BAM column: Another serving of VeggieTales
From Tuesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Veggies that kids just eat up
As the theme song goes, “There’s never, ever, ever been a show like Veggie Tales.”
One of the advantages of having two sons spaced far apart in age – Chris is 14; Gabe, 2 ½ – is that my husband and I are able to pass down toys, clothes and DVDs (even a few leftover VHS tapes) from our teenager to our toddler.
In some cases, the opportunity to recycle also poses a drawback: Clothes that are woefully out of fashion, toys that are broken or weren’t any fun to begin, and programs that you never, ever, ever want to see again, including “Pokemon” episodes and “The Land Before Time 56.”
With VeggieTales, I’ve actually enjoyed getting reacquainted with Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and the rest of the wacky of computer-animated plant life.
The motto for the straight-to-DVD franchise is providing “Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun.” The series follows a group of walking (well, hopping), talking, wisecracking veggies who receive letters from kids in quandaries. Led by Bob and Larry, the leafy thespians star in childlike versions of Bible stories (“Josh and the Big Wall,” “Dave and the Giant Pickle”) or elaborate, often amusing fables about thankfulness, perseverance and other ideals. (“Madame Blueberry,” “The Ballad of Little Joe”).
Though scriptures are included at the end of each cartoon, the adventures aren’t preachy. Rather, they boast a plethora of goofy puns, a knack for clever pop culture parody and a Monty Python-esque flair for the absurd.
We got our first new taste of the Veggies in a few years when I received a screener copy of the latest DVD, “Abe and the Amazing Promise.” The gourds, carrots and other yummy characters were still talking in the same familiar voices, cooking up zany antics and belting out screwball ditties. It wasn’t as good as “Lord of the Beans,” the gang’s hilarious “Lord of the Rings” 2005 spoof about using your talents, but it was entertaining and made Gabe giggle.
And my 2-year-old isn’t the only one asking to hear those “Silly Songs with Larry” in the car. Many of his toddler pals can croon along with “His Cheeseburger” or “I Love My Lips,” 16 years after the first VeggieTales were released.
Not a bad legacy for a cucumber.
-BAM
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But the Tomato is supposedly a “fruit” now. Darn those scientists, why can’t we just base all of our facts and values on dogma like Veggie Tales does?