by SpiderBraids
So, this much maligned Nicktoon finally gets the big screen treatment, behind the [[Rugrats]] and [[Jimmy Neutron]] (which is how JN began with, but that's besides the point). For some reason, the Nickelodeon Movies frontcap sequence seems to change every movie. From a cartoon dog getting stepped on ([["The Rugrats Movie"]], when they still used a foot for the logo), some guy raking leaves in Paris ([["Rugrats in Paris"]]), to Goddard adding the "Movies" bit to the logo ([["Jimmy Neutron"]]). This time, we get a licking CG dog.
Right then. Eliza basically recites her regular title sequence spiel, but elaborating on how she ran into this warthog who turned out to be a shaman named Mnyambo, for those of us who haven't seen [["Gift of Gab"]] (like me). Nice effects there, BTW. Then we head into the familiar (to TWT fans) shot of Eliza popping up above a tree seguing into a graphic of a map of Africa, and then the title. To me, the banner looks a bit wide... and where's the regular title music???
Okay, now, the actual movie itself. Okay, so you have a cheetah. You have a deer. You have a bunch of deer. You have cheetah chasing a deer. Hey, this isn't the Discovery Channel. Can we please get to the actual characters of the show?
Thank you. We go through to a bunch of grass to Eliza and Darwin (E&D, from here on) who are with a bunch of elephants. She identifies the one they're sitting on right now as "Phaedra the magnificent". After Dar gets knocked to the tail, Phaedra takes the two over to a bunch of trees, and tells Eliza how her mother guides her in whatever direction she wants. For example, to get her to turn around, mother taps her ear. Obvious foreshadowing, and doesn't Phaedra sound a lot like Cree Lincoln? Same voice actress, I know. And I'm told that while Cree did do the voice of an elephant in the series, she was named Rosie. Not Phaedra, who was in another ep altogether. Okay, E&D are walking back "home", when Braceface realizes how quiet it is.
Back to the rest. Grandma Cordelia is staying over for two weeks (the delay of [["Sir Nigel"]] until just before the video release must have seriously mangled things up), because left to his own devices, Radcliffe (we'll see him later) has been known to look around his mansion for his reading glasses. Nigel, who looks after mom, asks for his binoculars, and CameraMom Marianne, busy working on their Commvee, points out to him that (get this) they're around his neck. Very funny. Debbie pops out to tell that Wild Thing Donnie has been keeping grubworms in Grandma's teapot.
E&D are running past the Commvee and Eliza is warning about a stampede. Marianne, the only place I want to hear "battle stations" is in an ep of Kids Next Door. Anyways, Cordi is standing in the middle of the stampede of the deer from earlier with her cup of tea. Seriously. Nigel makes a quip: "They're quite harmless, unless you happen to be a tuft of grass." The deer pass. A cheetah passes. Eliza identifies it for us: "That's Akela." So she knows the cheetahs around here. Wonder how long they've been here? Then Cordi sees the worms in her tea :D
The parents leave in a motorcycle with sidecar (it gets a name later) to do some filming, and Debbie complains: "Just when we get something cool to drive I have to be grounded" Cordi: "Certainly you're grounded. I understand you tied Donnie to a termite mound" Deb: "Hey, he's happy." While Wild Thing's busy stuffing his face, E&D decide to leave to do some walking, prompting Debbie and Cordi to make comments on Eliza: "Does your sister always...?" "Talk like a monkey, dress like a geek? Yeah, you'll get used to it."