"The Wild Thornberrys": It's a jungle out there By Helen Lee, syndicated Nov. 1, 1998 The Thornberry family might be traveling across the world making wildlife documentaries, but they still have to deal with normal domestic disputes. Trouble is par for the course on ''The Wild Thornberrys,'' airing on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Nickelodeon. ''One part of the show that's most intriguing is that this is a family, and we're trying to superimpose familiar family crises on the wild environment,'' says supervising producer Eryk Casemiro. That's more work than it sounds for a half-hour cartoon whose characters trot to exotic places like Kenya, the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon on a weekly basis. ''The Wild Thornberrys'' follows the adventures of Eliza Thornberry, a braces-wearing 12-year-old, and her crazy family members. Nigel (Tim Curry) and Marianne, Eliza's parents, try to produce nature shows while taking care of Eliza, her older sister Debbie, 4-year-old adopted wild child Donnie, and Darwin the chimp. ''Young girls of Eliza's age will relate to Eliza in a very strong way,'' says Casemiro. ''And they'll relate to Debbie, the older sister and a teenager who always thinks she's being put in an embarrassing situation. An analogy is when (a teenager) is taking a road trip with the family-Debbie would say, 'Please just let me off so I can watch MTV.''' Casemiro adds, ''Everybody loves Donnie because he's just id -- he does what you wish you could do. And Darwin is the voice of comic authority. Though none of us want to admit it, we enjoy neuroses when we see them -- like Dr. Smith on 'Lost in Space.' And one thing I'm really proud of is that there's a real relationship between mom and dad. It's comforting to a kid because they're almost ideal parents, in their own unusual way.'' Family issues on the show can range from teenager Debbie taking out the ''car'' -- in the Thornberrys' case, a rugged vehicle called a comm-vee -- to sibling rivalry, as when Eliza and Debbie fight over a treasure they find on the Galapagos Islands. But Eliza (voiced by ''Party of Five's'' Lacey Chabert) is really the star of the show. She's also Nickelodeon's first female lead in an animated series, with a Dr. Doolittle-like ability to talk to animals. In an episode called ''Flood Warning,'' Eliza convinces two female lions to let her hunt with them-only to find that her sister's the prey. In another, a group of jaguars believe Eliza's their long lost queen. When the show was first created, however, it was dad Nigel who was supposed to be able to converse with creatures. ''The show first originated with an idea we had, which was about an animal psychologist. The development was done to make it an edgy 'Simpsons'-like show prior to Nickelodeon picking it up,'' Casemiro says. "I came in and said, 'this is the perfect Nickelodeon show.' We gave the power to a girl who's at an awkward age, at the threshold of young adulthood. It was just natural for kids and adults; it was like kismet how it all came together. ''The fantasy of any child is that they give animals voices and personalities. Now we can do stories about kids overcoming fears and learning to think before they act, and we can use the animals in that way. This ability was more specific to Nickelodeon's audience, but also gives us a better ground from which to start making a series,'' Casemiro notes. It also gives the creators a chance to tackle environmental issues, done in a scientifically accurate way. Eliza Thornberry has a very strong sense of justice. In one segment, she assists a struggling bird only to find out her well-intentioned move sets off a destructive chain reaction within the ecological system, driving some animals to near-extinction. ''It's an important message that eco-systems exist, and what appears to be a benevolent act can have a strong negative impact,'' says Casemiro. In other episodes, rain forests, silver-backed gorillas, marmosets and komodo dragons make appearances. Every animal and plant depicted is indigenous to whatever area the Thornberrys are traveling in, and extensive research is done to make sure the details are just so. One episode explores why Sumatran rhinos are so shy, because they are elusive in reality. ''Flood Warning'' features lionesses because in the wild, it's only the females who hunt. ''The shows really stand up in terms of entertainment value. You may not even realize everything is based on fact,'' says Casemiro. ''Some things we did along the way, I didn't even realize were real. I learned that in an avalanche, you should actually breaststroke to get out...it seems so improbable to me. I told the writers, 'What, are you crazy? We're supposed to be fact-based!''' Top of page |