- Bob: "Hi, kids, and welcome to VeggieTales..."
Larry: "...on TV!"
VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer-animated films featuring anthropomorphic fruits and vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity. The episodes frequently retell and recreate Bible stories anachronistically reframed and include humorous references to pop culture. The series was developed by Big Idea Entertainment.
History
The characters in VeggieTales were originally created by Phil Vischer. He and Mike Nawrocki began producing the films (Nawrocki later took over the entire project when the rights were bought by Classic Media), and they also did many of the voices. Originally released in the direct-to-video format, the series debuted on December 21, 1993. From 2002 to 2003, Big Idea created a short running spin-off called Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures. From September 9, 2006, to September 7, 2009, VeggieTales appeared on NBC as part of the Qubo Saturday morning children's programming block. On November 3, 2012, the show began running on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) as well as its children's network Smile TV, where it currently continues to air episodes (in a repackaged and edited format). Upon the franchise being owned by NBCUniversal as a result of their acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, the Qubo episodes (and some from the former Gospel Music Channel, whose channel space is now occupied by UPtv) resurfaced on NBCUniversal-owned Cozi TV in 2016 before being replaced by NBC's The More You Know block (produced by Litton Entertainment, makers of fellow Qubo shows Culture Click and Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller).
Qubo version
The Qubo VeggieTales television show altered the general format by opening in the living room of Bob the Tomato's house. Bob, Larry the Cucumber, and other Veggie characters then sing the show's theme song as they hop to Bob's front door. The theme song ends with a character making a random comment, such as Pa Grape commenting on Archibald's new sweater. Bob and Larry then wait for the mailman, Jimmy Gourd, to deliver a letter. When Jimmy comes, he happily sings his Mail Song, which Bob and Larry both find tedious. Similar to the opening counter-top sequence of the VeggieTales videos, Bob and Larry read the letter and the cast tries to decide how to solve the viewer's problem through one of three regular segments: Archibald reads a story from his Big Book of Oddities, Pa Grape shows an old film or Mr. Lunt appears with his stick puppet, Paco the Storytelling Mule, and tells a story. The result always proves disastrous, as the story or film makes no sense. Bob and Larry then intervene with a story from a VeggieTales video. The show ends with Bob and Larry wrapping things up by reiterating the story's lesson and thanking the kids for coming to his house. Qubo episodes end with characters bidding the audience a simple "Good-bye".
Trivia
- This was the first show to air on Qubo’s NBC block as well as the first show to air on all the Qubo brand, thus making it one of the most important shows in Qubo's history.
- The show (original only) can currently be seen on Smile TV.
- A reboot series, VeggieTales in the House (later retitled VeggieTales in the City for its final season), premiered in 2014 on Netflix...and wasn't as well-received as the original.
- A revival series, The VeggieTales Show, is currently being made and premiered on TBN on October 22, 2019. New episodes are streaming on TBN's streaming service, Yippee.
Gallery
Episode Guide
Silly Songs with Larry
- "Just stop being so silly!"
- ―Archibald Asparagus (The Water Buffalo Song)
Silly Songs with Larry is a regular feature in Big Idea's cartoon series VeggieTales. It generally consists of Larry the Cucumber singing either alone or with some of the other Veggie characters. Occasionally, another character or an ensemble is featured in Larry's place. The Silly Songs have proven to be a very popular part of the show and has also prompted the release of several "sing-along" videos that feature compilations of these segments culled from other episodes, wrapped with new material that threads them into a fresh context.
Segment
Typically a Silly Song is introduced with a static picture of Larry and an unseen narrator saying, "And now it's time for 'Silly Songs with Larry', the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a Silly Song,". However, this format is used loosely; sometimes it is renamed, adapted to the context of the episode, or eschewed altogether.
The Silly Song, when present, always appears in the middle of an episode, usually at a cliffhanger moment or between two separate segments. The segment either takes place on the familiar countertop which opens and closes most episodes, or is presented in another setting off the countertop. On some videos, the background scenery often appeared as a stage set, behind which electrical outlets and ceramic tile can be seen.
On a few occasions, the song is stopped and replaced before it can even begin. When this occurs, the brief images that are shown of the original song are intentionally more outlandish than usual, leaving the audience to wonder what it might have been. Examples of this occurring include Madame Blueberry, Lyle the Kindly Viking, Moe and the Big Exit, and Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue.