IMFINISHED

I constantly think about how fortunate I was to have grown up during the golden age of children’s cartoons (1992-2004), especially when I see what my little cousins are consuming on tv today.

• I don’t mean to be so blunt, but what was it about the 90s and early 00s that made children’s cartoons… superior? Were the rules more relaxed? Did it just happen to be a time when a lot of amazing writers and creators congregated at Nickelodeon?

• I remember reading this somewhere on reddit/the internet, possibly when Francesca Smith did her AMA, but is it true Randy Travis wrote recorded “Simple Things” in 30 minutes while at the studio?

I’m not the biggest fan of country music, but that song is just excellent. On the other hand, I’m a huge fan all the avant-garde jazz heard throughout the series as well as the callbacks to the hippie/beat generation. Helga introduced me to the works of Edward Hopper in the episode “Helga on the Couch.” You just hardly see those type of obscure references thrown into children’s cartoons anymore.

While I’m on the topic of music, I might as well confess that I’ve been singing this in the shower every morning for the last 15 years:

My names Don Arnold, please have a caramel, your hair is lovely do you like my pants? They're made of satin, the cape's pure Latin, I had it tailored in the South of France!

♬ THE SOUTH OF FRANCE!

♬ YOUR SATIN PANTS!

♬ WHY DON’T YOU ASK THE LADY FOR A DANCE?

Thanks for everything Craig! Time for me to 23 Skidoo on outta here.

Some AMAs bring up thousands of questions making it nearly impossible for the subject to answer them all. This is actually the first time someone has answered one of my questions and I couldn't be happier. It's pretty awesome being in conversation with people who’s work I've admired for so long.

I always assumed Nick gave their creators a good amount of slack in the beginning, and that's part of the reason we ended up with timeless children's cartoons such Hey Arnold!, Rocko, and Doug.

I worked on the original Hey Arnold! series with Craig, as well Dinosaur Train, Ready Jet Go!, and the The Jungle Movie.

Awesome! You should definitely consider doing your own IAMA.Thank you for answering my question.