Veggie Tales: A Mainstream Christian Media Success

Bob is a round, red tomato that may take his job too seriously but has the best of intentions.

Larry is a tall, green cucumber who is sometimes mistaken as a pickle; he is the heart of the show and needs lots of attention or he is likely to make things difficult.

With dozens of supporting vegetables and a healthy side dish of flaky, French peas, Veggie Tales has been a hit with Christian families for over a decade. A few years ago the people behind the studios of Big Idea, Inc. released the motion picture Jonah and promptly made mainstream headlines for its special mix of morals and humor that was safe for the whole family; unlike some other recent "family" films that include vulgar language and lewd humor.

While some people might be put off by the Christian themes that the Veggie Tales franchise is founded on, it is plain that even non-Christians benefit from the ongoing releases; a second feature film, The Pirates who Don't Do Anything, was released in January of this year. Reviews are obviously awkward to follow; Christian media calls the franchise excellent, non-biased mainstream calls it average or mediocre, anti-Christian media cries, "Fowl!"

The universal feature of the Veggie Tales stories is the fun; the moralistic and Christian themes are never laid out too thickly. There is a quick recap at the end of each episode that explains the Christian theme with more depth, including scripture verses, but the stories themselves concentrate on a fun experience for the whole family.

Recent episodes over the past few years have been akin to spoofs or parodies of mainstream film and literature; from The Lord of the Rings and Sherlock Holmes to The Wizard of Oz and Mark Twain. These reinterpretations of film and literary favorites help the Veggie Tales franchise to reach out to the more mainstream audience.

Perhaps the most enduring highlight of each episode is the many comedic songs throughout each story. Many of the songs themselves are spoofs of modern entertainment from boy bands to opera. The subjects of the songs can range from obvious silliness, such as the loss of a hairbrush, to a more veiled and adult oriented theme such as a happy character attempting to sing the blues.

The entire catalogue of Veggie Tales can be purchased through the Big Idea, Inc. website at Bigidea.com. If you were to spend some time there you may notice that the franchise shows no sign of slowing. The website is updated often with news of upcoming episodes.

So, if you are looking for some family friendly entertainment and you don't mind some Christian themed morals, give Veggie Tales a chance; you may find it is the best show you have not been watching.