This is not a fic based on what I think happens in The Jungle Movie. I am merely putting together an essay with confirmed facts about TJM as well as offering my insights and opinions on what I think could have happened in the film. I am not trying to get anyone to see my side on this and I am not saying that I think I am entirely correct with my opinions. I am just trying to put two and two together if I think it makes sense in order for the story to have worked. I also give some encouragement that we can save the film if we fans all work together to do so. So I hope you enjoy what I have to say about TJM.
Disclaimer: This is not a work of fiction, but I do not own Hey Arnold! or the characters. They belong to Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
Introduction
Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie was the planned second and final film in the Hey Arnold! series. Often abbreviated as "TJM" and referred to simply as The Jungle Movie, it was meant to be the only theatrically-released film in the series, while Hey Arnold!: The Movie, originally titled "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood," was meant to be released as a TV film. But problems with the script kept The Jungle Movie on hold for a number of years, so Nickelodeon had "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood" converted into the Hey Arnold!: The Movie because they wanted a theatrical film made before the series lost its popularity.
The drafts of The Jungle Movie were developed between 1998 and 2001, and the forty-five minute special episode "The Journal" was made as a prequel to link the series to the movie. Even though Hey Arnold!: The Movie turned out unsuccessful with reviews and at the box office, Nickelodeon was still interested in producing The Jungle Movie as the second and final Hey Arnold! feature. However, creator Craig Bartlett was then working on the show Party Wagon for Nickelodeon's rival Cartoon Network, and one of the conditions for producing the film was to work exclusively for Nickelodeon. After Bartlett refused to do so, and due to other complications, Nickelodeon officials decided to cancel the project.
Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures own the rights to the film and the story, but they are not interested in Hey Arnold! anymore and have no plans to put it into production. Although Bartlett once expressed interest in releasing the story as a book or a graphic novel sometime in the future (if given the chance), the chance remains very slim.
Bartlett still does not want to reveal the plot line completely, but much of it has leaked through his online chats and interviews. The information revealed by Bartlett can be found at this site: haca . wordpress category / the – jungle – movie /.
Here is the link to a fan-made poster for the film made by genaminna: genaminna . deviantart art / Hey – Arnold – TJM – Promo – Art – 87254379.
Summary of "The Journal"
This was the final episode of Hey Arnold! ever produced, and because it is one of two episodes to take place after Hey Arnold!: The Movie, and being a setup to The Jungle Movie, fans often regard it as the true series finale, even though it was not the last episode to air. We first learn in "Arnold's Hat" that Arnold's parents are absent from his life, and in "Parents Day," we learn who they are, why they are absent, and why Arnold lives with his grandparents instead of his parents. But "The Journal" reveals an even greater amount about Arnold's parents' characters and their past (including their names!). We learn about events that include how they met, their wedding day and honeymoon, Arnold's birth, why they went on their last trip…and one final surprise.
Arnold is on a ship traveling with his parents, and all three of them are happy to be on this adventure together. When Arnold spots a ship, his father sees that it belongs to pirates and he and Arnold's mother go off to deal with the pirates, leaving Arnold at the helm. The pirates start firing cannonballs at the ship, eventually destroying Arnold's ship. He doesn't see the pirates or his parents anywhere and yells for them to come back. Arnold then wakes up in his bedroom and finds that it was all a dream. He is feeling sad because today is October 5th, the anniversary of the day that his parents left him and never returned. Arnold is too sad to do anything with his friends and turns down an offer to go to Dino Land with them, wanting to be alone today. While Helga and the others mock him for not wanting to go, Gerald learns why Arnold is feeling sad and gives him some sympathy. Helga actually stays behind and hides, overhearing the whole thing and feeling remorseful for mocking Arnold. Later in the day, Arnold packs up all of his parents' things to put them in the attic. Phil tries to talk him out of it, but Arnold says it's time to move on and decides he doesn't want to hear any more stories about his parents. As he puts away the packed box, he stumbles upon a journal, then realizes it belongs to his father! Arnold is excited to have found it, and Phil determines Miles must have written in it during the time he was in San Lorenzo, which is located in Central America. Arnold, Phil, and Gertie gather in the living room and start reading the journal, and whenever Phil reads a story, it takes us into the past with Arnold's parents.
