The Wild Thornberrys
Encyclopedia
The Wild Thornberrys is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 animated television series that aired on Nickelodeon. It was rerun in the USA on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....

 and occasionally The N until 2009 and Nicktoons until 2007. The show returned to the air on TeenNick
TeenNick
TeenNick, formerly The N, is an American television network aimed at the teenage market. TeenNick is owned by the MTV Networks subsidiary, Viacom. The channel was originally known as The N from its April 1, 2002 launch until September 28, 2009....

's The '90s Are All That
The '90s Are All That
The '90s Are All That is a programming block that airs on TeenNick. The block shows requested Nickelodeon shows from the 1990s, airing in a two-hour block running every night from midnight to 2 a.m., with an encore from 2 to 4 a.m...

 television block in November 2011.

Premise

The series follows the Thornberrys, as they travel the world in their Communications Vehicle, referred to throughout the show as their "Commvee," looking for rare animals to film. Their second youngest child, Eliza, is the main character and has the power to speak to animals because of an encounter with an African shaman, Lopsugne Sjoungboun Qeisha. She can speak to the family's pet chimpanzee, who is also her best friend. She travels the world with her family and usually helps animals solve their problems. The show was aired on Nicktoonsters
Nicktoonsters
Nicktoonsters was a television channel in the United Kingdom, which launched on August 18, 2008 on Sky 630. It was a spinoff channel of Nicktoons. Its licence first appeared on the OFCOM website in September 2007...

 in Britain.

At the beginning of every episode, Eliza recites a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...

, which is then followed by the theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

. It states the basic premise of the show, and provides a brief back story.

Production

The Wild Thornberrys was produced by Klasky Csupo
Klasky Csupo
Klasky Csupo, Inc. is a multimedia entertainment production company located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, founded by artist/producer, Arlene Klasky and animator, Gábor Csupó.- History :...

 for Nickelodeon. It premiered in September 1998, and was the first Nicktoon to exclusively use 22-minute stories (episodes of other Nicktoons usually featured two 10 - 11-minute stories, using 22-minute stories only on occasion).

Characters

Elizabeth "Eliza" Thornberry

Voiced by Lacey Chabert
Lacey Chabert
Lacey Nicole Chabert is an American actress and voice actress, known for her roles as Claudia Salinger in the television drama Party of Five and as Gretchen Wieners in the movie Mean Girls...

, Eliza is a young girl, who (unknown to most) gained the ability to speak with animals after an encounter with an African shaman (as shown in the episode "Gift of Gab").Despite her best intentions, Eliza's stubbornness that she's always right leads her strong desire to help to become destructive. Eliza is portrayed as a geek by her extensive zoological
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 knowledge and her glasses, braces and by occasionally standing pigeon-toed. She has freckles and long red-orange hair that is usually worn in pigtails
Pigtails
In the context of hairstyles, the usage of the term pigtail shows considerable variation. According to most dictionaries, a pigtail is a braid of tightly woven hair. The name is based on the short, thin and kinked tail of a pig, referring to the way a short, tight braid may stand out from the...

 like Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series...

, and occasionally a ponytail. She also has a companion-primate (chimpanzee) like Pippi Longstocking; but instead of superhuman strength, Eliza has the "super-power" of being able to talk to animals. She almost always wears a yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

 dress, though later in the series she sports other clothes. Eliza suffered a serious attack of appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...

 while rock climbing in the Australian outback. Eliza is 12 in the series. Despite being the main character of The Wild Thornberrys, Eliza plays a supporting role in the film Rugrats Go Wild.

Darwin

Voiced by Tom Kane
Tom Kane
Tom Kane is a prominent American voice actor with over 25 years of experience. He is most widely known for his animation work...

 with the monkey noises of Blake Farmer, Darwin is a chimpanzee who travels with the family and is a loyal companion to Eliza. He usually wears a tank top with horizontal blue and white stripes (use to be Debbie's lucky tank top) and blue shorts. He speaks with a distinct upper-class British accent. He tries to be the voice of reason to Eliza, however she rarely takes his advice. Cautious by nature, he is almost always hesitant to follow her plans; in response, she accuses him of cowardice, once calling him a "crybaby in a tank-top" for his hesitancy. He was found by Eliza, and was the first animal she ever talked to. In the Wild Thornberrys Movie: The Origins of Donnie, Darwin was seen in a flashback, stealing the sleeveless tank top that was once owned by Debbie. His name is most likely reference to Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

, though within the series Eliza gives him the name Darwin after Lenny Darwin, her cousin who looks like a monkey (is never shown in the series).

