Keener Media Facts

Monday, February 16, 2026

10 Urban facts about Hey Arnold!

Move it football head! From behind the scenes shenanigans to concepts that got the boot, here are 10 interesting facts about one of Nickelodeon's best shows.

#10: Claymation time

Now that's using your imagination!

Years before his show first appeared, Craig Bartlett made three claymation shorts starring Arnold: Arnold Escapes Church, The Arnold Waltz and Arnold Rides His Chair. These shorts had a strange dreamlike feel compared to the more down to earth tone the official series went with. The third short is notable because it showed up on Sesame Street.

#9: A long time coming

It was well worth the wait!

The Hey Arnold Jungle Movie, which debuted in 2017, has been in development since the early 2000s. Development for it was originally cancelled after the critical and financial failure of the first Hey Arnold Movie, but a combination of fan petitions and series creator Craig Bartlett having meetings with executives eventually convinced Nickelodeon to give the movie a second try.

#8: The Patakis

What a shame!

At one point in development there was an idea to give Helga and her family their own series. Nickelodeon rejected the idea because it was considered too dark for their intended target audience, while sister channel MTV rejected it because it was too similar to Daria.

#7: Good thing this was scrapped!

Some things are better left unused.

During the early seasons of the show, one character who made mostly cameo appearances was Lana Vail. According to series creator Craig Bartlett in a now deleted video, she was originally gonna have a crush on Arnold and would ask him favors that would make him unconformable. When this concept was inevitable cut, the crew couldn't find another good concept for her, so she was relegated to short cameos and a single speaking role before being removed from the show altogether.

#6: The problem with child voice actors

All this because of puberty!

This show was among the first to have real world children voicing the child characters, which inevitably came with the issue of what to do when the child actor's voices started to change. Fortunately in this case, the team found some interesting solutions. For Arnold's first voice actor, Toran Caudell, he would go on to voice the teen bully Wolfgang. In the case of Gerald, the team made an episode where he had his tonsils removed because they couldn't find a suitable replacement for his voice actor, Jamil Walker Smith.

#5: Real crushes, cartoon girls

You know what they say, write what you know.

While none of them shared their counterparts' names, the girls in Arnold's class were all based off of real life girls that Craig knew and liked as a kid.

#4: Last name?

Arnold Who? Simpson? Griffin? Hill? Belcher?

A running gag throughout the series is Arnold's last name never being revealed. It wasn't until 2016 when Craig Bartlett revealed in an interview that his last name was shortman. His last name also shows up in The Jungle Movie on a passport.

#3: Footballeo and Patakiette

At least it's not another Christmas Carol parody.

During an interview at 2017 San Diego Comic Con, Helga's voice actress, Francesca Marie Smith, said that she used the episode School Play as part of her independent schooling. Specifically, she set up a thing to compare the show's version of Romeo and Juliet to the original play.

#2: Harriet The Spy

Harriet walked so Arnold could run!

Outside of the claymation shorts, the pilot for this series was a theatrical short that first showed up before airings of Harriet the Spy. The pilot was based off of a 1992 comic strip called Arnold Narrowly Avoids a Thrashing and for the actually series was remade for the season 1 episode 24 Hours to Live.

#1: From Groening to Bartlett

They took a page from The Simpsons' book!

During development, Simpsons creator Matt Groening gave Craig Bartlett the idea to design his characters so they can be identified from a distance, or in silhouette, hence the odd head shapes on several of the characters. Additionally, Matt's sister Lisa (who is also Bartlett's wife) gave him the idea to have a bully harbor a secret crush on Arnold, hence why Helga is the way she is.

For such a simple show, there sure was a lot going behind the scenes, and there's probably much more that I missed. Thanks for reading and happy late Valentine's Day.

Sources

Friday, July 4, 2025

10 Merry facts about A Christmas Story

I triple dog dare you to read this article! From tricks they used to save money to problems with filming, here are 10 fascinating facts about A Christmas Story (Granted it's a bit early, but if the stores can do Christmas early why can't I?).

#10: A book and author referenced

Adaptionception!

Believe it or not, this all time classic movie was based off of a book. Specifically, it was based off of Jean Shepherd's "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash", a series of short stories from which several of the movie's most famous scenes are derived from. Jean Shepherd himself shows up in the movie both as the narrator and as one of the people at the department short that Ralphie visits.

#9: Tongue on the vacuum pole

There's only one correct way to do this: DON'T!

