Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie

After countless 1/2 hour videos and even more countless silly songs, Veggie Tales hits the big screen with a whale of a tale (get it, WHALE of a tale? HA HA!) in JONAH: A VEGGIE TALES MOVIE. True to the Veggie theme, the entire cast is made completely of talking fruits and veggies (save for a camel, a whale, and an annoying little catapillar named Khalil). Although the movie tells the biblical story of Jonah, plenty of artistic lisence is taken to provide an upbeat, musical, and knee slapping experiance for the entire audiance. And when I mean the entire audiance, I mean everyone from little bitty kids to adults. You see, the creators of Veggie Tales (Big Idea) always try to throw in a few jokes every now and then that only adults will be able to enjoy, but unless you are actually paying attention to the film you might miss it.

Now I've said that artistic lisence is taken in telling the Jonah story; however, this does not mean that you are being told an entirely different story from the one in the bible. Overall, the story told in JONAH is basically the same as it is told in the Bible, so parents don't worry about showing this film to your kids...in fact, I encourage you to see this film with your kids. Have a good time with them. Know that you are seeing a quality film and a pretty faithful retelling of the Jonah story.

I bought this movie before I ever even bothered watching it because I figured, hey, it's Veggie Tales. How can you go wrong, right? Well, I don't regret buying it, but it's not quite as good as most of the regular Veggie stuff.

Most of us have a pretty good grasp on the Jonah story right? Well, just as always with Veggie Tales, the heart of the story is there with the most important details, and then everything else gets mixed up and screwed around with. It starts off with Dad Asparagus and Bob the Tomato driving a bunch of the little veggies to a Twippo concert. Then they encounter some difficulties on the road and find themselves with two flat tires and crashed into a tree stump.

They get out and head for the nearest building, a seafood restaurant. When Junior Asparagus sits down at the table, he hears some people talking on the other side of the glass. It's the pirates who don't do anything! I don't remember what they ask Junior, but they eventually strike up a conversation, and the pirates tell Junior the story of that one time when they met Jonah and had a little adventure… Jonah was a prophet who traveled across Israel delivering God's messages to His people. Then Jonah gets a call from God to deliver a "turn and repent" message to Ninevah. But why Ninevah? The Israelites and the Ninevites don't get along, and Jonah would rather die than go there. So he decides to go against God's orders and sail as far as possible in the opposite direction, to Tarshish. He hires the pirates who don't do anything to take him out there, and so the four of them set sail for Tarshish.

Just like in the Bible story, there's a big storm because of Jonah, and after they cast lots to determine who is responsible (done quite ingeniously in the movie I think), they throw Jonah into the ocean. The storm goes away when they throw him in, and a whale (not a big fish like the story) comes along and swallows Jonah up. There Jonah has a little encounter with a choir of asparagus angels, and then the whale barfs him up on the shore, and he heads out for Ninevah.

I think the hilarious thing is how the pirates end the story. Just like in the Bible story, at the end, Jonah is wailing and mourning and whining and crying and there's no real conclusion, and that's how it ends in the movie. The pirates just say "the end" and that's pretty much it. Of course, there's still some other stuff that happens outside of the story segment of the movie.

Overall it's done pretty cleverly, but it doesn't quite have the same Veggie Tales zip that it should. The special features on the DVD and certainly worth the cost though.

Bottom Line: 3 out of 4 (worth watching)

I read a interview a few years ago with the creators and they are huge Monty Python fans. You know the type, they spent hours in the A/V room in high school endlessly reciting line by line the Holy Grail. "She turned me into a Neut!"

So think of this movie as a odd combination of religious dogma and pseudo english humor that somehow works as a whole.

I'm not the religious type but I found the movie to be as much fun as my kids did. The vast majority of religiously inspired productions are plagiarized from popular culture [remember that Thou shall not steal thing folks!] But this is highly original and a real hoot.

I'm still humming the song "We're the Pirates who don't do anything" endlessly. It may drive me to drink, probably not the intent of the directors!

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a perfectly good-hearted, innocuous tool to help indoctrinate your children into the Christian faith. Of course, that's a little too brash, but it's an accurate summation of the animated film that features bright colors, grandscale animated settings, themes relevant to real life, and talking vegetables that simplify stories to make them accessible to your little ones.

This film seems to defy film criticism in the way that it already has its own route to its target audience. In addition, the audience who wants nothing to do with the film will find no challenge in trying to ignore it. Its target audience will find the film recommend to their young children at certain church events and religious gatherings and children will likely be fascinated by the franchise's aforementioned traits. Honestly, the VeggieTales shorts aren't the worst type of videos to show your children. However, if one can look past the colorful qualities for just a few moments, they will find nothing more than a surface-level, preachy, morality play that grows tiresome quickly and is thankfully punctuated by a fluffy song in between the dreary exposition of the Bible.

