While Arnold and Helga are dancing the Tango, Arnold seems to flirt with Helga, hinting that he's now more comfortable with her since finding out her secret in Hey Arnold!: The Movie. During his second interview on The Arun Mehta Show, Craig Bartlett himself confirmed that during the Tango scene, Arnold was indeed flirting with Helga.
Arnold says Helga's birthday was "last week", meaning that Helga was born roughly around March 25th. It is generally agreed that her birthday is on March 26th, the same day as her voice actress, Francesca Smith's birthday.
This is the only holiday episode that actually aired on the day of its respective holiday.
This is the only half-hour episode in which Sid speaks in.
Both Harold and Patty and Rhonda and Curly are seen dancing together, so it’s shown that they have come to the dance together.
Continuing the running gag of Pookie confusing her holidays, she thinks April Fools' Day is Groundhog's Day, and when she sees her shadow, it means twelve more days of Christmas.
The music that plays during the credits is reused from the credits of "Grandpa's Packard".
For a long time, this was one of several specials to not be a part of TeenNick's rotation on The Splat until Valentine's Day of 2017 when this episode along with "Married" and "Arnold's Valentine" aired. However, the second half of the episode did not air for unknown reasons (most likely due to it being aired at the wrong time, although it was included on TV listings), similar to what happened with "The Racing Mule" in 2002.
It finally aired in its complete form (with both segments intact) on the morning of April Fools' Day of that same year.
This is the first episode where Arnold was voiced by Alex D. Linz.
Gerald states that Arnold is too "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind" for April Fool's Day. Those characteristics are the very 1st 6 of the 12 laws, in order, of Boy Scouts of America's 'Scout Law'.
The YMAA's gym floor can be opened up to get access to the pool. This is a reference to the dance scene in the movie It's a Wonderful Life.
Story Analysis[]
If this episode is watched under the mindset that Arnold knows Helga loves him, some parts (besides the tango scene) can be interpreted differently.
Arnold seems to get annoyed at Helga's pranks quicker than usual, and it doesn’t take much for him to decide to retaliate. This could be caused by the fact that he knows everything Helga's doing to him is unnecessary torment to hide her feelings for him, which is now pointless, as he already knows.
It seems that Arnold used his knowledge of Helga's love for him to prank her. He mentioned her actual birthday when giving her the gift box, possibly knowing that Helga wouldn't refuse a genuine present from him.
This would add an extra layer of guilt on Arnold, and also explain why Helga torments him so relentlessly for the rest of the episode; she's getting back at him for playing her like that.
Production Notes[]
Although this episode premiered on April 1, 2002, it was actually made in 2001 according to the credits. It is also the first episode produced in 2001.
Continuity[]
This episode is more or less a sequel to "Beaned": Arnold unintentionally physically hurts Helga, Helga exaggerates her injury, and Arnold consequently takes care of Helga.
This is the second episode that shows Arnold calling Helga on the phone to apologize to her, the first time that Arnold called Helga was in “Girl Trouble” to apologize for throwing orange paint on the front of her dress.
At the April Fools' Day Dance, Patricia "Big Patty" Smith and Harold Berman are shown to be dancing together. This is the second time that they’ve danced together. The first time was in the episode "Hey Harold!". The pair danced with each other on Rhonda’s porch at Rhonda’s co-ed party.