Miles comes to San Lorenzo as part of an anthropology research party, which includes his college friend Eduardo, and meets a botanist/physician named Stella, who is there studying the local plant life in hopes of finding cures for jungle illnesses. As time passes, Miles and Stella spend a lot of time together (namely because Miles keeps injuring himself and getting treated by Stella) and fall in love. One day, after hiking up the cliffs and falling down the ravine into a river, they are saved from falling down the waterfall. While they don't get to see their savior, they realize that it was one of the elusive Green-Eyed people, the original inhabitants of San Lorenzo. Miles and Stella decide to thank them by their own good deed, and when they learn from Eduardo that a local river pirate and treasure hunter named La Sombra stole a relic called La Corazón from the Green-Eyes, they decide to recover it as a way of paying back the Green-Eyes. They succeed in getting it back and return it to the Green-Eyes by placing it on one of their ancient shrines. On their wedding day, Miles and Stella are given a piglet from the Green-Eyes as a gift, which grows up to be Abner. After the wedding, there is an implication of Miles and Stella about to have sex, but just before anything else is shown, Phil rips out the page. While on their honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro, Miles and Stella save a group of people from a broken-down cable car. Soon afterwards, they are asked to come back to San Lorenzo by Eduardo after they learn that the Green-Eyes have been struck by a disease. Because Stella is a doctor, along with the fact that the Green-Eyes trust only them, she and Miles are the only ones who can help.
Stella determines that the Green-Eyes have been affected by a sleeping sickness, and they work together to gather the ingredients for a serum to treat the Green-Eyes. After they succeed in making it, they drop it off at stone monument marked by the Green-Eyes architecture (similar to a shrine where they returned La Corazón). It is afterwards that Stella discovers she is pregnant and months later, when she is in labor, Eduardo and Miles carry her to town on a make-shift cart, but they get cut off in the jungle when a volcano starts erupting! They discover a temple of the Green-Eyes and find a bed ready for Stella. Right when she gives birth, the volcano stops erupting and a baby is heard crying among the silence. Eduardo says that "he has silenced all of nature." Miles and Stella are blessed with a son named Arnold, and call him "a miracle baby." Back in their village, Miles and Stella are having trouble raising a rambunctious baby Arnold, but they love him nonetheless. One night, after Arnold crawls out of the hut and nearly has an encounter with a snake, Miles and Stella realize that they can no longer stay in San Lorenzo and go back to Miles's hometown of Hillwood. Miles's parents, Phil and Gertie, are pleased that the couple is home and love their new grandson. A year later, they all celebrate Arnold's first birthday together, and Miles and Stella take Arnold to the park where they buy him his tiny blue hat. When they are not looking, Arnold escapes from his stroller and climbs up the slide! He falls down and lands in mud but is unharmed. Miles and Stella are happy that he is safe, then they vow that they will never let him out of their sight again. On another day (not mentioned when), Eduardo pays an unexpected visit to tell Miles and Stella that the sleeping sickness has broken out again in San Lorenzo and many Green-Eyes have already perished. Although it hurts them because they don't want to leave Arnold, Miles and Stella decide to go, as they are grateful for the Green-Eyes for helping them so many times before. They believe that their trip back to San Lorenzo will be fast and they will be back very soon.
In the present, Arnold, Phil, and Gertie are all heartbroken after having read the last story, for they know that what was meant to happen never did. But Arnold is happy that they found the journal because he had learned so much more about his parents and understands why they left; he just wishes he knew what happened to them. After his grandparents go to bed, Arnold goes outside on the stoop to look at the journal again, and when he comes to the last page, he finds the one final surprise: a map, which he realizes is the route his parents took on their last trip to San Lorenzo! He goes inside and yells to his grandparents about his discovery.
