Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Watching Saint Nicholas, one can only note how much better it is than most of the recent holiday specials, which try to have a moral to the story, but end up flat and heavy-handed. VeggieTales, on the other hand, go far beyond morals to express big ideas. The recent VeggieTales movie, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie (Widescreen), was the sort of superior entertainment that, while it enthralls kids, also engages adults. It's hard to believe this featurette is only 45 minutes, because it runs the gamut from light laughs to moving pathos to profound finale, the same arc as a feature film. Adults who happen to walk by while it's on TV will probably find themselves drawn in. Kids will see something new every time.
Bob the tomato tells the true story of St. Nicholas, while Larry the cuke constantly interrupts with more conventional ideas of Santa Claus. The real saint threw bags of money down the chimneys of poor women to save them from being forced into brothels. In this kid-friendly version, young Nick saves the poor from going to jail. Either way, he becomes the patron saint of those who fight human trafficking. The DVD includes ways for kids and families to help a long-established charity called Samaritan's Purse, and a catchy video by Matthew West and Amy Grant, "Give This Christmas Away."
There's an intense scene when the young Nick's parents die, which might be disturbing for very young kids, like similar scenes in Disney films like Bambi. The film is filled with witty asides and references to holiday trivia and packed with well-performed, singable songs. There's even a pirate who makes an appearance from the recent feature film. Bonus features include "Sing Along with Larry", an art gallery, and "Give This Christmas Away" music video. The previews include trailers for current VeggieTales, as well as bits on Cure International, which provides medical help for kids in need, and MOPS, a support group for Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers.
VeggieTales are inspiring on many levels: CGI animation that is second to none, garden-fresh story lines, sparkling wit to laugh-out-loud humor, a rough ride to the happy ending denouement, and they make you feel better, not worse. But this DVD, linking, as it does, an entertaining story to tangible ways to help, may be the biggest idea yet for bringing joy to the world.

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When Junior Asparagus and his Veggie friends learn that Laura Carrot’s dad has lost his job on Christmas Eve, Bob the Tomato decides to tell the kids a very special story about giving. Using a big storybook and a little imagination, they all travel back to ancient Greece to meet Saint Nicholas — the world’s greatest giver.

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Veggie Tales: God Made You Special Review

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(More customer reviews)I usually skip the VeggieTale collection DVD's. For some reason, I bought this one. And I've had fun taking this trip down memory lane.
This DVD features three classic Veggie stories, two silly songs, and one all new tale.
First up, "Dave and the Giant Pickle" reminds us that God can use us no matter how big or small we are by retelling the story of David and Goliath.
Then comes "Bob's Vacation," the new story on the disc. In it, a misunderstood phone conversation sends Bob off on his vacation depressed. Does Larry really think so little of him? And can Larry answer the fan mail and water Bob's plants while he's gone? Or will the other Veggies get in the way?
Then we go way back in time for "The Gourds Must be Crazy" from the third Veggie video ever. This is the story that introduced Jimmy and Jerry Gourd, in fact. The crew of the USS Applepies must figure out a way to avoid being hit by a giant popcorn asteroid. Maybe those new guys who are always eating can help.
Finally, we come to "A Snoodle's Tale." In this story, told in classic Dr. Seuss style, we learn of one snoodle who set out to discover why he was created. After some nasty encounters, he sets out for solitude. Will he find it there?
In between, we get to enjoy the classic silly songs "Belly Button" and "Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps."
When I got this, I was hoping to really enjoy the new story. However, "Bob's Vacation" was the weakest. Even though I love the verse Qwerty gives us during the story, it isn't worth getting this video to see. And the veggie on the street interviews after each episode were just a little weird for me.
However, the other stories are still as wonderful as they were when first done. Granted, we do really get to see how far their computer animation as progressed as we go back and forth in time. But everything is so entertaining I really don't care about that.
While there are good stories here, there's little reason to buy this disc. Die hard fans already have the best parts elsewhere. Buy it only if you are a collector or you don't have the classic stories presented here.

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Join Bob, Larry and all the VeggieTales friends for God Made You Special – a landmark collection of stories that help kids learn that they are special just the way God made them. In "Dave & the Giant Pickle," a shepherd boy realizes that little guys can do big things too. A trip to outer space helps the Veggies learn to appreciate the differences in others in "The Gourds Must Be Crazy." In "A Snoodle’s Tale," a self-conscious Snoodle realizes that he is uniquely made and all the Veggies are reminded that each one of us is special in the all-new "Bob’s Vacation."Filled with laughs, music, over 75 minutes of fun and lots of surprises, God Made You Special is sure to be a favorite of VeggieTales fans everywhere!

