5 Days of Finchnwren’s Fabulous Family Movies–Day 1, VeggieTales!

Yes, it’s time for another one of my fave Schoolhouse Review Crew events—the 5-Day Blog Hop!

This time, the category is “Five Days of……”  You can imagine that there will be amazing and varied topics to read!  And, as always, I’ll include a link to the main page of all the Blog Hop bloggers, as well as direct links to the other 8 members of my group.

As you can tell from my title, my contributions to the Blog Hop are family movies!  Each day, I’ll share some of our family’s favorite movies.  Here’s the lineup for the week!

• Monday:  VeggieTales!
• Tuesday:  Pixar
• Wednesday:  Inspirational Films
• Thursday:  Date Night
• Friday:  Family Devotions

So, here we go….and as Bob the Tomato would say, “hi, and welcome to VeggieTales!”

Years ago when Murphy and I were on the mission field, other American families in our city introduced us to the delights of VeggieTales.  We were immediately taken in by the wry humor, the great storytelling abilities and the huge array of vegetable characters dreamed up and voiced by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki.  And we didn’t even have children yet!  So of course, when we were finally blessed with our son Jackson, we knew VeggieTales was going to be a part of his childhood!

I think that most, if not all of the Western world is familiar with VeggieTales.  But, if you’re not, let me introduce you.

Bob the Tomato is the earnest master of ceremonies; he introduces and closes each show, and also stars in many episodes.

Larry the Cucumber is Bob’s goofy sidekick and comic relief.  He is also the star of “Silly Songs with Larry.”

The vegetable ensemble cast also includes Jimmy and Jerry, the gourd brothers; Mr. Lunt (another gourd), Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot, the main children in the series, Archibald Asparagus, the token proper Brit, Pa Grape, Mr. Nezzer (another cucumber or pickle, I’m not quite sure) and Petunia Rhubarb and Madame Blueberry.

The VeggieTales team excels at taking Bible stories, moral lessons and pop culture, and animating them with great humor and vegetables.  The stories are not only clean and delightful but are as watchable by parents as they are by the kids.  As Larry the Cucumber says, “I laughed….I cried….it moved me, Bob!”

Our collection of VeggieTales is sort of old school.  We haven’t bought a VeggieTales DVD in three or four years.  But here are a few of our most favorite ones:

• “Lord of the Beans” (and yes, this is a takeoff of “Lord of the Rings”…perfect for you Tolkien geeks out there; a story about gifts)
• “Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson’s Hairbrush” (a nod to Indiana Jones” and Samson both)
• “Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler” (yes, Sherlock, and the Golden Rule)
• “Duke and the Great Pie War” (a medieval retelling of the story of Ruth)

Veggie Tales also created two feature-length films that are equally as wonderful as their shorter shows:

• “Jonah:  A Veggie Tales Movie”
• “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”

These are fantastic movies.  “Jonah” is VeggieTales’ version of the Bible story of Jonah.  It has fantastic songs and a great storyline that mostly matches the story in the Bible; except, of course, for the scene inside the whale’s belly with an angelic choir, and the extra character/narrator of Khalil.  Murphy and I discovered one night when Jackson was about 18 months old, and asleep in bed, that there was an audio commentary with characters Mr. Lunt and Larry the Cucumber (voiced by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki).  We ended up laughing so hard we snorted, trying to keep from waking the baby!  It is purely hilarious on its own, but there are times when the two of them are about to crack up themselves, which makes it even better.  The DVD set also includes music videos from the movie, behind-the-scenes extras and even movie “outtakes!”

“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” grew out of a silly song from a Veggie Tales show.  This heroic pirate-y tale includes time travel, a princess rescue and what a hero really is.

Speaking of songs, original, catchy (and again, hilarious) songs are part of what makes VeggieTales so fun.  Years later we are still singing….

• “Endangered Love” (Barbara Manatee)
• “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”
• “Love My Lips”
• “The Hairbrush Song”
• “Song of the Cebu”
• “The Water Buffalo Song”

And, just for fun, here are a few of our favorite VeggieTales lines:

• “Bacon!”
• “Cookie man say NO.”
• “With sound chip!”
• “Nothing.  Zilch. Zilch!”
• “And also a hippo.”

We’ve returned this year to watching VeggieTales here and there.  They are short and sweet and a delight to watch; and now Jackson’s old enough to really appreciate the humor that VeggieTales aims at its adult viewers.  We have so enjoyed this!  VeggieTales excels in a lot of things….but the best is that they provide delightful, fun-filled family entertainment, suitable for every member of the family.  And, you might just learn something about yourself as well!

If you’d like to visit the VeggieTales website, you can download free activities for your family and children alike; watch videos and sign up for special offers.

“Remember….God made you special, and He loves you very much!”

Why don’t you check out some of these wonderful blogging friends in my group, who are part of this 5-Day Blog Hop as well?  You can see each topic they’re writing about this week, and the links will take you right to their blogs.

Ellen @ Grace Tells Another Story ~ Making Homeschooling Fun! – Chunk the Schedule!

Marcy @ Ben and Me ~ Helping Children in Uganda – Meet Praise!

Wendy @ Simplicity Breeds Happiness — Around the World: Korean Bulgogi Beef (Recipe)

Sarah @ Delivering Grace ~  Learning about England: Introduction

Victoria @ Homemaking with Heart ~  Connecting with the Creator through Nature Study

Joanie @ Simple Living Mama ~ Charlotte Mason Habits

Gwen @ Tolivers to Texas ~ A Happy, Peaceful Home

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses ~ FREE Geography Resources for Homeschool

And if you’d like to see what over 60 Crew bloggers are writing about this week, just go to the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog!!

 

Enjoy!  –Wren