San Lorenzo and the Green-Eyed People
The main events of The Jungle Movie take place in San Lorenzo, a country in Central America. This is the place where Arnold's parents, Miles and Stella, met, fell in love, and married. Arnold was also born down there, and until they moved back to Hillwood, they lived in a hut located in a small primitive village surrounded by jungles. Abner was likely born in San Lorenzo, too, as he was a gift to Miles and Stella on their wedding day.
Although some of San Lorenzo is first seen in "Parents Day," when Miles and Stella first meet, many more glimpses of it were shown in "The Journal," in which Arnold finds his father's old journal and reads about his adventures in the country. In the end of the episode, Arnold finds a map of the region where his parents went on their last journey.
The shown areas of San Lorenzo are covered by jungles. There are some volcanoes in the area, with at least one that is active. There is at least one navigable river (which is roamed by the river pirate La Sombra) and remains of ancient Mayan-like architecture. The combination of these factors suggests that San Lorenzo most likely corresponds to Guatemala and/or neighboring areas of Mexico and Honduras. Ethnic groups include the Spanish-speaking people (including Eduardo) and Amerindians who speak a gibberish language (such as the man who performed Miles and Stella's wedding).
San Lorenzo is also the homeland to a mysterious and elusive tribe known as the Green-Eyed people. They are the original natives of the country and were thought to be a lost civilization since they have never before been seen by outsiders. As they have been able to keep themselves hidden from the civilized world for years, they seem to be fairly advanced. The Green-Eyes were mentioned by Miles as having a hidden city, which may be where they all live and it is possibly located somewhere deep in the jungles (or even underground) where people can't easily find it. This would explain how they have been able to stay hidden from other natives of the country. Their relics often seem to include emeralds, which makes sense as emeralds are green, making a link to the tribe name.
They have only partly shown themselves to Miles and Stella because they have helped each other many times. After Miles and Stella were saved from falling over a waterfall by the Green-Eyes, the couple paid them back by finding La Corazón, a glowing green jewel and sacred relic, and returning it to the Green-Eyes after the river pirate, La Sombra, had stolen it. Miles and Stella respectfully did not uncover the relic and dropped it off on an altar that had a green shrine with the symbol of the Green-Eyes. La Corazón was whisked away as soon as Miles and Stella turned their backs. As a sign of their gratitude, they presented to the couple a pendant that was embedded with their symbol and a green emerald for the eye. On their wedding day, Miles and Stella were presented with Abner as a gift from the Green-Eyes. After the Green-Eyes were struck by a disease identified as a sleeping sickness by Stella, she and Miles created a serum that would help cure them. They found another stone monument with the Green-Eyes' symbol and placed the serum there. The Green-Eyes showed more gratitude to Miles and Stella by giving them both a necklace that contained their symbol. When Miles, Stella, and Eduardo were caught in the jungle during a volcanic eruption, the Green-Eyes helped guide them to safety by leading them to one of their ancient temples where a bed was waiting for a pregnant Stella to give birth to her baby. It is presumed that they are aware of Arnold's name and existence, as one of them was a witness to his birth, and said "Arnold" to himself, after hearing Miles say it, before retreating into the jungle.
It is very likely that they are directly related to the disappearance of Arnold's parents, as Miles and Stella were summoned away by a plea for help from the Green-Eyes after the sleeping sickness had broken out for second time in San Lorenzo, and Miles and Stella were never heard from again following this.
Confirmed Film Plot Notes
Arnold's name is revealed in the opening scene. A man comes to the door of the boarding house with a package for Arnold and he signs his full name.
At school, Arnold, who is now ten years old and in the fifth grade with the rest of his friends, wins an essay contest that allows all of them to take a trip to San Lorenzo. But Arnold decides to use this trip to fulfill his own secret mission: to locate his parents using the map that he found in "The Journal."
During their trip, Arnold and his friends experience many adventures and dangers together, such as crossing raging rivers, rope bridges, and encountering poison darts (not much unlike the dangers his own parents encountered there).
Arnold meets the Green-Eyed people. The Green-Eyes think very highly of Arnold, viewing him as a divine Messiah when they see that the shape of his head is similar to the symbol (which is shaped like a football) in their architecture, along with the fact that he silenced all of nature (specifically, the erupting volcano) when he was born. While they seem to worship Arnold, they also semi-worship Helga as they are impressed with her ferocity. The Green-Eyes also think very highly of Miles and Stella because they've all helped each other many times before.
