History YMMV / HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie

* CatharsisFactor: For ''Hey Arnold!'' at large. After waiting FIFTEEN LONG YEARS for the series to reach its conclusion, many people who watched the show as children and/or teens are now adults, some with children of their own. Now, a once-unfulfilled dream of their youth has been realized. And for Craig Bartlett and the crew? You just need to know that the crew wore shirts with "CLOSURE HAPPENS" written on them.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Mason Vale Cotton, Arnold's voice actor in this movie, manages to show a great range of emotion reminiscent of past Arnold voice actors while still bringing something new to the table.

** To some degree, Stinky get some as well after [[TookALevelInJerkass taking some levels in the later seasons along with Sid]]. Stinky seems back to his confused but friendly southern demeanor.

** To some degree, Harold and Stinky get some as well after [[TookALevelInJerkass taking some levels in the later seasons along with Sid]]. Stinky seems back to his confused but friendly southern demeanor and Harold doesn't bully anyone or boast about himself throughout the course of the movie. Harold is even seen beating a junky replica of Arnold when they are first imprisoned by Lasombra, only to be snuggling the same dummy later that night crying about how he misses Arnold.

* ItWasHisSled: TheReveal that Arnold's last name is "Shortman". Bartlett confirmed it years prior in an interview, back when it looked like the movie would never be made. Still nice to have "official" confirmation, though.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Though not without faults, ''The Jungle Movie'' has been received much better than the first movie was (though its reception [[VindicatedByHistory improved somewhat over the years]]). Compare the 8.1/10 rating on Website/{{IMDb}} for ''The Jungle Movie'' to the 5.9/10 for ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Aside from the usual crap being slung past the radar, there are multiple on-screen deaths in the film.
* WinTheCrowd:
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8IHV0AH2o San Diego Comic Con preview]] of ''The Jungle Movie'' did this for anyone who had doubts about the film, showing [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt crisp animation]], tons of {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s to the series, [[BackForTheFinale a few characters who disappeared during the series returning]] and that the returning voice actors could still do their characters' voices while the new voice actors sound just like the originals.
** The newly-unveiled character redesigns did this first; most fans were terrified that the basic look of the show would have been radically overhauled to account for changes in animation technology and production since the TurnOfTheMillennium (witness the shift from traditional to flash animation many long-lived cartoons have suffered in the past decade or so). To everyone's great relief, the new character designs were extremely conservative to the originals and amounted to them looking slightly older (to reflect the kids reaching the early stages of puberty) and getting fashion makeovers, which in some cases (we're looking at you, Phoebe) were even generally considered improvements on the originals.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8IHV0AH2o San Diego Comic Con preview]] of ''The Jungle Movie'' did this for anyone who had doubts about the film, showing [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt]] crisp animation, tons of {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s to the series, [[BackForTheFinale a few characters who disappeared during the series returning]] and that the returning voice actors could still do their characters' voices while the new voice actors sound just like the originals.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su8IHV0AH2o San Diego Comic Con preview]] of ''The Jungle Movie'' did this for anyone who had doubts about the film, showing crisp animation, tons of {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s to the series, [[BackForTheFinale a few characters who disappeared during the series returning]] and that the returning voice actors could still do their characters' voices while the new voice actors sound just like the originals.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: Rhonda takes selfies with a smartphone, when beepers were still in fashion just a year (in-universe) prior. Blame the 15 year SequelGap and TechnologyMarchesOn for this. Contrasted by Big Bob [[DiscoDan still trying to sell beepers]] even though [[TechnologyMarchesOn no one uses them anymore]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Everyone puts all the blame on Arnold for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]], despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** Helga for the first half of the movie. As per usual, the audience is supposed to sympathize with her feelings for Arnold and want her love to be requited. However, she blatantly ignores the fact that Arnold is currently undergoing a HeroicBSOD over his parents and she only cares about helping Arnold find his parents if it means he'll return her affections, making her come across as EntitledToHaveYou.
** Everyone puts all the blame on Arnold for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]], despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

* HolyShitQuotient: Did you honestly expect to see [[spoiler:one of Lasombra's men [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath get used as a human shield against a slew of arrows and collapse dead]] on screen]]?