Donald "Donnie" Michael Thornberry

Voiced by Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...

 of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

 and occasionally Tyler Arfman - on more than one occasion the little known Dylan James voiced the character - Donnie is a feral boy
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...

 who (as revealed in the 2001 4-part TV movie, "The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie") was raised by orangutans (similar to Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...

) after his real parents, a pair of naturalists, were killed by poachers. Before the Thornberrys adopted him, the special also reveals that Nigel and Marianne knew his parents. He commonly wears a pair of leopard-spotted shorts (also similar to Tarzan's leopardskin loincloth) and he loves to eat all types of bugs. He babbles wildly and makes animal-sounds (but nothing Eliza can understand), occasionally spouting blurbs of English or showing random signs of sophisticated education. Donnie is 4, but turns 5 in "The Origin of Donnie". It was shown that while his parents were teaching orangutans sign language, he learned as well. Though only one sign was shown (family), it is unknown how much he actually knows. This also shows that aside from his primal behavior, Donnie is rather intelligent.

Deborah "Debbie" Thornberry

Voiced by Danielle Harris
Danielle Harris
Danielle Andrea Harris is an American film and television actress, best known as a scream queen for her roles in several horror films, four of them in the Halloween series: in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers as Jamie Lloyd and in Halloween and...

, Debbie is a typical 16-year-old girl who is Eliza's older sister, interested in music and fashion, and who longs for the normal suburban life her parents' job deprives her of. Even though she ridicules Eliza, she truly does care for her. She commonly wears an orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...

 camisole, a green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 flannel shirt, blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

 jeans (with holes deliberately torn in the knees as a 'grungy' fashion statement) and brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....

 Birkenstock clogs
Birkenstock
Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschoß, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet...

. In "The Wild Thornberrys Movie
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
The Wild Thornberrys Movie is a 2002 American animated feature film based on the television series of the same name. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Movies, and was released on December 20, 2002.-Plot:...

", she learns Eliza's secret after Eliza reveals it to the poachers that were threatening to kill her if Eliza didn't tell them how she knew about their plan to kill a herd of elephants. Debbie is amazed that Eliza gave up her gift to save her life and promises to keep her secret -- but only under the belief that if she doesn't, she'll be turned into a baboon. It is shown in the episode "Chew If by Sea" that Debbie suffers from chronic seasickness.

Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry

(Voiced by Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....

 or, occasionally, John Anderson) Nigel, born in Scotland, is (presumably) the only child of Radcliffe and Cordelia Thornberry. He travels around the world with his family making wildlife documentaries. He resembles David Attenborough, and speaks with an English accent. He somewhat resembles Lt. Col. Algernon Hawthorne in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...

, played by Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...

. He is easily enthused and usually remains cheery, even in the face of danger. He was offered a professorship at Oxford University but, much to his mother's disapproval, Nigel turned it down. Although he is an expert at the natural world and is quite caring and logical, Nigel often otherwise appears dimwitted or naive. In the series, Nigel is a supporting character, but in the film Rugrats Go Wild, Nigel plays a much larger role as he is idolized by Tommy Pickles
Tommy Pickles
Thomas Malcolm "Tommy" Pickles is the main protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated television series' Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!. He is clad in only a T-shirt and a diaper and is bald with big, blank eyes. He translates everything adult into baby gibberish...

.

Marianne Hunter Thornberry, Lady Thornberry

Voiced by Jodi Carlisle
Jodi Carlisle
Jodi Carlisle is an American actress. She appeared in several television and film roles since 1982.-Voice work:Voice actress Jodi Carlisle has been doing voice work for a number of years, beginning on the cartoon series Pac Man in 1982...

, Marianne is Nigel's wife. She operates the film camera and edits their nature show. Marianne is a strong woman, often the voice of reason, and sometimes loses patience with Nigel. She is usually the one to take on disciplinary duties, trying to keep the girls out of trouble and finish their homework. In Season 1, Episode 12, she mentions that she attended the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

.

