The Wild Thornberrys Review

The Wild Thornberrys have arrived on DVD.. My kids watched a lot of cartoons and still do. Not everyone was good enough that I would want to watch but the The Wild Thornberrys was one I did like to watch. Shout! Factory have been given the rights to distribute DVD and Blu-ray releases of some of Nick’s classic animated programs in the U.S. and Canada. The Wild Thornberrys are the first series to be released. They will soon be followed by Hey Arnold, Danny Phantom, Aaaah! Real Monsters, The Angry Beavers and one of my favorites, Rocko’s Modern Life.

My two older kids remember this series fondly and couldn’t wait to watch it. My two younger ones didn’t know what it was and was excited to see what it this all about. They watched the first of 4 discs and said they liked it and said they would keep watching it. I will watch it too with them. Tim Curry as Sir. Nigel Archibald Thornberry is awesome. Perfect casting as the bumbling naive documentarian who is a nature expert. He is always available for a laugh in this classic cartoon. Another one of my favorite characters was Darwin the talking monkey. He was a talking monkey only to Elizabeth “Eliza” Thornberry. She had gained the ability to speak to animals early on in the series. This ablitiy is the driving force behind the whole series as she and Darwin get in and out of wacky adventures.

The DVDs themselves are nothing to crow about. I was surprised to how plain they were by offering only the episodes themselves and nothing extra. With all star voices such as Tim Curry, Flea and Lacey Chabert. I would expect featurettes detailing the behind the scences making and development of this series. The creators of The Wild Thornberrys, Arlene Klasky Gabor Csupo have made so many great cartoons for Nickoledeon. There has to be tons of great creative background stories and insights to be shared. I am very sad they did not put any of this on the 4 disc box set.

Watching The Wild Thornberrys is a joy despite the obvious low production value. The colors are very dull, the transfer to DVD looks sub-par and it’s in standard, not letterbox. That is hard to get used to but you do. It’s just like the orginal series jumped into a time machine and landed in your TV. But what I loved about The Wild Thornberrys was not the artistry but the stories. Every episode delivers the humor, adventure and education I expected each week. If you have young ones who never saw this series you should treat them to this collection of quality storytelling.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I have been given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

 

May 31, 2011 | Filed Under Review/Giveaway 

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