Line #29 YMMV/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Lasombra refusing to give Rhonda the Wi-Fi password. Was it a case of EvilIsPetty or PragmaticVillainy considering that if she had internet access, she could easily [[spoiler:message someone to rescue the kids from his prison]]? Doubles as FridgeBrilliance.
3	** Curly offering to join Lasombra's and his goons. Curly being his usual psychotic self or secretly trying to instill himself as [[TheMole a mole]] to give his classmates a better chance for an eventual escape?
4	* AngstWhatAngst: Miles and Stella take the fact that [[spoiler:they were in a ''coma for nearly a decade'' and their infant son is now a preteen]] pretty well, though [[spoiler:they are pretty anxious about Arnold heading back to school after the big journey]].
5	* AudienceAlienatingPremise: For non-fans of the series. The movie is based on a modestly-popular television show that ended well over a decade before its airing, and is quite mythology-heavy as far as the plot goes, so new audiences not familiar with the show found it hard to get excited for. In the end, in spite of a decent advertising campaign by the network, and the overwhelming support of the adult fanbase (which made the film the #1 U.S. trending topic on Twitter on its premiere night), the movie ended up picking up lackluster ratings, at about the same than any other premiere.
6	* AwardSnub: The movie being released on TV rather than in theaters meant that it wasn't eligible for a Best Animated Feature nomination, which probably would've been welcomed given the controversy that nominating ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'' struck at the time.
7	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The CGI moments aside, the animation is ''amazing'', and very crisp and smooth.
8	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Jim Lang returns with the trademark jazz sound, as well as the return of the most memorable leitmotifs, including the "Parents Day" theme for Miles and Stella, and Helga's love theme.
9	* CaptainObviousReveal: Was anyone surprised when it turned out that [[spoiler:the Corazon was supposed to be placed in the hole of the medicine dispenser? The mural on the wall made it pretty darn blatant. Really, it's super straightforward - treasure's inside the idol, take it and put it inside the cavity. The kids of the Green Eye tribe get a pass because most of them are really young and uniformed and they assumed they couldn't make their machine work without Arnold, and that was true because Arnold did have the spyglass to decode how to open the guarded idol. Yet, it's actually pretty {{Narm}}y when Arnold looks at the painting of the treasure with no idea what to do with it when it's staring us dead-on in the face - one of the smartest characters in the series, even more so than some adults - and yet his fifth grade-educated, ten-year-old logic can't make the connection... and then Lasombra unwittingly drags the cast away from right where they need to be when everything could have been solved in mere seconds with the spyglass. Some of you were probably screaming at the television or computer, "PUT IT IN THE HOLE, FOOTBALL HEAD!!" Funnily enough, Arnold even struggled to put Helga's locket there in its place, which she is quick to point out]].
10	* CatharsisFactor:
11	** 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.
12	** Lasombra getting poisoned and falling to his death after how dark and menacing a villain he was.
13	* CharacterRerailment:
14	** Arnold retains some of his signature flaws and quirks from Season 1 after being flanderized into a VanillaProtagonist in Seasons 4-5.
15	** Sid returns to his pre-Season 3 characterization where he was much less of a {{Jerkass}} and he spends the film being kind and courteous to his friends.
16	** To some degree, Stinky gets 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.
17	* ContinuityLockout: The movie ''requires'' you remember the episode "The Journal" in its entirety, 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 by this point, the series only aired in late-night reruns on Creator/TeenNick. This deep need for familiarity is assumed to be the reason for the film's lackluster ratings, and why the following two throwback specials (''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLifeStaticCling'' and ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus'') got released on Creator/{{Netflix}} rather than see linear television airings.
18	* CultClassic: While it wasn't a big success, the vast majority of the fan base is receptive to the movie in a VERY positive manner to the point that even if there is not an overall consensus on the first movie—be it positive or negative—this movie definitely has a way more universal admiration and love toward it.
19	* EvenBetterSequel: 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''.
20	* {{Fanon}}: To explain her absence from the boarding house scenes, many fans speculate that Suzie finally had enough of Oskar's shit and divorced him between the end of the series and ''The Jungle Movie''. Upgraded to WordOfGod by Craig Bartlett in a Reddit AMA.
