie with a lot of heart. It’s the setting and the characters that give the movie its charm. Arnold and his pal, Gerald, have to infiltrate Scheck’s office using spy equipment. The movie ends with an exciting ride on a runaway bus. Children will enjoy watching Arnold and his friends defeat the oily villain Scheck, who has a secret motive of vengeance for tearing down the neighborhood. Even Arnold’s nemesis, Helga, gets into the act. At one point, she finally expresses her love-hate feelings for Arnold and gives him a kiss.
Like SPIDER-MAN, another action-oriented feature movie based on a cartoon hero, HEY ARNOLD! contains a couple positive references to prayer. In one scene, Gerald even prays in Hebrew. Arnold says, “I didn’t know you were religious.” Gerald replies, “I didn’t either.” In another scene, Helga wishes Arnold, “God speed,” much like the conflicted father of Spider-Man’s rich friend.
Arnold himself has a can-do, positive attitude of helping other people. His attitude has a positive effect on the people around him, even though some people complain about it. There is also a patriotic, anti-tax message in the movie’s references to the American War for Independence.
HEY ARNOLD! is not a perfect movie, however. The menacing villains, cartoon violence and storyline may be a bit much for younger children to handle. Older children will probably get much more out of the movie anyway, though.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +1