The Associated Press
Director Michael Barnard (center) talks with (from left) Pa Grape, Jerry Gourd, Larry the Cucumber and Junior Asparagus during dress rehearsal for "VeggieTales Live!" at the State Theatre in Minneapolis in January. The wisecracking vegetables, who bring morality lessons to kids, are leaping from videotape to the stage in the live singing and dancing production, which is preparing to kick off a national tour.

VeggieTales live: Wisecracking vegetables have moral message

JEFF BAENEN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Saturday, March 2, 2002

MINNEAPOLIS -- Even without arms or legs, Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato are leaping off the videotapes and onto the stage of "VeggieTales Live!"

Larry, Bob and a bushel basket of their wacky vegetable friends are featured in a singing, dancing, theatrical version of the popular VeggieTales videos that use humor to teach children morality lessons.

"It's kind of the equivalent of what if Monty Python took over your Sunday school class," co-creator Phil Vischer says of the direct-to-video series that has sold more than 25 million tapes since its debut in 1993.

Vischer says for the 28-city national tour, which recently kicked off in Minneapolis, the show's creators were trying to stage a big event for which busy families would find time to attend.

And if families also learn something from the show, "That's kind of the added bonus," he says.

Taking a live show on the road was the next logical step for Vischer's Big Idea Productions, based in the Chicago area. The VeggieTales' first movie, a retelling of the biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, is scheduled to hit theaters this fall.

Vischer was a computer animator in Chicago, working on commercials for Pop-Tarts and other products, when he came up with the idea for VeggieTales.

He says he noticed that children were attracted to "junk food" stories on television but bored by media that tried to convey a positive message. Vischer says he wanted to make something good for kids that they would actually like -- "to make an apple that tastes like a Twinkie."

His first cartoon character was a candy bar. "And then my wife said, 'You know, moms are going to be mad if you make their kids fall in love with candy bars,' " Vischer says.

So Vischer came up with another simple shape -- a cucumber with expressive eyes. And so Larry the Cucumber was born in 1991. He was soon followed by Bob the Tomato, whose red skin and squat appearance complemented Larry's long green shape in an Abbott-and-Costello-type act.

Vischer was joined by a friend, Mike Nawrocki. The two had met in Bible college in the Twin Cities and were on a puppet team that Vischer says had been "writing really goofy scripts and driving around northern Minnesota, scaring Baptists."

From that two-person operation in Vischer's apartment grew a business that now employs more than 200 people. Last August, the 15th VeggieTales release, "Lyle the Kindly Viking," was named best animated direct-to-video release at the World Animation Celebration.

Nawrocki, 35, provides the squeaky voice of Larry the Cucumber while Vischer, also 35, voices Bob the Tomato. The VeggieTales cast includes about 20 characters, including French peas with an attitude, Pa Grape, Junior Asparagus and a couple of gourds named Jimmy and Jerry.

"VeggieTales Live!" features two Old Testament stories from the VeggieTales videos -- David and Goliath done as "Dave and the Giant Pickle," and Joshua and the Battle of Jericho as "Josh and the Big Wall."

Three original songs were written for the show.

Tony Award-winning designer Michael Curry, whose Broadway credits include "Crazy for You" and "The Lion King," designed the costumes. On stage, the colorful, inflated veggies are joined by dancers with broccoli and celery headdresses. The only human character is a stage manager who interacts with the audience and can lend a hand when an armless-and-legless veggie falls down.

There are many amusing touches, such as a sheep delivering a pizza and the David vs. Goliath battle done as a boxing match. Larry's silly songs break up the action.

While other kids' shows such as "Sesame Street" and "Barney" feature secular messages about honesty and cooperation, VeggieTales clearly comes from a Christian perspective, says David Walsh, president of the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family.

"They're very explicit about that," Walsh says. "They don't apologize for that at all. That's their mission."

The VeggieTales videos are a big seller at Northwestern Book Stores, a Minneapolis-based Christian bookstore chain.

"It teaches good values and good morals and there's nothing questionable about it," says Gayle Stegeman, director of marketing and promotions for Northwestern. "It's good for all ages."

Judging from the children clapping and cheering along at the Historic State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis, "VeggieTales Live!" is a hit.

"We had a blast. The kids really enjoyed it," said Cicely Laing of St. Paul, who attended with her husband and two daughters, ages 2 and 5. "I wasn't sure how they were going to do the veggies, but I was pretty impressed."

The tour, part of a two-year agreement between Big Idea Productions and Clear Channel Entertainment (formerly SFX), travels to Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis and other cities before taking a summer break, then resumes in September and runs until November.

'VeggieTales Live!'

The live-action show featuring inflated vegetables will be at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle Nov. 12-15. Visit the VeggieTales Web site at http://www.veggie tales.com or http://www.big idea.com for more details.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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