Editing Hey Arnold! (section)

==Premise==
===Setting===
''Hey Arnold!'' takes place in the urban fictional American city of Hillwood. Creator [[Craig Bartlett]] described the city as "an amalgam of large northern cities I have loved, including [[Seattle]] (my hometown), [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] (where I went to art school) and [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]] (the [[Brooklyn Bridge|bridge]], the brownstones, the subway)";<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heyarnold.madpage.com/11_98interview.shtml|title=Interview with Craig|first=Kim|last=Burk|date=November 4, 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090121031650/http://heyarnold.madpage.com/11_98interview.shtml|archive-date=January 21, 2009 |publisher=HeyArnold.Madpage.com |access-date=November 25, 2012}}</ref> the city also contains inspirations from [[Chicago]], such as a baseball field called Quigley Field (a reference to the real-life [[Wrigley Field]]).<ref name="Bustle">[https://www.bustle.com/p/hey-arnold-wasnt-set-in-brooklyn-in-a-revelation-that-will-blow-your-mind-8844944 'Hey Arnold!' Wasn't Set In Brooklyn In A Revelation That Will Blow Your Mind], ''Bustle''</ref> Evan Levine of the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' commented on the series's "backdrop of dark streets, nighttime adventures and rundown buildings, all seen from a child's point of view."<ref name="Life">{{cite news|title='Arnold' deals with life in the big city|last=Levine|first=Evan|date=April 27, 1997|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]|publisher=[[Hearst Corporation]]}}</ref>

At the end of the episode "Road Trip", when Helga and Miriam are returning home after having car troubles en route to [[South Dakota]], they pass a sign marking the [[Washington (state)|Washington State]] border, implying that Hillwood is in Washington.<ref name="RoadTrip">{{Cite episode |title=Road Trip |series=Hey Arnold! |network=Nickelodeon |date=November 9, 1998 |season=3 |number=7}}</ref><ref name="PDX">[https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2021/07/looking-for-portland-in-hey-arnold Looking for Portland in Hey, Arnold!], ''Portland Monthly''</ref> The [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]], as re-enacted in the episode of the same title, took place on the boundary between what is now [[British Columbia]] and the state of Washington.<ref name="PigWar">{{Cite episode|title=The Pig War|series=Hey Arnold!|network=Nickelodeon|date=October 26, 1998|season=3|number=16}}</ref> A bridge that leads to downtown Hillwood resembles Portland's [[Burnside Bridge]], while Gerald's house was modeled after the Victorian houses seen in [[Northwest District, Portland, Oregon|Nob Hill]], Portland.<ref name="PDX"/>

===Characters===
{{Main|List of Hey Arnold! characters}}
''Hey Arnold!'' features nine-year-old Arnold Shortman (voiced by [[Lane Toran]]; [[Phillip Van Dyke]]; Spencer Klein; and [[Alex D. Linz]]) and his neighborhood friends: Gerald Johanssen (voiced by [[Jamil Walker Smith]]), a street-smart character who generally serves as the leader of the group; and Helga Pataki ([[Francesca Marie Smith]]), a girl who bullies Arnold in order to hide the fact that she is in love with him. Bartlett drew inspiration from people he grew up with when creating the characters for the show.<ref name="How" />

Arnold lives with his eccentric but loving paternal grandparents, Phil Shortman ([[Dan Castellaneta]]) and Gertrude Shortman ([[Tress MacNeille]]), proprietors of the Sunset Arms [[boarding house]], in the fictional city of Hillwood. In each episode, he helps a schoolmate or boarding house tenant in solving a personal problem or encounters a predicament of his own. Many episodes involve [[urban legend]]s (usually told by Gerald), such as [[superhero]]es or the [[Headless Horseman]].

Other characters include students and faculty at P.S. 118, Arnold's school, and citizens of Hillwood. Certain episodes focus on the lives of supporting characters, such as the tenants of the boarding house that Arnold's grandparents own.