It's been a long time coming, but the much-anticipated new Hey Arnold! television film has finally been released. Fans of Nickelodeon's animated series will we delighted to know that the movie - which was released just three days ago - reveals the question we've all been wanting to know for years: what happened to Arnold's parents?
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Now, we'll just pause to say the below contains spoilers, (that's right: 'CONTAINS SPOILERS') so if you keep reading and get upset when you find out what happened to his folks, even though you didn't want to, don't come crying to us. We warned you.
Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie - which is a sequel of sorts to 2002's feature-length Hey Arnold!: The Movie - follows the loveable character with the (American) football-shaped head and his friends on a class field trip to San Lorenzo.
Conveniently, the fictional location just happens to be the last-known whereabouts of his explorer parents.
As the kids weave their way through the jungles of San Lorenzo, their adventures lead them to discover that Arnold's parents - and all the rest of the adults there - have succumbed to a sickness that had made them fall into a deep slumber.
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Credit: Nickelodeon
Thankfully, being the bright and adventurous kids they are, the gang find the cure and Arnold gets to go back home with his both his parents, who will presumably be in shock at the array of bizarre people who've been living at their house while they've been gone.
More good news is that the feature-length movie could be just the start of a new phase for Hey Arnold!. Speaking to AV Club, creator Craig Bartlett expressed his hope of making another season of the for-children-but-also-not-quite-for-children show.
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Credit: Nickelodeon
"I've been saying this all along," he said. "The movie's been made to act perfectly as closure so that everybody feels satisfied that all of the storylines got wrapped up. And also, at the end of the movie, they're starting sixth grade [that's Year 7 for those of us in the UK], so season six is also my hope."
The original show ran from 1996 to 2004, before taking a little - well, quite a long - break, but given the growing popularity of animated series in recent years, it could be the perfect time for its return.
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Words: Mischa Pearlman
Topics: TV and Film, Nostalgia, Nickelodeon