Hey Guys. Gerawallstar here. You know one of those shows that you loved as a kid, but you suddenly started to have an amazing appreciation of them as an adult? Hey Arnold is one of those shows. Hey Arnold is the show that I saw the majority of time as a kid, and I loved it. But now that I’m seeing it as an adult, it gets better and better once you grow older. The episode that I’m going to talk about that proves my statement is the 22 minute Christmas special Arnold’s Christmas. This episode is about Arnold and Gerald trying to search for Arnold’s neighbor Mr. Hunyh’s daughter Mai that he has lost during the Vietnam war during Christmas. What I loved about the episode is how it doesn’t heavily focus on Christmas. Yes it does have some Christmas elements in there but this episode does a phenomenal job explaining about issues that kids wouldn’t understand such as Vietnam. That in my opinion really makes this show hold up very well after 23 years because this is one of the few kid shows that really focus on adult heavy themes, and I loved it. They do not talk down to the audience discussing about war. This is a perfect episode to teach kids about Vietman War. The actual backstory of Mr Huhyh leaving her daughter during the Vietnam war was very depressing. Another reason why I loved this episode is because of Helga. I loved how she went our of her way to buy a perfect Christmas present to impress Arnold. Her obsession towards Arnold is hilarious. The way that she sacrificed giving her Nancy Snow Boots Christmas present to Mr. Bailey, that was on the shopping list for Arnold and Gerald to bring back really shows you how much she cares for Arnold. I even loved how she persuade Mr. Bailey to do the search even when he is tired. The reunion scene between Mr. Huhyh and Mai is tear-jerking, and as well as the last emotional line when Helga says outside “Merry Christmas Arnold.” Overall, Arnold’s Christmas is a perfect Christmas special for a show like Hey Arnold. With this being the only Christmas special that Hey Arnold has ever done, the writers really paid off making this a powerful and effective Christmas special. I would absolutely recommend watching this special every Christmas. I give this special a 10/10.
