This is the first episode to mention Arnold's parents.
Arnold's parents are named Miles and Stella, but this isn't revealed until much later, in "The Journal", which is an extended story about them.
Animation cels from the episode (such as those in the gallery) indicate that there was a scene where Helga hugged Brainy; this scene is not present in the actual episode.
The flier Mr. Simmons hands out says "PARENTS DAY" on it, but it's always referred to as "Parents Tournament Weekend".
During the Pie Toss scene, the recording of Gerald laughing was originally used in "The Little Pink Book" when Gerald starts reading the pink book containing Helga's poetry about Arnold.
Big Bob cruelly calls Arnold "Orphan Boy". In purely legal terms, however, a child may only be considered an orphan in the event of death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation from both parents.
Baby Arnold is voiced by then-child actor Rusty Flood.
The music used during the last part of the real story is called "Mom and Dad" and was written by Jim Lang.
The music in the plane scene of Arnold's dream has the same melody as "Look Up" from the episode "The List". Arnold's dream with his grandparents also features a variation of the song.
Instead of the usual ending theme, Jim Lang wrote a more emotional piece for the credits. The same theme was then remade for the episode, "The Journal".
In the credits, this episode paid a special thanks to "Our Parents".
This is Phillip Van Dyke's last episode voicing Arnold due to puberty. Spencer Klein would take over the role afterwards.
Cultural References[]
Grandma refers to Grandpa as "Anjin-San" while cooking in her karate outfit. This is a nod to the main character in James Clavell's novel and TV miniseries Shogun, John Blackthorne, who’s also called “Anjin-San”.
The character Dr. Iron Claw, that Grandpa invents while telling Arnold the story of how his parents met, is a possible reference to the Inspector Gadget villain Dr. Claw.
Miles' use of the phrase "aye-aye-aye!" after falling down the cliffside is most likely a reference to The Gods Must Be Crazy, wherein a similar character frequently uses that phrase.
Baby Arnold wears a light blue shirt and diaper: the same attire as Tommy Pickles in the Rugrats franchise.
The escape of Arnold's parents through the jungle references Indiana Jones' escape from the temple in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Airing[]
This episode was produced at the end of Season 3 but was held over for about a year and a half, airing in 2000 as part of Season 5 in the US. However, this episode did air as part of Season 3 in several other countries, such as the U.K., where it aired on December 25, 1998. While the exact reason for the delay is unknown, it is speculated that Nickelodeon planned for this episode to serve as a lead-in to the planned Hey Arnold theatrical movie (similar to how The Rugrats Movie and its sequel had a prequel episode), but was ultimately turned into a Mother's Day/Father's Day episode (as proven by its May 10 airdate), and another "prequel" episode was later ordered. Nowadays, this episode is aired as part of the regular rotation of episodes and isn't considered a holiday special.
