The Hey Arnold! Christmas special is one of the most memorable moments of TV for me and many others. I wasn't even a big fan of the show, but Mr. Hyunh's story about searching for his daughter...
On a December night in 1996, “Hey Arnold!” fans tuned in to the beloved Nickelodeon kids show for what was a particularly heavy, emotion-driven episode. It depicted the 1975 fall of Saigon, in Vietnam, and the forced separation of a young Vietnamese girl, Mai, from her father, Mr. Hyunh, a Vietnamese refugee who lived in the same boarding house as main character Arnold.
The episode, entitled “Arnold’s Christmas,” was the first in-depth look into the world of Mr. Hyunh, a recurring character on the show. It also served, for many Asian American kids in the 1990s, as one of the only times a piece of their history was recognized in mainstream pop culture. To this day, it remains a compelling television moment for a community whose stories have long been distorted, overlooked or flattened.
The Hey Arnold! Christmas special is one of the most memorable moments of TV for me and many others. I wasn't even a big fan of the show, but Mr. Hyunh's story about searching for his daughter stuck with me. (If you haven't seen it, here's an official upload of the flashback and the episode's heartwarming ending. Obviously spoilers, and I recommend watching the full episode if you can.)
I saw a mention of it last week and got a strong urge to track it down and watch it with my mom. Which since we don't have Paramount+, ultimately involved mirroring my phone to our Firestick to watch a VHS copy of it uploaded to the Internet Archive. Absolutely worth the effort, the whole special is just as good as I remember. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, please watch it. It genuinely feels like a true Christmas classic that can stand the test of time.
Afterwards I decided to look up Mr. Hyunh to see if his daughter showed up again, which is how I came across this article. And it's given me an even greater appreciation for the special, and the show in general.
The Hey Arnold! Christmas special is one of the most memorable moments of TV for me and many others. I wasn't even a big fan of the show, but Mr. Hyunh's story about searching for his daughter stuck with me. (If you haven't seen it, here's an official upload of the flashback and the episode's heartwarming ending. Obviously spoilers, and I recommend watching the full episode if you can.)
I saw a mention of it last week and got a strong urge to track it down and watch it with my mom. Which since we don't have Paramount+, ultimately involved mirroring my phone to our Firestick to watch a VHS copy of it uploaded to the Internet Archive. Absolutely worth the effort, the whole special is just as good as I remember. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, please watch it. It genuinely feels like a true Christmas classic that can stand the test of time.
Afterwards I decided to look up Mr. Hyunh to see if his daughter showed up again, which is how I came across this article. And it's given me an even greater appreciation for the special, and the show in general.