Craig Bartlett is back at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio hard at work on his brand-new series "Sky Rat", and it would appear that things may be falling into place for the long awaited "Hey Arnold!" finale!
"The Jungle Movie", which was meant to be the only "Hey Arnold!" theatrical film, was going to feature Arnold and his friends going on a journey to San Lorenzo to find his missing parents. However, Nickelodeon opted to take the made-for-TV special, "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood", and convert it into the theatrical film, "Hey Arnold! The Movie", which was released in 2002.
Following the release of "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood", Nickelodeon continued to expressed interest in "The Jungle Movie" and encouraged Bartlett to produce a special one hour episode that would link into this second film. This special ended up being the episode, "The Journal", where Arnold finds his parents' journal detailing their adventures and lives up to the point where they mysteriously disappeared. At the end of the episode, Arnold discovers a map in the journal and excitedly runs into the apartment building to show his grandparents believing that this is the key to find his missing parents.
Unfortunately, "The Jungle Movie" and "Hey Arnold!" were both subsequently cancelled in 2004 with many accepting "The Journal" as the canonical series finale. Even though the film was cancelled, Bartlett kept many details about the film secret in the event that he eventually got the opportunity to make it.
That opportunity may have come based on recent signs evident to sharp eyed fans! One of these was a recent comment made by Nickelodeon on their official Facebook profile page in response to fans asking them to bring back older shows. On a video Nickelodeon posted on their page titled "Mikey Moments: Turtles in Time", Nickelodeon wrote the following response to fans requesting older shows to be revived: "How about a Jungle Movie? ;)". This simple statement caused a flurry of activity amongst long-time "Hey Arnold!" fans as the comment came from the official Nickelodeon account and directly referenced The Jungle Movie.
Another indicator that "The Jungle Movie" may actually be happening can be seen on Raymie Muzquiz's website. Muzquiz, an animation director, had posted storyboards from "The Jungle Movie" on his website as part of his portfolio. However, he has now taken the storyboards down, and when a visitor clicks to view the artwork, they are taken to a PDF file that displays "Removed for Mysterious Reason!". This is an exciting development as it certainly points to "The Jungle Movie" being in development!
Combining the above hints with the fact that Bartlett is back at Nickelodeon and both creator and studio reportedly have continued interest in producing "The Jungle Movie", fans may very well see this much awaited film on their theater screens in the next several years! This is also an excellent time to produce the film due to the resurgence in popularity of 90's cartoons and the public's continued demand for the revitalization of these cartoons. All we can do now is wait and hope that we see an announcement about "The Jungle Movie" to make the speculation official!
Original source: ToonZone Forums member alfa9delta.
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