The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Hey Arnold! The Movie
Animation · Comedy · Family · 2002
Arnold and his friends must recover a stolen document in order to prevent the neighborhood from being bulldozed.
Movie details
Hey Arnold! The Movie
“A big problem calls for a big head.”
2002 Animation · Comedy · Family 1h 16m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
Arnold and his friends must recover a stolen document in order to prevent the neighborhood from being bulldozed.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Hey Arnold! The Movie?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Minions & More Volume 1
Animation · 2022
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
The Willoughbys
Adventure · 2020
When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
Plankton: The Movie
Family · 2025
Plankton's tangled love story with his sentient computer wife goes sideways when she takes a stand — and decides to destroy the world without him.
Dog Man
Family · 2025
When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over. As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief, he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat.
Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie
Family · 2018
When their trip to San Lorenzo takes a turn for the worst, Arnold and his classmate’s only hope of getting home is retracing the dangerous path that led to Arnold's parents' disappearance.
Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright
Family · 2013
Join Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the Mystery Inc. crew as they head to Chicago for Talent Star, a hit talent show in which Fred and Daphne are finalists with some high hopes. Unlucky for them, the competition is frightful as the show is being broadcast from an opera house with a history of horrors and a particularly vengeful phantom that has cursed the show's production.
The Monkey King
Animation · 2023
A stick-wielding monkey teams with a young girl on an epic quest for immortality, battling demons, dragons, gods — and his own ego — along the way.
Animal Crackers
Comedy · 2018
A family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a rundown circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington.
The Loud House Movie
Animation · 2021
The Loud family travel to Scotland and discover they are descendants of Scottish royalty as they move into their giant ancestral castle.
Mickey's House of Villains
Family · 2002
The villains from the popular animated Disney films are gathered at the House of Mouse with plans to take over. Soon, the villains take over the house and kick out Mickey, Donald and Goofy. It's all up to Mickey and his friends to overthrow evil and return the House of Mouse to normal--or as close to normal as it gets.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Tuck Tucker
Written by
Craig Bartlett · Steve Viksten
Spencer Klein
Arnold (voice)
Francesca Marie Smith
Helga Geraldine Pataki (voice)
Jamil Walker Smith
Gerald Johanssen / Rasta Guy (voice)
Dan Castellaneta
Grandpa 'Steely' Phil / Nick Vermicelli (voice)
Tress MacNeille
Grandma Gertie 'Pookie' / Mayor Dixie / Red (voice)
Paul Sorvino
Scheck (voice)
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Bridget (voice)
Court is in session
Put Hey Arnold! The Movie on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.