La Sombra, a villain who was briefly seen in "The Journal," is a big character of the movie. He is Miles and Stella's nemesis and the film's main antagonist. He is a mercenary treasure hunter and river pirate who goes in disguise. His name means "the shadow" is Spanish, and this may refer to him being a master of disguise and/or a "shadowy figure," in reference to his role as a villain. La Sombra is after La Corazón, the jewel and sacred relic of the Green-Eyed people.
In the end of the movie, Helga continues putting up her front and acting like she hates Arnold, but Arnold confesses that he feels the same way about her. He finally reciprocates her feelings and realizes they are meant for each other. He also plants a kiss of his own on her, but Gerald interrupts them. When they make a lame excuse, he says, "Whatever you say." By that point, their classmates would likely notice what's going on between Arnold and Helga, and start to tease them about it.
Characters and their Roles
Arnold: Now ten years old, he is on a quest to find answers to his parents' disappearance in San Lorenzo.
Helga: Since the first movie, she acts like she hates Arnold again, but that appears to change in the end.
Gerald: He interrupts Arnold and Helga's kiss in the end of the movie, and after hearing their lame excuse, he simply responds, "Whatever you say."
It was said that one of the biggest problems with Hey Arnold!: The Movie was a lack of subplots, and while the show had a diverse cast of characters, they had a lack of screen-time in the film. Bartlett said that the first film was meant to spotlight more on Arnold and Helga's relationship, while in the second film, he wanted to give the other characters their own scenes. These characters may very well be utilized for comic relief in the movie. Here is some information revealed about the characters and their roles (albeit minor for some) in the film:
Harold: He acts like his bossy and bully self with Stinky and Sid, saying, "I'm the boss and I say we're doin' it!"
Sid: He tags along with Harold and Stinky.
Stinky: He tags along with Harold and Sid.
Rhonda: For her, the jungle is like hell as she freaks out at everything she sees and all of her technology won't work.
Nadine: For her, the jungle is like heaven as there are so many species of bugs there.
Brainy: He is thrown overboard by Helga a couple of times, but plays his biggest role ever in the film. According to Bartlett, "He doesn't say much, but he helps the story along in a really cool way. In the middle of the story, Helga is fed up. She gives up completely, and Brainy kind of helps her back to life, symbolically."
Eugene: He encounters many misfortunes along the trip, such as getting allergy attacks, injuring his legs (which causes them to puff up like balloons), and being chased and nearly eaten by piranhas.
Olga: She accompanies Arnold's class on the trip to San Lorenzo (though it is not said why she goes) and drives Helga crazy.
Mr. Simmons: While Mr. Simmons is the teacher, Bartlett was asked if he really teaches fifth grade now and answered, "Yeah, I guess. Maybe he teaches 5th grade now. These are the kind of reality notes that we writers mostly ignore." (In my opinion, I thought that maybe it was because he became so attached to Arnold and his friends as his students that he wanted to be their teacher again.)
Principal Wartz: Even though Arnold, his classmates, and Mr. Simmons go to San Lorenzo together as a class, Principal Wartz tags along because he's always wanted to see the jungle and knows that there are jungles in Central America.
Most of the other students from Mr. Simmons's class also participate in the trip, but Bartlett has not mentioned their specific roles.
Other (Likely) Featured Characters
Miles: Arnold's anthropologist father, who went missing in San Lorenzo eight (or nine?) years ago on a mission to help the Green-Eyed people. His whereabouts are unknown.
Stella: Arnold's botanist/physician mother and Miles's wife. She went with Miles on the mission to help the Green-Eyed people, but disappeared with him and her whereabouts are also unknown.
Eduardo: Miles's and Stella's most trusted friend, who witnessed Arnold's birth "silence all of nature" in "The Journal."
The Green-Eyed People: The original and mysterious natives of San Lorenzo.
La Sombra: An evil river pirate and treasure hunter, the film's antagonist.