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VeggieTales: Sweetpea Beauty (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I feel like lately Big Idea has been coming with some very watered-down, unoriginal, and overlyloud productions. I grew up watching Veggie Tales and to be honest, at 20 I still watch them because I loved the simple stories and seeing stories that teach lessons that many of us tend to forget when confronted with the working life. I hated their last production, Pistaccio. I felt like there was minimal God in that video. It was more of an entertainment video rather than something to learn from. I especially hated how they just turned a disney movie into their own version. I loved Veggie Tales for their simple but creative stories, especially if they were stories taken straight from the Bible such as their Esther and Daniel productions. The name Sweetpea Beauty, threw me off cause it made me think that it was just another remake of a disney movie but after watching it, I actually liked it. They incorporated a lot more of God. I especially love their snoodle stories. I feel like the story may need some 'quiet moments' instead of every scene being so loud and full of attempted-jokes. But overall, i liked it and i don't mind watching this over and over. I do hope that Veggie Tales will make more serious, bible-centered stories in the future though! I loved the old, simple ones they did in the past!

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Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music)Release Date: 08/03/2010Run time: 50 minutes

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Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Being a member of the more (as Eddie Izzard would say) "Relaxed and groovy" sect of Christianity, it is not surprising that the wonderful VeggieTales series appeals to me, even at the ripe old age of eighteen. The videos not only give God's message in a way that little children can swallow, but sometimes as a young adult with a past of staunch religiousness to live up to, it helps me to understand my faith better to see it through the eyes of a child (or indeed, an asparagus).
So when the first feature by these marvelous people came out, I was among the first to see it. (And if you think I was embarrassed buying a ticket to "Jonah" the weekend that "Red Dragon" opened, well then...you're right) The film was stunning. It holds true to the unique (although some call it Pythonesque) style of the videos but does not depend on the videos for enjoyment. It is original, charming, bright, and Sherlock Holmes couldn't find a hint of dysfunction in the whole eighty-some minutes.
On the way to a concert, the car breaks down and driver Bob the Tomato and navigator Dad Asparagus get help in a nearby seafood restaurant. But the real tragedy is Laura Carrot has lost the backstage pass she won out the car window. Now, Junior thinks this is great because she was being mean and flaunting it. At any rate, Junior encounters three "questionable" characters who call themselves "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" (See "Very Silly Songs" or "The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown") played by Pa Grape, Larry the Cucumber and Mr. Lunt. They tell a story about "that time when [they] did that one thing with that one guy." This turns out to be Jonah (played to perfection by that green fleshed rival to Sir Lawrnece Olivier, Archibald Asparagus) who is adamantly against delivering God's message to the Ninevites who sin and curse, and even slap people with fish! (A Python reference? Most definitely) So he and the Pirates sail in very much the oposite direction, until a storm makes it apparent that God is very upset with one of them. So Jonah heroically hurls himself into the sea where he is promptly eaten by a whale. The theme is Compassion and Mercy and to remind you that no matter who you are or what kind of aquatic animal you like to slap people with, God says you are deserving of a second chance. I won't tell you how the concert goes because that'll ruin the movie, and I won't tell you how Jonah gets out of the whale because...well, frankly, you should know. It's a very well known story.
What struck me the most was the sheer scale of the project. It wasn't just like watching two and a half Veggie videos back to back (which is not a bad way to spend an afternoon). It was instead marvelously independent of the tapes. With camera sweeps and set designs that wouldn't feel out of place in the latest Pixar/Disney joint. Film students would find nothing wrong with the structure and pace of this cinematic marvel. The characters filled their parts the way we say sitcom actors embody their characters (and maybe it's stupid to say that the performances were good when the "performances" were just voice actors and cartoons, but every slight detail on Archibald's face was carefully designed by the animators to convey a specific emotion and I think the mission was meliphluously accomplished...unless I spelled it wrong). The music was not merely up to Veggie standards, it was simply marvelous. From the childish medley about "Billy Joe McGuffrey" to the Gospel choir (for my money the first reference to African-American culture in the series. Correct me if I'm wrong) singing about a God of "Second Chances" to the "Silly Songs with Larry" vein of "The Credits Song" it was all I could do to run to a shop and buy the soundtrack (a college man has to eat, you know). The end credits also featured a song called "In the Belly of the Whale" performed by Christian rock group Newsboy, which is probably a nod to the Disney tradition of an End Credits Theme. Even the presence of the clearly one hundred percent clownish character of Khalil the half caterpillar/half worm salesman with a regional accent that makes Babbu Bhatt from Seinfeld look like an Oxford English scholar could not take away from the quality of the experience.
So I urge you, Protestants, Catholics, Methodists, Christians, Baptists, Quakers, the lot to take your children, your wives or your sheep to see this movie. (You probably won't enjoy it if you aren't of the faith, because it does come pretty directly from the Bible, but if you can be patient through the religous references and stick around for the fun, go for it!) Don't just go because your kids want to go. Go because it's a funny movie, it's a good movie, it's got a good message and you'll leave feeling pretty good about a thing or two. This is the kind of movie that people need to be making more of and it's the kind of movie people need to be watching more of. I'd see it again in a minute.
I just love those veggies!

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VEGGIE TALES:JONAH:VEGGIE TALES MOVIE - DVD Movie

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