The Wild Thornberrys

This article is about the series. For the 2002 film, see The Wild Thornberrys Movie.

The Wild Thornberrys
Genre
Created by
Developed by
  • Mark Palmer
  • Jeff Astrof
  • Mike Sikowitz
Directed by
Voices of
ComposerDrew Neumann
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes91 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Arlene Klasky
  • Gábor Csupó
Producers
  • Christine Ferriter
  • Maureen Iser
  • Krist-Ann Pehrson
  • Sheila M. Anthony
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseSeptember 1, 1998 (1998-09-01) –
June 11, 2004 (2004-06-11)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Wild Thornberrys is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays the zany hijinks of a family of nomadic wildlife documentary filmmakers known as the Thornberrys, which consist of the nature documentary television host Nigel, his wife and camera operator Marianne, their 16-year-old daughter Debbie, their younger daughter Eliza, their adopted son Donnie, and a chimpanzee named Darwin. The series focuses in particular on Eliza, who has a magical ability to communicate with animals.[1] The Thornberry family travels to every continent and wildlife environment in the ComVee, a recreational vehicle equipped with safety mechanisms to handle any terrain or body of water, to document their journeys in detail, with typical episodes involving Eliza befriending an animal and subsequently finding herself in peril.

Originally pitched by Klasky Csupo as an adult animated sitcom for Fox,[2] the series was then retooled as a family-friendly animated series for Nickelodeon and premiered on September 1, 1998, as the eleventh Nicktoon and the third overall produced by the studio following Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.[3] It ran for 5 seasons containing 91 episodes in total, with the series finale airing on June 11, 2004.

The series' fourth season premiere, "The Origin of Donnie", is a television special focusing on Donnie Thornberry's life before he was adopted by the family. A feature film, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, in which Eliza embarks on a quest to save a cheetah cub from poachers, was theatrically released on December 20, 2002. Rugrats Go Wild, a crossover feature film with Nickelodeon's Rugrats, was released in theaters on June 13, 2003. Spin-off media include DVD releases and three video games.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Spotlight was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference sitcom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 905–906. ISBN 978-1476665993.