Football Head
146[n 1] instances of "Football Head" being used throughout the TV Series.
Football Head is Helga Pataki's favorite teasing nickname for Arnold given the characteristic shape of his head. Wolfgang has a similar nickname for Arnold: "Football Face".
Origin[]
Craig Bartlett used this term to describe his process on creating Arnold's design[1]:
| “ | I created Arnold when I first moved to LA, ten years ago [in 1988]. I was still doing clay animation on glass (the Penny cartoons from PeeWee's Playhouse) so I designed him out of clay. I cut out the football shape from a big sheet of clay, set the eyes wide apart, gave him the huge hair and tiny hat, and that was that. | ” |
Inside the series universe, Arnold's head is an inherited trait: his mother Stella has a similar-shaped head. Arnold's cousin Arnie has the same head shape as Arnold, but upside-down. This could suggest that Arnie is Arnold's maternal cousin, and that his maternal grandfather may have been football-headed as well.
Usage[]
Although other characters in the series, notably Ruth P. McDougal and Mr. Hyunh, have an oblong-shaped head as well, the term "Football head" is applied to Arnold only. Several characters use the term and variations like "football-headed boy" when referring to Arnold without knowing his name.
Helga is the main user of the term "Football Head", with at least 146 instances in the entire series. She delivers the expression "Move it, Football Head!" at the end of the opening sequence. She also uses various football-shaped objects, including actual footballs, to build her secret Arnold shrines.
Craig Bartlett also mentioned that "Football Head" is a popular motif in the architecture of the Green-Eyed people.
Reaction[]
Most times Arnold doesn't react to being called "Football Head", which could be because either he doesn't care or knows he can't do nothing about it. In rare cases, however, Arnold seems particularly irritated about being called such name:
- In Girl Trouble, when Grandpa Phil tells Arnold that Helga sometimes waits in front of the boarding house for him to come out, Arnold answers that she does so only to call him "football head", "yutz" and "paste for brains".
- In Egg Story, as Arnold and Helga meet to work for their recently assigned science project, he asks her to not insult him by calling him "football head".
"Football Head" in various translations[]
- Afrikaans: Voetbal Kop (soccer ball head)
- Chinese: 足球头 (Zúqiútóu)
- Czech: Šišatá hlava ("Pine Cone Head")
- Dutch: Meloenenkop ("Melon Head")
- French: crâne d'oeuf ("Egg Head")
- German: Footballschädel ("Football Skull")
- Hungarian: Futballfejű (Football-headed)
- Japanese: フットボール頭 (Futtobōru Atama)
- Malay; Kepala sepak ("football Head") or kepala bola ragbi ("rugby ball head")
- Polish: Futbolowa głowa
- Portuguese (Brazil): Cabeça-de-bigorna ("Anvil Head")
- Portuguese (Portugal): Cabeça-de-melão ("Melon Head")
- Russian: Репоголовый (Repogolovyj, "Turnip Head")
- Spanish: Cabeza de balón ("Ball Head")
- Swedish: Fotbollshuvud ("Football Head")
- Turkish: Futbol topu kafanı
- Ukrainian: М'ячеголовий (Mjačeholovyj, "Ball Head")
- Greek: πεπονοκέφαλος (potato head)
Notes[]
- ↑ The actual number could be higher as the video creator claims missed 3 entries, and references in The Jungle Movie are also not counted.