so invigorating yes dear but do watch your step
i mean be concerned i feel like i've become one with the rock nigel are you all right of course
it's just pain so the wild thornberry has legitimately changed the game for animation
back in the late 90s and early 2000s but not how you may think actually no the animation
wasn't anything too special but what was special was the fact that they were able to
educate you on a lot of interesting facts about animals as well as certain life lessons
that didn't feel like they were shoehorned in or overtly obvious all while keeping the show
very entertaining and engaging for audiences the show followed an 11 year old girl named eliza
who lived probably one of the most interesting family lives in cartoons at the time her father
and mother were these famous nature show hosts who traveled the world documenting these really cool
and various species of animals very much so like a crocodile hunter and a little tidbit nigel the
father is voiced by tim curry so apparently the mosquitoes don't find you tasty my boy
unfortunately they've always considered me a delicacy that's pretty cool and because of this
eliza gets to travel the world with her sister debbie her wild boy adopted brother tony and of
course her pet monkey and best friend darwin but here's the catch and probably one you may have not
seen coming i'm sure of it eliza can speak to animals any animal she just can't tell anyone
or she loses the ability to do so this show was awesome just like zoo books if zoo books were as
awesome as the commercial made them out to be when you call and use your credit card we'll include
the elephants issue as a gift plus you'll also get the colorful collection of animal stickers
and the tiger poster mom i need your credit card the show takes the family all around
the world on crazy adventures where eliza usually gets herself wrapped up into some
crazy issues related to a specific animal or two as she figures out how to get out of
these conundrums she gets herself into all at the same time we as the audience get to learn a lot
about the animals within each episode as well as maybe some of the terrible things that can happen
due to human intervention such as poachers which are a usual theme or sometimes even crazier like
oil spills and let's use that one as an example there is an episode where there is an oil spill
and an otter gets trapped in the circle of flames while not only having this as the exciting climax
of the episode keeping you strapped in and glued to the tv this is also now putting it in your head
how terrible some of these things can happen in nature and that the world may not always be this
beautiful place and sometimes terrible things happen and you have to deal with them now i'm
not saying you have to be like eliza jump on a boat and get surrounded by the fire
but for me seeing this as a kid seeing this in a cartoon back in the day was so powerful and i
really contribute that to who i am now as a person my compassion and my love for animals specifically
again all from a show about talking animals it didn't ever feel like i was being forced to learn
anything or this was an educational program it was exciting but you also get to learn these lessons
and get taught about these interesting animals and this was doing it correctly
another thing that i do want to touch on was how impressive the world building was specifically
how well they integrated it into the show now of course while they did travel the
world consistently the majority of the episodes actually take place in
africa where it gets to show off all the interesting and varied locations within
africa and all the different amount of various wildlife that lives within africa that's very
interesting as well and all the characters and how they lived their life in the savannah really
showed off how beautiful of a place africa is and with all the characters there going
about their lives living in the savannah really showed off how incredible africa is
much like a bikini bottom from spongebob it kind of created a world that you would just
want to visit and immerse yourself in and the crazy thing is unlike bikini bottom you could
actually go there you could visit africa and see the wonderment and how beautiful the lands are
with your own eyes in person it was a real tangible place that you can go to and the
show showed it off so beautifully as far as the thornberries themselves they were always this
weird interesting punch they really diverted away from the copy and paste cartoon formula that we're
so used to seeing at the time they weren't afraid to you know switch things up and and try something
new you know nigel thornberry was a charismatic fun-loving adventure-seeking host of a tv show and
while he wasn't the brightest of the bunch like most cartoon fathers are he actually had a deep
and caring side making sure that he would always be there in a pinch to help his kids oh what is
it love we lost her birthday present in the swamp then donny caught it but an alligator ate it so
i pulled it out but it's all been up honey slow down birthday no eliza my birthday oh it's today
what's this a watch oh and it's attractively bent in three places
oh and it's a compass too oh why it's the most incredible astonishing magnificent thing i've
ever seen look on the back happy birthday from all of us with louvre oh i love you all too
thank you so much and marianne herself was a great mother teaching her daughter some important and
valuable life lessons but similar to nigel sought out that same adventure for the show as well
that was you on the searchlight yeah oh thank you honey eliza how did you know i was out
there debbie the older sister really was just this angsty teenager who really didn't ever want to be
on any of the travels she just kind of wanted to stay in the rv or if they ever traveled somewhere
interesting would just want to go tanning or something nothing to be involved with any of the
adventure she'd end up usually being pulled into the adventure but she would join it reluctantly
everything we need is right here you think so fine you stick i will you go climb it's free
donnie was this adopted or well found younger brother who only speaks in gibberish tongue
i'll be quiet and usually gets into his own crazy wild antics here and there and of course
darwin aside from being eliza's pet is also eliza's best friend and since she
travels the world she doesn't really have any real connection to anyone else her age so darwin
and eliza are essentially the inseparable duo eliza it's too hot for this who has any energy
and now this was a classy super production which you probably
remember seeing this at the end of the majority of nickelodeon shows
but unlike the majority of shows by klasky suppo the two big series to get movies made were the
rugrats of course but maybe one that may surprise you the wild thornberries and not just one movie
they got a second movie that was also a crossover with the rugrats called rugrats
go wild you literally just need to throw in some rocket power in there maybe maybe some [ __ ] by
ginger and you know we got ourselves the end game of the early 2000s nickelodeon the first movie
followed eliza hanging out with some cheetahs a baby cheetah cub is taken by some poachers she
tries to rescue the cheetah fails they think that she needs discipline they send her off to
a boarding school it is perfectly obvious that elizabeth has no regard for her own safety we
have discussed this for years she needs to be in a structured environment one such as a boring school
back in london in london she escapes it to go find the poachers at one point debbie gets
kidnapped and threatened to be you know axed off mission foul next time eliza has to give up her
powers by telling her secret it's a pretty no pun intended wild movie i can talk to animals
the second thornberry's movie which is also the third rugrats movie saw the thornberries on the
same island as the rugrats crew after they end up washing upon the shore after escaping a sinking
ship that they were just on geez these were kids films may i remind you anyway the pickles family
dog spike is there too he runs into eliza in the forest he can now talk to her he is now
voiced by bruce willis as spike i am so grateful i don't know whether to give you a big kiss or just
slobber all over you from top to bottom a kiss would be fine living in weird times who wants
a tongue bath on a different part of the island nigel actually runs into the rugrats babies who
have ventured off by themselves into the forest but as soon as he finds them he falls down a cliff
gets hit in the head with a coconut has amnesia and now starts acting like a baby me mister
silly billy i'm only this many years old do any of you remember where i left my tricycle again this
movie was also pretty wide you know what i'm gonna say now if anything the wild thornberry showed not
just us but to nickelodeon itself that actually teaching something fascinating and sometimes
important facts about animals as well as what it means to be human can be done and made in a way
that doesn't feel like you're being force-fed something it felt genuinely interesting with
each and every episode but let me know what you think did you grow up with the wild thornberries
and what were some of your favorite episodes i'd love to know let me know all that down below in
the comments if you enjoyed this video make sure to hit that like button press subscribe and click
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thank you guys so much for watching i really do appreciate you and i will see you next time bye