Eliza Thornberry is not your normal 12 year old girl. To start with, she and her family live in a "commvee," which is basically a super motorhome. Her parents, Nigel and Marianne, have a nature show that they are continually filming which means they travel all over the world in search of the most elusive or interesting animals. Eliza's sister, Debbie, is also stuck along for the ride and, for the most part, she hates it. Debbie is 16 and just wants to have a normal life and go to school with other teenagers. She spends most of her time listening to music and reading magazines, but when it comes down to it, she can be a good sister to Eliza and Donnie. Donnie is a bit of a mystery. He's a 4 year old that they found in the jungle being raised by orangutans, so the Thornberrys adopted him. Donnie doesn't speak English, except for random words here and there. Mostly, he speaks some kind of gibberish that not even Eliza can understand, and she can understand a lot! On one of their trips to Africa, Eliza was given a gift by a shaman and now she can talk to animals in their native tongue and understand what they're saying.
Personally, I would love the ability to talk to animals. I'm trying to figure out how to teach my dogs to talk as it is. Eliza is aware of how special this gift is and she is very careful to keep it secret so that she does not lose the ability. As you can imagine, she is going to spend a lot of time with the animals, including her friend Darwin, a chimpanzee, who also lives with them. Darwin is Eliza's best friend and sometimes that means that they will take each other for granted, like all friends will from time to time. Together though, they are going to get into a lot of adventures, sometimes with Donnie in tow.
Some of the things you'll see this season are about learning to grow up. Eliza is a bit of a know-it-all and she needs to learn how to listen to other people (and animals) at times. When Eliza and her mom, Marianne, transport 2 elephants to the fair for a friend, Eliza is on the 12 year old elephant, so naturally, together the pre-teens are going to get in trouble. Eliza needs to learn that sometimes her mom does know what she's talking about. When Eliza wants to hang out with a group of chimps, she's going to have to listen to Darwin on how to behave first! Eliza does a lot to help out and save the animals too. While in Australia, Eliza finds an old friend from last year, Bim. Unfortunately, the koalas are disappearing because they're being taken to be sold as pets to rich people. Eliza has to figure out how to save them from Kip and Biederman. Kip and Biederman are essentially the bad guys of the series. They tend to show up everywhere that they really shouldn't be and do anything they can to make money, no matter how despicable. Eliza is usually the one to find them and stop them, with help from various sources.
Every episode of The Wild Thornberrys starts with a map of where they are. Granted, it doesn't really help you with geography, but it's nice to know what part of the world the episode is taking place in. You also learn at least some about the animals and their habitats while being entertained. The voicework is wonderfully done with well-known personalities like Tim Curry as Nigel and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers as Donnie. If you're looking for a cartoon that is family-friendly and provides a bit more than mindless entertainment, pick up The Wild Thornberrys: Season 2, Part 1 today!
