VeggieTales

Note: I wrote this on a Google Doc for fun back on July 18th, 2022. I wanted to share it here so it could be seen more. I titled my essay "Why I Still Love VeggieTales".

Even though I am 23 years old (24 next month), I still love the Christian animated series VeggieTales. Why is that? The simple answer is that I still think it's really entertaining. But it goes much, much deeper than that. That's what I need to write this essay for.

To start off, it's nostalgic. I've watched it all my life. Sometimes watching it gives memories of being younger, like watching Minnesota Cuke and the Search For Samson's Hairbrush every weekend when I was 7.

It also started my passion for movies. Not only was VeggieTales what introduced me to film, but it took part in me getting into what are now some of my favorite movies. This is from them parodying movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Rocky, and It's A Wonderful Life. (I actually saw IAWL first.)

Even bits of episodes helped me in school. In Senior Year English, I could explain homophones ("Where the toads are towed down on the plain!..I need my kneaded biscuits plain!") due to the Silly Song Schoolhouse Polka from Sumo of the Opera, the Rocky parody.

In science class, I could define photosynthesis due to Larry Boy and the Rumor Weed, and in 7th Grade English, I was the only one who understood "Who's On First?" because of Duke and the Great Pie War.

Even then, that doesn't scratch the surface of why VeggieTales is so deep for me. Here it is- the series has shaped me into the person I am today.

I hope writing this isn't pompous of me, but many people praise how well I know The Bible. VeggieTales is the origin for this. From the Bible stories it taught me to the verses, much of my love for The Bible and knowledge of it comes from VeggieTales.

As a kid, that's what got me to actually READ The Bible. My favorite video growing up was Rack, Shack, and Benny. That got me to read Daniel Chapter 3 by myself. (To be honest, I copped out from reading David and Goliath- who wants to read 58 consecutive verses when you are a kid?)

Even today, some of the humor is amusing. In Are You My Neighbor, there is a story based on The Good Samaritan. Larry gets his head stuck in a hole, and the Mayor and Nurse of his town refuse to help him. Why?

"We're busy, busy, frightfully busy, more than a bumblebee, more than an ant! Busy, busy, horribly busy, we'd love to help, but we can't!"

Mind you, they can stand around and sing and dance and set up a DISCO BALL OUTSIDE, but they can't pull a cucumber out of a HOLE!

Speaking of humor, there's also the Silly Songs. It's a cherry on top for these videos to have songs about a bald vegetable missing a hairbrush or a gourd's infatuation with a cheeseburger.

It's also impressive how they handle rough parts of The Bible. For example, in King George and the Ducky, the story of David and Bathsheba is told. However, a king coveting his neighbor's wife is replaced with coveting his neighbor's rubber bath ducky.

In Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen, instead of Haman wanting the Jews to be hanged, he wants them banished to an island where they are to be tickled for eternity.

For a final example, in The Ballad of Little Joe, a Western version of Joseph and His Brothers, Joseph being accused of raping his master's wife is replaced with Little Joe being accused of stealing money from his boss. While different sins are accused of, they both show Joseph being accused of trying to take something that isn't his, in a way that kids can understand.

Anyways, to top it all off, most importantly, the lessons from the videos have guided me in life. Take Rack, Shack, and Benny, for example. Once, when I was in elementary school (circa 3rd grade), we were given candy at the end of the day but told to not eat it until we got home.

I was ridiculed by a classmate shortly later for being the only one (and I mean the only one) actually listening to the teacher. It felt weird then, but I'm proud of it now.

Rack, Shack and Benny was what kept me from eating the candy. Just like those 3 boys, I knew I had to do the right thing, even if everyone else was doing the wrong thing.

Where's God When I'm S-Scared?!? The very first video has helped me in numerous areas of my life. When I endured my abuse 9 years ago, or went to school 3 hours away, or stayed home alone for 10 days, I would be afraid. But then I'd remind myself:

"God is bigger than the Boogie Man! He's bigger than Godzilla, or the monsters on TV! Oh, God is bigger than the Boogie Man, and He's watching out for you and me!" This would always ease my fears.

Other episodes have helped me in life- Minnesota Cuke helped me show love to kids who picked on me. Not always, to be honest, but often. Sweetpea Beauty helped me not worry about girls not finding me attractrive. It's A Meaningful Life stopped me from thinking about death as a young kid, and also kept me going in my abuse. Again, this barely scratches the surface.

VeggieTales also works for me because of how good they are compared to other Christian movies. I recently wrote an essay called "I'm A Christian And I Hate Most Christian Movies", writing how movies like God's Not Dead hate on atheists.

That's not what VeggieTales taught me. Bob and Larry taught me to love my neighbor (Are You My Neighbor), my enemies (Minnasota Cuke/Hairbrush), my family (Duke and the Great Pie War), and others (The Star of Christmas). And of course, most importantly, to love God. (Shouldn't I just put every video here?)

