| distributor = Paramount Pictures
| gross = $60.7 million The film ended up with a modest $40 million domestically, partly because the film released two days after The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Despite this, in light of generally favorable reviews, it managed to out-gross competing animated feature Treasure Planet, which grossed about $38 million domestically.
It is one of a limited number of feature films to be released in over 3,000 theaters, and still improve on its box office performance in its second weekend, increasing 22.5% from $6 million to $7.4 million.
Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that of critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is . The site's consensus states: "The Wild Thornberrys Movie brings its beloved clan to the big screen for an animated adventure that should prove entertaining for all ages." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper both praised the film and gave it “Two Thumbs Up” on their television show.
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a witty and delightful Christmas present for the entire family". Thomas said it "balances some honest heart-tugging with a sophisticated sense of humor", making it rare among children's films. Writing for The New York Times, Dave Kehr described it as an "extended Saturday morning cartoon" that is "bland but harmless", comparing it negatively to Disney's The Lion King. In USA Today, Claudia Puig rated it 3/4 stars and wrote, "The Wild Thornberrys will no doubt brighten the day of parents looking for family activities during the holidays." It was also reviewed by Boston.com and Film4.
Accolades
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon, but lost to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem for 8 Mile.
Home media
Paramount Home Entertainment released the film on VHS and DVD on April 1, 2003.
Video game
A video game based on the movie was released by THQ for the Game Boy Advance and PC. The game's story mode puts players in the role of Eliza in scenarios loosely based on the events of the movie, and contains mini-games that allow the player to control other members of the Thornberrys. The executive producer was George Acogny. Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter", written for the film, was released as a single. It went on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song