Hey Arnold!
American animated children's television series
Hey Arnold! is an American animated sitcom created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. The series originally aired from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. It follows fourth-grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandparents in an inner-city tenement in the fictional city of Hillwood, Washington. The series centers on Arnold's experiences navigating urban life alongside his friends while dealing with various humorous and emotional situations. Although Arnold serves as the main protagonist, many episodes focus on the lives and perspectives of supporting and minor characters.
Bartlett based the series on a minor character named Arnold that he created while working on Pee-wee's Playhouse. After network executives responded positively to the character, Bartlett developed the show's cast and setting using inspiration from people and locations from his childhood in Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and Brooklyn, New York. Bartlett created the pilot episode in his living room in 1994, and full production began in 1995. The series transitioned from clay animation in its early concept stages to cel animation for its first three seasons, before later adopting digital ink-and-paint techniques for its final two seasons.
The public source identifies “Hey Arnold!” as american animated children's television series. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Arnold, American and animated.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Hey Arnold!”, the useful work is to connect “american animated children's television series” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q832054. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 2004, 1994 and 1995.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hey Arnold!”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hey Arnold! primary sources, Hey Arnold! archive and Arnold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hey Arnold!”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hey Arnold!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.