"Lost and Foundation" is the sixteenth episode of The Wild Thornberrys first season which was first broadcast on March 16, 1999.
Summary[]
When the girls discover that their parents have mistakenly taken embarrassing home movies to an awards banquet, they join forces in order to save face.
Their cross-island trip turns into a race against time in order to beat their parents to the podium and stop the world from seeing them at bath time.
Synopsis[]
The Thornberrys are on the island of West Sumatra in Indonesia, camped close to the provincial capital of Padang. Eliza has befriended a fellow American 12 year-old traveler named Ben. He and Eliza play baseball in the forest before losing the baseball, and finding it again in a grove of very pungent flowers. The two find that funny and head back to camp on their bikes.
At the ComVee, Marianne is putting the finishing touches on a very special film production. She and Nigel are being honored at an awards ceremony in Padang by their Foundation for their work in nature documentaries. Nigel finds Marianne quite attractive in her dressing gown (and he certainly doesn't look bad in his tuxedo), though Marianne is quite stressed out completing their highlight reel. Last year's production had unfortunately been a disaster, much of the attendees had fallen asleep. Marianne is determined to not let that be repeated, planning to showcase something even the most disinterested videographer can turn away from, adorable polar bear cubs! Still feeling incomplete, Marianne decides to add their footage on killer whales, rounding out their adventures in the Arctic as Nigel thinks about the delicious catfish dinner that will be served at the awards ceremony.
Outside Eliza and Ben return to the ComVee. Ben is feeling disappointed that he and his parents will be flying back home to Michigan the next day. In fact, he will be leaving that afternoon for Padang on a seaplane that's due to take Nigel and Marianne to the ceremony. Debbie gets annoyed by the duo's presence. Nigel states that he's got a spare tuxedo for Ben who will be attending the ceremony. Eliza and Debbie prefer to stay at the ComVee, having attended the ceremony last year, in dresses they both hated, bored out of their minds, having to endure the catfish meal. However, Ben is excited by the prospect of the ceremony being on tv, although Nigel mentions it's only on local Indonesian channels. He notes that tv can make people seem more portly than they are, so he suggests when he takes the stage, he will do a silly motion with his hands to let the viewers know who he is.
The seaplane arrives on the lake and Nigel sends Ben to let the pilot know the Thornberrys will be on their way. Debbie jokes that Eliza and Ben need a moment alone to say goodbye, and Nigel agrees. Ben quite awkwardly, but sweetly says goodbye to Eliza and the two promise to stay in touch by mail.
After Ben rides to the dock, Eliza heads back into the ComVee where the rest of the family is watching a new video on the editor. They all apparently find it entertaining, especially Debbie who's laughing hysterically. Eliza watches the video, which features a little baby messily throwing spaghetti from her dinner plate. It's quickly apparent the baby is HER. This is the Family's old home movies that Marianne taped over the years. Marianne insists the footage is very adorable. Debbie's satisfaction at her sister's embarrassment is quickly extinguished as the scene shifts to HER home movies. To her absolute horror, her five year old self is dressed as a little fairy-tale princess. Nigel finds this adorable, but the teenage punk is mortified that she once ever wore something pink and demands her parents turn off the production. Nigel and Marianne remember this video though and want to revisit the girls wearing matching cowgirls outfits, singing and dancing!
Eliza and Debbie share a look and agree they are united in preventing their parents from humiliating them further. Eliza reminds them they have to get to the awards ceremony while Debbie hits rewind for the home movies. Marianne, being shoved out of the ComVee by Debbie, calls to Nigel to get the highlight reel. Nigel goes to retrieve it. Eliza and Debbie see Nigel and Marianne off at the seaplane and Eliza waves goodbye to Ben. The plane starts up and taxis across the lake to begin its takeoff run. Now in charge of the ComVee, the sisters agree on a gameplan. As they've done to their Father's bagpipes, and their Mother's science-fair trophies, they will be burying the home movies away from the campsite (it's unknown how many unmarked 'graves' the girls have dug for annoying items around the world).
At the editing bay, Eliza sees that Marianne has in fact left behind her highlight reel. Debbie is disinterested, assuming the ceremony will be just as boring without them. She picks up the home movies case and hands it to Eliza, looking for the shovel to burry it. However, Eliza opens the case and realizes its empty! Eliza quickly pieces together that Nigel mistakenly took the home movies with him and will play it instead of the highlight reel at the awards ceremony. The sisters rush back out to the dock in a panic, signaling the plane not to depart. However, it does not see their fruitless gestures and takes to the skies for Padang. Both Eliza and Debbie despair that their home movies will appear on live television!
