The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Release Date:
December 20, 2002
The third Nickelodeon-based cartoon to receive a theatrical treatment (and the second from the Klasky-Csupo machine), The Wild Thornberrys will look to capitalize on its built-in fan base in addition to reaping the benefits of being a family-friendly December holiday release. Paramount Pictures has enjoyed an excellent track record with animated projects such as the two Rugrats films and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and has enough confidence in the Thornberrys that an additional film that pairs them with the Rugrats clan is also planned.
With a screenplay from Kate Boutilier, who also wrote the script for Rugrats in Paris, Thornberrys series director Cathy Malkasian shares duties with Duckman's Jeff McGrath. What's particularly impressive about The Wild Thornberrys is the level of recognizable voice talent involved in this first movie. While Tim Curry, Lacey Chabert (Party of Five) and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers are regular performers on the television series, the film will also include characters voiced by Brenda Blethyn, Rupert Everett, Lynn Redgrave, Marisa Tomei and Alfre Woodard.
The cartoon debuted on Nickelodeon in 1998, and focuses on the adventures of the Thornberry family, who travel around the world in their "Commvee" to make nature documentaries. Conveniently, this Commvee can be converted into a submarine, so the only limit to their voyages is the imagination of the show's writing staff. Twelve-year-old Eliza Thornberry is the central character, and is no ordinary kid. She has the Dr. Dolittle-esque magical ability to communicate with animals in their own language. Her parents are nature-show hosts, her foster brother Donnie is a wild nature boy, and she has a pet chimp named Darwin. Debbie, her sister, basically thinks they are all freaks.
For the movie's expanded plot, Eliza discovers that poachers in Africa's Serengeti Desert plan to kill an elephant herd with an electrified fence, and she and Darwin must somehow find a way to stop them. It's probably a safe assumption that Eliza will find help from a number of different friendly animals along the way.
Since The Wild Thornberrys is a less tested commodity than the Rugrats franchise, a good gauge for measuring its potential for success will be the June release of Hey Arnold! The Movie. Like Thornberrys, Arnold is an earlier-than-prime-time show with a decent following but with nowhere near the ratings of other Nicktoons like Spongebob Squarepants (which is easily the network's highest rated program) and the aforementioned Rugrats. Hey Arnold! will also have the benefit of being released when kids are out of school, so once we see how this similarly quirky group of characters performs at the box office, we can probably set reasonable expectations for the Thornberry clan. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
|
|
|
|
