VeggieTales

VeggieTales is a series of English language children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables and conveying moral themes based on Christianity and often compatible with Judaism, spliced with joking references to pop culture and current events. VeggieTales was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, who also provide many of the voices. It is produced by Big Idea. VeggieTales has also been released as books, games, and many other branded items such as toys and clothing. Additionally, the series has been adapted for television broadcast beginning on Saturday September 9, 2006. It aired to repeat an episode for the first time on Friday September 15, 2006.

History

Videos and theatrical films

Big Idea has released 36 VeggieTales episodes to date. Of those, three are Silly Song collections, three are holiday specials, three are LarryBoy episodes and one a drawing tutorial. The remaining episodes generally follow the standard format where a moral issue is posited in the opening countertop sequence followed by one or more "films" that address the issue. In addition to these episodes, there are five compilations that combine previously released material, and two feature length movies.

Compilations

• Heroes of the Bible: Volume 1 (2001): Includes Daniel and the Lion's Den, Dave and the Giant Pickle, and Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen.
• Heroes of the Bible: Volume 2 (2001): Includes The Story of Flibber-O-Loo, Rack, Shack, and Benny, and Josh and the Big Wall!.
• Heroes of the Bible: Volume 3 (2007): Includes Gideon: Tuba Warrior, The Ballad of Little Joe, and King George and the Ducky.
• Heroes of the Bible: Volume 4 (2008): Includes Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush, Larryboy and the Bad Apple, and Sumo of the Opera.

Feature-length films

• Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002): Archibald Asparagus stars as Jonah in this version of the Biblical story. The Veggies learn that God is a God of second chances, and that we need to give second chances too and be compassionate and merciful.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008): In this second VeggieTales feature film, three certain lazy wannabe pirates go back in time to the 17th century to fight real pirates and become heroes in a battle to rescue a royal family from an evil tyrant -- for a hero is not tall, strong, handsome, or even human.

Episodes

1. Where's God When I'm S-Scared? (1993): Junior learns that he doesn't need to be afraid because God is bigger than any monster, as well as a retelling of the Bible story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. Its theme is handling fear.
2. God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?! (1994): Bob and Larry learn what it means to forgive through parodies of The Grapes of Wrath and Gilligan's Island. Its theme is forgiveness.
3. Are You My Neighbor? (1995): The Veggies learn what "loving your neighbor" really means through a Dr. Seuss-style retelling of the Biblical story of The Good Samaritan and a parody of Star Trek. Its theme is loving one's neighbor.
4. Rack, Shack, and Benny (1995): A retelling of the Biblical story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace with the VeggieTales characters as workmen in a chocolate factory who stand up for what's right. Its theme is handling peer pressure.
5. Dave and the Giant Pickle (1996): Starring Junior as Dave who learns that "little guys can do big things, too" in a retelling of story of David and Goliath. Its theme is self-esteem.
6. The Toy that Saved Christmas (1996): The veggies learn the true meaning of Christmas with the help of Grandpa George and a Buzz-Saw Louie action figure. Its theme is giving.
7. Very Silly Songs! (1997): A collection of Silly Songs and other songs from the first five VeggieTales episodes. Originally titled "A Very Silly Sing-Along."
8. Larry-Boy! And the Fib from Outer Space! (1997): This lesson on honesty features Larry as a plunger-headed hero who must defeat a Fib that is rampaging out of control. Larry-Boy is a spoof on Batman & Spiderman. The theme is telling the truth.
9. Josh and the Big Wall! (1997): Larry stars as Joshua in this retelling of the Biblical story of the Battle of Jericho, highlighting the importance of obedience. The theme is obedience.
10. Madame Blueberry (1998): Madame Blueberry falls victim to her own greed and learns to be thankful in a parody of Madame Bovary. Its theme is thankfulness.
11. The End of Silliness? (1998): Larry has a nervous breakdown after he finds out that the "Silly Songs with Larry" segment of the show has been cancelled in this second Silly Songs collection.
12. Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed (1999): Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot learn about the dangers of spreading rumors as Larry-Boy battles a weed besmirching Alfred's reputation. Its theme is the power of words.
13. King George and the Ducky (2000): Larry stars as King George, whose obsession with rubber ducks teaches a lesson on selfishness and its impact in a retelling of the story of David and Bathsheba. Its theme is selfishness.
14. Esther… The Girl Who Became Queen (2000): Esther saves her family from endless tickling and learns a lesson on courage in a retelling of the Biblical story of Esther. Its theme is courage.
15. Lyle the Kindly Viking (2001): Junior stars as Lyle, a Viking who secretly returns his share of the loot in this parody of a Gilbert and Sullivan musical. The first segment of this lesson on sharing is a parody of Hamlet. Its theme is sharing.
16. The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown (2001): In the third Silly Song collection, the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything present a compilation of the viewers' top 10 favorite Silly Songs.
17. Jonah Sing-Along Songs and More! (2002): A collection of songs, mainly from Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie.
18. The Star of Christmas (2002): Starring Bob and Larry as Cavis and Millward, two theater proprietors whose extravagant production threatens to overwhelm Edmund's (Junior's) modest pageant on opening night.
19. The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment! (2003): Bob and Larry imagine the future of entertainment and learn a valuable lesson in this musical collection.
20. The Ballad of Little Joe (2003): Larry stars as Little Joe exercising faith in the face of hardship in this retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph set in the American Old West, which is partially a parody of Bonanza and perhaps even Gunsmoke. Its theme is facing hardship.
21. An Easter Carol (2004): Based on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, this is a sequel to The Star of Christmas, climaxing in the clearest presentation of the gospel in the series. Its lessons include hope, faith, and the Resurrection.
22. A Snoodle's Tale (2004): Kids learn that God made them special in an homage to Dr. Seuss and features a parody of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Its theme is self-worth.
23. Bob and Larry's How to Draw! (2004): Kids of all ages learn to draw with Larry and writer/director/artist Joe Spadaford.
24. Sumo of the Opera (2004): Larry stars as the Italian Scallion, a Sumo wrestler who learns to persevere in this cross between Rocky, The Mikado, and The Karate Kid. Its theme is perseverance.
25. Duke and the Great Pie War (2005): It's a prequel to King George and the Ducky, Larry stars as Duke who must rescue the second half of the golden duck. based loosely on the story of Ruth as well as a retelling of the childhood story of Moses from Miriam's viewpoint. Its theme is loving one's family.
26. Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush (2005): In a parody of Indiana Jones, Minnesota Cuke (Larry) searches for the great ancient relic, Samson's Hairbrush, in the catacombs under the town of Seville. Its theme is dealing with bullies.
27. Lord of the Beans (2005): Toto Baggypants (Junior) and the Fellowship Of The Bean journey through Center-Earth to discover the purpose of Toto's gift in this parody of The Lord of the Rings. Its theme is using God's gifts well.
28. Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler (2006): Larry stars as detective Sheerluck Holmes who must solve the mystery of the missing Golden Ruler in this Sherlock Holmes parody. Its theme is friendship.
29. LarryBoy and the Bad Apple (2006): In Larry-Boy's third adventure he must overcome temptation and defeat The Bad Apple who attempts to lure the citizens of Bumblyburg into her trap by preying on their specific weaknesses. Its theme is temptation.
30. Gideon: Tuba Warrior (2006): Larry stars in this episode based on a Biblical story of Gideon. Its theme is trusting God.
31. Moe and the Big Exit (2007): Larry stars in the Biblical story of Moses told as a parody of The Lone Ranger and set years after The Ballad of Little Joe. Its theme is following directions.
32. God Made You Special (2007):Bob and Larry decide to make a show about how God Made You Special.
33. The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's (2007): Junior Asparagus stars in the story of a prodigal son as a parody of The Wizard of Oz
34. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Sing-Along Songs And More! (2007)
35. Lessons From the Sock Drawer: A Collection of VeggieTales Shorts and Briefs (2008): A collection of previously-released shorts.
36. Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue (2008): Bob & Larry star in this episode as Huckleberry Larry and Tomato Sawyer.

Unproduced script

• "Minnesota Cuke 2: The Missing Machine" was written in 2008 by Tim Hodge and put it in pre-production after Huckleberry Larry, becuases it's canceled and it won't put it on DVD or VHS.

VeggieTales Live

VeggieTales Live is a series of stage shows based on the VeggieTales videos. Over the years there have been about 5 different versions of the shows. Some versions of the show have toured across the U.S. and others have been made for theme parks like Dollywood and Silver Dollar City.

TV airings

Veggietales episodes and the movie have aired on different stations. Below lists the places it has aired:

• PAX TV aired the VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular which was The Star of Christmas, along with an extra "hosting" portion where Bob and Larry are trying to find the disc of the show. The entire PAX TV special is on the Holiday Double Feature DVD and The Toy That Saved Christmas DVD.
• PBS aired The Star of Christmas along with Barney's Christmas Special and Arthur's Perfect Christmas. The show was uncut.
• TBN has aired Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie on TBN, and it is on the promotional commercial for Smile of a Child. TBN has also aired The Veggietales Christmas Spectacular and The Star of Christmas.

TV Format

The "VeggieTales" TV series follows a similar format to the videos. The show opens with Bob greeting the kids and inviting them over to his house, rather than the traditional countertop. Then he, Larry, and other veggies (Archibald Asparagus, Junior Asparagus, Mr. Lunt, Pa Grape, and Jimmy Gourd) sing the show's theme song (note that this song is different then the one on the videos and DVDs) as they hop to Bob's front door. At the end of the theme song Pa Grape makes a comment about Archibald's new sweater. (There's a different comment in each episode.)

The show opens to Bob's living room where Bob says "Hi kids! Welcome to VeggieTales!". Followed by Larry saying "On TV!" The two wait for the mailman, Jimmy Gourd, to deliver their letter. When Jimmy comes, he happily sings his Mail Song, which Bob and Larry both find tedious. Then instead of handing the letter to Bob and Larry, he insists on cramming it through the mail slot.

Bob and Larry read their letter and try to decide how to solve the viewer's problem. One of their neighbors comes in and attempts to solve it. One of three things happen. Archibald will read a story from his Big Book of Oddities (which he got from Oprah's Book Club), Pa Grape will show an old film, or Mr. Lunt will appear as Paco the Storytelling Mule (a stick puppet) and tell a story. The result always proves disastrous, as the story or film makes no sense. Bob/Larry intervenes with a story from a VeggieTales episode to solve the problem. (Some episodes include every silly song for Larry). Afterwards Bob and Larry wrap things up by reiterating the story's lesson and thanking the kids for coming to his house.

In some episodes the format is slightly altered. In the Lord of the Beans, Bob and Larry had to talk really fast to save some time. In fact, Larry had to walk to the front door, and thus, interrupting Jimmy's "Mail Song" and there was a neighbor named Mr. Lunt who plays a stick puppet, Paco the Storytelling Mule, of a neighbor interference in the opposite direction.

"Qubo" controversy

The VeggieTales episodes have been edited for broadcast to remove most references to God at the request of NBC's standards and practices department. (Although the religious references have remained intact in the closed-captions accompanying each episode.) The removal of specific religious references has drawn criticism from the Christian conservative watch group Parents Television Council, which has complained to NBC for the edited VeggieTales episodes. VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer has also expressed discontent with the edits, stating that he was not informed that religious content would be removed from the series until after the qubo deal was finalized, and he would have refused to sign the contract if he had known of this beforehand. "I would have declined partly because I knew a lot of fans would feel like it was a sellout or it was done for money," he explains. Still, Vischer adds that he understands NBC's wish to remain religiously neutral, commenting, "VeggieTales is religious, NBC is not. I want to focus people more on 'Isn't it cool that Bob and Larry are on television.' Due to numerous parent complaints, however, NBC finally relented and decided to stop cutting all references of God out. So when the second batch of episodes were sent to the network (and ending for Madame Blueberry), all biblical references were left intact.

The New VeggieTales TV Show

On September 30th, 2008, Big Idea announced that Mike Nawrocki will be in charge of creating a "original new VeggieTales TV series."

Continuing characters

VeggieTales has a continuous back story that all of the cartoons are actually teleplays, performed by various vegetables and fruit that live together on the same kitchen countertop. Some of these characters have "real names", and take on various roles in the teleplays, although they will also frequently appear as themselves. Most of these "regulars" were established in the very earliest videos.

Spin-offs

• 3-2-1 Penguins!
• LarryBoy cartoon series

Veggietales in popular culture

• Saturday Night Live parodied VeggieTales in a "TV Funhouse" computer animated cartoon called, "The Religetables", which is similar to "VeggieTales", only the stories center on scandals and violence in the world of religion (Episode 532). Original Airdate: November 16, 2002 (QuickTime)
• There have been 3 references to VeggieTales on The Simpsons.
• 1. Season 12 Episode 4, entitled "HOMR," the Simpson family visits an animation convention and Bob and Larry are shown on one of the booths. Original air date: January 7, 2001
• 2. Season 15 Episode 5, entitled, "The Fat and the Furriest," However, when the five pets (dog, cat, penguin, lion, giraffe) as the Stuff-Mart salesmen are singing "Were needing a 5-pound can of tuna, nose ring for a poodle, T-shirts, Gilbert and Sullivan books, and teddybears" and walking to Stuff-Mart (the name of the store from Madame Blueberry) to get more stuff. Original air date: November 30, 2003
• 3. Season 16 Episode 9, entitled, "Pranksta Rap," Tia's dog has swallowed the VHS cover of the "End of Silliness" and every time he barks the channel changes back to 3 to watch the VHS when Taylor said "Don't bite the videotape to watch The End of Silliness?" in which the pisode begins with Nighthawks, (a painting by Edward Hopper), as when Larry had his silliness silly songs canceled by Archibald Asparagus "until further notice" and replaced to 'Love Songs with Mr. Lunt'. Original Airdate: February 13, 2005
• Drawn Together Season Two episode Clum Babies, a parody of Bob and Larry, aptly named Bob the Cucumber and Larry the Tomato, are invited to the house by Princess Clara and attempt to convince Wooldoor to stop participating in activities they view as sinful, with ultimately violent results.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force featured an episode named "Bible Fruit", where fruit characters act similarly to the Veggietales characters. They were Bert Banana, Tammy Tangerine and Mortimer Mango. Each one was a former drug addict and converted to Christianity until meeting the Aqua Teens.
• When Cavis and Millward need rest and go to jail, look around on it there not random letters, and their the birth-dates of Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, the voices of Bob and Larry from The Star of Christmas.
• On Strawberry Shortcake new episode on KEWLopolis: Temptation, Huckleberry Pie brought up LarryBoy and the Bad Apple, he said "Scary, LarryBoy and the Bad Apple!", unlike the other Strawberryland friends brought up other VeggieTales episodes.

Albums

1. Silly Songs with Larry (2001) plus songs from Lost Puppies Oh, Santa! Do the Moo Shoo and Silly Song Remix Medley
2. A Very Veggie Easter (2006)
3. VeggieTunes 1 (1993)
4. VeggieTunes 2 (1996)
5. VeggieTunes 3: A Queen, a King, and a Very Blue Berry (2000)
6. VeggieTunes 4 (2004)
7. Larry-Boy: The Original Soundtrack (1999)
8. Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie Soundtrack (2002)
9. A Very Veggie Christmas (1996)
10. The Incredible Singing Christmas Tree (2002)
11. Veggie Rocks!(2004)
12. VeggieTales Worship Songs (2006)
13. Bob and Larry Sing The 70's (2005)
14. Boyz in the Sink (2004)
15. Pirates Boatload of Fun with four songs with Were Vikings! There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea Mordern Major General and Erie Canal
16. On the Road with Bob and Larry
17. Bob and Larry's Sunday Morning Songs with two songs with Zaccheus and Love Your Neighbor
18. Bob and Larry's Backyard Party with two songs with You Are My Sunshine and I Can Be Your Friend
19. O Veggie, Where Art Thou?
20. Bob and Larry's Campfire Songs
21. Junior's Bedtime Songs with three songs with My Day Think of Me and The Thankfulness Song
22. Junior's Playtime Songs with two songs with Love My Lips and Look, Olaf!
23. More Sunday Morning Songs with Bob and Larry
24. Bob and Larry's Toddler Songs
25. LarryBoy: The New Soundtrack (2006) with the score of Journey to a New World
26. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Original Movie Soundtrack (2008) plus a song for Anointed was Second Chances
27. God Made You Special (2007)
28. Christian Hits Music (2007)
29. VeggieTales Greatest Hits (2008)
30. Storytime with Bob and Larry Volume 1 (2009) with three stories "King George" Esther and "Minnesota Cuke"
31. Storytime with Bob and Larry Volume 2 (2009) with three stories "LarryBoy and the Bad Apple" "Ballad of Little Joe" and "Lyle the Kindly Viking"

External links

• Big Idea Productions/VeggieTales (official site)
• Big Idea Games
• What Happened to Big Idea? by Phil Vischer
• JellyFish inc. (official site for Phil Vischer's current venture)
• Veggietales at Qubo.com
• Veggietales at Christian Cartoons Online
• VeggieTales Episode Air Date Schedule
• Ultimate Veggie