Equipment

The Commvee (an abbreviation of "communications vehicle") is a two-story mobile home; the main door leads up a flight of stairs to a main floor with the driver and passenger seat in the front, followed by a twin sized bed, table for eating at on the west side of the car, a kitchen on the eastern side, and a bathroom in the back which also serves as a dark-room for editing film. There is a "basement/1st floor" that contains one room with a big bed for Nigel and Marianne, a room with a two small beds (for Debbie and Eliza) and two hammocks for Donnie and Darwin. There is also a small box near the floor of the "main story" that contains various switches which can inflate a raft for crossing rivers and the ocean to a "lock-down" mode in which iron plates cover the windows (as seen in Thornberry Island) for typhoons; there are other switches that can put the car into a submarine mode, or inflate a bag on top of the car for falling objects or rising to the surface of the ocean. Near the 'switch box' there is a hatch (as seen in Rugrats Go Wild) that gives access to a mini-sub. There is also a roof with a satellite that barely ever gets reception, but is used to upload footage to the foundation. On the outside there are many compartments, supposedly for carrying equipment and other smaller vehicles such as the 'mini-comm' for short-range transport or picking up passengers and returning them to camp or the submarine for deep sea expedition (the bath-o-sphere). The Commvee also features the usual conveniences found in a motorhome
Motorhome
A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle or RV which offers living accommodation combined with a vehicle engine. The term motorhome is most commonly used in the UK, US, and Canada.-Features:...

, including air-conditioning and a stereo system with a cassette tape player.

They also have a variety of cameras with which they film.

Episodes

SeasonEp #First AirdateLast Airdate
Season 1 20 September 1, 1998 April 1, 1999
Season 2 37 August 16, 1999 November, 1999
Season 3 36 September 12, 2000 May 14, 2001
Season 4 14 August 18, 2001 June 11, 2004

Broadcast history

  US
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....

     (1998-2004)
  • Nicktoons (2002-2007)
  • Nick on CBS (2002-2004)
  • TeenNick
    TeenNick
    TeenNick, formerly The N, is an American television network aimed at the teenage market. TeenNick is owned by the MTV Networks subsidiary, Viacom. The channel was originally known as The N from its April 1, 2002 launch until September 28, 2009....

     (November 4, 2011)


  Canada
  • YTV (1998-2005)
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Canada)
    Nickelodeon is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel based on the U.S. cable network Nickelodeon. It is wholly owned by Corus Entertainment, with its name licensed from MTV Networks International, a division of Viacom....

     (2011-Present)


  Portugal
  • SIC
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Portugal)
    Nickelodeon Portugal is the fourth Portuguese television network mostly for children and teens. The network was launched on September 1, 2005 at 10 a.m. Nickelodeon Portugal is a simulcast of Nickelodeon España in Portuguese...


  • CIS countries
    • Nickelodeon


  Brazil
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Brazil)
    Nickelodeon Brazil is a cable and satellite television channel, the Brazilian counterpart of the American network Nickelodeon. It is owned by Viacom Networks Brasil, the Brazilian branch of MTV Networks Latin America.-History:...

     (1999-2009)
  • SBT (2000-2007)


UK
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (UK & Ireland)
    Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...

     (1998-2002)
  • Nicktoons (2002-2008)
  • Nicktoonsters
    Nicktoonsters
    Nicktoonsters was a television channel in the United Kingdom, which launched on August 18, 2008 on Sky 630. It was a spinoff channel of Nicktoons. Its licence first appeared on the OFCOM website in September 2007...

     (2008-2009)
  • CBBC
    CBBC
    CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...



  Australia
  • ABC
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation
    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

  • Nickelodeon (1998-2005)
  • Network Ten
    Network Ten
    Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...



  Serbia
  • B92
    B92
    B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...

     (2009-present)


  Philippines
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Philippines)
    Nickelodeon Philippines is a satellite and cable TV channel that launched a dedicated channel to the country in April 1, 2011...

     (1999-present)
  • RPN 9
    Radio Philippines Network
    Radio Philippines Network, Inc. is a broadcast television network in the Philippines co-owned by the Government Communications Group, Solar Entertainment Corporation, Far East Managers and Investors Inc., and private sectors. This station studios are located at Broadcast City, Old Balara, Capitol...

     (2003-2005)
  • ABC 5
    Associated Broadcasting Company
    The Associated Broadcasting Company, Inc is a television network in the Philippines, with main broadcast facilities and transmitter located at 762 Quirino Highway, San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. The network was previously known as the , Associated Broadcasting Company remains the legal...