We all remember the scene where the kid gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole, right? Well, it turns out the flagpole wasn't actually frozen. Instead, it there was a hole where the kid puts his tongue and a tiny vacuum inside the pole to simulate his tongue freezing to it.

#8: Don't shoot your eye out!

This could've easily gone much worse!

Ralphie's glasses weren't originally supposed to break in the scene where he plays with his Red Ryder BB Gun. That was an accident that the staff decided to incorporate into the story. Ralphie's actor, Peter Billingsley, has kept these broken glasses along with the bb gun and the pink bunny pajamas as souvenirs.

#7: Flash Gordon

If only...

There was originally a scene where Ralphie imagined himself teaming up with Flash Gordon to battle Ming The Merciless, using his trusty Red Ryder BB Gun. Even though this scene went unused, Flash and Ming's names still pop up near the end of the credit sequence.

#6: There's more?!

I'm just as surprised as you!

Believe it or not, this movie is part of a movie and television series called "Parker Family Saga". Like "A Christmas Story", these were based off of Jean Sherperd's radio shows and books, including the aforementioned "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash".

#5: What year was this?

Little bonus fact: That bar of soap is actually wax.

Even though the movie is set in the 1940s, it's never shown or stated exactly what year it takes place in. To complicate things, the movie features props and references from all sorts of years. Just to name a few: This movie references the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" several times. Ms. Shields' drawer of confiscated pranks includes a pair of chattering teeth, which wasn't invented until 1949. And finally, on Christmas morning the Parkers listen to songs from Bing Crosby's 1945 album "Merry Christmas".

#4: Extra Extra! Read all about it!

Either he's an airplane fanatic or he's the Red Baron that Snoopy's always fighting!

Some of the people in the movie aren't actors, but rather locals in the Cleveland Ohio area that the producers decided to put in the movie. These include Santa, his elves and the weird boy with goggles that Ralphie meets at the department store.

#3: They did what?!

Here's something you could never get away with these days!

During the scene where Ralphie imagines himself shooting robbers with his Red Ryder BB Gun, he was given actually chewing tobacco instead of gum. Thankfully, this was most likely his last time chewing the stuff, as he said it made him sick.

#2: The Leg Lamp

Now that's a Christmas centerpiece!

There are several factoids about the famous leg lamp. For one, it's odd design was based off of an old ad for Nehi soda. Second, there was no plug for the thing. Third, there were three of them made for the movie, sadly all of them were broken during filming.

#1: Museum sweet museum

If you're old middle school teacher never took you to this place, I'm so sorry!

Several years after the movie's release, the Parker's house where the movie was filmed was refurbished and turned into a museum. Not only was the interior decorated to look like it did during the film, it also has various references to scenes of the movie, even script and picture for the aforementioned unused Flash Gordon scene.

The Christmas memories are just flooding back, aren't they? If you know of any facts I missed or believe I fudged something up, leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading and have a merry Christmas and/or happy Fourth of July!

Sources

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

10 Groovy facts about Scooby-Doo

"Google search engine! Where are you? We got some work to do now!" From behind the scenes secrets to the reasoning behind certain characteristics, here are 10 interesting facts about Hanna-Barbera's cash cow franchise.

#10: Scooby Sinatra

Legends look for inspiration from legends!

Believe it or not, Scooby's name came from the Frank Sinatra Song "Strangers in the Night". TV executive Fred Silverman heard the phrase "scooby doobie doo" during a flight home one night and liked it enough to make it the dog's name.

#9: Vegetarian Shaggy

They're certainly doing the environment a favor!

For much of the show's early run Shaggy was a vegetarian because his then voice actor, the late great Casey Kasem, was a vegan and a critic of factory farming. He temporarily quit voicing the character in the 90s because he was asked to voice Shaggy in a Burger King commercial.

#8: Scooby and The Doos

A mystery solving band? That would've been pretty cool!

Like many other shows, this show went through multiple changes during development. One idea the showrunners had was for the main group to be a traveling band called the Mysterious Five. In addition to 5 teens this version of the Mystery Gang would've had a bongo playing sheepdog called Too Much.

#7: My Glasses!

Word to the wise: Get a chain or lanyard for your glasses!

Velma's catchphrase "My Glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" came from an incident that happened during the production of the original show. Her voice actress at the time, Nicole Jaffe, was nearsighted just like Velma. One day she uttered a variation of the famous line after losing her glasses and everyone liked it so much they made Velma losing her glasses a running gag.

#6: Fred and Shaggy

Rare footage of Fred splitting up with someone other than Daphne.

