The city aquarium is a location featured in the Hey Arnold! series.
Appears in[]
- 2b. Field Trip
- 24b. Teachers' Strike
- 33b. Eugene's Pet
- 61a. Eugene's Birthday
Description[]
The aquarium itself is shaped like a sperm whale and right after people enter it, they will enter a large shark tunnel and come across several large tanks before heading out to the exterior exhibits which include semiaquatic animals, one of these animals was the sea turtle Lockjaw before he was freed from the aquarium by Arnold and his grandmother. The animals are shown to be neglected and not taken care of properly as shown with Lockjaw and a penguin, many animals are seen in tanks that contain predators and get eaten by them, seals are also seen in large indoor tanks.
Influence[]
The aquarium in this episode is likely based upon the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which is most famous for helping to bring back the orca Keiko (the animal star of the 1993 film Free Willy) and keeping him for 2 years. Craig Bartlett, the series creator, is himself a former resident of Oregon, with his wife Lisa and brother-in-law Matt Groening having also been born and raised in Portland, Oregon; though the Oregon Coast Aquarium did not open until 1992. However, the aquarium in the episode is shown to be a cruel and neglectful one with animals not being taken care of properly or mocked at.
The aquarium appears to be also loosely based on the aquarium that was featured the 1988 Simpsons Tracey Ullman Show short "The Aquarium". A further connection is the fact the security guard's first rule is that nobody dive in the shark tank, which Bart Simpson did in this short. This aquarium would again be referenced in the March 1996 Simpsons episode "A Fish Called Selma", though in way which suggested Troy McClure having indecent desires for fish. Craig Bartlett, is married to Simpsons creator Matt Groening's sister Lisa.