Awesome News About The 'Hey Arnold!' Movie

'90s Nickelodeon kids rejoiced at the news that the network would be bringing back your favorite nostalgic-producing shows with The Splat, a block dedicated to resurrecting the cartoons and other comedy series that once had a time slot on Nickelodeon. Re-watching your old favorites may take you down memory lane, but fortunately, Nick and The Splat have decided to do one better. Forget just re-airing cartoons you adored: Nickelodeon is extending the stories of shows that were cut down too soon. As reported in November of 2015, a new Hey Arnold! TV movie will air on Nickelodeon in 2017, and now, a new report suggests the new movie will be as authentic to our beloved childhood cartoon as possible. According to TVLine, Nickelodeon has confirmed that the original voice cast will return for Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, so get ready for a serious blast from the past.

You may not think very much about the voice actors behind your favorite cartoons — after all, it's far less noticeable when a TV series replaces a voice actor than when an actor is replaced on a live-action series. Still, quality voice actors are very important to creating interesting characters and, in this case, keeping the show consistent. Since Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie will be a direct continuation of the original series — as opposed to, say, an "all grown up" version of the show — the movie should feel in line with that universe. A new slate of voice actors might be jarring for people who watched Hey Arnold! on The Splat — the characters simply wouldn't sound the same.

According to TVLine, returning voices include Francesca Marie Smith as Helga, Anndi McAfee as Phoebe, Justin Shenkarow as Harold, Olivia Hack as Rhonda, Nika Futterman as Olga, Dan Castellanetaas Grandpa and Tress MacNeille as Grandma. However, there are two major voices that we won't hear in their original roles: according to the report, Lane Toran, the original voice of Arnold, and Jamil Smith, the original voice of Gerald, won't be reprising their roles in the new TV movie. Instead, Toran and Smith will join the cast in "supplemental" voice roles, and Mad Men's Mason Vale Cotton and Game Shaker's Benjamin Flores, Jr. will voice Arnold and Gerald respectively. It's definitely a bummer that we won't hear the same voices for Arnold and Gerald, but at least they'll be a part of the crew in some capacity.

I'm thrilled that Hey Arnold! is trying to be as authentic to the animated series as possible with the new film. Reboots may not always work, but this one seems like exactly what '90s kids dreamed of.

Images: Nickelodeon; Giphy