My Insights and Thoughts
After watching "The Journal" several times and reading the confirmed notes on what was meant to happen in The Jungle Movie according to Bartlett, I started thinking on what could have happened in the film that was not revealed by Bartlett, especially if he thought answering certain questions would be serious spoilers.
Although he did not want to make it a big deal of it, Bartlett decided to use the film as an opportunity to reveal Arnold's full name after being asked many times what his surname is and fans having heard the running gag on the show in which his surname was almost revealed. In the opening scene of the film, Arnold would sign his full name when a package arrived for him. (I already said in my first essay that Arnold's full name has been hinted to be Arnold Philip Shortman.) I also think fans would wonder what the point of Arnold getting a package would be to the film, as Bartlett did not go into any specific details about it. He said that Arnold would be celebrating his tenth birthday in the film and be in fifth grade, so maybe his package was a birthday present. On another note, because "The Journal" ends with Arnold finding the map and wanting to go to Central America to locate his parents, maybe he ordered something about San Lorenzo in the mail that would help him learn more about the country if he had a chance to go down there.
It was revealed that Arnold had the chance to go to San Lorenzo and find his parents because he won a school essay contest that allowed him and his entire class to go for free. This is the only thing Bartlett had said regarding how Arnold would get down to San Lorenzo and did not give detailed information about the contest. My thoughts on it are that Mr. Simmons tells the class about the contest, which would have a purpose where a student would write an essay about a place where they would most like to go and why, and whoever wins gets to go to that place for free with their entire class. If this is the case, then order to win, Arnold would likely say that he wants to go to San Lorenzo because he learned his parents went there when they disappeared years ago, and since they never came back and he doesn't know for sure what happened to them, he wants to go to have an opportunity to find answers to their disappearance. He also hopes that if there is a chance that they are still alive, he wants to find them and bring them home. In terms of winning, maybe the judge(s) would be so touched by Arnold's story that they choose him as the winner and give him the grand prize of going to San Lorenzo with the rest of his class.
One of the many things about the movie that Bartlett did not want to reveal was the subject of Arnold's parents' disappearance. He never said how and why Miles and Stella disappeared or how Arnold finds them, if in fact he does find them. When it was asked why "The Journal" was made without a chance to have The Jungle Movie made, Bartlett said this in one of his chats:
"Nick paid for 'The Journal,' and we made it, so they'll air it. They don't care if it sets up another story that may or may not get made. I'm glad that 'The Journal' ends with Arnold wanting to go to Central America, because what the heck, maybe it will cause enough people to demand The Jungle Movie."
Watching "The Journal" actually gave me a big idea that might help explain why Miles and Stella disappeared. In the episode, Miles and Stella took back La Corazón from La Sombra after he stole it from the Green-Eyes, and as they escaped, he yelled, "I'll get La Corazón back if it's the last thing I ever do!" I'm willing to bet he had something to do with it, like maybe he kidnapped them, destroyed their plane, and is holding them hostage somewhere in San Lorenzo. (If you remember in "Parents Day," Phil said that the plane on which they were traveling was never found.) And if so, I bet it's because he wants revenge on them for taking La Corazón away from him. If they are being held prisoner in the country against their will, it would explain why they haven't come back to Arnold. I remember Bartlett saying that La Sombra and La Corazón played big roles in The Jungle Movie, and that La Sombra was Miles and Stella's nemesis, and as a villain, what better part for La Sombra to have than to be involved in their disappearance? It is also very likely that he has minions to help him carry out his acts. Not much was revealed about Eduardo's role in The Jungle Movie, but people have suggested that he is on the villain's side, or even a possibility that he was blackmailed by La Sombra to bring Miles and Stella back to San Lorenzo, telling them that the sleeping sickness broke out once again (when it didn't), and La Sombra would capture them when they arrived.
It was also suggested by fans that maybe their plane was destroyed and they survived, but developed amnesia and forgot who they were, where they were, and their son, thus they never came back to Arnold. In "The Journal," Miles briefly mentioned that the Green-Eyes had a hidden city, and if there was a chance that he and Stella are being held prisoner or survived and are trapped, maybe they are located there!