     (2006-2007)


  Czech Republic
  • SuperMax
    Supermax (TV channel)
    'Supermax was a Czech channel that featured mostly animated television programs for teens and pre-teens. It started broadcast on 22nd November 1994 and without any commercials...

     (2002-2003)


  India
  • Nickelodeon


  Hungray
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Hungary)
    Nickelodeon Hungary is a Hungarian channel that is aimed at children.It was originally launched as a block on August 1, 1998 on the youth entertainment channel M-Sat...



  Greece
  • Polis
    Polis
    Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...

  • TVC
    TVC
    TVC may mean:*TVC , a home computer made by the Hungarian company Videoton around 1986*Cherry Capital Airport - IATA code for airport in Traverse City, Michigan, USA*Tatsunoko vs...

  • Channel 9
    Channel 9 (Greece)
    Channel 9 is a Greek TV channel that broadcasts in the region of Attica. It is considered as an informational channel although a significant part of its broadcasting are cartoons from the Nickelodeon TV network.- Cartoon shows :...

     (2006-2008)
  • Local TV
    Local TV
    Local TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...

     (2010-present)
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Greece)
    Nickelodeon ' is the Greek version of Nickelodeon. It launched on 3 September 2010. It is available free-to-air in the Athens area on 35 UHF signal broadcast from Hymettus, while it is also available through the DIGEA DVB-T2 digital consortium on 54 UHF signal broadcast from Aegina.. Nickelodeon HD...

     (2010-present)


  Turkey
  • CNBC-E
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Turkey)
    Nickelodeon Turkey, is a kids channel for Turkish children and teens, that's aired both by satellite and cable television. It is the Turkish arm of Nickelodeon.It launched in November 1997 as a block, and then in February 2003 as a channel...



  Pakistan
  • Indus Vision (2001-2004)
  • Nickelodeon (2006-2010)


  Croatia
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Croatia)
    Nickelodeon Croatia is a Croatian TV Channel.It is broadcasting Croatia but also in Montenegro,and Bulgaria.Nickelodeon Croatia is just Nickelodeon Europe....

     (1998-present)


  South Korea
  • EBS
    Educational Broadcasting System
    Educational Broadcasting System or EBS is the only educational television and radio network covering South Korean territory. Established as KBS 3TV in the 1980's, and became an independent corporation in 2000...

  • JEI TV


  France
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (France)
    Nickelodeon France is the French version of the kids' channel Nickelodeon, it also airs in Belgium: in Wallonia and Brussels. Nickelodeon France was one of the first Nickelodeon Channel's to change its style and logo to the new Nickelodeon logo after Nickelodeon USA. Its sister channels are...

     (2005-2010)


  Bulgaria
  • Nickelodeon (2000-2008)


  Netherlands
  • Nickelodeon
    Nickelodeon (Netherlands)
    The Dutch version of Nickelodeon, seen in the Netherlands and Flanders, launched on September 1, 2002. Nickelodeon is on air 24 hours a day CET ....


Films

Three movies have been released:
  • The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin Of Donnie (2001): This prequel was released as a TV film and explores Donnie's life before he was found by the Thornberrys.
  • The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    The Wild Thornberrys Movie is a 2002 American animated feature film based on the television series of the same name. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Movies, and was released on December 20, 2002.-Plot:...

    (2002): This theatrical film made $60 million and earned an Academy Award nomination.
  • Rugrats Go Wild (2003): This theatrical film was the final Rugrats
    Rugrats
    Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....

    film and a cross-over between Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys.

DVD and digital releases

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

 has released all five seasons on DVD in Region 1 through its CreateSpace Manufacture-on-demand program. Season 1 was released on June 24, 2010, seasons 2 & 3 were released on February 7, 2011 and seasons 4 & 5 were released on December 1, 2010.

On February 16, 2011, it was announced that Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...

 had acquired the rights to the series and would be releasing season 1 on DVD on May 17, 2011.
It also appears that Amazon.com has stopped selling all their Create Space Season DVDs. Season 1 was released on May 17, 2011 and Season 2, Part 1 was released on November 8, 2011.
Shout Factory Releases Release date Discs Episodes
Season One May 17, 2011 4 20
Season Two: Part One November 8, 2011 2 10
Season Two: Part Two TBA TBA TBA
Season Three TBA TBA TBA
Season Four TBA TBA TBA
Season Five TBA TBA TBA
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK