The Exploration of Girls in Animation
This deeper look into the world of girls in children’s animation is one that greatly interests and also impacts me. As one who grew up watching Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! and Disney Channel’s Kim Possible, I think that it would be interesting to do a bit of a character study by diving into their strengths and weaknesses as well as how they fit into the landscape of the time. What is the evolution? How have these girls evolved?
I chose the shows Hey Arnold! and Kim Possible because of the complete opposite in characters that exist. In the show Hey Arnold!, we have the spunky independent loud mouth bully known as Helga G. Pataki. Helga is a classmate of Arnold and always refers to him as “football head”. She is aggressive and bully’s the other kids but then in moments of seclusion she fantasizes about being with Arnold. She is the tough girl, who deflects anything before it comes to her. She is the classic case of hurt people, hurt people. Helga grew up in a home where she constantly lived in the shadow of her older sister Olga as well as always coming second to her father’s beeper business. Her mother was home but not at actually available. She seemed to be going through the motions and numbing herself. At a young age, Helga learned that performance as well as being tough would make it hard for others to hurt her but also to get to really know her as well.
I think that Helga is a bit of a confused kid. She is complicated in that she is rough and tough but yet wears a pink dress and a pink bow but she acts nothing like a “lady”. Examining the meaning behind what she wears and placing it within the context of who she is, this part doesn’t add up. There is a complexity within her that may look feminine on the outside but inside reflects the a nontraditional girl. A girl wearing a dress is something that would imply that she is a girly girl, soft, gentle, kind not abrasive, aggressive, loud and impulsive. I think that this makes Helga unique in that she is trying to figure herself out and make sense of the world. And without the proper guidance and direction she keeps coming up short which makes us as the viewers empathize with her character and not hate her.
Below there are some clips and links that serve to bring context to Helga’s life and story.
Here is a little bio and photo of Helga.
Hey Arnold Theme Song – Move It Football Head
This popular theme song isn’t much of a traditional song, instead it has jazz influence with a voice over of Helga calling Arnold’s name or calling Arnold a name like Football Head.
Helga’s family dynamic through commentary
This is a video commentary of a crucial episode in the series where we as viewers gain the background story and home life of Helga. Here we see that she struggles with identity and trying to fit in. She is searching for love, acceptance and community.
In this clip, Helga confessed yet still tries to hide her love for her fellow classmate Arnold. Helga is a hopeless romantic that hides that fact away so that others don’t know and aren’t able to use it as a weakness.
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Although Hey Arnold! was often a huge success, Kim Possible was very successful in its own right. Kim Possible was a teenage girl who could fight crime while being home by dinner time. Kim was smart, athletic, kind, thoughtful and fierce. She wasn’t afraid of a challenge and she always enlisted her best friend and clumsy sidekick Ron Stoppable, his naked mole rat Rufus as well as total tech genius Wade to help her solve both conflict and crime.
This is Kim Possible along with her friends in action. In this theme song video the lyrics also speak to the strength and fortitude that she possess. Below are just a few of the lyrics as well as the theme song video.
[Verse 1]
I’m your basic average girl
And I’m here to save the world
You can’t stop me cause I’m
Kim Pos-si-ble
There is nothing I can’t do
And when danger calls
Just know that I am on my way
(Know that I am on my way)
[Pre-Chorus]
It doesn’t matter where or when there’s trouble
If you just call my name, Kim Possible
[Chorus]
Call me, beep me if you wanna reach me
When you wanna page me, it’s okay
I just can’t wait until
I hear my cell phone ring
Doesn’t matter if it’s day or night
Everything is gonna be alright
Whenever you need me, baby
Call me, beep me if you wanna reach me
Kim’s family dynamic was very much different from Helga’s. Kim Possible grew up in a loving and supportive home one with validation and encouragement. In this next clip we see the integration between Kim and her parents.
Kim also posses great strength, tenacity and agility. Here the young high school girl fights a superhuman mutant named Shego. Not only is Kim fighting but she is also fighting in a dress that is somewhat elegant although normally she fights in a black crop top with army green cargo pants. Unlike Helga in Hey Arnold!, Kim moves with grace and power. She operates in the semi-traditional ideals of a young woman in a dress. While Helga looks stocky and unattractive, Kim looks beautiful, elegant and lady like.
Between the two highly popular children’s shows, it is interesting to see the evolution of these two girls. Helga was rigid, stuck, searching and figuring out her truth while Kim was the complete opposite. Kim was bold, confident, fearless and not only owning her voice but her capabilities. These shows impacted many as it shows young girls that there is more to who they are than what they thought was possible. Instead of feeling stuck which Helga represents, there is a beauty in the becoming just like Kim Possible. She wasn’t a part of her story, she was the story. The art of story telling is so powerful because it serves as a glimpse of who we might be.
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References
Hey Arnold Theme Song – Move It Football Head
Helga’s family dynamic through commentary
Kim Possible Genesis Reference
Bibliography
Taste & See 