If you look back at the history of Nickelodeon, it's pretty hard to deny the network's effect on pop culture. Not only did it launch the careers of the likes of Ariana Grande and a number of other stars who are exceedingly wealthy, but the network also created a number of original shows that have contributed great joy to an entire generation. Of course, this includes Hey, Arnold!
Craig Bartlett's 'Hey, Arnold!' had 100 episodes in five seasons that aired from 1996 to 2004. There were also two spin-off movies, tons of merchandise, and, most importantly, a massive and dedicated fanbase that came out of the show. But how exactly was Craig inspired to create a series about a football-shaped head kid who got himself into all sorts of trouble with his grandparents and his friends? Here's the truth about the origin of Hey, Arnold! and spoiler alert... it involves another childhood icon.
PeeWee Herman Created Hey, Arnold! ...Sort Of
According to an interview by Vox, animator Craig Bartlett got his start creating the Penny cartoons on the legendary children's show, PeeWee's Playhouse. There was no bigger children's entertainer in the late 1980s than Paul Reubens and his strange man-child PeeWee Herman. So, Craig getting a job on that show animating the claymation segment of the show was a huge opportunity for him.
While playing around with the strangely-shaped characters in the Penny cartoons on PeeWee's Playhouse, Craig created a football-shaped-headed kid... Yep... Arnold. Who was named after his wife's uncle.
According to a video on the history of Hey, Arnold!, the idea for the football-shaped head came to Craig just because it was an easy shape for him to mold out of clay. He put the eyes far out on the sides of the head because it gave the character, " a cool, sort of, Buddha-like look."
Out of this playful experimentation, Craig produced three shorts for the Penny cartoons that featured the Arnold character, "Arnold Escapes From Church" being the most famous.
Of course, Craig didn't quite know that playing around with clay would result in him creating one of the most beloved and memorable animated characters of the 1990s. But, he did know that adding Arnold into the Penny cartoons was worthwhile.
Pitching Ideas To Nickelodeon Fell Flat So Craig Had To Come Up With Something
As Craig felt more comfortable in his creativity, he decided he wanted to branch out and create a series of his own. This is what encouraged him to take meetings with Nickelodeon and pitch producer Mary Harrington a variety of ideas. All of these ideas had nothing to do with Arnold and none of them were the least bit interesting to Mary and Nickelodeon.
So, Craig, as well as his creative partners, was feeling a little desperate. This is what caused someone to suggest that Mary take a look at the Penny cartoons from PeeWee's Playhouse, just to get a better understanding of what Craig could do. Turns out, she loved them... Specifically, she loved Arnold. She then asked Craig what ideas he had for Arnold.
The only thing Craig had on Arnold, outside of the stuff on the Penny cartoons, was a comic panel that he did for Simpsons Illustrated. It featured Arnold 'jolting awake from a dream' screaming his guts out.
This strange comic strip was ultimately what sold Nickelodeon on doing an entire series based on a character that Craig created by accident. At the time, Craig was pitching the idea as a "Charlie Brown for the '90s". Funnily enough, this seemed to be an apt comparison.
Craig was also interested in exploring more adult themes, or, at the very least, themes that kids could actually relate to. Especially kids growing up in the lower-class parts of Portland, Seattle, and New York, which the city in the show is based on. He also didn't want to let his characters off the hook by the end of the episode, like most children's cartoons did (and still do). He wanted to show real consequences and not 'wrap everything up in a nice bow'.
"[We were] making a show about a sensitive kid that really reflected emotionally what it’s really like to be a kid," Craig Bartlett said in an interview with Vox. "You’re kind of powerless. The adults run everything, and you don’t really have a say, where you have to make your own world."
This meant that the fun moments in the show would often have a harsher reality that allowed his characters to grow and learn from. But that didn't mean that it wasn't filled with fantasy and adventure.
"That was very much how my childhood was," Craig explained of his beloved show. "I just sort of had a huge inner life, because I didn’t think anyone knew or cared what I was doing. So I just kind of made up a dream world."