The hell that is a mixed marriage between an English father and an American wife is... The Wild Thornberrys.

First there's dad - moustachioed Nigel (voiced by Curry), a Biggles-type Old Etonian with Union Jack boxers.

Then there's mum - hard-as-nails Manhattanite Marianne (Jodi Carlisle), a no-nonsense matriarch who rules the roost.

Eliza (Lacey Chabert) is the freckled geek with a brace, who can talk to the animals Dr Dolittle-style, while sister Debbie (Danielle Harris) is the truculent teen who's so-o-o-o bored with it all.

Chuck in adopted wild child Donnie (Flea) and grandmumsy Cordelia (Redgrave), who appears to be modelled on Our Own Good Queen, and you have the Thornberrys - a fruitcake family if ever there was one.

They career about Africa in a Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang style dormobile, shooting wildlife films... and trouble, when it rears its ugly head.

The latest spot of bother is from ruthless poachers, who are determined to bag a herd of elephants after running them into an electric fence during the eclipse.

Eliza has been sent off to boarding school in London after the ivory-hunters bagged a baby cheetah while the little mite was in her charge.

As luck would have it, only she has the knowledge - by virtue of her animal communication skills - to save the day.

This is a cut above the normal feature-length cartoon fare, with detailed characterisations and excellent animation from Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo.

There's a nice diversion at Eliza's school, whose roll-call includes Lady Victoria Hervey clones (yes, it is that bad) and is ruled by Maggie Smith-a-like Mrs Fairgood (Blethyn).

The villains are well up to scratch with a poacher-in-chief (Everett) who brings to mind Alan Rickman in a particularly bad mood.

The plot does get a little bit busy, and Flea may be one maverick character too far, but you can't really quibble too much about a kids film that keeps the attention while sending out a sound moral message.

Tim Evans