Picspam - Hey Arnold! - Arnold's Halloween (Part One)
warning: this post is extremely image heavy (60+ caps).
Surprise! A picspam for Arnold's Halloween! To be 100% honest I actually started capping pictures for this last year, but I only got about half way through. I also went pretty light on the pics for the first half. I liked the idea of doing an HA! picspam for Halloween, but this episode actually kind of bores me. However, I figure if I knock it out this year than maybe I can do a genuinely spooky episode next year!
Just for some context - this episode is actually based on real life events. Or... it's based on an actual event where someone told a story about aliens over the radio and people genuinely believed it was real. If you're interested there's more about the story behind this episode over here.
To kick things off we get some really gorgeous scenery shots.
Our scene opens on Gerald and Arnold hanging out in front of the TV watching some show about aliens.
Holy shit it's the mothership!
Arnold: That is so cool.
Okay, I find aliens to be one of the least scary supernatural creatures, but this is definitely a little panic inducing. Fuckers' got like... ten billion lazers!
Sadly the kids have to wait until next week to see if the earth survives.
Oscar: "Oh, I can't believe you kids can watch that garbage. The writing is terrible."
Stay classy, Oscar.
TV: "Next it's UFO Tonight with your host, Douglas Cain."
But this show coming up? CLEARLY IT IS THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD. Look at those smiles!
Douglas Cain goes on and on about aliens and how he's the hottest, greatest reporter and all the dudes in the room swoon a little.
Except for Phil, of course. He only has eyes for Hedy Lamarr! And also Pookie.
Also, it's time for a meeting about the annual Boarding House Halloween Party! :D :D :D
Arnold: "Hey Grandpa, can Gerald and I help out this year?"
Grandpa: "Fuck no. Halloween is a serious fucking business and it's not for kids."
Grandpa: "Now, now, now, Arnold. The purpose of Halloween is to scare the living daylights out of everyone until they scream bloody murder and beg for mercy."
I agree 100%.
Mr. Hyunh announces costumes. Grandma as a witch. Ernie as an executioner...
Suddenly Ernie hulks out. He and Hyunh start flailing their arms, wildly screaming about who gets to play goddamned Frankenstein. Really, guys? That's not even that cool of a costume.
Also apparently Hyunh told Ernie last year that he'd play the bride of Frankenstein. A-are Hyunh and Ernie secretly dating? I mean, last year they apparently planned to do a couple's costume? Hmmm....
Arnold and Gerald bail, but not before taking a little time to begin scheming up a revenge plot against the adults.
Bob has FRIENDS??????
:O :O :O
Bob is NEGLECTING HIS CHILD????
Oh wait. That's not surprising at all.
Ah well, we get a good, classic "It's Helga, Dad." out of it.
Bob shoos her out of the way and she crashes on the couch to read a magazine.
Harvey and Mr. Green think the alien show and Douglas Cain are all a big jokes, but Bob disagrees.
Also, I just think he looks ridiculous in this shot.
Bob: "Believe it? Of course, I believe it. I had a close encounter myself, once."
Miriam: (Off screen, ice cubes clinking) "Oh Bob, please don't start..."
Bob: "Happened nearly twenty years ago. I was driving a pickup full of (???) Canadian transistors across North Dakota. All of a sudden, the radio starts acting funny."
Bob: "The grass all around me is blowing flat. There's this weird light coming from all directions."
Bob: (With Helga mouthing the words) "Next thing I know, I'm wandering around in the parking lot of the Royal Forks Smourgasboard. Now how the heck did that happen?"
Mr. Green and Harvey totally believe Bob's story.
This is such a bad plan from the get-go, Helga. I definitely wonder what she's thinking to go as an alien for Halloween and get all the kids in on it. And an alien molded after the one Bob thinks is seriously gonna take over the world. IDK, there's definitely something bizarre about it , but I guess it's a probably just a way for her to have a dig at her dad.
Helga crushes everyone's dreams when she tells them they definitely MAY NOT go as Pirates or Vikings or Clowns (SERIOUSLY, Phoebe???).
Lol, Rhonda, Nadine and Eugene are on fashion duty. AS IT SHOULD BE.
Gerald and Arnold are out this Halloween. They've got some serious shit to do.
Also, isn't it great that Helga's alien plan aligns with Arnold's alien plan? MEANT TO BE.
Arnold invites the gang over to his house on Halloween. In their alien costumes.
He lures them in with talk of a party.
What an asshole. He doesn't even bother to tell them that he's going to use them to help freak out the entire party and that probably no one will be happy to see them.
