The Wild Thornberrys Movie facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cathy Malkasian Jeff McGrath
Produced by	Arlene Klasky Gabor Csupo
Written by	Kate Boutilier
Starring	Lacey Chabert Tim Curry Jodi Carlisle Michael "Flea" Balzary Danielle Harris Lynn Redgrave Tom Kane Rupert Everett Marisa Tomei
Music by	Drew Neumann
Editing by	John Bryant
Studio	Klasky Csupo
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies
Release date(s)	December 20, 2002 (2002-12-20)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Money made	$60.7 million

The Wild Thornberrys Movie is an animated adventure film from 2002. It is based on the popular The Wild Thornberrys TV show. The movie was directed by Cathy Malkasian and Jeff McGrath. It tells the story of Eliza Thornberry, who can talk to animals. She goes on an exciting mission to save a baby cheetah cub named Tally from dangerous poachers.

Nickelodeon Movies and Klasky Csupo produced the film, and Paramount Pictures distributed it. The movie came out on December 20, 2002. Most people liked it, and it earned over $60 million around the world. The film was even nominated for "Best Original Song" at the 75th Academy Awards. This made it the first and only movie based on a Nicktoon to get an Oscar nomination! It was also the third movie based on a Klasky Csupo show, after The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.

Story of the Movie

The film starts with Eliza Thornberry playing with a family of cheetahs in Kenya, East Africa. The mother cheetah, Akela, trusted Eliza to look after her cubs. But Eliza wanders too far, and one of the cubs, Tally, is captured by poachers. Eliza is determined to save Tally.

Eliza's older sister, Debbie, tells on Eliza about her wild adventures. This makes their grandmother, Cordelia, send Eliza to a boarding school in London to keep her safe. Debbie is not happy about this because she wants a normal life. When Eliza arrives at the school, she finds her pet chimpanzee, Darwin, hiding in her suitcase. Darwin causes trouble, getting both himself and Eliza into difficulty.

Eliza has a dream where Shaman Mnyambo tells her to save Tally. She convinces her roommate, Sarah Wellington, to buy plane tickets for her and Darwin to go back to Africa. On a train from Nairobi, they see an injured rhinoceros. The same poachers who took Tally shot the rhino. Eliza and Darwin jump off the train to help the rhino. They get help from two veterinarians, Bree and Sloan Blackburn.

Meanwhile, Debbie is left with her wild younger brother, Donnie, at their family's special vehicle, the Comvee. Their parents, Nigel and Marianne, are away filming a solar eclipse. Eliza returns to the Comvee for supplies. Debbie demands to know why Eliza ran away from London. Eliza locks Debbie in a cage. Debbie then chases Eliza, Darwin, and Donnie. Cordelia and her husband, Colonel Radcliffe, are also looking for Eliza. They meet Nigel and Marianne and tell them Eliza escaped. Everyone starts searching for the kids.

Darwin, Eliza, and Donnie meet a gorilla who saw people building a fence in Tempo Valley. They then meet the Blackburns again. Eliza figures out that the poachers are planning to trap an elephant herd that travels through the valley. Later, the three find Tally in the Blackburns' RV. This shows that the Blackburns are actually the poachers! The Blackburns capture them and reveal the fence is electric. Eliza and Darwin argue, and Eliza yells at Darwin to be quiet.

Debbie meets a local boy named Boko, who is sent by his village to help her. They reach the Blackburns' RV, but Sloan takes Debbie hostage. He threatens to hurt Debbie if Eliza doesn't tell him how she knew their plan. Eliza admits she can talk to animals. A storm hits, and Eliza loses her powers. The Blackburns escape. Eliza, Debbie, Darwin, Donnie, and Tally escape on a log down the river.

After the storm, Eliza tells Debbie about her power and how she lost it by telling the Blackburns. Debbie and Eliza make up when Debbie learns Eliza gave up her powers to save her. They reach Tempo Valley just as the elephants are heading for the electric fence. Eliza doubts herself, but Debbie reminds her that she always helped animals, even before her powers. This makes Eliza feel confident again.

The Blackburns arrive in a helicopter and order their men to set off explosives. This scares the elephants, making them charge towards the fence. Eliza quickly turns on the fence's electricity, which stops the herd for a moment. She then convinces the lead elephant to turn around. Sloan gets angry and throws Eliza into a river. He tries to shoot the elephants, but the elephants pull the Blackburns' helicopter down with its rope ladder, destroying it. Sloan and Bree fall. Eliza almost drowns but is saved by Shaman Mnyambo. He tells her she saved the elephants with her heart, not her powers. As a reward, he gives her powers back, but Debbie must keep Eliza's secret.

After the eclipse, rangers arrest the Blackburns. Eliza makes up with Darwin and reunites with her family. Her family decides not to send her back to boarding school because she saved the elephants. Boko returns to his village, keeping Debbie's watch as a souvenir. The Thornberrys go back to the Savannah, where Eliza reunites Tally with his family. Eliza tells Debbie that she will turn into a baboon if she tells Eliza's secret. This scares some baboons that Nigel and Marianne are filming. One baboon turns on the radio, and everyone, including the baboons, starts dancing!

Voice Actors

• Lacey Chabert as Elizabeth "Eliza" Thornberry
• Tim Curry as Nigel Thornberry and Col. Radcliffe Thornberry
• Jodi Carlisle as Marianne Thornberry
• Danielle Harris as Deborah "Debbie" Thornberry
• Flea as Donald Michael "Donnie" Thornberry
• Tom Kane as Darwin Thornberry
• Lynn Redgrave as Cordelia Jasmin McGold Thornberry
• Rupert Everett as Sloan Blackburn
• Marisa Tomei as Brietta "Bree" Blackburn
• Brock Peters as Jomo
• Alfre Woodard as Akela
• Kimberly Brooks as Tally
• Cree Summer as Phaedra
• Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Alice June Fairgood
• Obba Babatundé as Boko
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Shaman Mnyambo
• Melissa Greenspan as Sarah Wellington
• Tara Strong, Hynden Walch, and Mae Whitman as the schoolgirls
• Roger L. Jackson as Reggie and Thunder
• John Kassir and Charles Shaughnessy as the squirrels
• Jeff Coopwood as Park Ranger Tim
• Billy Brown as the rhinoceros
• Keith Szarabajka as a poacher
• Earl Boen as the gorilla

Movie Earnings

The film started playing in movie theaters in the United States on December 20, 2002. It earned about $6 million during its first weekend. Even though it came out the same week as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, it still managed to earn more than another holiday animated movie, Treasure Planet.

The movie ended up making a total of $40 million in the U.S. It was one of the few films that actually earned more money in its second weekend than its first, increasing by 22.5%!

Awards and Nominations

The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon. However, it lost to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem from the movie 8 Mile.

Home Video Release

The Wild Thornberrys Movie was released on VHS and DVD on April 1, 2003.

Movie Music

Soundtrack Album

An official soundtrack album for the film came out on November 26, 2002. It was available on CD and audio cassette. The song "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon was written just for the movie and was released as a single. This song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Movie Score

The background music for the movie, called the score, was released on April 8, 2003. It includes a theme song called "Bridge to the Stars."

Crossover Film

A movie that combined The Wild Thornberrys with Rugrats (another show from Klasky Csupo) was released on June 13, 2003. It was called Rugrats Go Wild.

See also

In Spanish: Los Thornberrys: la película para niños