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Spelling Bee
Arnold and Helga represent P.S. 118 in the city spelling bee finals, where Arnold eyes the $500 prize so he can
buy a new electronic keyboard, but Helga's father is so sure Helga will win that not only did he clear space on
the wall normally full of Helga's sister Olga's awards, he promised to give away beepers if she doesn't win
Written by Joe Ansolabehere
Storyboard Direction by Frank Nissen
Animation Direction by Steve Socki
Storyboard Artist: Derek Drymon
Cast:
Arnold, Seymour, contestant - Toran Caudell
Gerald, contestant - Jamil W. Smith
Helga, Marcy (girl contestant) - Francesca Marie Smith
Grandpa - Dan Castellaneta
Grandma, Miss Slovak - Tress MacNeille
Big Bob Pataki - Maurice LaMarche
Spelling Bee moderator - Caroline Aaron
Seymour's mother - Joey Paul
Singer on Big Bob's commercial - Angie Jaree
- An animated story about a young boy with an odd-shaped head competing in a spelling
bee, with "I before E except after C" thrown in; if that sounds familiar, it's because it's the plot
of the first Peanuts movie, A Boy Named Charlie Brown
- In the city spelling bee, when Helga missed her word, Arnold was immediately
declared the winner; in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee, when only one person remains, that person has
to spell one more word to win (up until a few years ago, when one of the last two missed a word, the other had
to spell the same word plus another word to win)
- Up to this point, none of the scenes in Arnold's class had ever shown Phoebe
at any of the desks
- The keyboard Arnold wants has 22 white keys and 21 black keys; a five-octave
keyboard should have 36 white keys and 25 black keys, and there shouldn't be a black key between each pair of white
keys
- You never do see Arnold get that keyboard, and it doesn't appear in any other
episodes (so far, anyway); then again, it has never been
shown that Arnold knows how to play a keyboard instrument
- Having one eyebrow must run in the Pataki family; both Big Bob and Olga have
them (although Olga must have had hers plucked, because it's not there in "Olga Comes Home")
- The sign outside the auditorium says "WELCOME SPEELERS!"
- Big Bob's check is made out to "ARNOLD" without any last name -
and Arnold crumples it but never tears it up! (If Helga wanted to, she could give it to Arnold and then he could
cash it...)
- That check brings up a question: if somebody does write Arnold a check with just
the name "Arnold" on it, what bank would accept it?
- Fortunately for Arnold, he remembered that there are some exceptions to "I
before E except after C" (usually, this continues "or when sounded like 'A' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh'"):
one of them is "onomatopoeia"
- "Onomatopoeia" means "words that sound like the sounds they represent"
(for example, "bang" and "whoosh")
- Q,U,A,L,...X?
It's hard to believe nobody accused Helga of letting Arnold win...then again, would you step up to her and say that?
- Arnold's trophy is much bigger than any of the ones Olga won
- Helga apparently didn't get anything - not even a ribbon - for coming
in second
- Wait a minute...one of the
competitors in the city spelling bee appears in later
episodes (her name is Marcy), but she attends P.S. 118, and
aren't Arnold and Helga the only competitors there from that
school?
- Hmmm...if Big Bob was willing to "pay" to make sure Helga won the trophy,
is it possible that some of Olga's trophies were similarly "bought"? (Of course not; this is Olga we're
talking about)
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Pigeon Man
One of Arnold's carrier pigeons is sick, so he takes it to the mysterious "Pigeon Man" who lives atop
an abandoned building, and has a lot more in common with Arnold than he first thought
Written by Joseph Purdy
Storyboard Direction by Jamie Mitchell
Animation Direction by Larry Leichliter
Storyboard Artists: Melissa Suber, Jay Lender, Dan Kubat
Cast:
Arnold - Toran Caudell
Gerald - Jamil W. Smith
Helga - Francesca Marie Smith
Phoebe - Anndi L. McAfee
Harold - Justin Shenkarow
Joey - Michael Fishman
Sid - Sam Gifaldi
Stinky - Christopher P. Walberg
Pigeon Man - Vincent Schiavelli
Chester the pigeon - Craig Bartlett
- Craig Bartlett does the "voice" of Chester the Pigeon; this is one
of very few cartoons where Frank Welker doesn't
do the animal voices (see also "Abner Come Home" in episode 16)
- Helga's, Phoebe's, and Sheena's baseball gloves all disappear
- Don't try this at home: you can't get enough pigeons to lift you into the sky
(and even if you could, what happens when just a few of them start to get tired?)
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