Frank Welker and Casey Kasem are well known for their roles as Fred and Shaggy respectively, but initially they wanted the opposite roles. Frank wanted Shaggy's role because he was always the straight man and wanted to voice a comedic character. Casey meanwhile wanted to voice Fred because he claimed he wasn't a comedic actor.

#5: From one series to another

Jinkies, this franchise goes back further than we thought!

The creators and writers of Scooby-Doo confirmed that the four human leads of the show were based on the main characters of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a live action sitcom that ran from 1959 to 1963. The series also draws inspiration from The Archie Show and a book series called The Famous Five.

#4: Scooby out of focus Doo

Rooby Roo!

Originally Scooby-Doo wasn't the main character, but rather just an extra the creators threw in to make the show more interesting. Over time, his antics made him not only the star of the show, but also one of the most iconic characters in cartoon history.

#3: Rehashes everywhere

Scooby did the multiverse thing before that concept became popular!

Back in the 70s, Hanna-Barbera has made several shows that were basically clones. Some of these had entities besides dogs following the group of teens (for example, Speed Buggy and Funky Phantom had a sentient vehicle and a ghost respectively) or make changes to the group as a whole (Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kids is basically the original show's band concept realized), but they were pretty much the same show again and again.

#2: Let's split up, gang!

Fortunately, future writers warmed up to these two.

In the original show whenever the gang would split up to look for clues, we'd almost always follow Scooby, Shaggy and Velma. This is because the writers of that show thought they were boring and wanted to focus on the other three since they thought they were more interesting.

#1: More versions than you can count

Unless you've been living under a rock, there's no way you haven't seen this!

Starting all the way back in 1969, Scooby-Doo is one of the longest running cartoons in the world. As for the television cartoon, there are 12 different iterations as of 2025, ranging from reboots to spinoffs to sequel series.

Like zoinks, that was a lot of knowledge to take in! If you know something I didn't or feel I messed something up, drop a little thing in the comment section. Thanks for reading and may the Scooby Snacks be with you!

Sources

Monday, May 26, 2025

10 Haunting facts about The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Here's where things get a little grim! From past experiences to influences for the show's jokes, here are 10 interesting facts about this darkly comedic CN classic.

#10: Billy & Mandy go way back

Now we know why Billy's so stupid!

Back when he was in college, series creator Maxwell Atoms made a short film called "Billy & Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You", which is all about the titular duo learning about trepanation and ends with Billy going through the operation. Like many early pilots, this short is way different from the show it would spawn; Featuring completely different versions of the main characters, absolutely zero supernatural elements, a different animation reminiscent of 1950s educational shorts and some bloodshed at the end.

#9: Cartoon Cartoon Graveyard

Gone but not forgotten!

Near the end of the intro sequence is a shot of a graveyard with zombie hands sticking out of the dirt. If you remove the zombie hands and grainy film effect, you'll find that the three front most graves have the names of past CN shows Robot Jones, Time Squad and Evil Con Carne. Speaking of which...

#8: Grim & Evil

Thank you viewers who voted for this in The Big Pick back in the 2000s!

When this show first started airing, it and Evil Con Carne were one show called Grim & Evil. In between the Billy and Mandy episodes an episode of Evil Con Carne would air, similarly to the Dial M for Monkey and Justice Friends episodes of Dexter's Lab. After a while both programs were split into their own shows and while Billy and Mandy went on to be one of CN's longest running shows, Evil Con Carne only managed two seasons before it's cancellation.

#7: There was almost some spinoffs

Another victim of network executives...

There were a few spinoffs that were planned, but for one reason or another never got the greenlight. One of these is Underfist, which got a half hour pilot that aired in2018, but never got expanded beyond that. At one point Craig McCracken and C.H. Greenblatt considered making a show called "Cheeseburger", which would've starred Fred Fred Burger and Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. The network liked the idea, but scheduling conflicts forced them to cancel the series.

#6: Autism reveal

Yeah I'd believe it.

In 2021 series creator Maxwell Atoms, who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, confirmed that the three main characters all have different forms of autism.

#5: Reverse speech in the credits

At one point during the ending credits, there is a bit of backwards speech. If you reverse this soundbite you'll an unidentified guy saying "No no no this is the end of the show. You're watching it backwards!"

#4: Nickelodeon strikes again!

Yeah, nobody wants cartoons starring death.

Just like other CN shows I talked about in the past, this cartoon was originally pitched to rival channel Nickelodeon. The reason this time was while they liked the pitch, executives thought that no would would greenlight a show that starred the Grim Reaper.

#3: Movie parodies out the wazoo

This one just blew my mind!