My good friend VollendJatara-Jenny loves "The Journal" and had her own theory of what happened to Miles and Stella: their plane crashes because it runs out of gas, but they survive. After wandering around for a bit, Miles reaches into his backpack and realizes his journal isn't there. He tells Stella and both of them realize that they are in trouble, because the journal contained their only map of San Lorenzo. The two of them wander around the jungle some more, trying to find their way. Eventually they stumble upon La Sombra's camp. He and his minions hide in the bushes, then one of them shoots Miles with a tranquilizer gun. After he goes down, Stella notices and tries to look around for the person who shot him, then she gets hit herself. When they are both unconscious, La Sombra and his gang carry them off into the camp. From then on, Miles and Stella are held prisoner in a dungeon by La Sombra, who constantly tortures them and feeds them terrible food, all in attempts to wheedle the location of La Corazón out of them. He keeps them alive to try and get the information out of them, even though the couple refuses to give in, despite all that happens to them.
The specifications of this idea make a lot of sense to me, because it seems that the journal's location at the boarding house instead of being with Miles is a mystery. It was never brought up as to why Miles didn't take it with him on his and Stella's last journey to San Lorenzo. This has made me believe that Miles forgot to take it with him, rather than having left it behind on purpose, because he carried it everywhere with him when he was in San Lorenzo, and the map was in there so he could find his way around without getting lost. And since he and Stella don't have the map when they go back to the jungle, they get hopelessly lost while trying to find their way around after crashing their plane, until La Sombra and his minions manage to track them down and capture them. If this is a possible case, I wondered why he never found them up until that point in order to capture them, but maybe it was because since they had the map with them, they knew how to get around the country and avoid running into him and be captured, though I also wondered if he was looking for them. Coming back to their plane, I still believe that La Sombra could have destroyed it, because he wants to make sure there is no evidence left for people to find Miles and Stella and have it just be assumed that they are dead when that is not the case. While being held prisoner, Miles and Stella could be kept in a dungeon or fortress (where La Sombra has his main base) hidden deep in the jungles, making it even harder for anyone to believe that they are still alive.
I said in my first essay that it was revealed that Arnold would meet the Green-Eyes, even though they have hidden from outside civilization for years and have never been entirely spotted by outsiders. But since it is obvious that they are aware of Arnold's existence and view him as a Messiah (because of the shape of his head and he silenced nature when he was born), it would make sense that they would appear to someone they would worship, and they would likely show themselves to Helga if they are impressed with her ferocious nature. Maybe they even know what happened to Miles and Stella and where they are, and since they that Arnold is their son (since one Green-Eye saw Miles carrying Arnold out the temple after his birth), they would lead him to them. If Arnold did manage to find his parents in La Sombra's hidden fortress/prison, I'd imagine that he and his friends would then be immediately cornered and attempted to be imprisoned by La Sombra and his minions. (Being a river pirate and treasure hunter, he would likely have people who follow his lead and help him do his dirty work.)
Although very little was revealed about La Corazón, Bartlett said that as a precious jewel and sacred relic, it had "mysterious powers" and was "not to be seen the light of day." I had thoughts that maybe it has powers to put someone in a hypnotic state, which is hinted when Miles tells Stella not to look at it because of its sacredness (although this may be more because they wanted to respect the Green-Eyes). My good friend NintendoGal55 actually suggested to me from one of her friends of a theory on how La Corazón worked. Since it is Spanish for "the heart," it's meant to be seen by people who have a true heart, and those who don't have a true heart don't see anything. I also thought that since Arnold definitely has a true heart, and because he is seen as a god by the Green-Eyes, they would allow him to see it. Maybe he even tries to protect La Corazón from La Sombra, just as his parents did so many years ago. Here is the link to a comic made by limey404 (who is a very talented artist and can draw the characters from Hey Arnold! very well) that may have been a likely scene in the film, showing Arnold's dedication to protecting La Corazón: limey404 . deviantart art / Scenes – from – TJM – 1 – Cliffhanger – 160974616.
