Sloan Blackburn is the main antagonist of The Wild Thornberrys Movie.
He is voiced by Rupert Everett. In his only role as a character in the franchise, he was the main villain of The Wild Thornberrys Movie alongside his wife Bree Blackburn.
Plot[]
The first we see of Sloan is him dropping from a helicopter and snatching up the Cheetah cub Tally, whom Eliza had been playing with. He cuts the rope latter sending Eliza plummeting to the ground as she tried to rescue Tally. (Though we don't see his face.)
The next time he appears, after Eliza and Darwin returned to Africa from England, he pulls up right after Eliza jumps from a train to save a wounded male Black Rhino. Eliza unknowingly encountered the poachers that had Tally, when she came to the aid of a rhino whom Bree and Sloan had shot for his horn and the two arrived posing as concerned zoologists. Eliza, Darwin and Donnie later ran into Bree and Sloan yet again at their camp, and the two allowed the group to stay with them for the night.
However, when Eliza discovered Bree and Sloan's poacher equipment in their RV along with a captive Tally, Bree and Sloan's evil true colors were revealed, and they took Eliza, Donnie and Darwin captive. Sloan was fearful about Eliza's mysterious pre-knowledge of the poachers' "fence" in Timbo Valley (actually obtained via Eliza's power to talk to animals) and what else she could know that could threaten Sloan's poaching operation. Before Sloan could interrogate Eliza on what else she knew, Debbie arrived looking for Eliza. Sloan threatened to hurt Debbie if Eliza didn't reveal how she knew this, forcing Eliza to reveal the truth about her power and lose it as a consequence. The resulting supernatural storm that started up as Eliza's power was taken back prompted Sloan and Bree to leave the Thornberrys behind and flee by chopper.
Later that day, as the poachers prepared at Timbo Valley to use bombs to drive the arriving forest elephants to stampede into their electrified fence, Sloan oversaw and the operation and gave the orders from his and Bree's helicopter. They almost succeeded in murdering all the elephants, but their plot was foiled when Eliza managed to stop the elephants and turn them around just before they reached the fence. Enraged at Eliza's heroic interference, Sloan forcefully picked her up on the chopper's ladder and hurled her into a waterfall. Bree and Sloan then tried to shoot the elephants down from in the air as a backup plan, but the elephants pulled their chopper down out of the air by its ladder and destroyed it. Once the eclipse ended, a defeated Bree and Sloan were cornered by the vengeful elephants and arrested by the rangers.
Personality[]
Out of all the poachers and wicked humans Eliza faced on her journeys Sloan Blackburn was the most evil, dangerous, and hated enemy she had ever faced. Sloan and Bree initially appeared as a friendly, warm, charming, and kindhearted couple of animal-loving zoologists, before they were revealed to in fact be cruel, greedy, threatening, destructive, murderous, sneaky, evil, and ruthless poachers and the ones who are responsible for kidnapping Tally. Bree and Sloan were also prominently behind a poacher plot to take advantage of the migration of a thousand African Forest Elephants to Timbo Valley during a solar eclipse to massacre them by driving them into an electric fence for their ivory.
Sloan shows all the traits of a sociopath, having no empathy for the animals and people he hurts, nor any remorse for his vile deeds. He is even perfectly willing to kill children should they interfere with his and his wife's plans. He is also very short-tempered, becoming extremely angry when things do not go his way and when his plans are thwarted. Sloan is also a very arrogant man. Contrary to the charade he presented, he, in truth, has no respect for animals, considering them to be nothing more than stupid creatures, whose only use is to make people, like him, rich. This arrogance is what leads to his (literal) downfall as he underestimated the intelligence of the elephants who ended up bringing down his and Bree's helicopter. Sloan is also a coward as well, as he was seen in a state of utter panic and terror when his helicopter was brought down and again when the elephants cornered him. Sloan's only positive trait is his relationship with his wife Bree, whom he genially seems to love and respect. Despite this, Sloan Blackburn has shown himself to have an irredeemable nature, making him one of the most evil villains to appear in the show.
Trivia[]
- Martin Short, the late Ian Holm, Hugh Laurie, Malcolm McDowell, Steve Buscemi, the late Alan Rickman, Mark Hamill, Jeff Daniels, Sam Elliot, Ben Kingsley, Jason Alexander, Andy Dick, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Alan Tudyk, William Shatner and and Rob Lowe were all considered for the role of Sloan Blackburn before Rupert Everett was cast.
- A minor instance of foreshadowing was shown during the film.
- Sloan and Bree are considered to be the two most evil villains of the Wild Thornberrys franchise.
- When Sloan and Bree insisted on Eliza, Darwin, and Donnie Thornberry staying for the night, they were forbidden from going inside the trailer, thus hiding evidence of their true occupation.
- He, Bree, Debbie and Donnie are the only characters who knows Eliza's secret.