In the early stages of Nickelodeon, the network set out to break new ground within kids' animation. Trying to set itself apart from the clean-cut Disney image, Nickelodeon was trying to reach viewers in a different way. 'Hey Arnold' took that thinking to the next level. The entire cast of Hey Arnold was built attempting to relate more to kids and put them into the shoes of the on-screen characters. But what they didn't know at the time was Hey Arnold was about to change kids' animation forever.