If there was one thing that would have made my childhood truly magical, it would have been to be like Eliza Thornberry (Lacey Chabert) and really talk to animals. Sure, every child believes they understand what the dog has to say about the meaning of life, but Eliza really knows.

Of course, magical gifts always have rules in cartoons. (And perhaps in real life, too.) The Shaman who gave her this gift made a stipulation; unless Eliza keeps it a secret she will lose her powers. This doesn’t seem to bother the kids who are watching, but it drives me nuts probably because I’m terrible at keeping secrets. What happens if they guess? Seems like they would eventually start to wonder when she’s always talking to a chimp!

The story starts out with Eliza in the jungle with her family. Her father, Nigel Thornberry, (Tim Curry) is the star of a nature show and her mother, Marianne Thornberry, (Jodi Carlisle) is the cameraperson. Her little “brother” Donny (Flea) is like a young Tarzan-like monkey-child, her best friend is Darwin (Tom Kane), a chimp, and her teenage sister is Debbie (Danielle Harris). Eliza is a constant source of irritation to her big sis. Debbie is older and wiser and much more sarcastic than Eliza, but still has appeal as a perfect caricature of teenage angst in the jungle. Like any teen, she both loves and despises her little sister at the same time.

As you can guess, the jungle is an endless source of trouble for a little girl who can talk to animals. In this story, Eliza is playing with a cheetah cub when poachers come along and steal the cub. Eliza gives a valiant chase after the poachers, while her family chases behind trying to save her. When she is safely at home in their camper, her visiting grandparents convince Nigel and Marianne that Eliza would be better off in London at boarding school. Eliza is heartbroken that she must leave Darwin, which of course means he sneaks into her suitcase and goes along for the ride.

Eliza only lasts a few days at boarding school before she decides she simply MUST sneak away and return to Africa to catch the poachers. A great adventure ensues, where Eliza meets a nice couple (guess who they turn out to be) and ends up on another quest to save a bunch of elephants from the same poachers.

On the visual side of things, the Wild Thornberrys has the distinctive look of the Klasky/Csupo animation team that is also known for such Nickelodeon shows as Rugrats and Rocket Power. The beautiful nature animation is a striking contrast to the unique human characters. There is a great deal of depth and dimension to the animation, with a good use of 3D rendering to supplement the hand-drawn characters. So distinctive is the animation that it becomes an integral part of the world of the Wild Thornberrys.