And that's why I, a man in my 20s, still love VeggieTales, and why I probably always will. It's nostalgic, entertaining, and a deep part of my life. I will be forever grateful for that, and to me, that's not worth giving up. VeggieTales isn't just a Christian cartoon to me, it's something deeply meaningful.

Why does this get only 6.8? Yes it's a kids show, but i know older people who like it (Not including me.) I know a lot of Christian shows can be pretty corny but Veggie Tales is I think the highest quality Christian series for kids. It is also good and clean for young kids, and entertaining enough for the adults like what one of the other reviewers said. It has fun great characters kids love like Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber. They're cute and teach Christian values in a good way. The content is stuff that most parents will not find offensive even for there youngest kids 3-4 years. The have a Super hero i used to love when i was a kid. Larry-Boy! While the villains may sometimes frighten kids, they are still fun. The violence is very light and should not frighten kids. And they don't really say any bad words. Except the parents guide said that there is one use of stupid in an early episode, and if they said it i didn't hear it. Over all if you have kids, get them this.

Veggie Tales is a great well made Christian animation for kids and it's the best. Teaching Bible lessons and great morals is what this show offers. It's funny and as an adult I enjoyed watching it as well. Those who criticize this show as bad just because it's Christian is not a fair review, obviously they haven't watched it without a bias.Veggie Tales not only have great lessons but great catchy silly songs as well for a sing along. The characters are all Veggies and cute looking and bad guys are not too scary for kids. Nothing bad like adult jokes are never said in this show like they do in other kids animation shows. It's a overall great show and I highly recommend this show for everyone to watch and enjoy.

VeggieTales is one of those things that I enjoyed more than most people expect themselves to before they watch it, like The LEGO Movie, Disney-Descendants, or even Ralph Breaks the Internet. I really appreciate the time and effort that Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Lisa Vischer, and other writers and directors of VeggieTales put into telling brilliant stories palatable for both Christian and non-Christian kids that teach them positive life lessons. When Phil Vischer made The VeggieTales Show in 2018, he regretted only teaching kids to behave Christianly in the original video series without teaching them more about Christianity, but I ironically think that the wide variety of entertainment in VeggieTales movies is why it has been so popular and long-running, with different people like Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Jim Fisher & Jim Stahl, Brian K. Roberts, Mark Steele, and Cory Edwards seeming to serve different terms for writing or directing 3-to-9 ideas of VeggieTales films aired over the course of several years. Some of them did a great job writing female-led storylines in recent years when most of the films before Esther's introduction (and re-introduction as Petunia) were all male protagonists, but I would like to see Lisa Vischer or Megan Murphy write VeggieTales tales for a change, so they could be the first female directors or writers of their kind.

I miss Esther, but I am glad that the character designers made a suitable replacement for her 4 years later. Petunia Rhubarb was a great new addition to the main cast, and Cydney Trent can be a friend close in age to Lisa Vischer as Mike Nawrocki is to Phil Vischer. What I said before about the variety of entertainment in VeggieTales refers to the fact that some of their movies are based on Bible stories with our veggies being renamed in them to match the characters they play, but other times, their films are a nice spoof on classic literature, TV shows or movies that the creators enjoy, and there are also some stories such as Are You My Neighbor, Madame Blueberry, Auto-tainment or the LarryBoy stories, in which the veggie characters are still themselves and not playing a character with another name. VeggieTales has graced us with affectionate parodies of Gilligan's Island, Star Trek: The Original Series, An Easter Carol, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Pirates of the Caribbean (maybe), It's a Wonderful Life, Pinocchio, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen + The Avengers, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Saturday Night Fever, and Beauty and the Beast, all while still teaching the traditional veggie life lesson that they always do. It was fun growing up with VeggieTales for 20 years from 1993 to 2014 (except I was actually born in 1998), and watching Big Idea's computer animation improve over the years like when you watch a Pixar movie, except that with VeggieTales, you get to see the look of the same characters change over time within the advanced animation instead of waiting many years to see them again in a sequel. Speaking of Pixar, I think it is a very nice coincidence that Big Idea's The Toy That Saved Christmas featured a living human-like toy one year after Pixar came out with Toy Story, their first full-length animated feature.

I watched Veggietales as a kid and now as a parent I can still appreciate the humor and characters. I'll admit that most Christian shows can be pretty corny but Veggietales has a strong entertainment value much as it does for the themes. The pop culture nods, silly songs and characters can be compared to an Animaniacs for slightly younger viewers.

The series has stretched out to TV, home viewing and movies. I'd say the best experience is the home viewing as the episodes on TV are edited for time and, to lessor extent, removing a little of the Christian lines. The videos also include fun silly song intermission breaks in the episode which are pretty entertaining.

I can only knock the show currently for its slower and less flashy older episodes and a couple of so-so episodes.