Donald "Donnie" Michael Thornberry is a feral boy who (as revealed in the 4-part TV movie, The Origin of Donnie) was raised by orangutans after his biological parents, a pair of naturalists, were killed by poachers, until the orangutan mother gave him up to the Thornberry family. He babbles wildly and makes animal sounds (but nothing Eliza can understand), occasionally spouting blurbs of English (e.g “oh, be quiet”, "be good me", etc.).
History
Donnie was born to naturalists Michael and Lisa in Borneo, who decided to stay in the country due to their love for nature, especially the orangutans. They also befriended local villagers who gifted them with a baby carrier for Donnie. The family eventually befriended an orangutan mother and her son and taught them sign language. Donnie seems to have learned sign language as well, though only one sign was shown (family), and it is unknown how much he actually knows. Donnie's family lived an overall happy life until one night some poachers attempted to steal the same orangutan family that Donnie's family had befriended. The family managed to free the mother orangutan and her baby son, but unfortunately the poachers killed Donnie's parents as revenge.
The villagers gave Donnie's parents a great funeral, with Donnie standing by the river until he spotted the orangutan family and decided to leave with them. The orangutan mother eventually met another family of naturalists - the Thornberrys - and decided that it was time to give Donnie up to the human family. After Marianne spotted Donnie swinging in a liana, Nigel went to see what was going on and found the young child alone, with the orangutan mother watching and gesturing for Donnie to take Nigel's hand. The Thornberrys decided to take him in and named him Donnie. According to Debbie, Donnie's first act upon arriving to the RV was to throw all her Boys at Play CDs and magazines down the garbage disposal.
Years later, the Thornberrys returned to Borneo in time for Donnie's "birthday", or rather the anniversary of the day they found him since the family didn't know when he was born. Donnie spent some time with his former orangutan mother after running away due Eliza getting mad at him. After the entire family was reunited, Nigel and Marianne discovered that they once met Donnie's biological parents, Michael and Lisa, when they were on their honeymoon. Because of this, Nigel and Marianne believed they were destined to have Donnie with them. The family also discovered that Donnie still remembered his birth parents as he drew (as best as he could) a picture that appeared to be of Michael and Lisa, which was confirmed when they compared the drawing to a photograph of them. Upon finding out that Donnie's parents were deceased, Nigel and Marianne could finally adopt Donnie. They gave him the middle name Michael in honor of his biological father, making his full name Donald Michael Thornberry.
Appearance
Donnie is a 5 year old boy with fair skin and dark brown hair. He has an abnormally large mouth with large sets of excess teeth (like his father, Michael), and his hair appears to be in the style of spaghetti strands (like his mother, Lisa). He commonly wears a pair of leopard-spotted shorts with no shirt, socks, or shoes, and avoids them as much as he can. However, his parents always make it a point to dress him up for special occasions such as family gatherings.
Relationships
- Michael and Lisa: They are Donnie's birth parents. Despite not being able to spend enough time with his birth family due to them being killed, when Donnie was a toddler it is implied that Donnie still remembers and loves them.
- Orangutan mother and son: They befriended Donnie and his birth parents shortly before their deaths. After Donnie's parents were killed, the orangutan mother took Donnie with her and took care of him along with her own son, leading him to become a "feral child". The orangutan mother continued to raise Donnie until she decided that he needed a human family. She left Donnie with the Thornberrys, shedding a tear as they parted ways as she had grown to really care about the boy. Years later, Donnie meets her again when the Thornberrys return to Borneo, and he runs away after Eliza gets mad at him. The mother once again took him with her for a while, until she brought him back to his foster family. She was happy and relieved that she had found Donnie the perfect family. Donnie also gets along great with the orangutan mother's son. They love to play together, just like two brothers would.
- Nigel and Marianne: They are Donnie's adoptive parents. They love and care about Donnie very much ever since they found him in the jungle. As it turns out, they knew his biological parents and ended up formally adopting him. In turn, Donnie loves them back and states (through sign language) that he considers them and the orangutans who raised him his family.
- Debbie: She is Donnie's adoptive eldest sister. She often gets annoyed by her adopted brother's antics and the fact that she is always the one left in charge of him while their parents work and Eliza runs off to help animals. This proves to be a very difficult task, but deep down she does love him very much, even crying tears of joy once Donnie's adoption into the Thornberry family was official.
- Eliza: She is Donnie's adoptive middle sister. She is far more patient with Donnie than their sister, Debbie, most likely since Eliza often runs off to save animals and doesn't spend much time with her younger brother. She can sometimes get frustrated with him, but she still loves her adopted brother very much.
- Darwin: Darwin is the family pet. Like Debbie, he has little patience with Donnie and the things he does to him, like breaking rotten eggs on his head or putting worms on his nose. However, deep down, he also cares about Donnie. When Eliza tells Darwin that Donnie is staying with them after all, Darwin is visibly relieved.
- Cordelia: She is Donnie's adoptive grandmother. Oddly enough, she never really complains about Donnie's "feral child" personality, yet she criticizes her granddaughters any chance she gets.
- Radcliffe: He is Donnie's adoptive grandfather. Like his wife, he doesn't seem to pay too much attention to Donnie's feral behavior, and has shown that he cares about his adopted grandson. He is also is more willing to join Donnie in his antics, such as dancing "The Wedgie Dance" when Donnie made the whole family dance with baboons.
Trivia
- Donnie appears in every episode of The Wild Thornberrys; except "Gift of Gab". His first appearance was in the series' pilot episode. His last was in "Eliza Unplugged".
- Donnie also appeared in a few video games, including crossovers.
- Donnie occasionally shows random signs of sophisticated education, such as table place setting or properly drinking tea.
- Donnie might also know French, as during a lesson he stated that an apple was a "pomme", which is French for apple.
- Donnie turns five in The Origin of Donnie, although his family usually celebrates it on the anniversary of the day they found him since his actual birth date remains unknown to them.
- Donnie loves "The Wedgie Dance" (i.e. pulling his pants up and dancing with baboons), and makes everyone around him dance as well by pulling up their pants.
- Both Donnie and his biological father share a name with Donnie's voice actor, Michael Balzary, also known as Flea.
- He, Debbie, Sloan and Bree are the only human characters who knows Eliza's secret.
- Donnie has his name in two episode titles which are The Origin of Donnie and Flight of the Donnie.