To me, a lot of stuff that happened in "The Journal" was meant to reappear in The Jungle Movie, including learning even more about the Green-Eyes, seeing their hidden city, and learning more about La Sombra and La Corazón. Here is a link to a comic made by Angel2012 with an idea on how some of these things may have been played out in the film: angel2012 . deviantart art / My – Hey – Arnold – TJM – Comic – 97425067.
Bartlett also said that Helga would have a big role in both Hey Arnold!: The Movie (when it was still meant to be a TV film) and The Jungle Movie. In the first film, we saw that her big role was helping Arnold save their neighborhood. Arnold did an impossible task for his age by saving the neighborhood from being destroyed by Scheck and his corporate bigshots, and it is because Helga helped him that he succeeded in that mission. I think that her big role in The Jungle Movie is that she would help Arnold find his parents (also because she plays large roles in many of his other dilemmas) and stop La Sombra, and if so, he would have succeeded in accomplishing another impossible mission because of her. I really think that what happened in the first film would have been repeated in a similar way in the second film, especially with Arnold and Helga's roles.
The Jungle Movie would focus on Arnold and Helga's relationship once again. In the first movie, she confesses her love to him, but Arnold dodges out of telling her how he feels in return. Arnold gets Helga to agree that it was just in the "heat of the moment" because he's not ready to suddenly give Helga a straight answer after all that's happened. Bartlett said that he was actually saving Arnold's reaction for the second film and wanted to complete their conversation. Since Helga has still not heard from Arnold about how he really feels, she continues putting up her front and acting like she hates him. While it was mentioned that Arnold would confess his feelings for Helga in the end of the film, it was not mentioned what would happen in the film that would bring up the subject (like when Helga confesses to Arnold in the first film because he catches her helping him in secret and he demands to know why she did it). Bartlett revealed that Arnold's confession scene "was definitely a big scene. But he's not as 'passionate' as Helga," and that he plants a kiss of his own on her, which "was short and sweet – they were in a hurry, as usual." Because I believe that Arnold would find his parents and that Helga would help him to do so, I think that his confession would happen partly because he thanks her for helping him find his parents and stopping La Sombra, and that her actions would help to give him a push to make him further realize that they are meant for each other.
Bartlett said that Arnold would reciprocate Helga's feelings when he confesses, but it is more likely that he would begin to do so and his feelings for her would gradually grow stronger over time (because even after taking months to think about his feelings, it still seems a little unlikely for him to reciprocate her feelings with the same amount of passion she has for him). It is unknown if the series would have continued after The Jungle Movie (namely because of how things would be played out between Arnold and Helga), but limey404 created a comic series of how everything may been played out between them had the film had taken place (which I love! :D). Here are the links to the six comics of this awesome story:
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 1 – 159242385
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 2 – 159706835
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 3 – 159793241
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 4 – 159866875
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 5 – 160016199
limey404 . deviantart art / Tying – Up – Loose – Ends – 6 – 160213902
When Bartlett was planning out The Patakis, he did not give any details about Arnold, other than saying that he moved away. Fans have assumed that if the series had been picked up, Arnold would be living with his parents in San Lorenzo, and I would like to think that because it would give us the hope that Arnold would find them in The Jungle Movie. Bartlett also never definitively decided if Arnold would go back to Hillwood or stay in San Lorenzo at the end of the film. To me, Arnold staying behind wouldn't make sense for several reasons. For one, as much as Arnold would want to be with his parents after finding them, staying there immediately sounds too impulsive and not like him. He still has friends and family back in Hillwood, and I think Gertie and Phil would want to know if Arnold succeeded in finding them as well as wanting to see Stella and Miles after so long, especially Miles since he's their only child. (And if Arnold didn't come back from San Lorenzo, how would they know if he succeeded or not?) I also think that Miles and Stella would want to leave San Lorenzo for some time if they were held prisoner there for many years. And lastly, if Arnold stayed in San Lorenzo, it wouldn't do a lot of good for his relationship with Helga. How can they get together if they're in two different places in the world? I think what would work best if they all go home together, stay in Hillwood for a few years, then Arnold would move away with his parents to San Lorenzo (if fans still want to assume that that's where he would move, had The Patakis been made).
