The Wild Thornberrys

The Wild Thornberrys is an American animated television series that aired on Nickelodeon.^[1] It was rerun in the United States on Nickelodeon and occasionally Nicktoons until 2007. The show returned to The '90s Are All That for one night, and aired on March 21, 2013. The show aired on Nicktoonsters in the United Kingdom. Following Shout! Factory's acquisition of the title in February 2011, all 5 seasons have been released on DVD.

Premise

The series focuses around a nomadic family of documentary filmmakers known as the Thornberrys, famous for their televised wildlife studies. It primarily centers on the family's younger daughter Eliza, and her secret gift of being able to communicate with animals,^[2] which was bestowed upon her after having rescued a shaman masquerading as a trapped warthog.

The gift enabled her to talk to the Thornberrys' pet chimpanzee Darwin. Together, the pair frequently venture through the wilderness, befriending many species of wild animals along the way or realizing moral truths and lessons through either their experiences or a particular animal species's lifestyle, or simply assisting the creatures, by which they become acquainted, in their difficulties.

Production

The Wild Thornberrys was produced by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. It premiered in September 1998, and was the first Nicktoon to exclusively use 22-minute stories (episodes of other Nicktoons usually featured two 10 - 11-minute stories, using 22-minute stories only on occasion).

Characters

The Wild Thornberrys, left to right, Nigel (bottom left), Marianne (with camera), Eliza (with glasses), Darwin (the chimpanzee), Donnie (with brown hair), and Debbie (sitting down, bored)

Elizabeth "Eliza" Thornberry

Eliza, age 12, is the younger daughter of the Thornberry family. She is intelligent, true-hearted, fearless, and good-natured, but she can also be very stubborn. Eliza has the power to communicate with wildlife and she often employs this skill when embarking on explorations through the wilderness, traveling around the world with her parents, or encountering different wild creatures.

She is forced to keep her gift secret from her family, having been warned that she will lose her powers if she tells anyone about them. Aided by her intelligent pet chimp, Darwin, she often sets out to assist or meet countless differing animals. Eliza is depicted in a stereotypically-nerdy fashion, with red hair plaited in braids, eyeglasses, braces, and freckles. She is also a scuba diver.

Eliza is voiced by Lacey Chabert.

Darwin Thornberry

Darwin is a chimpanzee who travels with the family and is a loyal companion to Eliza. He usually wears a tank top with horizontal blue and white stripes (used to be Debbie's lucky tank top) and blue shorts. He speaks with a distinct upper-class British accent. He tries to be the voice of reason to Eliza, however she rarely takes his advice. Cautious by nature, he is almost always hesitant to follow her plans; in response, she accuses him of cowardice, once calling him a "crybaby in a tank-top" for his hesitancy. He was found by Eliza, and was the first animal she ever talked to.

In The Wild Thornberrys Movie: The Origin of Donnie, Darwin was seen in a flashback, stealing the sleeveless tank top that was once owned by Debbie. His name is most likely a reference to Charles Darwin, though within the series Eliza gives him the name Darwin after Lenny Darwin, her cousin who looks like a monkey (is never shown in the series).

Darwin is voiced by Tom Kane.

Donald "Donnie" Michael Thornberry

Donnie, age 6, is a feral boy who (as revealed in the 2001 four-part TV movie, "The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie") was raised by orangutans in Borneo. His real parents, Michael and Lisa, were naturalists who loved and protected animals with their hearts. One night, it is revealed, two poachers attacked a pair of orangutans, intending to harm or kill the mother and sell the baby on the black market.

Donnie's parents managed to save them but were killed for interfering, much to the horror of the orangutan mother and the local villagers who came to know about their deaths. Out of gratitude and love, the mother orangutan took Donnie and raised him as a son. One day, however, she came across the Thornberrys and decided to give Donnie to them so he could have a human family. She watched tearfully along with her son as he was welcomed into their family as their own. It is revealed that the Thornberrys knew his parents before they adopted him, as they had met while Donnie's parents were on their honeymoon.

Donnie usually wears a pair of leopard-spotted shorts (similar to Tarzan's leopardskin loincloth) and he loves to eat all types of bugs. He babbles wildly and makes animal-sounds (but nothing Eliza can understand), occasionally spouting bits of English or exhibiting intermittent signs of sophistication. Donnie is 4, turning 5 in "The Origin of Donnie", and it is presumed he does not know what happened to his parents. It is revealed that he was able to pick up sign language from watching his parents teaching it to orangutans. We only see him sign one word (family), and it is unclear how much he knows. Nevertheless, this proves Donnie's intelligence - something which the audience sees further evidence of in a drawing he does of his parents alongside the orangutan family that raised him.

Donnie is voiced by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Deborah "Debbie" Thornberry

Debbie, age 16, is the eldest child of the Thornberrys, depicted as a typical teenage girl. Captivated with fashion and music, Debbie is portrayed as considerably more self-absorbed than her sister Eliza and tends to whine and complain, particularly over her family's nomadic way of life and her desire to lead an average life. She is often annoyed that Eliza embraces the family's lifestyle, and Eliza is mutually annoyed by Debbie's apathy. However, Debbie cares for her sister deep down, most notably in the movie in which she becomes the only family member to know about Eliza's powers but is later warned that she will be turned into a baboon if she ever tells anyone. Debbie dresses in grunge clothing and sports a distinctive peekaboo hairstyle. Debbie is voiced by Danielle Harris.

Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry KBE

Nigel, age 45, is the child of Radcliffe and Cordelia Thornberry (Lynn Redgrave), an aristocratic British couple. Born in Britain himself, he travels around the world with his own family making wildlife documentaries. He may be inspired by Sir David Attenborough and speaks with a nasally RP English accent. He is eccentric, enthusiastic and cheerful, even in the face of danger.

He was offered a professorship at Oxford University but, much to his mother's disapproval, Nigel turned it down. He is an expert zoologist, as well as naturalist, traveler and survivalist and is quite caring and logical though Nigel often otherwise appears absent minded or naive. In the series, Nigel is a supporting character, but in the film Rugrats Go Wild, Nigel plays a much larger role as he is idolized by Tommy Pickles (who usually refers to him as "Mr. Strawberry").

Nigel is voiced by Tim Curry.

Marianne Hunter Thornberry

Marianne, age 35, is Nigel's wife, daughter of Frank (Ed Asner) and Sophie Hunter (Betty White). She operates the film camera and edits their nature show. Marianne is a strong woman, often the voice of reason, and sometimes loses patience with Nigel. She is usually the one to take on disciplinary duties, trying to keep the girls out of trouble and finish their homework. In Season 1, Episode 12, she mentions that she attended the University of California, Berkeley. Marianne is also a scuba diver like Eliza. She wears a wetsuit, flippers, mask, and scuba tank in Season 3, Episode 17. Marianne is voiced by Jodi Carlisle.

Equipment

The Commvee (an abbreviation of "communications vehicle") is a two-story mobile home; the main door leads up a flight of stairs to a main floor with the driver and passenger seat in the front, followed by a twin sized bed, table for eating at on the west side of the car, a kitchen on the eastern side, and a bathroom in the back which also serves as a dark-room for editing film.

There is a "basement/1st floor" that contains one room with a big bed for Nigel and Marianne, a room with two small beds (for Debbie and Eliza) and two hammocks for Donnie and Darwin. There is also a small box near the floor of the "main story" that contains various switches which can inflate a raft for crossing rivers and the ocean to a "lock-down" mode in which iron plates cover the windows (as seen in Thornberry Island) for typhoons; there are other switches that can put the car into a submarine mode, or inflate a bag on top of the car for falling objects or rising to the surface of the ocean.

Near the 'switch box' there is a hatch (as seen in Rugrats Go Wild) that gives access to a mini-sub. There is also a roof with a satellite that barely ever gets reception, but is used to upload footage to the foundation. On the outside there are many compartments, supposedly for carrying equipment, holiday decorations, and other smaller vehicles such as the 'mini-comm' for short-range transport or picking up passengers and returning them to camp or the submarine for deep sea expedition (the bath-o-sphere).

The Commvee also features the usual conveniences found in a motorhome, including air-conditioning, a kitchen, and a powerful stereo system with a cassette tape player.

Episodes

DVD and digital releases

Nickelodeon released all five seasons on DVD in Region 1 via Amazon.com through its CreateSpace Manufacture-on-demand program in 2010. Season 1 was released on June 24, 2010,^[3] Seasons 2 through 5 were released on December 1, 2010^[4] All of these releases are now discontinued.

On February 16, 2011, it was announced that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to the series and would be releasing season 1 on DVD on May 17, 2011.^[5] Season 1 was released on May 17, 2011 followed by Season 2, Part 1 on November 8, 2011.^[6] Season 2, Part 2 was released on April 24, 2012.^[7] Season 2, Part 3 was released on January 15, 2013, as a Shout Select title.^[8] Season 3 was released on June 11, 2013 as a Shout Select title.^[9] Seasons 4 and 5 were released in a box set on September 10, 2013 as a Shout Select title.^[10]

On December 1, 2015, Shout! Factory will release The Wild Thornberrys: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.^[11]

In Australia, all 5 seasons have been released via Beyond Home Entertainment. A 13-disc set titled The Wild Thornberrys: The Essential Episodes was released on June 3, 2015.

♦ - Shout! Factory select title, sold exclusively through Shout's online store. (refers to region 1 releases)

Films

Three movies have been released:

• The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie (2001): This prequel was released as a TV film and explores Donnie's life before he was found by the Thornberrys.
• The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002): This theatrical film made $60 million and earned an Academy Award nomination.^[12]
• Rugrats Go Wild (2003): This theatrical film was the final Rugrats film and a cross-over between Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys.^[13]

Parodies

• The Wild Thornberrys were parodied on the Robot Chicken Season 8 episode Zeb and Kevin Erotic Hot Tub Canvas. Lacey Chabert, Danielle Harris and Jodi Carlisle reprise their roles in the episode.

References

External links

• The Wild Thornberrys at the Internet Movie Database