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Grandpa's Birthday
Grandpa is in no condition to celebrate his upcoming 81st birthday, since Grandpa claims there's a "family
curse": everybody in his family who reached the age of 81 died before reaching 82 (or did they?)
Written by Craig Bartlett
Story by Craig Bartlett, Steve Viksten, and Joe Ansolabehere
Supervising Director: Steve Socki
Storyboard Direction by Sherm Cohen
Animation Direction by Frank Weiss
(only Sherm Cohen and Steve Socki received "Directed By" credits)
Storyboard Artists: Tim Parsons, Chris Robertson
Cast:
Arnold - Phillip Van Dyke
Grandpa, Dr. Steiglitz - Dan Castellaneta
Gerald - Jamil W. Smith
Grandma - Tress MacNeille
Oskar - Stephen Viksten
Ernie - Dom Irrera
Mr. Hyunh - Baoan Coleman
- Why does Grandpa think he'll die on his 81st birthday? Even if everybody
else in his family died when they were 81, all that means is that they died before their 82nd birthday; he'll be
81 for a full year
- Does Grandpa think that whichever of Arnold's parents is his child is dead? There's
no mention of either Arnold's mother or father in the will
- At the will reading, Oskar, Ernie, Mr. Hyunh, Mrs. Vitello, and Mr. Green are
there - but where's Suzie? (Besides, Grandpa could leave Suzie his croquet set; she's the only one seen using
it, in "The Vacant Lot")
- Where did they get the organ?
- The only time any form of
the word "dead" is used is when Grandma sings "He died in
the saddle", when Arnold points out that Grandpa's relatives
were 91 when they died, and then when Grandpa responds "I'm
not going to die!". (Note that right before Arnold
says "died", Ernie sayd "Is the old man-" and Mr. Hyunh says
"yes - he finished".) Speaking of things you aren't
supposed to say on Nickelodeon, note Grandpa says "heaven"
and "the other place".
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Road Trip
Helga, who's already embarrassed by her mother, has to go on a road trip with her to South Dakota, where Miriam
manages to lose their money, but she manages to save the day with a little-known talent
Written by Jonathan Greenberg
Storyboard Direction by Tuck Tucker
Animation Direction by Larry Leichliter
(only Tuck Tucker received a "Directed By" credit)
Storyboard Artist: Miyuki Hoshikawa
Cast:
Arnold - Phillip Van Dyke
Helga - Francesca Marie Smith
Miriam - Kath E. Soucie
Phoebe, woman at Floyd's - Anndi L. McAfee
Big Bob, mechanic - Maurice LaMarche
Floyd, Slim - Steve Fitzpatrick
Closing singer - Kate Miner
- Usually, signs don't say very much, but that last one spoke volumes; you couldn't
read the whole thing, but from the shape and the words you could see, it said "Welcome to Washington State",
and since they were coming from somewhere that was on the road to South Dakota, there aren't any states where the
shortest road to South Dakota is through Washington, so it's safe to assume that the show takes place there (maybe they were headed through Washington to
Oregon, but there are enough shorter routes from South Dakota to Oregon that don't go through Washington)
- Helga says Miriam keeps forgetting to pick her up from soccer practice - but
since when does Helga play soccer?
- Miriam sounds like she'd enjoy spending time with Helga, but in "Quantity
Time" she wants to get away from her (okay, her and Big Bob)
- At the Wheeler Inn, Helga's nightshirt changes in color from pink to white, and
Miriam's gown from white to violet.
- That's some nine-year-old who can push a large car with a 45ish-year-old woman
inside it! (Miriam was 15 during the "summer of love", which was sometime in the late 1960s, so
she was born around 1953.)
- Inside Floyd's is a license plate that says "ENGLAND 28 IF"; this refers
to the cover of The Beatles' album Abbey Road,
where there's a car with the same license plate, which was one of the "hidden clues that Paul McCartney had
died"; it was supposed to mean "Paul McCartney would be 28 IF he was still alive" (as a matter of fact, if you play the closing credits to the
episode of The Simpsons where
he appears backwards, he reads his lentil soup recipe, and ends with "Oh, and by the way, I'm alive")
- Helga orders a strawberry milk shake, but in "Quantity Time", she says
she's allergic to strawberries (then again, not all strawberry ice cream has fresh strawberries in it)
- If you're wondering why everybody kept one hand in the air while riding the bull:
usually, in bull-riding competitions (even mechanical ones), you have to stay on the bull for eight seconds without
your "free hand" touching the ground, the bull, or any other part of your body (the winner is determined
by a group of judges; when live bulls are used, both the rider's skill and the bull's rowdiness are judged)
- Near the end of Miriam's ride, she's holding on with both hands, which would
normally be illegal, but all Floyd said was "whoever stays on longest wins"
Song Lyrics to "We Got Tomorrow"
Where this road will lead to,
No one can say;
We'll count the miles (background:
We'll count the miles),
It takes a while (background: It
takes a while),
And we'll share the smiles along the way
(Miriam: "Dubba, dubba, dubba, yeah")
'Cause, We got tomorrow (background: We
got it);
Who needs yesterday?
(Miriam: "Hey, hey, come on, Helga")
'Cause, oh, tomorrow's always just a day away!
(Miriam: "Yeah!")
Oh, tomorrow's always just a day away...
(Miriam: "And, big finish!")
Away!
(Helga: "TRUCK!")
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