The '90s brought with it more than just boy band frenzy and an insufferable taste in frosted tips and wide-leg jeans. If you were a child growing up in the era of Biggie Smalls and grunge, Nickelodeon was a normal feature on your television set, above your Nintendo and Sega Genesis cartridges.
We here at Classicalite hone in on jazz in the modern world, and--while we're pulling from a time of childhood memories--the affect of jazz on the developing brain has very positive effects. For that linchpin of children shows, Hey Arnold! made some serious allusions to jazz, opera and poetry that shaped the foundation of the current generation of mainstream culture.
Helga here portrays Carmen from Georges Bizet's iconic opera of the same name. This is an allusion that follows no encryption, it's easy, real and introduces a child to an opera that helps add to a child's brain development.
Who can forget the only room any kid ever wanted? The greatest room in animated childhood television was always accompanied by both smooth and free-form jazz. It didn't just serve as a central part to the Hey Arnold! identity, it proved to be a haven for self-exploration. While Arnold's room always featured jazz, it allowed the young viewer to find a place of relfection, outlining the benefits of locking the door and exploring some great tunes. The show's composer, Jim Lang, really made the show a hit with his compositions influenced by Charlie Parker and Mark (e) Everett.
Some nods were more obvious than others. While the show was riddled with Helga G. Pataki's crooning words of unrequited love, there were a few cryptic doffs to some great poets and writers. It isn't a shock that Walt Whitman makes his way into the mainstream with a recurring reference in AMC's hit series Breaking Bad, and he is discussed briefly in Hey Arnold!, too. But it isn't until the introduction of the sexually-confused teacher Mr. Simmons that the renowned colloquial poet William Carlos Williams makes the cut. Renamed Walter Charles Walter, Simmons reads a variation of the game-changing poem "This Is Just To Say."
In keeping with a revivial of '90s culture in the modern world, Hey Arnold! may always stay in the minds of the now-all-grown-up Generation Y. It can be foud on Netflix instant stream, along with other favorites like Rocko's Modern Life.
