OVP: The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002)

Film: The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002)

Stars: Lacey Chabert, Tim Curry, Jodi Carlisle, Daniell Harris, Flea, Tom Kane, Lynn REdgrave, Rupert Everett, Marisa Tomei, Alfre Woodard, Brenda Blethyn

Directors: Cathy Malkasian & Jeff McGrath

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Song-"Father and Daughter")

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I don't talk a lot about my age on this blog (mostly because the gay community can be rather eyebrow-raising about ageism, and I tend to not bring it up unless I have to by instinct), but there are moments where it's necessary to out myself.  While I was not too old to watch Nickelodeon toons when they became part of the zeitgeist for younger figures (specifically shows like Rugrats and Hey Arnold), I was probably getting to the point of too old to watch a show like Wild Thornberrys when it came out initially, even if I was very aware of its existence (and other kids my age might have watched it).  This is my way of telling you that I didn't know the story of The Wild Thornberrys TV show, and was going into this movie blind.  That's not something I normally do-I tend to make it a point of pride to watch all of the films in a series if we're doing a viewing for the OVP so I have some context on where the series has been beforehand, but full disclosure-even while I'm still stuck inside during this pandemic (though if all went according to plan I should have either gotten my vaccine by the time you read this or will have gotten it within a week or two of you reading this as Minnesota has now opened up for all ages), I'm not investing dozens of hours of my life to a Best Song nominee just to get some context.  Thankfully, the film does a pretty good job of grounding me in the story so I don't feel too lost in this film, even if I'm surely missing out on some fan "winks" in the corners of the picture.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie is focused on a family of nature documentarians, and principally Eliza (Chabert), a young girl who can talk to animals as a magical gift bestowed on her by a shaman, but as a condition of the gift, she cannot tell anyone she can speak to them (otherwise the power will go away).  Eliza's prim grandmother (Redgrave) doesn't think that this life is suitable for a young girl, and wants her to be sent away to boarding school, and after Eliza unsuccessfully fights a group of poachers who kidnap her cheetah cub friend, her parents (Curry & Carlisle) agree with her.  At school, her best friend Darwin (Kane), an eloquent chimpanzee, stows away & they get into misadventures, but ultimately decide they must return to Africa to save not just the cheetah cub, but it turns out a group of elephants and her brother & sister, both of whom have been ensnared in the poachers' (Everett & Tomei) scheme.  The film ends with her powers restored, and her self-involved teenage sister now aware of the magic (which Eliza tells her she cannot reveal or else she'll be turned to a baboon).

The movie is cute, and while it doesn't break any new molds (the villains you can see coming a mile away, and none of the jokes are new territory, either visually or as written), it's fun.  It's the kind of movie that even if you're not a fan of the show you'll like-but-not-love, and I suspect getting to flesh out some of the characters, particularly big sister Debbie (Harris, the best part of a rather impressive vocal cast), was a treat for the diehard supporters of the show, finally given their big screen adaptation.

The movie won one Academy Award nomination.  Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter," unlike a number of the other nominated films of 2002 ("Lose Yourself," "I Move On," "The Hands That Built America") actually is part of the film, played as a musical motif throughout the picture, and again over the final credits, making it the first 2002 film I don't have to steal a point from in my rankings (all end credit songs lose one point for not really being a big enough part of the film, unless they also play as a musical cue through the rest of the picture, since the category should award songs with a stronger connection to their film).  It's a fine song, sweet & lovely (Simon knows his way around a lyric), but it's also the one part of the movie I suspect you needed to watch the TV show to enjoy, as while I would assume the relationship between Eliza & her father is crucial to the actual series (they being so similar), it's not a big part of the actual movie & feels a bit too sentimental for a film whose emotions lie elsewhere.