This series is loaded with references to old, often obscure movies. For example: Recurring character Hoss Delgado is modeled after Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, while his transforming weapon arm is a reference Ash Williams from the Evil Dead series. This show's version of Dracula is modeled after the protagonist of Blacula. The official pilot episode of the show was loosely based on the movie The Seventh Seal.

#2: Milkman

The inner machinations of Billy's mind are an enigma!

Before he made this show, Maxwell Atoms worked on Cow and Chicken. While working on that show he thought of making a show called Milkman. This show would've starred Billy and Mandy going on adventures with Milkman, a living milk carton who saves the missing children depicted on his back.

#1: A fourth movie?!

Friggin cartoon execs!

Back in 2021, series creator Maxwell Atoms pitched a revival movie to Cartoon Network that sadly never got greenlit. You can read about it on Atoms' Patreon page linked below, but in short it was gonna feature older versions of the main trio exploring a multiverse. There would've been a twist revealing that the show's negative continuity took place in different universes.

I know a cartoon about death might not be the most appropriate things to discuss on Memorial Day, but you gotta admit this show was great. Do you know something I didn't or think I made like Billy and messed up somewhere? If so, leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading and have a happy Memorial Day.

Sources

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Absolutely Nothing! XD

April Fools!

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

10 Speedy facts about Sonic The Hedgehog

Gotta go fast! From the idea behind the hedgehog himself to things left on the cutting room floor, here are 10 interesting facts about Sega's rival to Mario.

#10: Sonic and Eggman's designs came from a contest

Some characters are just too good to go unused!

At the start of the 16-bit era, Sega held an internal contest where employees would pitch various characters to see who would be their mascot. Besides Sonic himself, some of the more interesting designs include a Jester-like creature, a Bart Simpson-like man in overalls, a rabbit that could throw things with his ears and a Theodore Roosevelt looking man in pajamas who would become Sonic's nemesis Dr. Eggman.

#9: Sonic almost had a band and a human girlfriend!

This would've been pretty cool to see!

The first game had a few interesting scrapped concepts. One such concept was a band that Sonic was gonna play in alongside a rabbit named Mach, a parakeet named Sharps, a monkey named Max, and a crocodile named Vector who would later be introduced in Knuckles Khaotix. Another unused concept was Madonna, a blonde haired, red dress wearing human who would've served as a love interest to Sonic.

#8: Bugs. Bugs everywhere

Viewer, meet Ashura!

While some games are worse in this regard (ie Sonic 06 and Sonic Boom), the Sonic games are known for being pretty glitchy. In fact, the manual for Sonic Three and Knuckles references these glitches, telling players to watch out for traps set by Robotnik and advising they restart the console should they fall into an area they can't escape. The first game can't even get past the title screen with out a glitch. The words "Press start to play" were supposed to appear on the start screen, but they don't because they take up the same set of memory as the "Sonic Team Presents" screen.

#7: When misinformation becomes game mechanics

Character better suited to the ground than the water exhibit A!

You ever wonder why Sonic couldn't swim? This was because the game designers incorrectly thought that real world hedgehogs couldn't swim.

#6: Interesting inspiration

Remember when these two were rivals?

Whilst Sonic's character design comes from classic cartoon characters like Felix the cat and Mickey Mouse and his shoe design came from Michael Jackson and Santa Claus (yes really), the inspiration for the game play ironically comes from Sonic's old rival, Mario. Specifically, it came from Yuji Naka's memories of getting through Super Mario Bros.' first level as fast as possible.

#5: Totally Different

Imagine if this was the route the series went with.

The story for the first game was almost completely different. Originally, it was gonna feature Sonic travelling through a nightmare world fending off weird creatures. Before Robotnik was chosen, the antagonist was originally a ghost-like entity named Thirteen.

#4: The secrets to his speed

Run Sonic, run!

According to the first game's instruction manual, Sonic's speed comes from his sneakers. Also according to Sonic's creator Yuji Naka, Sonic needs eight hours of sleep a night to maintain his speed.

#3: Very humble beginnings

Now that's a rad cameo!

A few years before Sonic became one of the big names in gaming, he made a cameo appearance in Sega's own Rad Mobile. Specifically, an air freshener modeled after him is visible during game play, hanging from the car's mirror. Additionally, the skid sound he makes when stopping comes from Sega's own Outrun.

#2: Michael Jackson composed for Sonic Three

This was cool back then, but it's kinda creepy nowadays.