Minutes later, Eliza and Debbie have requisitioned a rowboat along with Darwin and Donnie to cross the lake. Eliza is frantically rowing and consulting a map, insisting they can take a bus to Padang and switch the home movies with the highlight reel before it plays. Debbie isn't convinced they can do it in two hours, and tries to look past it, reasoning a bunch of old people they don't know seeing the footage won't cause them humiliation. Eliza lets it slip she especially doesn't want Ben to see her baby pictures, which Debbie mocks her for. Eliza throws one of the oars at her, which misses and lands in the lake. Eliza paddles back for it for Debbie to reach for, only for a VERY angry looking cobra to pop out of the lake and hiss at her! Debbie quickly grabs the remaining oar and gets them to the shore in record time.
On the opposite shore, it's clear the bus stop is out of action. Eliza points out they can take a marked trail through the jungle to the main road. Debbie thinks it's pointless and goes into the lake's equipment office, hoping a fisherman can take her back. She's quite pleased to see the manager is a young boy her age. She quickly strikes up a conversation with him, but it's clear he doesn't speak English. She then notices that both Marianne and Nigel are on the tv, entering the ceremony in the city. The manager recognizes Nigel, being a fan, and Debbie points out she is Nigel's daughter. Debbie then realizes if the home movies are played, this boy will find out she used to dress as a pink princess! She shoves him into a chair and tells him she'll be back soon, grabbing Donnie by the wrist and leaving the office.
Outside, Eliza and Darwin are trying to find the path through the forest, when Debbie barges past them, letting Eliza know she's recommitted to the mission. It doesn't take the group long to be lost in the forest. Eliza and Debbie blame each other for not finding the trailhead. Eliza then sees something BIG and SCARY lurking in the brush. Debbie's still talking about the boy in the lake office, but Eliza tells her to shut up. There's a TIGER stalking the group! Debbie catches a glimpse of the big cat and stifles a scream. Eliza tells her to stand still and not provoke the dangerous creature. She then relays the looming threat to Darwin who's on the verge of panicking.
Just then, a little weasel in a tree calls down to Eliza. She had seen Eliza and Ben playing earlier and is interested in playing baseball with her. Eliza says it's not a good time, right as the Tiger growls. The weasel excitedly proposes they play a game of 'Lose the Tiger', a sport she's quite good at. The Tiger roars and charges at Debbie who rushes to the tree. Eliza quickly agrees to 'play,' climbing up a vine alongside Darwin well out of the Tiger's reach. She then hurriedly tosses the vine down to Debbie who's carrying Donnie and she races up the tree too. The Tiger jumps and takes a swat at them. Fortunately, the Tiger only manages to snag the life jacket that Donnie had been wearing, which rips clean from him leaving him unharmed. The Tiger gets distracted by the life vest, thinking its food, while the group gets away through the trees.
Further on, Eliza thanks the weasel for saving all their lives as she and Darwin jump back down to the forest floor. They both assert 'NO!' when the weasel asks if they want to play 'Lose the Tiger' AGAIN! Debbie and Donnie then land safely, with Debbie angrily bemoaning their dangerous situation. She then notices the weasel and screeches, swinging at it with a branch. The group then finds the main road and a sign pointing to Padang. They also find a notice for the International Nature Documentarian Awards (IDA) which will commence at 6 PM that night. Eliza and Debbie begin to despair seeing that they only have another hour or so to get three miles down the road to Padang. They quickly identify a shortcut through an area known as 'The Big Square' on the map which should only be a mile. Eliza assumes it to be a golf course, and the troop presses on.
It's now late in the day, and the 'Big Square' is actually a Palm Plantation. The palm trees are grouped very tightly so it's hard for the group to navigate. Debbie begins to suspect Eliza doesn't know where she's going. She then sees a button from her jacket and bemoans that they're lost. She angrily grabs for the map, with Eliza insisting they can still get out. Debbie gets ahold of the map and tears it up before throwing it away. By now, the sisters are ready to fight, fed up with having to deal with each other's habits. That is before a rumbling is heard. The group then sees a horrific sight, a giant tractor heading their way!
