A long time ago I talked about the Veggie Tales song The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, which was covered by Reliant K and then turned into a Cowboy Bebop anime music video by some fans.
Now someone has uploaded the original video which started this whole mess. For those who are curious about what this Veggie Tales stuff is but don’t want to get caught looking in the kid’s video section, this is a good way to sneak a peek:
Veggie Tales is kind of a variety show put on by a bunch of… Christian… vegetables. I guess. In some ways it reminds me of The Muppet Show. Anyway, you can see in that video how the show is often held on the kitchen counter using elaborate (but sort of cheap-looking) homemade sets, which is a joke in itself, since the show is done in CGI. After all, a cardboard facade is not any easier to make than a “real” set in CGI.
They spoof a lot of different kinds of songs and musical styles. Here is a pretty good send-up of the classic boy-band: Belly Button. For a journey into the really silly, there is always I Love My Lips. How about a classic love song, His Cheeseburger.
For a view of the evolution of the show you can go all the way back to the beginning: The Water Buffalo Song. You can see they were still learning their craft. The set is dull, the song is not very clever or catchy. Larry’s voice sounds all wrong. (He was more of a moronic doofus in the early shows. He’s evolved since then is is more child-like, and less plain old “stupid”.) They characters have simple animations. Instead of really dancing, Larry just moves in place.
The reason I bring this up is because I really appreciate the show. Most Christian stuff is highly derivative, unoriginal, obvious, shallow, heavy-handed, and cheap. Angel Wars. Superbook. Adventures in Oddesy. Or worst of all: Bibleman. *shiver* It’s humiliating. So, when something like Veggie Tales comes along I like to give them the thumbs up. To the guys at Big Idea Productions: Thank You For Not Sucking.
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My family has spent many a delightful hour or so watching VeggieTales. The moral stuff is not heavy-handed at all, and the “episodes” are chock-full of pop-culture allusions that are frequently hilarious. Their recent “Lord of the Rings” spoof was just priceless (“They named me by the sound I make with my throat.” “So your name is Ahem?”)
NBC anti-Christian bigotry continues. This time NBC censored Bible verses and expressions of Christian love from the children’s cartoon Veggie Tales being shown Saturday mornings on NBC.
NBC says comments such as “God made you special and He loves you very much” were offensive and censored them from the show.
Let NBC hear your opinion!
I don’t think this is NBC being bigoted. I think this is NBC being afraid of lawsuits. It’s not like they are favoring a different religion. Even if you consider Atheism a religion, they’re not saying there is(are) no God(s). They’re just trying not to offend, and offending anyway, because there will ALWAYS be someone who is offended.
Now, whether the folks at Big Idea knew what they were getting into when they signed on with NBC remains open for discussion. (somwhere else on Shamus’ blog, I think)
If they were being honestly unbiased, they’d consider it to be a kid’s show with cultural overtones. Like Dora the Explorah. You don’t have to be hispanic, or have any interest in the culture to enjoy it, but it is an insight to a culture that kids might not otherwise be familiar with. Those who are hispanic, on the other hand, have the kind of the comforting feeling of learning something that they should be, and knowing all is right with the world. And gaining further knowledge and junk.
Veggietales in its original form is only unacceptably different from Dora the Explorah because it would be seen as forcing mainstream culture onto minorities instead of education kids about a minority culture.
Anyway, when discussing this with my friend, who’s 21 like me and raised in a Christian household like me, the only other non-terrible kid’s stuff we can remember is from the 80s. And therefore, dinosaurishly old even when we were little. It was McGee and Me, the tales of a teenager and his self-drawn imaginary friend. Kind of like Lizzie McGuire 15 years before it’s time, if Lizzie were male and Christian.
I for one LUV veggie tales and completly agree wit u!My older sisters to too and my bro PRETENDS not to but when i look up veggie tale songs i almost always catch him looking back!! But What i dont understand is that like on NBC Christian shows aren’t aloud but shows such as my gym partner is a monkey are aloud though they show and talk about eolution! And even though there are no bible verses i think it is VERY good that NBC is showing veggie tales cuz then they might just stumble across Bigidea.com or Lifeway and see a veggie tales that they would buy watch and after alot more stuff become Christian (once u do it u can never turn back!) and be saved from a firey death (probally their parents too once they start talking)! Which I for one count as VERY, VERY GOOD!
I love Veggie Tales I own every movie I think they are amazing. I love Larry I can’t stop drawing him in class!!! He is my hero. And by the way I think you should watch all the movies. No matter how old you are. I mean I even know a 13 year old who loves them.
Hi
My son loves the Veggie Tales movies in fact I enjoy them as well the are better than half the cartoons set out for these kids and not as annoying. As for Nbc they amaze me for a company that says its family oriented and cutting edge today you would think that these shows wouldn’t itdmate them