Gerald tries to reason with him.
Gerald: "Wait a minute. You're inviting the whole class over?"
Arnold: "They'll be our alien invasion. It's perfect. If we time this right, we'll scare Grandpa and the boarders right out of their minds.
This bodes ill.
Helga is flawless.
Man, you can see how much she wants a reaction out of him just with the music and the way she approaches him and her half-smug face in the shots before this. I don't know what kind of reaction she's looking for (maybe she doesn't either), but she wants him to NOTICE HER.
Helga: "Dad, Dad! What do you think of my costume?"
Bob: "S'fine."
Helga: "Dad, you haven't even seen it yet."
Bob: "Huh? Helga, what? I'm trying to figure out how much I lost on football yesterday."
Helga: "Dad, I just want you to look at the costume I'm wearing."
Well. He did it.
:|
Also, they are so related. Helga is a very self-foiling character and Bob seems to have the same issue. Though, Bob's issue is that he has a very narrow focus on things and Helga's problem is that she's afraid to be vulnerable.
Grandpa: "Oh, you all look so adorable. Why don't you help yourselves to some WORMS AND COCKROACHES?!"
D:
Just a pan shot to show off costumes. Ernie and Hyunh both went as Frankenstein, it seems.
Gerald's mom is a hottie. Holy crap.
I think that might be Simmons in the back left as a werewolf. I also see Harold's parents and rabbi.
Phoebe's parents. Tish and Coach Wittenburg.
Suzy and Oscar.
Not sure about the blonde lady or the white haired guy, but Mrs. Vitello is rocking it out on the table in the back. Is the dude to the right of her Dino Spumoni?
Pretty.
Hijacking the radio.
Gerald: "We interrupt this broadcast to bring to you a special bulletin. A large saucer-like craft of unknown origin was reported to have landed on the outskirts of the city..."
I was gonna type up Gerald's whole broadcast, but uhhhh... I'd honestly rather not. It's much more fun to listen to him speak it anyway. Instead enjoy this spam of Arnold creating sound effects for their broadcast! :D
Awesome.
So the broadcast effectively freaks the crap out of the partygoers. However, things hit a snag when one of Douglas Cain's cronies is out on the town searching for hints of aliens.
Cain tells his lackey that he is not fucking allowed to go home. Aliens are totally gonna show up tonight because aliens give a fuck about Halloween. He also thinks they're going to disguise themselves as humans, but like... it's Halloween. HOW WOULD YOU EVER KNOW WHO IS AND ISN'T AN ALIEN ON HALLOWEEN ANYWAY?!
Um. I just think Oscar and Suzy are adorable in this.
Also. Holy shit. The aliens are headed down Vine Street.
Grandpa tries to convince the crowd that there's nothing to worry about and that aliens are totally not ringing the doorbell.
What a fool.
To be honest, I would rather trust humanity's survival to Ernie than Bob. I just feel like the aliens would kind of laugh at Bob, but cower in fear of Ernie.
The kids are understandably shaken.
I love that I can actually tell who's who (Helga, Harold, Nadine, Curly, Phoebe, Eugene, Rhonda and I think Sid is behind her). One of my favorite things about HA! is how varied and specific each character design is.
I... I don't remember why I capped this. It's actually a little heart breaking. While Helga's out trick-or-treating Bob and Miriam... watch the wheel and play solitaire.
Douglas Cain: "I think the meaning of this footage is self-evident. Aliens have indeed landed among us. They intend to take no prisoners. And they're ultimate goal clearly is to enslave the human race!"
Wow. This slope is so slippery.
Even Harvey is slightly concerned.
Now I want cookies.
Lol, I love that they roped Stinky into their plan somehow.
Arnold: "Stinky, come in, Stinky. The eagle has landed."
Stinky: "I don't see no eagle here, Arnold, but I'm gonna go ahead and plug in the mothership."
And the lights from the mothership black out the whole fucking city.
I see this ending well.
a/n: Surprise! This picspam has actually been a long time coming. I tried to do it last year, but started it pretty late and the episode is really not that high on my list of favorites so I didn't really have the push to finish it. But this year I managed to start thinking about it pretty early and I figure if I do the actual Halloween episode THIS year than I can do something like The Haunted Train or The Ghost Bride next year. HA! has some legit freaky episodes, but this one... isn't. Haha.
As always you are free to use any images in this post in any way you deem fit. Icons/graphics/whatever.
Part 2 will be up sometime tomorrow. Probably towards nighttime. I have everything capped/formatted, but I still need to add commentary. Hope you enjoy!