Although I don't think Arnold would immediately stay in San Lorenzo with his parents, I like this cute comic story made by ABCreatief, in which Arnold decides to stay and Helga is so upset that she tells him she doesn't want him to stay, and they kiss: abcreatief . deviantart art / Kissing – Scene – Comic – HA – TJM – 115584235. And here is the link to an artwork by bloochikin on what the kiss may have been like in the film (and if you look closely, you can see Gerald at the top): bloochikin . deviantart art / TJM – Kiss – 129027361. Lastly, here are two additional comic stories for potential film scenes made by genaminna: genaminna . deviantart art / HeyArnold – TJM – You – Remind – Me – 78712124, genaminna . deviantart art / HeyArnold – TJM – Por – Flavor – 97544303.
Encouragements
It has been nearly eight years since "The Journal" aired on TV and over six years since the series finally ended. When Bartlett left Nickelodeon and the show was canceled, he said that he had to move on and work on new projects. But after all this time, he still has never revealed the truth about Arnold's parents' disappearance. This can actually give the fans some hope that Bartlett is hoping for something to happen that could reveal the truth, and that he hasn't just in case there is an opportunity in the future. Even though he had to move on from the show, I like to think that he would still want to give it the ending it deserves since he is the original creator. He was once asked if there was a chance that the story could be made into a book if there was no chance of it being a film and said this:
"What an interesting idea. Since I know the whole story, why not? What will have to happen is, I have to wait on Nick to decide Arnold's fate. If they want to do more stuff, they will call me. If they don't, after a while I could propose new stuff that I did on my own, I guess. I know you want to know what happens, and I would like to do it too. Yeah, and of course, the most important part is Arnold's response to what Helga said in the first movie. I have to finish that, it's like a shoe that must drop!"
Over the past year, there have been a lot of fans that have banded together to try and save the film by creating petition sites and even a Facebook group. I am actually a member of that Facebook group and would do anything I can help bring the film back, and it is a big reason why I wrote this essay. Here is the link to the group: www . facebook groups / 173405088633. A website with a sixth season of Hey Arnold! in comic form has also been created (with comic stories currently in production) in hopes of showing Nickelodeon that there are still fans out there who want to see the loose ends tied up. Here is the link to that site: ha6s . wordpress .
My friend BrokenRose24 even brought up the fact that some other cartoons that were once canceled were renewed because people protested, wrote letters to the studios, or bought related merchandise. Family Guy was one show that was canceled several times and renewed because of strong DVD sales and syndication on basic-cable networks. Futurama originally aired on Fox for four years before it was canceled, and was renewed by Comedy Central a few years later, and recently began airing new episodes. And even though it's not a cartoon, after it was originally announced that it would end after ten seasons, 7th Heaven was actually brought back for one more season because fans protested and tried to save it, which obviously worked.
Conclusion
Overall, I definitely think that if the film was made when it was planned to be made, Arnold would find his parents. I just think it would be unfair to make it and have Arnold not find them and never knowing how/why they disappeared or saying that they are dead. To me, this sounds really cruel for a kids' animated film, and Miles and Stella seem like very strong-willed people, having encountered many dangers and survived, despite Miles getting hurt a lot. So I don't like to think that they are dead, even if they have been missing for eight years. Arnold is a terrific kid, always helping people in need, and he deserves to have his parents back in his life. Bartlett said that The Jungle Movie was going to be a conclusion for the entire series by wrapping everything up, including Arnold getting together with Helga and finding the answers to his parents' disappearance, thought I really think it was primarily set up so he would find them, and what could be a better way than that in order for the series to end on a happy note?
Even if The Jungle Movie is never made and nothing ever comes of it (I don't want to think that, we should think positive, just like Arnold!), I think that the best we can do is just use our imaginations on what we think could have happened and believe it would all be a happy ending. Just remember that Bartlett said that Arnold and Helga are meant for each other and will end up together in the long run, so that can still be something happy for we fans to remember and dwell on.