| “ | This is me, Eliza Thornberry, part of your average family. I got a dad, a mom, and a sister. There is Donnie, we found him. And Darwin, he found us. Oh yeah, about our house, it moves, cause we travel all over the world. You see, my dad hosts this nature show, and my mom shoots it. Okay, so we’re not that average. And between you and me, something amazing happened… and now I can talk to animals. It’s really cool, but totally secret. And you know what? Life’s never been the same. | „ |
| ~ Opening narration |
Elizabeth "Eliza" Thornberry is a 12 year old girl, who (unknown to most except to her big sister Debbie) gained the ability to speak with animals after an encounter with an African shaman (as shown in the episode "Gift of Gab"). If she tells anyone that she can talk to animals, she'll lose her powers.
Despite her best intentions, Eliza's stubbornness that she's always right leads her strong desire to help to become destructive. Eliza is portrayed as a geek by her extensive zoological knowledge and her glasses, braces and by occasionally standing pigeon-toed. She and Darwin get into arguments when the situation gets bad..
She was voiced by Lacey Chabert, who also portrayed Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls.
Appearance
She has freckles and long red-orange hair that is usually worn in pigtails and occasionally a ponytail. She almost always wears a yellow dress, though later in the series she sports other clothes. Eliza is 11 in the series and 12 in the movie.
Trivia
- Despite being the main character of The Wild Thornberrys film and series, Eliza plays a supporting role in the film, Rugrats Go Wild.
