'The Wild Thornberrys' go from TV to the big screen

The popular animated Nickelodeon program is expanded into a feature

By Ben Nuckols ~ The Associated Press

"The Wild Thornberrys Movie," a rollicking animated adventure with a plucky, can-do spirit, nearly bubbles over with incident and exotic locales. It's a breeze and a blast, snappily paced and full of frolicsome energy.

The creators of the popular Nickelodeon series offer a clinic on how to expand a TV show into a feature. After a quick prologue to bring the unfamiliar up to date, they jump into the story with such vigor that the material feels brand new.

They also give kids a hero they cannot only empathize with but learn something from. Like Harry Potter, Eliza Thornberry (voiced by Lacey Chabert of "Party of Five" fame) is a bespectacled misfit on the cusp of adolescence whose special powers allow her to lead a secret life. The ability to talk to animals is what sets Eliza apart -- and gets her in trouble.

But unlike Harry, Eliza's adventures spring from her own careless mistake. Spurned on by guilt and an awareness of her limitations, she sets out to right a wrong.

Eliza, whose parents produce a nature show, is part of a charming family on permanent safari. Patriarch Nigel (voice of Tim Curry), a khaki-clad dandy with a handlebar mustache, is a throwback to the British colonial adventurer, bumbling his way through the wilderness with a joyous naivete. Nigel's American wife, Marianne (Jodi Carlyle), represents the practical half of the pairing: She drives the motorcycle while he sits in the sidecar.

Eliza's older sister Debbie (Danielle Harris) has developed all the attitudes and mannerisms of a suburban teenager despite being raised in the jungle. The youngest Thornberry is adopted son Donnie (brought to life by Flea, the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) who appears to have been raised by apes and whose favorite activity is the "wedgie dance." The family also has a pet chimpanzee, Darwin (Tom Kane), who's Eliza's best friend.

The movie joins them in Africa, where they're chasing a rumor that thousands of elephants will gather in the open during a solar eclipse. Meanwhile, Eliza makes friends with some young cheetah cubs, but when she blithely leads one out of his mother's territory, he's snapped up by a poacher.

Eliza is devastated, and at the same time her paternal grandmother (Lynn Redgrave) decides the girl needs some traditional schooling if she's going to grow up civilized. So it's off to boarding school in London, where Eliza suffers the torments of her supercilious classmates. She immediately begins scheming to return to Africa and get that young cheetah back to his mother.

Directors Cathy Malkasian and Jeff McGrath embrace their fast-moving travelogue of a story. Using a wider format than is typical for animated films, they find room for the sweeping vistas of the Serengeti Plain, the stately halls of Eliza's boarding school and even the bustling streets of Nairobi. Though hardly anyone involved with the project has any experience with feature films, it seems the Thornberrys have belonged on the big screen all along. They've brought no shortage of luminaries with them: Rupert Everett, Marisa Tomei and Alfre Woodard round out the voice cast, and Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon are in good form contributing songs to the soundtrack.

Though the supporting cast of Africans gets a respectful treatment -- Debbie develops a touching friendship with a young tribesman -- it's a bit frustrating that a movie set on a continent so underrepresented on film would be primarily concerned with a white family.

There's also little acknowledgment of the damage wrought by poachers, the stock villains in such nature-friendly fare as this. In this movie, Africa's bounty is endless, and the poachers aren't motivated by economic circumstances. They're just rogue baddies who hate animals.

While the Thornberrys don't illuminate the plight of endangered species with the grimness the subject may deserve, Eliza learns to balance her curiosity about wildlife with a respect for its precariousness. She emerges richer from her adventures, as will kids -- and parents -- who see "The Wild Thornberrys Movie."

Rated PG for some adventure peril, 78 minutes (Cape West Cine)