During his lifetime, pop singer Michael Jackson was a huge fan of the Sonic series. In fact, he was allowed to compose portions of the soundtrack to Sonic's third game. However, he remains uncredited because he wasn't satisfied with the Sega Genesis' music capabilities. The child abuse allegations that occurred around that time probably didn't help either.

#1: Some speedy records

I bet he's thankful to get this before Mario did!

During it's over 20 year lifetime the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise has set more than a few records. For one, he was the first video game character in history to get a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which first appeared in 1993. Additionally, the Archie Sonic comic series is the longest running video game comic series in history, spawning 290 issues from 1992 to 2016.

You know what they say: Sega does what Nintendon't! If you know of any other interesting tidbits or think I fudged something up, please say something in the comment section. Thanks for viewing and keep on running!

Sources

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

10 Gigante facts about Mucha Lucha

It's all bueno! From behind the scenes stuff to references to good ole Mexico, here are 10 interesting facts about The FOREMOST, WORLD RENOWNED, INTERNATIONAL SHOW OF LUCHA!!!!

#10: A first for Flash

No Ruffle Necessary, at least for this time period!

While Flash in the early 2000s was mostly used for internet based cartoons and games, this was the first TV cartoon to be animated in the program. The pilot and first season used the line tool for its animation, but this was too clunky so the switched to the brush tool for seasons two and three.

#9: The pitch pilot

Wow, nearly everyone got a makeover!

The pilot episode of the show, simply called "Lucha School", had a few differences from the final product, from a cruder animation style to different character designs and names. However, the most interesting difference Psiclone, a bull-themed wrestler who would've been part of the main group.

#8: Attempted revival

A shame this never got greenlit!

In 2014 there were plans for a revival series called "Mucha Lucha: Para Siempre". While there are comics and an animatic available online, the series unfortunately seems to have been cancelled. That being said, the series would get a continuation in the form of the "Tales from the Coliseo" webcomics.

#7: No punches pulled

When the show was first pitched, Warner Bros was hesitant to greenlight it as they believed it would be too violent. In addition, most of the storyboard artists weren't too interested in watching Lucha wrestling just to capture it in storyboards.. In response, co-creator Lili Chin drew a series of drawings consisting of Rickochet and Beuno Girl wrestling each other and explaining what each hold was. This not only showed executives that the whole thing was staged, but also gave the storyboard artists an easy reference to draw from.

#6: The cutting room floor strikes again

A shocking discovery!

Besides Psiclone, there are multiple characters who never made it onto the show. You can read the full list here, but a few interesting ones include the magnet-themed Magnetico, a character called Chad From Chad who apparently was scrapped because WBA staff thought his character wasn't appropriate for kids and a character named Princess Enigma who was set to appear in the episode Party Animal.

#5: Mexican Celebrities

Forget Rey Mysterio, say hello to Rey Dinamico!

The show staff originally wanted Luchadore wrestlers like Rey Mysterio Jr and Brazo de Plata aka Super Porky to appear on the show, but scheduling conflicts prevented that, forcing the staff to redesign their animated alter egos. That being said, the show still managed to get other Mexican celebrities like Los Mobos and Blue Demon Jr. In addition, the theme song was preformed by Mexican music group Chicos de Barrio.

#4: The creators weren't Mexican

It's an Aussie-Chinese production!

Even though this show is known for it representation of Mexican culture, the creators weren't Mexican themselves. Eddie Mort hales from Manchester England and emigrated to Australia at age 10, while Lili Chin is Chinese. That being said it did have some Mexicans working on it, including future El Tigre and Book of Life creator John R. Gutierrez.

#3: PSAlmost

In 2003 there were plans for a PS2 game called Mysterioso Grande. Unfortunately, this game was cancelled because the developers couldn't find a publisher and it was around this time that the show's ratings were dropping. That being said, some of the animations for the game are available in the video above this paragraph.

#2: Build Your Own Wrestler

Some kid's day was made!

Around the time of the show's airing on TV, there was an online game on Kids WB's website that let users create their own luchadore wrestler. Some of the fan made characters made with this program even made it onto some versions of the show's intro.

#1: Mexican Dub Relationships

They're closer than we thought!

The Mexican dub voice actors for Rikochet and Beuno Girl (Héctor Emmanuel Gómez and Karla Falcon respectively) started dating and eventually married after the third season finished. Likewise, El Rey's VA (Eduardo Fonseca) is the uncle of The Flea's VA (Victor Ugarte).

A truly caliente list if I do say so myself. If you know something I don't or believe I screwed up somewhere, please send your comments to the designated section. Thanks for reading and have a muy bueno day!