Southern Fried Nostalgia & Fandom: Arnold's Halloween (1997) Review

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday out of the entire year. The one time of the year when you can cosplay as one of your favorite movie monsters, or as anything else spooky, without anyone looking at you strangely....or at least more so than usual. 

 

One of my favorite Halloween specials is the holiday episode of Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! cartoon series, Arnold's Halloween (Season 2, Episode 7) which premiered on Monday, October 27, 1997.

The episode is the 31st episode of the 100 episode series, which ran from 1996 - 2004. Written by Hey Arnold! series writers Joseph Purdy, Antoinette Stella, and series creator Craig Bartlett, and directed by Jamie Mitchell, this 23 minute-long Halloween special is wonderfully crafted adventure that should be a must-see for any holiday special enthusiast.

I'm a huge fan of this show, but that alone isn't the reason I rank this particular holiday episode among my favorites, second only to the 1966 holiday classic It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which will always hold the top spot in my heart because I grew up with Peanuts, and I'll never fail to laugh whenever I watch Snoopy as the World War I flying ace fighting the Red Baron.   

Arnold's Halloween is a brilliantly written parody inspired by one of America's most surreal historical events, and one of my personal favorite historical oddities: the widespread panic caused by Orson Welles' radio play broadcast of H.G. Wells' 1898 novel War of the Worlds on Sunday, October 30, 1938 where thousands of people tuning in late to the radio play was convinced by the live production that they were listening to an actual Martian invasion.

On Halloween weekend in 1938, Orson Welles radio play adaptation of H.G. Wells'
science fiction novel The War of the Worlds caused widespread panic from people who
did not initially realize it was a radio drama.
(Image courtesy of the Associated Press)

In actuality, most of the so-called "panic" caused by the broadcast consisted largely of people calling in and overloading telephone switchboards in an effort to find out what was really happening. Some believing the broadcast and thinking that Earth was in fact being invaded by aliens from Mars, while others believed that Nazi Germany was launching an preemptive attack on the United States. Some people did in fact barricade themselves in, or leave their homes in the New York and New Jersey areas near the small town of Grovers Mill in an attempt to try to flee danger.

The next day newspapers across the country -- many of them attempting to demonize the competing radio broadcast industry -- exaggerated accounts of people committing suicide by the thousands (no evidence exists that anyone actually killed themselves over the broadcast). For at least two hours on that October night in 1938, thousands (if not tens of thousands) of Americans were panicked by the broadcast in one way or another.

The Landing Site Monument in Grovers Mill,
New Jersey, USA.

This became one of the first major examples of mass hysteria caused by media in modern times. Several movies and television shows have spoofed the Halloween broadcast of The War of the Worlds -- probably the best example being the 1990 science-fiction comedy film Spaced Invaders about five hapless Martians who think their space navy was invading Earth after hearing a rebroadcast of the original Welles radio drama and cause havoc in a small, rural Midwestern American town on Halloween night.

The town of Grovers Mill, New Jersey even has a monument commemorating the incident.

This holiday special episode of Hey Arnold! would not be the first episode of the series heavily inspired by an actual American historical incident, but it does rank as one of my personal favorites.

The story beings when the adults won't let Arnold and Gerald join their Halloween party planning meeting because (according to Arnold's grandpa, Phil) Halloween is the time of year to scare people and isn't for kids. While the grown ups argue over what Halloween costumes to wear, the two boys hatch a brilliantly conceived plan for revenge inspired by a popular television show, UFO Tonight, about alien UFO conspiracies hosted by the Orson Welles-like Douglas Cain (voiced wonderfully by Maurice Lamarche) by planning to fake a radio broadcast of an alien invasion to prank them.

Arnold and Gerald watching a show about aliens begins this
Halloween drama.

On an interesting note, this would not be LaMarche's first time voicing an animated character role for a story based on the Orson Welles infamous Halloween broadcast.

Another interesting bit to 90s animation trivia: in the popular 90s Warner Bros. animated series, Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain once again plot to take over the world in the episode The Battle For The Planet (Season 1, Episode 15) where Brain (voiced by LaMarche) attempts to use television, rather than radio, as a medium to convince people that aliens are attacking -- to uh, less-than-convincing results.

Meanwhile a few blocks away, Helga's father, Big Bob Pataki (also voiced by LaMarche), is watching the same television show over a game of cards and relating to his friends the story of his own alleged UFO encounter -- to the annoyance of Helga who sits silently nearby mimicking the whole story word for word (having no doubt heard it a hundred times before). Though Bob's friends, Harvey the mailman and Marty Green the butcher, are both skeptical of the story, it does inspire Helga to enact her own Halloween plans to have her friends all dress up as aliens to go trick-or-treating.

Overhearing her plans, Arnold invites his alien classmates to his house for the Halloween party, telling Gerald that it would be the perfect addition to their prank as Helga and the class would be their alien invasion -- and setting up what will later be part of a very long night for the kids. 

That night, Arnold and Gerald put their plans into motion. With the help of some really imaginative props for sound effects and Gerald’s charismatic personality helping him pull off the reporter act (aided by a deep pitch filter through a phonograph), the boys are able to really scare the adults. They are also aided in this endeavor by their friend, Stinky, who waits on radio standby to turn on the Christmas light-covered water tower sitting on the hill just outside the city and convert it into a glowing, menacing alien mothership.

Showtime!