21	* FridgeBrilliance:
22	** Arnold seeing Helga's locket with his picture in it probably made him instantly think back to "Helga's Locket" when it ends up found by Grandpa and then randomly disappears before they can open it up to read the inscription and see who it actually belonged to.
23	** Arnold flat-out admitting to Helga that he suspected her feelings and was giving himself an out on the boat by disrupting her LoveConfession also immediately harkens back to the first movie where Helga admits it there and they both feel awkward about it, so Arnold to give her an out there suggests that she had an emotional reaction to allow her to basically press the ResetButton and take it back.
24	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
25	** 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.
26	** Creator/BenjaminFloresJr as Gerald is also a surprisingly effective successor too.
27	* IKnewIt:
28	** Many fans guessed that the reason Arnold's parents disappeared was [[spoiler:that they contracted the sleeping sickness that affected the Green-Eyed people themselves and no one had the cure.]]
29	** Many guessed that [[spoiler:Eduardo was Lasombra, or at least worked for him]] and they were sort of right on that one. [[spoiler:It appears at first that Eduardo was Lasombra the entire time, but it's later shown that Lasombra kidnapped the real Eduardo and impersonated him to gain Arnold's trust.]]
30	** Although it became a LateArrivalSpoiler, people were delighted to know Arnold's last name really is "Shortman"- though the creator went ahead and confirmed it outright taking the work out of guessing.
31	** [[spoiler:Yes, Mr. Simmons is indeed dating Peter. Mr. Simmons being gay was more of a closeted implication on the original series, but here, his actions with his partner Peter are obvious enough that it's direct confirmation]].
32	** People who suspected that [[spoiler:there would be instances of character death involved in the movie due to the PG rating]] discovered that the hard way.
33	* MoralEventHorizon: Lasombra [[spoiler:using a mook who failed him as a HumanShield against an arrow trap. It's incredibly jarring as, aside from a few episodes dealing with unreliable ghost stories, it's the first on-screen murder in the series. Lasombra then follows it up with using the rest of his men as canon fodder for the traps leading up to the Green-Eyes city, resulting in all of their deaths. And the guy is completely nonchalant through all of it]].
34	* NarmCharm: The scene where [[spoiler:all the adults affected by the sleeping sickness wake up to a bright light and butterflies swarming them]] is really cheesy, but also really touching.
35	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
36	** Big Bob gives a repeat performance from ''Hey Arnold! The Movie'', [[spoiler:joining with Miriam and Arnold's grandparents in helping save the kids from Lasombra's men.]]
37	** Sid is much less of a {{Jerkass}} in ''The Jungle Movie'' and acts as a genuinely helpful and courteous friend by doing things like salvaging Arnold's contest video and helping Eugene cope with his allergic reaction to the San Lorenzo food.
38	* ShockingMoments: 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]]?
39	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
40	** One of the leaked plot details of the original ''Jungle Movie'' was that Nadine was supposed to get her own subplot after never having had a single episode that focused entirely on her. Needless to say, fans of hers were a bit miffed that it didn't happen. The writers probably couldn't figure out a way to write it in without taking attention away from the main plot.
41	** Despite her reputation in the fandom, many are also upset that Lila was once again a voiceless background character in this film, without any definitive closure being given for the Arnold/Lila/Helga love triangle that ended so abruptly in "Timberly Loves Arnold/Eugene, Eugene!" This was a decision made by Craig as he did not want her getting in the way of Arnold and Helga, but he jokingly (or maybe not) said in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFWlxJQFdgc live chat]] that Lila may return as a full-fledged character if the series is revived.
42	** LivingProp Sheena does not attend San Lorenzo or have any value to the plot beyond padding the background during the video scene.
43	* UnexpectedCharacter: Many fans were not expecting the return of Pigeon Man in ''The Jungle Movie'', after the latter hadn't made a single appearance or mention since his [[ADayInTheLimelight Day in the Limelight]].

Context YMMV / HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie