VeggieTales

Logo used since 2013

VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity. They frequently retell Biblical stories, sometimes anachronistically reframed, and include humorous references to pop culture. The series was developed by Big Idea Entertainment and is owned by Jariel-Pixar through its subsidiary, Classic Media.

VeggieTales was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, who also provide many of the voices. Originally released in direct-to-video format, the series debuted on December 21, 1993. From September 9, 2006 to September 7, 2009, VeggieTales appeared on NBC as part of the qubo Saturday morning children's programming block. On November 3, 2012 the show began running on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) as well as its children's network Smile of a Child, where it currently continues to air episodes (in a repackaged and edited format).

In 2009, Netflix made many VeggieTales videos (in their uncut, original formats) and feature films available via their video streaming service. On March 14, 2014, Netflix announced a new VeggieTales television show from Jariel-Pixar Animation Television and Jariel Powell-Outlaw Animation entitled VeggieTales In The House. Big Idea has also published VeggieTales books and music CDs and branded items such as toys, clothing, and garden seeds for vegetables and flowers.

History

VeggieTales was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki through their company Big Idea Productions. Their aim was to produce children's videos which conveyed Christian moral themes and taught Biblical values and lessons. The animated feature involved stories told by a group of recurring vegetable characters who lived on a kitchen countertop. The program was offered in the direct-to-video market, with the first 30-minute program, Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, released in July 1993. In all, Big Idea has released 45 VeggieTales episodes including three Silly Songs collections, 5 holiday specials, 4 LarryBoy episodes and a drawing tutorial. In addition to these episodes, there are 13 compilations that combine previously released material, and two feature length movies, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. Beginning in 2006, the VeggieTales videos were adapted as a regular television program through the Qubo multi-platform network and NBC network. On September 30, 2008, Big Idea said that Mike Nawrocki would create an "original new VeggieTales TV series," though no further news has been revealed.

The idea for VeggieTales came in the early 90's when Phil Vischer was testing out animation software as a medium for children's videos. Due to the limitations of the software available to him, he chose to avoid the technical production hurdle of creating characters with arms, legs, or hair. His first animation model on the software was an anthropomorphic candy bar, but after his wife suggested that parents might not want to show their children videos with a candy hero, because some parents would encourage their children to watch videos that encourage them to eat healthier, he instead chose to use fruits and vegetables, their polar opposite.

Format

The episodes generally follow a standard format where a moral issue is posited in the opening countertop sequence, either through a viewer question or an issue brought up by Bob or Larry, followed by one or more "films" that address the issue, with a Silly Songs in the middle. The Silly Songs are generally introduced with a title card and a voiceover saying, "And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song." Some Silly Songs have alternate titles, such as "Love Songs with Mr. Lunt," where another character sings the song instead. The Silly Song, if one appears, is usually in the middle of the program, often at a cliffhanger moment or in between two stories. The LarryBoy episodes, in particular, often lack this segment.

VeggieTales on TV

The NBC VeggieTales television show altered the general format by opening in the living room of Bob the Tomato's house. Bob, Larry the Cucumber, and other Veggie characters then sing the show's theme song as they hop to Bob's front door. The theme song ends with a character making a random comment, such as Pa Grape commenting on Archibald's new sweater. Bob and Larry then wait for the mailman, Jimmy Gourd, to deliver a letter. When Jimmy comes, he happily sings his Mail Song, which Bob and Larry both find tedious. Similar to the opening counter-top sequence of the VeggieTales videos, Bob and Larry read the letter and the cast tries to decide how to solve the viewer's problem through one of three regular segments: Archibald reads a story from his Big Book of Oddities, Pa Grape shows an old film, or Mr. Lunt appears with his stick puppet, Paco the Storytelling Mule, and tells a story. The result always proves disastrous, as the story or film makes no sense. Bob and Larry then intervene with a story from a VeggieTales video. The show ends with Bob and Larry wrapping things up by reiterating the story's lesson and thanking the kids for coming to his house.

Characters

Main article: List of VeggieTales 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, while some have been added more recently.

Episodes

Main article: List of VeggieTales videos

Re-issues and re-releases

Big Idea has released a few "special edition" DVDs which consist of remastered videos and additional features not on the original DVD.

1. Lyle the Kindly Viking Special Edition (also includes 3-2-1 Penguins! Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn)
2. Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen Special Edition (also includes 3-2-1 Penguins! The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka)
3. Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed Special Edition (also includes 3-2-1 Penguins! The Amazing Carnival of Complaining)
4. King George and the Ducky Special Edition (also includes 3-2-1 Penguins! Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt)
5. Where's God When I'm S-Scared? 15th Anniversary Collector's Edition (also includes 3-2-1 Penguins! Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn)

Compilation videos

Main article: List of VeggieTales compilation videos

Originally, Big Idea, Classic Media, and DreamWorks Animation have all bundled the various VeggieTales episodes into video collections ranging in size from double features all the way up to a boxed collection of the first 30 VeggieTales videos. In addition, the three companies have also released compilation videos including only collections of the Silly Songs from the various videos. These song collections have included the songs in "Sing Along" format as well as countdowns of the most popular Silly Songs as voted on by fans.

Reception

Despite the lukewarm ticket sales of the two feature films, the video series and stage productions have been runaway successes. The revenue for Big Idea grew between 1996 and 1999 from $1.3 million to over $44 million. This can be attributed to the overall Christian message and the off-beat humor of the creators Vischer and Nawrocki which appeals to adults as well as kids. The left-leaning media group Common Sense Media commented on the TV series that VeggieTales "will probably be most amusing for younger kids, or, perhaps more accurately, less sophisticated viewers. It's not the lessons themselves that older kids might object to -- more the fact that you can see them coming a mile away, and even the best songs can't make getting there any more exciting."

Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie currently has a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 55 reviews from critics, with an average score of 5.8 out of 10. Conversely, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything received mixed to negative reviews and underperformed at the box office, receiving a 39% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

NBC controversy

When the show aired on NBC network television in September 2006, VeggieTales episodes were edited to remove most references to God, at the request of the NBC network's standards and practices department. The religious references remained intact in the closed-captions accompanying each episode. Notable was the removal of the program's signature sign-off message: "Remember kids, God made you special and He loves you very much." Despite this, Bob and Larry would always say "Goodbye!" at the end. The Christian conservative watch group Parents Television Council complained about the removal to NBC. NBC replied that the editing conformed to the network's broadcast standards of "not to advocate any one religious point of view." Vischer also expressed discontent with the edits, stating that he was not informed that religious content would be removed from the series, and he would have refused to sign a contract if he had known of this beforehand. Vischer said, "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." Still, Vischer added that he understood NBC's wish to remain religiously neutral, and said, "VeggieTales is religious, NBC is not. I want to focus people more on 'Isn't it cool that Bob and Larry are on television.'" Bozell wasn't satisfied about the broadcasting. He said, "If NBC is so concerned about that three-letter-word God, then they shouldn't have taken 'VeggieTales.' This just documents the disconnect between Hollywood and the real world."

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 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. The three slackers learn that a hero doesn't have to be tall, strong, and handsome to be useful.