Headscratchers / The Wild Thornberrys Movie

• Why couldn't Debbie have gone to boarding school? Yes I know her grandmother (rather harshly if you ask me) dismisses her as "too far gone" in the movie but why not? Maybe I just sympathise with her despite her position as Bratty Teenage Daughter and think there's something wrong with her parents dragging her all over the world when she obviously hates it. Nigel's certainly rich enough to send her to a private boarding school or do they care more about having a babysitter than their daughters feelings? I'm not saying Debbie isn't unduly whiny or anything (even though I really like her) but I can understand why she hates it, animal activism doesn't interest her and she doesn't get to socialise with other teenagers at all.
  • I think there was one episode of the cartoon series where she tried and failed the interview. And despite her complaints maybe Debbie feels being closer to her family is better than being in a boarding school.
    • She actually passed the interview, she chose not to go
  • The latter may actually be true, but I can't help but think there would be a boarding school out there which would waive the interview and just let her in to say they had the daughter of a famous animal expert attending. Actually, surely a lot of private boarding schools will just let the kid in so long as their parents can pay.
  • She passed the interview in the episode where she decides to go to boarding school but the Aesop is about how families always stick together and you love your sibling deep down no matter how much you fight, so she decided not to go.
  • The episode in question also revealed that she is actually learning quite a lot as they travel around the world. It is mostly about other cultures, the history of the world, geography and so on but she is getting a fairly decent education anyway.
  • I always imagined that they simply decided to homeschool the kids and were extremely tight about it, despite what Nigel's mother said. As time went on, she started presuring them more and more, which is why they were ready to cave with Eliza in The Movie.
    • They weren't so much "ready to cave" as it was "trying to keep her safe", actually, what really prompted Nigel and Marianne to send Eliza away was because of Eliza almost getting hurt (or worse) while trying to save the cheetah cub. After all of that, coupled with the grandparents' visit, they felt forced to.
    • It's confirmed that they're homeschooled in at least two episodes. In one, Eliza's teacher/tutor shows up and expects her to write a history report rather than go on an adventure; in another, Marianne stops Eliza from traveling with her new Mongolian friend by pointing out that "she has homework to finish."