The group runs and manages to jump out of the way of the tractor. They land unhurt on the main road right outside the plantation. Eliza is about to yell at Debbie for throwing the map away, but remains focused on their task. She uses the sun to determine the way to Padang. The group runs until they see a tv truck just outside of Padang's outskirts. The technician lets them know Padang is just ten minutes away. He also lets them know that a big television event will be occurring in Padang. As it turns out, Nigel was incorrect about the IDA being broadcast only locally. It will instead be broadcast to 120 countries all around the world! Realizing worldwide humiliation is imminent, the girls become even more motivated to get to Padang.
After hitching a ride in a farmer's truck (which to Debbie's disgust is full of pigs), the group arrives in Padang. A local constable directs them to the hotel hosting the IDA event. Eliza reasons they won't just let them in without passes, but Debbie rudely shoves past a lot of international dignitaries to the main guard checking guests in. The guard doesn't believe Debbie and Eliza to be the Thornberry daughters, assuming the Girls to be cultured and astute, rather than disheveled after having crossed a lake, jungle, palm plantation and city. Debbie is quite mad at this accusation of forgery as security is being called, so Eliza has to drag her away as Debbie starts spouting embarrassing facts about Marianne and Nigel that only their daughters would know.
Eliza has a better idea to sneak into the award ceremony. The group sneaks into the hotel's kitchen and hides under a rolling treat cart to be pushed into the ceremony (Darwin takes the opportunity to snag one of the little cakes for himself). In the crowded awards hall Franz Fensterkopf is giving an introduction to Nigel's speech (though he can't stop talking about himself). Nigel is (begrudgingly) given the documentarian award by Franz, and takes the podium. Nigel pauses for a moment, not used to addressing a live audience. He does his silly hand gesture, letting Ben watching from a table in the audience know he is indeed Nigel Thornberry.
The girls pray that Nigel's speech drones on for a while when Eliza spots Ben. Debbie suggests she get him to help. Nigel then notices the cake being wheeled out and is quite happy. Eliza decides to recruit Ben and tells Debbie to stall Nigel. Ben spots Eliza and joins her quest without any questions. Nigel is wrapping up his speech as the guests are served the cake when Debbie screams, "STOP!!!" Both Nigel and Marianne are surprised to see that Debbie, Donnie and Darwin have made it all the way to Padang.
Ben helps Eliza find the projector room and luckily, the technician is asleep. Eliza sneaks over and switches out the home movies for the highlight reel. She escapes just as the technician wakes up. Nigel tells Debbie they can't keep the good documentarian crowd waiting, so Debbie unleashes the weasel into the hall with Donnie chasing it, causing some consternation. Marianne laughs to herself, proud that her family can always unleash an element of excitement even in boring venues. She's even more proud when the lights go down and her production starts on the big screen. The highlight reel plays flawlessly, featuring Nigel explaining the behaviors of the adorable polar bear cubs. Watching from the wings, Eliza tells Ben the truth about the home movies. He thinks Eliza venturing all the way to Padang to stop him from seeing them was pretty cool. Eliza laughs and suggest they get some cake.
The production ends to a standing applause by the documentarians. Beneath a table, Donnie shares a cake with the weasel while Eliza, Debbie, Darwin and Ben are seated for dinner. The Sisters admit they did a good job. It's then that the guard from earlier informs Nigel of something. Nigel announces to the audience that his daughters have brought a surprise. As the lights go out and the camera starts up, Eliza realizes to her horror that she left the home movies in the projector room! Both Eliza and Debbie are mortified as their toddler and five year-old selves appear on screen in cowboy outfits, dancing along to a western tune, though the documentarians and hundreds of millions of viewers around the world find them quite adorable.
Featured Animals[]
- Weasel
- Red-headed Krait
- Sumatran Tiger
Trivia[]
- While being escorted away by Eliza from the doorman, Debbie reveals many things about Marianne and Nigel:
- Marianne was kicked off a field hockey team in high school.
- Nigel loves cowboy music.
- Nigel also has five fake teeth.
- Indonesia in 1999 was the world's second largest producer of palm oil, surpassing neighboring Malaysia for first place in 2006. Palm oil production can only be done in equatorial climates like Southeast Asia (in fact it's where around 90% of it occurs). Palm oil production is controversial, as it requires significant deforestation, habitat destruction and carbon emissions, though palm oil is essential for manufacturing food and other products for the global population.