| The Wild Thornberrys Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Cathy Malkasian Jeff McGrath |
| Produced by | Arlene Klasky Gabor Csupo |
| Written by | Kate Boutilier |
| Starring | Lacey Chabert Danielle Harris Tim Curry Jodi Carlisle Michael "Flea" Balzary Tom Kane Lynn Redgrave Cree Summer Rupert Everett Marisa Tomei |
| Music by | Drew Neumann Paul Simon Randy Kerber (additional music) Alan Menken |
| Edited by | John Bryant |
| Production company | Nickelodeon Movies Klasky Csupo |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date | December 20, 2002 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box Office | $60,694,737 |
The Wild Thornberrys Movie. is a 2002 American animated adventure comedy-drama film based on the television series of the same name.
Summary[]
When Eliza tries to save a Cheetah cub named Tally from a pair of poachers in a helicopter, her paternal grandmother, Cordelia who visits the family decides it's high time that Eliza gets a civilized education into an English boarding school, fearing that Eliza is constantly endangering herself in Africa and will be much safer in England much to Debbie's dismay that Eliza had to go instead of her. When Eliza is in England she noticed that her pet Chimpanzee Darwin smuggled in her luggage to go with her, making her excited about not being the only one there. During a food fight at the boarding school, in which Darwin attends, he gets Eliza in trouble after being discovered in the school. Eliza is still depressed about Tally being taken away from the poachers.
Later, Eliza has a dream in which Shaman Mnyambo, the person who gave Eliza her power to talk to animals, tells her that Tally is alive and she can still save him. Eliza asks her roommate Sarah Wellington for help to get her and Darwin back to Nairobi. While on a train to their family's camp, the duo notice an injured rhino outside the train so Eliza tries to stop the train but is unable too so she jumps off to help it. Eliza speaks with the rhino who tells her that he was shot by the river. They are assisted by a young couple, Sloan and Bree Blackburn, supposedly animal conservationists, but as they attempt to save the rhino, Eliza discovers the same knife carried by the poacher who took Tally. After the rhino is taken away by by a ranger, Eliza and Darwin continue to their camp. When Eliza returns to Africa she stumbles on a plot to kill a herd of forest elephants, and she races to save them before it's too late. Darwin, Donnie, and Debbie are dragged along for the Adventure.
Synopsis[]
12-year-old Eliza Thornberry plays with a family of cheetahs in East Africa after being left in charge of the cubs by their mother, Akela. When Eliza strays far from the cheetahs's home, one of the cubs, Tally, is kidnapped by poachers. Eliza is determined to save the cub, which prompts her paternal grandmother Cordelia to bring her to a boarding school in London for her safety. Upon arriving, Eliza discovers that her pet chimpanzee, Darwin, stowed away in her suitcase. At the same time, she meets her roommate, the snobby Sarah Wellington. Later that day, Eliza gets a call from the family and Nigel's friend Jomo did not find Tally yet. Later that night in the cafeteria, Eliza meets some new friends after they hear of Eliza's life in Africa and Darwin is discovered after Sarah finds her monogram on Darwin's uniform and causes a food fight. After the food fight, Eliza is to be picked up by Cordelia and Darwin is put in the stables with a horse named Thunder. The girls from earlier gather around in Eliza's room and Eliza tells her story, this gathering is ended by Sarah and sends the other girls back to their rooms. After finding peas in her bed, Sarah and Eliza go off to sleep.
Later that night, Eliza has a dream in which Shaman Mnyambo tells her to save Tally, then she convinces her roommate Sarah to buy tickets for him and Darwin and her parents will pay her back and Sarah gets the room all to herself again Eliza saves Darwin from the stables after 4 hours then they go to the airport to return to Africa. While taking a train from Nairobi, they encounter an injured rhino, who was shot at the river by the same poachers who cubnapped Tally. They save the rhino with the help of veterinarians Bree and Sloan Blackburn. Meanwhile, Eliza's older sister Debbie is left alone with her feral adoptive little brother Donnie at their RV, the Comvee, while their parents, Nigel and Marianne, go to film a solar eclipse at Tempo Valley. Eliza returns to the Comvee for supplies; after a small confrontation, Debbie pursues her, Darwin, and Donnie. Cordelia and her husband, Colonel Radcliffe Thornberry, meet up with Nigel and Marianne to inform them of Eliza's escape, and they also begin searching for Debbie, Eliza, Donnie and Darwin.