* MagnificentBastard: [[BigBad Lasombra]] is a ruthless river pirate defined by his greed. After losing the Corazon to Arnold's parents years ago, Lasombra orchestrates a fake contest to lure Arnold into San Lorenzo. Disguising himself as Eduardo, Lasombra gives Arnold an amulet that was in truth a tracking device anticipating that Arnold would escape and unwittingly lead him to the lost city of the Green-Eyed People. Demonstrating his quick wit by sacrificing his minions to numerous booby traps during his trek through the jungle, Lasombra succeeds at finding the lost city. Despite being sociopathic and possessing the willingness to kill children if his schemes called for it, Lasombra balances this by having several [[LaughablyEvil laughable moments]] and quips and stands as the ultimate villain of the ''Hey Arnold'' series for this reason.

* HarsherInHindsight: The sleeping sickness has left the adults comatose while skipping the child population (the eldest are around Arnold's age), fast-forward to 2020 where the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is worldwide and affects mostly adults (and people with disabilities and pre-existing conditions) while children are mostly immune but carriers.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The ConspicuousCG moments aside, the animation is ''amazing'', and very crisp and smooth.

* UnnecessaryMakeover: {{Averted|Trope}}. Most of the new character designs were well-received (it helps that they aren't too different than what they looked like before, just slight wardrobe updates and aged up a bit) and some, like Phoebe, [[InvertedTrope are actually considered a vast improvement]].

* ContinuityLockout: The movie ''requires'' you remember "The Journal" in its entirety (not just the map), along with the LoveConfession in ''Hey Arnold! The Movie''. It also contains callbacks to several previous episodes of the series, which would confuse new viewers who lack proper knowledge on the show, especially since it only airs on [=TeenNick=] now, which not everyone would have access too. Even if they do, the show airs during hours in which most people (particularly children) would be asleep. It was probably a good thing ''The Jungle Movie'' didn't go to theaters for this reason (ironically enough) as the movie that did was a much more standalone story.

* ItWasHisSled: TheReveal that Arnold's last name is "Shortman". Bartlett confirmed it back when it looked like the movie would never be made and most of the fandom likely discovered this online beforehand. Still nice to have "official" confirmation, though.

* {{Narm}}: The big pan shot of [[spoiler:the lost city]] uses ConspicuousCG, which looks quite jarring for an otherwise very well-animated movie. The [[spoiler:idol holding the Corazon counts, too]], as does a city bus near the start of the movie.

* {{Fanon}}: To explain her absence from the boarding house scenes, many fans speculate that Suzie finally had enough of Oskar's crap and divorced him between the end of the series and ''The Jungle Movie''. Upgraded to WordOfGod by Craig Bartlett in a Reddit AMA.

** Arnold feels his mistake as he betrays the gang for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]] which he lying to them about Lasombra was as Eduardo who is Arnold's partner, despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

** Arnold feels his mistake as he betrays the gang for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]] which he lying to them about Lasombra was as Eduardo, despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

** Arnold feels his mistake as he betrays the gang for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]] which he lie to them about Lasombra was as Eduardo, despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

** Arnold feels his mistake as he betrays the gang for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]], despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

** Everyone puts all the blame on Arnold for [[spoiler:getting captured by Lasombra]], despite the fact it only happened because they were all tricked [[spoiler:into thinking the contest was legitimate and that Lasombra was Eduardo]] and he didn't know any better than they did. They essentially go "he got us here, he's responsible for what has happened". Granted, they did have legitimate reasons to get mad at Arnold, such as him [[spoiler:not mentioning his quest to find the Green-Eyes, nor the looming threat of the river pirates until it's too late]], but only Gerald ''does'' get mad at him for these.

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:Lasombra. He took over the group that Arnold's parents' friend Eduardo worked for in order to arrange the RiggedContest for the San Lorenzo field trip, naming the PS-118 class the winners when he sees Arnold is with them. He impersonated Eduardo himself to take the kids on his riverboat, manipulating Arnold into confiding in him and keeping the knowledge of Lasombra being after him a secret from his friends, and when a boat carrying men working for the real Eduardo came in pursuit, he claimed ''they'' were Lasombra and his crew and that he was changing course to get the class to safety when it reality he was luring them into his pre-arranged trap. When Arnold, Gerald, and Helga escape from their imprisonment, Lasombra [[CrazyPrepared had anticipated this happening]] and had already placed a tracking device on Arnold. As he and his crew followed the kids' trail, Lasombra anticipated all the booby traps and had his crew members take all the blows instead. He very nearly succeeded in taking the Corazon for himself, even narrowly averting a DisneyVillainDeath (at first) and ''prolonging his own death by poison'' just for one last shot at taking it.]]