Hey Arnold! The Movie is the Rodney Dangerfield of the current cartoon scene.

It's certainly not in the same league as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which has visual elegance going for it, not to mention a primal narrative power. And, no, it's not nearly as good as Lilo & Stitch, a frenetic, eclectic, blue-hued hoot.

But if Hey Arnold! gets "no respect," it's not half-bad either.

As every 6-year-old knows, the film is based on the Nickelodeon series about Arnold, a "football-headed" kid. As the movie opens, Arnold's pleasant little neighborhood is in danger of being leveled by the fiendishly oily Scheck and his heartless Future Tech Industries.

Of course, it's up to Arnold to save the day.

Directed by Tuck Tucker from a script by Steve Viksten and series creator Craig Bartlett, the production has a casual, anything-goes spirit.

At one point, Arnold and Gerald don dark glasses and suits to become Kids in Black. Someone else is doused with pickle juice and temporarily becomes the incredible Hulk.

A too-exuberant kid named Eugene tries to turn the movie into a gala musical production, but the other characters are having none of it. And while you've got to admire Eugene's spunk, the others are surely right.

Hey Arnold! isn't the kind of TV show that lends itself to the gala treatment. With a guy like Arnold - or Rodney Dangerfield, for that matter - less is most often more.

Hey Arnold!

The Movie

Voices: Spencer Klein, Jamil Smith, Francesca Marie Smith, Paul Sorvino, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Lloyd

Directed by Tuck Tucker

Rated PG (for some thematic elements)

Released by Paramount

Running time 76 minutes

Sun Score ***