Craig Bartlett Reveals That Helga From ‘Hey Arnold!’ Was Inspired By Childhood Photos of Frida Kahlo

If you were a 90s kid, you probably get slightly triggered by the name Arnold. After all, who can forget the particularly loud and in-your-face yelling from one Helga G. Pataki from Nickelodeon's iconic Hey Arnold! series? From the intro sequence–which saw her screaming at the titular Arnold throughout parts of the neighborhood–through the many episodes focusing on her obsession of good ol’ Football Head, Helga is vital to the show.

So, consider real Arnold-heads shocked when the creator of the show, Craig Bartlett, confirmed recently in an interview with El Estímulo that Helga’s signature look–bow, attitude, and the prominent eyebrows–was inspired by old childhood photos of none other than Frida Kahlo. Although Bartlett gave Helga her iconic pigtails, you can see the similarities in an Instagram post that the creator shared back in August.

#tbt little Frida #helgagpataki

A post shared by Craig Bartlett (@craigbartlett) on Aug 3, 2017 at 12:53pm PDT

This isn’t the first revelation from Bartlett this year, as the show gears up to come back into your life with Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, releasing on Thanksgiving. Earlier this summer, he revealed that a lot of the plot and atmosphere of the iconic cartoon was inspired by the magical realism employed by Gabriel García Márquez: “We were reading Gabriel García Márquez and 100 Years of Solitude, and Love in the Time of Cholera,” Bartlett said to Great Big Story. “Those were big influences on us, because magic realism is the term coined about García Márquez’s writing. I wanted there to be a magical realism to Arnold’s house and his neighborhood.”

Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie will premiere on Friday, Nov. 24, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon USA, as part of the networks Thanksgiving celebrations.

Viewers can visit the Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie page on Nick.com and the Nick App, along with the Hey Arnold! Facebook page and Instagram, to get a look at the TV movie. Fans can also watch full-length episodes on Nick.com and the Nick App.

NickSplat will celebrate Hey Arnold! throughout the month of November with fan-favorite episodes every night from 12:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m. (ET/PT). In addition, NickSplat will treat fans to a marathon of every single Hey Arnold! episode beginning Friday, Nov. 17, through Friday, Nov. 24, from 11:00 p.m.–6:00 a.m. (ET/PT). Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie encores Saturday, Nov. 25, and Friday, Dec. 1, at 12:00 a.m. (ET/PT) on TeenNick.

More Nick: Episode 50: Hey Arnold! Deep Dive | The Jungle Movie | Nickelodeon Animation Podcast!

Original source: Remezcla.

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