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 a 2002 American animated adventure film based on the television series of the same name. Directed by Cathy Malkasian and Jeff McGrath, the film follows Eliza Thornberry, on her quest to rescue a baby cheetah cub named Tally from ruthless poachers. It was produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Klasky Csupo and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was released on December 20, 2002 to mostly positive reviews and grossed more than $60 million worldwide. The film was also nominated for Best Original Song at the 75th Academy Awards, making it the first and only film based on a Nicktoon to be nominated. It is also the third film to be based on a Klasky Csupo series (after The Rugrats Movie and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie).

Plot

Eliza Thornberry plays with a family of cheetahs in East Africa's Kenya after being left in charge of the cubs by their mother, Akela. When Eliza strays far from the cheetahs' home, one of the cheetah cubs, Tally, is kidnapped by poachers. Eliza is determined to save the cub causing Debbie; Eliza's older sister, to tell on her family about Eliza's antics, which prompts her grandmother Cordelia to bring her to a boarding school in London for her safety much to Debbie's dismay since Debbie wanted a normal life. Upon arriving, Eliza discovers that her pet chimpanzee, Darwin, stowed away in her suitcase. He attempts to blend in, but gets both himself and Eliza in trouble.

After having a dream in which Shaman Mnyambo tells her to save Tally, Eliza convinces her roommate Sarah Wellington to buy plane tickets for her and Darwin to return to Africa. While taking a train from Nairobi, they encounter an injured male rhinoceros, who was shot at the river by the same poachers, who kidnapped Tally. They jump off the train to save the rhino with the help of veterinarians Bree and Sloan Blackburn. Meanwhile, Debbie is left alone with her feral adoptive younger brother Donnie at their 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 demands to know why Eliza ran away from London and giving up her chance for a normal life; however, Eliza locked her in a cage. Debbie pursues her, Darwin, and Donnie. Cordelia and her husband, Colonel Radcliffe, try to find Eliza and take her back to London before Nigel and Marianne found out; however, they 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 the poachers. The Blackburns capture them and reveal the fence is electrified. Eliza and Darwin get into an argument and Eliza shouts at Darwin to be quiet. Meanwhile, Debbie meets a local Mbuti boy named Boko, who is sent by his village elders to assist her. The two reach the Blackburns' RV, but Sloan holds Debbie hostage after she reveals she is Eliza's sister. When Sloan threatens to kill 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. A storm comes and takes away Eliza's powers while the Blackburns flee. Eliza, Debbie, Darwin, Donnie and Tally ride a log on the river.

After the storm, Eliza tells Debbie about her ability to talk to animals and she lost it because she revealed her secret to the Blackburns. Debbie reconciles with Eliza when she learns that Eliza gave up her powers to save her. They reach Tempo Valley in time to see the elephant herd heading for the electric fence. When Eliza becomes doubtful of herself, 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, scaring the elephants and making them 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 by this, Sloan throws Eliza into a river. He then attempts to shoot the elephants, but they pull the Blackburns' helicopter out of the air by its rope ladder and destroy it, causing him and Bree to fall. Eliza nearly drowns until she is saved by Shaman Mnyambo, who tells her she saved the elephants using her heart instead of her powers. As a reward, he gives her back her powers, on the condition that Debbie will also keep Eliza's powers a secret.

Following the eclipse, the Blackburns are arrested by rangers, Eliza reconciles with Darwin and she reunites with her family, who decide not to send her back to boarding school as she rescued the elephants 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.

Voice cast

• 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

Box office

It opened in the box office in the United States on December 20, 2002, and finished at #6 for the weekend, with only $6 million for 3,012 theaters, for an average of only $1,997 per venue. The film ended up with a modest $40 million domestically, partly because the film came out on the same week as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But, in light of generally favorable reviews, it managed to out-gross its holiday animated feature behind Treasure Planet.

It is one of only fourteen feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters, and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 22.5% from $6 million to $7.4 million.

Accolades

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon, but lost to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem for 8 Mile.

Home media

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

Music

Soundtrack

An original soundtrack for the film was released on November 26, 2002, on compact disc and audio cassette by Zomba Music, Jive Records and Nick Records. The executive producer was George Acogny. Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter", written for the film, was released as a single. It went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Score

The score was released on April 8, 2003, from Silverline Records, and includes the theme song "Bridge to the Stars", music by Randy Kerber (who composed the additional music for the score) and J. Peter Robinson, with lyrics by Maribeth Derry and performed by Tracey Amos and Lisa McClowry. The album is currently out of print.

Crossover film

A crossover with Rugrats (another series from Klasky Csupo), entitled Rugrats Go Wild, was released on June 13, 2003.

See also

In Spanish: Los Thornberrys: la película para niños