The film opens with Bob the Tomato driving Dad Asparagus and several young vegetable children to a concert. They wind up getting into a bit of a wreck and seek help at a seafood restaurant where they meet "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." "The Pirates" decide to entertain the gang by telling them the story of Jonah, an ambitious prophet who makes a living preaching the word of God to different towns. One day, God himself implores Jonah to preach his word to the town of Nineveh, a dangerous, unholy village, to which Jonah refuses and decides to travel to Tarshish, the furthest you can get from Nineveh.

What unfolds is something of a road movie, with Jonah, who is an asparagus creature mind you, meeting random assortments of food, getting infamously swallowed by the whale, and learning such themes as compassion and mercy. Even the Veggie children learn of such themes, one meaning to respect your companions, the other meaning to give others second chances even if they don't deserve them. Such morals are the foundation of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie's existence and, in seventy-eight minutes, it does more than get its point across. It beats the morals and themes into the head of the viewer until you feel like telling everyone within your vicinity what you learned just to make the knowledge you gained seem more useful in some way.

Thank the lord there are at least catchy songs that turn up every now and then to snap you back into reality. One song in particular I enjoyed, and wish was actually a complete tune, is "Billy Joe McGuffrey," which the young Veggie children are singing in the car which winds up distracting Bob the Tomato as he drives in a rush to see the concert. The fast-paced tune, the frantic animation, and the excitement of everything happening at once made me feel like a young kid watching the VeggieTales on a Saturday morning. What followed were other catchy tunes that, thankfully, were complete songs, like "Message From the Lord" and "Jonah Was a Prophet," two songs I'll be damned if I could get out of my head.

I think that's value of watching something like Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie when you're either too old or an outsider of the target audience is the nostalgia factor. My generation was one that probably got the most use out of this franchise, and seeing these characters come back for one harmless film was something that, at the very least, was cheerful and amusing. On another note, not completely necessary. However, at a concise seventy-eight minutes and featuring a few catchy anthems, it's not a real task by any means.

Voiced by: Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Lisa Vischer, Dan Anderson, Shelby Vischer, Kristin Blegen, and Jim Poole. Directed by: Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki.

I just got back from the theatre from seeing this film. I took my 3 year old daughter who is an avid veggie fan to see the film. It was her first movie and Jonah was well worth being her inaugural film going experience. But this is far from just a kid's movie. One of the Chicago newspaper reviewers said that this was not a film for adults without children. This would be far from accurate. The movie certainly works for children, but those familiar with the Veggie franchise understand that much in the same way as Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones, and the Muppets that much of the humor is for the adults.

The movie works on a number of levels:

1) It tells a cohesive story for both the Veghead and the Veggie novice. Three of the main characters in the film are the Pirates who don't do anything who have a prominent part in the Veggie sing-a-long videos. However, there is nothing in the film that hinges on previous experience with Bob, Larry et al.

2) The movie entertains and instructs. Veggie Tales are educational. They are meant to be. This film is certainly no exception. The point of this story is to be compassionate and merciful. It makes that point by telling the story of a character who was neither and a God who was both. The story effectively segues between Veggie present and Bible past to let the modern day characters learn from the Biblical ones. I do not want to leave you with the impression that this film is merely a 90 minute flannel graph (Oooh flannel graph) for church going children. This is a fine and funny film for kids of all ages (Including 38). The animation is crisp. The musical numbers are fun and provocative.

3) Junior Asparagus is in a limited role. I am not certain if I am the only one who thinks this but Jr. Asparagus is the animated Wesley Crusher. (He actually does help save the ship in one episode.) I like Jr. in small doses and I was certainly able to swallow his part in this movie.

4) Larry the Cucumber is an integral part of the film. I am a big fan of Larry and I certainly think he is the funniest cucumber making movies today.

5) Silliness abounds. From the opening car trip sing-a-long to the closing credits, the high standard of Veggie insanity is maintained.

The film is certainly not Citizen Kane for the green grocer section. It could certainly be better in parts. Some of the teaching points are a little too pronounced. I also took umbrage with a legal proceeding taking place in a land where we are continually told that they did not know wrong from right. Also I write very silly songs and live near Lombard, IL where the movie was filmed and my phone never rang once. The film is certainly strong enough to overcome these minor flaws (but when Veggie 2 starts being created, I better get a call!)

Overall, Big Idea Productions should be very pleased with this movie and I think the film going public should be as well.