Darwin, Eliza, and Donnie meet a gorilla who mentions seeing people setting up a fence across Tempo Valley. Then, they run into the Blackburns again. Eliza concludes that the poachers are targeting the elephant herd traveling through the valley. Later, the trio finds Tally in the Blackburns' RV, exposing their true nature as poachers. The Blackburns capture them and reveal the fence is electrified. Eliza and Darwin have an argument, and when Darwin accuses Eliza of not knowing how to use her powers properly, she harshly tells him to shut up. Meanwhile, Debbie meets a local boy named Boko, who is sent by his village elders to assist her. The two reach the Blackburns's RV, but Debbie is held hostage by Sloan after she reveals she is Eliza's sister. When Sloan threatens to hurt Debbie if Eliza doesn't tell him how she found out their plan, Eliza admits it was because of her ability to talk to animals. As she has broken the rule about not telling anyone them, a storm comes and takes away Eliza's powers while the Blackburns flee.
They reach Tempo Valley in time to see the elephant herd heading for the electric fence. Eliza is very upset, as she feels she is useless without her powers and is unable to apologize to Darwin for her earlier words. Debbie reminds her that she has been helping animals long before gaining her powers, restoring her confidence. The Blackburns, riding a helicopter, order their men to set off explosives, forcing the elephants to charge toward the fence. Eliza triggers the fence's electricity prematurely, causing the herd to stop temporarily, and then convinces the lead elephant to turn around. Infuriated, Sloan grabs Eliza and throws her into the water. He then attempts to shoot the elephants, but they pull the Blackburns' helicopter out of the air and destroy it. They survive but are arrested by rangers soon after. Eliza is saved by Shaman Mnyambo, who tells her she saved the elephants using her heart. As a reward, he gives her back her powers although he is concerned about Debbie since she knows about them now.
Eliza makes up with Darwin and reunites with her family, who decide not to send her back to boarding school, while Boko returns to his village, keeping Debbie's watch as a memento. The Thornberrys return to the Savannah, where Eliza reunites Tally with his family. Debbie is angered when Eliza tells her that she will turn into a baboon if she reveals her secret, and in the process frightens a group of baboons Nigel and Marianne are filming. One of them activates the radio, which plays music that the Thornberrys and the baboons dance to.
Trivia[]
- Third and finale appearances of Cordelia and Radcliffe Thornberry.
- This is the last movie to be released by Paramount 90th Anniversary before the regular Paramount logo returns until 2003.
- It is revealed that Jomo's last name is Umbelli as said by Eliza.
- Cordelia mentions that Debbie is not civilized but it is too late for her to go to boarding school. This is possibly because the end of cumpolsary education in England ends at age 16 unlike in the United States where compulsory education ends at age 18.
- During the food fight scene one schoolgirl says "Run Monkey, Run!" Which was a reference to Forrest Gump (1994). Coincidentally both movies were released by Paramount Pictures.
Goofs[]
- Nigel said that the Solar Eclipse was in a few weeks; however, Elisa was in boarding school for one night and it was two days later.
- Darwin would have been suffocated under an hour if you was in the baggage hold how did he survive?
- After Eliza saves the injured rhino, her shoes are brown. Later, her shoes are pink and white.
- Boko, an African Tribe member, befriends Debbie and gives her a skirt. She is seen wearing it, and then the next scene when she leaves the Tribe, she is wearing her pants again.
Voice Cast[]
- Lacey Chabert as Eliza Thornberry an adventurous 12-year-old-girl, Debbie's sister and Donnie's adopted sister.
- Tim Curry as Nigel Thornberry, father to Debbie and Eliza, Donnie's adopted father.
- Curry also voices Col. Radcliffe Thornberry, Nigel's scottish father.
