VeggieTales: Josh and the Big Wall!

A CHRISTIAN CARTOON THAT DOESN'T SUCK???? In fact, its quite great. As a Christian who thinks 99% of Christian media shampoo's crotch its nice to see these nostalgic vegetables. These cartoons have great lessons and are extremely entertaining on their own. 10/10

...after watching them too many times, they start to get reeaaaly old.

Now, don't let that deter you from watching them. By all means, I encourage anyone to watch these shows. They are funny and cute, and can be enjoyed by everyone, even people who might not normally appreciate a Christian message in a video. I myself enjoy watching them on occasion, especially ones that have a lot of jokes that adults will understand more than kids (e.g., the "Are You My Friend" one which spoofs the classic Star Trek.) But here's a bit of advice from someone who has worked in a church nursery for 5 years running: if you own a video, DO NOT watch it too many times! (The nursery owns several tapes.) It WILL drive you insane, no matter how much you love it. I suppose it's the same way with any children's video; in many ways these VeggieTales tapes are a lot better. But the jokes can get old and repetitive and the songs tend to be annoying. Additionally, if you have any kids, or know any kids who own VeggieTales, they'll be reciting the jokes and songs nonstop. If you have a tape, I suggest you save it for a rainy day, or as a special treat or reward. Other than being a bit annoying at times, these VeggieTales tapes are really quite wonderful if watched only every once in a while, and can be a nice way to share a good message with kids. I give all the tapes about an 8 out of 10.

I love the Veggie Tales videos, as do my two toddlers. However, this one video has a major stumbling block for me. I can allow for the fact that the characters are vegetables and that they soften the violence of the original Bible story for young ears. I do not, however, like the fact that the whole story is based on the Israelites not 'following God's directions' when, in this instance, they *did.* They followed his directions to the letter. There are so many other instances in Scripture where the Israelites disobeyed. There was plenty of material out there on which to base a story with this lesson. To imply disobedience here when they obeyed seems slanderous.

Beyond that, the video is great. Some of the people at Big Idea Productions are obvious Monty Python fans. I just gotta love that! However, I've decided to avoid purchasing the VT videos based specifically on Bible stories (as opposed to morality tales) as history is not something I like to see messed with.

The story of Joshua leading the Israelites to take Jericho. A real fun way to tell this story with plenty of laughs. I have shown this to tots (2-3yr olds) through 40yr olds and all have loved it! The animation is excellent and the songs pretty catchy. The kind of short you'll want to watch again and again.

Computer animated veggies...who would think of something kids hate to eat and apply morals to them, to make the best Christian videos ever? Big Idea productions. I think we all need to salute these guys. They take the same technique as the Simpsons (few people do all the voices, great humor, etc.) and apply, as I said before, morals. Great for kids, and even fun for us adults.

Ignore the woman who said they get tiring after watching a long time...I own them all, and watch them constantly, and to tell the truth, I can't get enough limbless vegetables with morals...

John "Larry the Cucumber" Ulmer

5/5 STARS