Arriving home from being defeated by fifth-graders in a basketball game, Arnold Shortman and his best friend Gerald Johanssen learn from local butcher Marty Green that Alphonse Perrier du von Scheck, the CEO of real estate company FutureTech Industries (FTI), has announced plans to redevelop the entire neighborhood of Hillwood as a luxurious high-rise shopping mall. That night, Helga Pataki finds that her father, Big Bob, is working with FTI to build a new super-sized branch of his beeper store in the proposed mall. She ultimately sides with her father, albeit hesitantly because of her love for Arnold.
Arnold hosts a block party named "Blockapalooza" as a demonstration against FTI, but it fails when Scheck's employees steal their permit, and Arnold's grandmother Gertie is arrested for being hostile to the police suppressing the rally, causing the neighbors to lose hope and sell their homes to FTI. Just as the neighborhood's fate appears to be sealed, Arnold's grandfather Phil explains the "Tomato Incident", a major Revolutionary War battle fought in the city, revealing that it occurred at the site of the Sunset Arms boarding house. Arnold realizes that the neighborhood had to have been declared a historic district after the war, effectively ensuring its preservation. Arnold and Gerald search throughout the city for the legal document certifying its landmark status, and ultimately discover that the document was sold to Scheck, who denies obtaining the document.
As the deadline draws near, Arnold gets a mysterious phone call from "Deep Voice" (a "Deep Throat"-esque character), who informs him that Scheck actually has the document inside his office safe, and is lying about not knowing its whereabouts. Arnold and Gerald steal the key to the safe from Scheck's assistant, Nick Vermicelli. Nick later notices the missing key, and informs Scheck. Meanwhile, Phil and the other residents of Sunset Arms devise a backup plan to stop the bulldozers from destroying the neighborhood, wiring the storm drain tunnels beneath their street with dynamite to intercept FTI's construction equipment. Big Bob later joins them after discovering Nick's contract states Scheck will control 51% of his company and consequently swindle him.
With help from agent Bridget, Arnold and Gerald infiltrate the FTI headquarters, only for them to discover that Scheck has the document in his hand. Scheck then shares his own family's history regarding the Tomato Incident: his ancestor Archibald, the governor of the local British forces, was defeated and humiliated by the American colonists, including Arnold's ancestors, who protested the increased taxes on tomatoes. To avenge his family's honor, Scheck intends to demolish the neighborhood and replace it with a building carrying his name on it. He destroys the document to ensure that his plans will proceed, before summoning his guards to get rid of the duo. They escape, but believe they have failed, until "Deep Voice" advises Arnold to obtain the FTI's security-camera footage of Scheck burning the document.
Arnold discovers that "Deep Voice" is Helga, who reluctantly admits that she became involved because of her love for him. The pair escape the building and meet Gerald on a city bus, convincing the driver Murray to accelerate at maximum speed by reminding him that his former girlfriend Mona lives in the same neighborhood. Despite several near-collisions, the kids eventually return unharmed. Mayor Dixie, who had previously approved plans for the mall, arrives at the scene, along with the police and a news crew. Accessing a large jumbotron installed by FTi earlier in the film, Arnold and Bridget debut the footage of Scheck burning the document to everybody present. Dixie officially restores the neighborhood's status as a historic site, never to be destroyed by anyone for any purpose.
Scheck arrives, demanding to know why demolition has not begun, but then notices the footage of himself burning the document on the monitor, and realizes he has been caught and will likely be facing prison time. Having escaped prison, Gertie sabotages his car, and he is promptly arrested. Arnold's neighbor Harold Berman sits on the detonator, inadvertently igniting Phil's explosives and causing the jumbotron monitor to be destroyed. Helga denies loving Arnold, claiming she confessed to him in "the heat of the moment". Arnold, although unconvinced, pretends to accept it.
In 1998, Nickelodeon renewed Hey Arnold! for a fourth season, and gave creator Craig Bartlett the chance to develop two feature-length adaptations.[5] As work on the fifth season was completing, in 2001, Bartlett and company engaged in the production of the first film, titled Arnold Saves the Neighborhood. The Neighborhood project was originally produced for television and home video as the last 3 episodes of season 5,[4][5] but eventually became Hey Arnold!: The Movie[5] when executives at Paramount Pictures decided to release it theatrically after successful test screenings.[4] According to animation historian Jerry Beck (in his Animated Movie Guide), the decision was also buoyed by the financial success of the first two Rugrats films, The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.[5]
Release
The first trailer was released theatrically in December 2001 with Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. A second trailer consisting of new animation debuted during the 2002 Kids' Choice Awards. They showed segments on Nickelodeon called "Backyard Players" where kids would play Arnold, Gerald, and Helga and act out scenes from the film. There was a contest held for a lucky winner to be Arnold for a day and go to the film's premiere. The song "2-Way" by Lil' Romeo was used to help promote the film, and plays during the film's ending credits.
Opening on June 28, 2002, in the United States, the film grossed over $15 million worldwide on a budget of $3–4 million. The film grossed $5.7 million, averaging $2,258 from 2,527 theaters, and ranking #6 for the weekend. It dropped 65% in its second weekend, grossing $2 million, falling to #14, averaging $793 from 2,534 theaters, and bringing the 10-day total to $10.7 million. In its third weekend, it dropped another 70%, grossing $610,028, falling to #20, averaging $302 from 2,021 theaters, and bringing the 17-day total to $12.6 million.[3] The film closed on August 22, 2002, grossing a total of $13.7 million in the US and $1.5 million internationally.[3]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 29% based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Bland, unoriginal and lacking the wit of the TV series, Hey Arnold! is a 30-minute cartoon stretched beyond its running time."[8]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[10]
Video game
THQ released a video game of the film, exclusively for the Game Boy Advance. The game consists of five worlds, with four levels each (each including a boss on the fourth level) and the player can play as Arnold, Gerald, Grandpa, Grandma, and Helga, the latter of which is only unlockable through the use of a cheat code.
Future
A second film, titled Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, was in production but due to the disappointing results of the first film, the project was cancelled. Bartlett later left Nickelodeon, resulting in Hey Arnold!'s cancellation, with the last episode airing on Nickelodeon on June 8, 2004, unannounced. In 2015, it was announced that The Jungle Movie had resumed production as a TV film. The film was first broadcast on Nickelodeon and sister networks TeenNick and Nicktoons in the United States on November 24, 2017.[11] The film was later broadcast on Nickelodeon channels and select theatres worldwide in 2018.[12][13] The debut airing was simulcast on Nickelodeon, TeenNick, and Nicktoons.[14][15]