Meanwhile, a TV operative who works for Cain's UFO Tonight series picks up the signal in a van, and reports back to Cain. He also gets footage of the kids coming to the boarding house door.

Phil tries to dismiss it as a prank, but once Helga and crew arrive at the boarding house (now dressed as aliens reminiscent of the Thalosians from the classic Star Trek: The Original Series pilot episode The Cage) all of the adults freak out in spectacular fashion. The boarders think they are real aliens and chase them with weapons. All of this is caught on camera and broadcast to a terrified city thanks to Cain taking over the regular broadcast.

When Stinky is then given the signal to cut on the water tower, this action would result in the city's power grid overloading and a city-wide blackout happening. The city, now already terrified by Cain's broadcast, goes into full panic mode seeing the glowing, menacing "alien mothership" on the hills above.

The alien "mothership" glowing in the distance over the
now blacked out city causes major panic in the streets.

As the insanity ensues, Grandpa is packing the Packard to leave town, when Arnold and Gerald arrive unaware of what is happening. The two explain their whole plan and Grandpa is both relieved and impressed with their prank. However, when Grandpa asks how they got Douglas Cain involved, Arnold and Gerald come to the realization that their prank has spiraled way out of control and that someone could actually get hurt. Arnold asks what happened to their classmates.

Meanwhile, Helga and the gang are in real danger as a result with a panicked mob of adults chasing after them not believing they are actually kids out Trick-or-Treating. The fact that their grey face paint won't come off -- largely due to Harold, who was tasked by Helga with buying makeup, purchased a long-lasting brand -- does not help matters either. They are chased to the glowing water tower, where they encounter Stinky who informs them of Arnold and Gerald's prank, which prompts a very loud, and very angry "ARNOLD!" from Helga.

Yep, she's pissed!

Elsewhere, Bob calls up Harvey and Marty to join him, then gears up in battle gear and take on the aliens in his Hummer. This trio reminds me a bit of the comedic heroes in movies like the parody cult classic (and I use the term loosely) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978). They encounter Principal Wartz, who is prepared with candies to surrender to the aliens and they pull him into the Hummer kidnapping him. Together the group plan their own counterattack against the alleged alien mothership to fight for the human race. Cain and the UFO Tonight crew are headed in that direction as well.

On and interesting note, a similar incident actually happened during the infamous 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast where a group of drunk men actually took shots at a water tower near Grover's Mill, New Jersey believing it to be one of the Martian war machines trying to fight off the alleged alien invaders.

Meanwhile, Phil, Arnold and Gerald, try in vain to tell the people in the street that the whole think was a prank and hoax, but in their panic over the impending end of the world, the people don't listen to them. The group track the angry mob and the kids to the water tower, where Bob intercepts the "aliens" and attempts to strangle their leader -- his own daughter.

Arnold tries to reason with Bob, who is unsure and still panicked, and who gives the signal to Marty and Harvey to launch his surprise weapon, a bunch of beepers wired to explode (yeah you actually read that right!) which they do blowing a hole in the water tower and washing the paint off the kids proving they are not aliens.

Hello, Earth to Big Bob!

This realization, prompting Bob to hug Helga in relief, and the lights coming back on thanks to the work of Arnold's grandma, Gertie, ends the panic. As Cain, again live on the air, denounces the hoax. Bob, now completely fed up with Cain's broadcasting, calls him "a big bag of wind" and tells everyone to go home.

As they all leave Arnold tells his grandpa he'll never do a prank like that again, but Phil tells him he's proud of Arnold's prank after listing all the mayhem it caused.

Look on the bright side, at least it beats sitting in a pumpkin
patch all night.

Also despite the fact that a city-wide panic was caused, as well as a few misdemeanors, the vandalism of city property, at least two federal felonies -- Wartz being kidnapped and the IED Bob and his crew made -- and the fact that Douglas Cane committed air-wave piracy (another federal crime); there are no lasting consequences for anyone involved. Cartoon logic folks!

The story ends with the kids and adults singing the Trick-or-Treat song and Grandma cackling into the night as she wishes everyone a Happy Halloween.

My Thoughts

If you want to see this episode for some scares, you maybe disappointed, as this isn’t meant to be a story to curdle your blood. There are no ghosts or monsters in this Halloween episode, no major jump scares, no gore, and no creepy encounters....unless you count Grandpa Phil handing out worms and cockroaches to horrified Trick-or-Treaters that is.

No thanks, I had meal-worms for lunch.

 

It doesn't need any of those things. In Arnold's Halloween irrational fear is the scariest monster of them all. The confusion created by Arnold and Gerald's broadcast is plausible because it actually happened in real life. You also find some charm to Arnold’s and Gerald’s radio broadcast, as they clearly put a lot of work into preparing it, fueled by a determination to get back at the grown ups for condescending them. The reactions of the adults and the level of panic and how they deal with it is played for laughs, despite how serious the situation actually is.

Throughout the episode, beneath all the suspense, there’s still a trick or treat spirit throughout the episode, and you get that fun Halloween feeling from watching it.

Animation storyboard stills for Arnold's Halloween.
(Image courtesy of Nickelodeon)

This is a very enjoyable Halloween special, one that captures the spirit of the season while telling a funny plot based on a real life event. If you want a harmless spooky cartoon this month, then this special is the the whole family can enjoy, because it mainly plays things safe, with an emphasis on comedy more than horror, while at the same time works in keeping with the spirit of the holiday.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!