- Jodi Carlisle as Marianne Thornberry, Nigel's American-born wife and the director/camera operator for his TV nature show, as well as Debbie and Eliza's mother and Donnie's adopted mother. She is a loving, devoted mom who cares deeply for her daughters and adoptive son and worries constantly for their safety-particularly Eliza's-in the family's unorthodox living environment. For this reason, she can be strict when she needs to be (such as sending Eliza to an English boarding school after an encounter with poachers.) It is implied in the movie that Marianne has a testy relationship with her prim-and-proper English mother-in-law, particularly pertaining to child-rearing issues,
- Danielle Harris as Debbie Thornberry, Eliza's 16-year-old sister and Donnie's adopted older sister
- Michael "Flea" Balzary as Donnie Thornberry, Debbie and Eliza's adopted 5-year-old brother. Donnie's real parents were murdered by poachers a few months before the show. As a result, he was raised by apes as a newborn before being discovered by the Thornberrys. Donnie is a feral child who does not speak any human language, instead communicating in chimp-like chattering.
- Tom Kane as Darwin Thornberry, A chimpanzee, Eliza's best friend and pet
- Lynn Redgrave as Cordelia Thornberry, Nigel's scottish mother. She doesn't approve of her son being a nature show host and wants her family to settle down. She thinks it is dangerous for Eliza to be around animals and dislikes her adopted grandson Donnie's feral behavior. All until the end of the movie.
- Rupert Everett as Sloan Blackburn, Bree's husband and the main antagonist
- Marisa Tomei as Bree Blackburn, Sloan's wife and The secondary antagonist
- Brock Peters as Jomo
- Alfre Woodard as Akela, Tally's mother
- Kimberly Brooks as Tally, one of Akela's cubs
- Cree Summer as Phaedra, the elephant Eliza is riding at the start of the film
- Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Fairgood, the no-nonsense teacher at Lady Beatrice's boarding school (she only has 1 scene in the movie after that her fate is unknown after Eliza and Darwin escape the school.)
- Obba Babatundé as Boko, a native boy Debbie runs into later on
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Shaman Mnyambo
- Melissa Greenspan as Sarah Wellington, Eliza's one night only roommate at Lady Beatrice's
- Tara Strong, Hynden Walch, and Mae Whitman as the schoolgirls
- Roger L. Jackson as Reggie (an English red squirrel) and Thunder (a Scottish clydesdale)
- John Kassir and Charles Shaughnessy as the Squirrels
- Jeff Coopwood as Park Ranger Tim
- Billy Brown as the Rhino
- Keith Szarabajka as a poacher
- Earl Boen as the Gorilla
Additional voices[]
- Jack Angel - Sloan's Poachers
- Phil Proctor - Sloan's Pocahers
- Frank Welker - Cheetah roar sounds
- Patrick Penney - Sloan's Poachers
- Bob Bergen - Sloan's Poachers
- Jim Cummings - Sloan's Poachers
- Bill Farmer - Sloan's Poachers
- Paul Eiding - Sloan's Poachers
- Pat Fry - Sloan's Poachers
- Corey Burton - Sloan's Poachers
- Mary Kay Bergman - Female Citizen in London
- Roger Rees - Sloan's Poachers
- Philip L. Clarke - Sloan's Poachers
- David Cowgill - Sloan's Poachers
- Howard McGillin - Male Citizen in London, Sloan's Poachers
- Ed Asner - Sloan's Poachers
- Peter Sallis - Sloan's Poachers
- Steve Whitmire - Sloan's Poachers, Airport Pilot Man
- Mona Marshall - Airport Pilot Lady
- Jonathan Dokuchitz - Train Driver Man, Sloan's Poachers
Uncredited[]
- Jennifer Darling - Additional Voices
- Carole Jeghers - Elephants
Television broadcasts[]
The Wild Thornberrys Movie first aired on Nickelodeon in 2005
Aspect Ratios[]
The film has four aspect ratio versions of the film. The theatrical aspect ratio produced in 2.39:1, the family friendly and IMAX aspect ratios will be in 1.78:1, the pan-scan aspect ratio produced in 1.33:1 on VHS and DVD only, and the open matte aspect ratio produced in both 1.33:1 and 1.37:1 "academy" ratio for later full-screen prints.
Gallery[]
