VeggieTales

VeggieTales is an American Christian franchise of children's computer animated television shows, DVDs, Blu-rays, videos, feature films, web shows, books, games and albums. Sarcastic, limbless, talking fruit and vegetable characters perform in full theatrical productions that retell Bible stories and parody mainstream pop culture. Each episode teaches a moral life lesson through a biblical world view, Christian history and concepts. The lessons include dealing with peer pressure, handling bullies, forgiving others, fighting temptation, handling fear, listening to parents, having self-esteem and being compassionate. It was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, who both perform many of the characters’ voices.The series is hosted by Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Other main cast members include Junior Asparagus, Archibald Asparagus, Petunia Rhubarb, Mr. Lunt, Mr. Nezzer, Pa Grape, Laura Carrot, Madame Blueberry, the French Peas, and Jimmy and Jerry Gourd. The majority of the shows feature Silly Songs with Larry, "the part of the show where Larry comes out to sing a silly song".VeggieTales has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, Annie Awards, Movieguide Awards, Golden Reel Awards, Chicago Film Festival Awards, Parents' Choice Awards, World Animation Celebration Awards, and GMA Dove Awards. It is distinguished as the most successful faith-based Christian franchises. VeggieTales videos are the best selling home videos (VHS and DVD) with 175 million sold. The videos have outsold every other kids property in the world to date, including Pokémon, Scooby-Doo, The Muppets, Sesame Street, SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney the Dinosaur, and Disney's Direct to Video Series.Originally released in direct-to-video format, Veggietales debuted on December 21, 1993 and released 58 original episodes on video and DVD until March 3, 2015. Big Idea Entertainment has released two theatrical feature films, Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) in association with Lionsgate and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) in association with Universal Studios, that both rank in the top ten best box office performing faith based films. From 2002 to 2003, Big Idea created a short running spin-off called Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures.For four seasons from September 9, 2006 to September 7, 2009, a series known as VeggieTales on TV! appeared on NBC, Telemundo, and ION TV as part of the Qubo children's programming block. Veggietales on TV! was the most watched Saturday morning program on television from 2006 to 2008. With an average of 430,000 children watching each weekend from 2006 to 2007, the first two seasons of VeggieTales on TV! allowed NBC to see a 16% ratings jump, its biggest in Saturday morning children's programming since 2003. The first and last segments on Veggietales on TV! episodes featured entirely new animated segments that took place at Bob the Tomato's house, while the middle segments showcased shorts from the original video series that related in subject to the newly animated segments. On November 3, 2012, the show began running on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) as well as its children's network Smile, where it currently continues to air the original videos (in a repackaged and edited format). In 2009, Netflix made numerous VeggieTales videos (in their uncut, original formats) and the two feature films available via their video streaming service. In November 2014, the original VeggieTales video series spun off into the Netflix series VeggieTales in the House, produced by DreamWorks Animation Television. VeggieTales in the House featured the characters venturing off the kitchen countertop from the original series and exploring new areas of the vegetable and fruit inhabited house. The series ran for four seasons from 2014 to 2016 and included 52 episodes. In February 2017, Veggietales in the House spun off into VeggieTales in the City in which the characters ventured off to live in the city area of the house. VeggieTales in the City ran on Netflix for two seasons and consisted of 26 episodes. From 1993 to 2004, VeggieTales videos were produced in Chicago, Illinois. After Big Idea Production fell into bankruptcy in 2003, VeggieTales was purchased by Classic Media in 2004 and production moved to Nashville, Tennessee. In 2012, DreamWorks Animation purchased Classic Media. When DreamWorks launched production on the Netflix series VeggieTales in the House in 2013, production was split between studios in Nashville, Chicago, and Glendale, California. In 2016, Comcast's NBCUniversal bought DreamWorks Animation and since then, Universal Studios currently owns the rights to VeggieTales.In 2019, Universal Studios greenlit a new series, The VeggieTales Show, which will begin airing on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and Smile on October 22, 2019 . On March 28, 2019, Vischer announced that he, Nawrocki, and Universal Studios were developing a screenplay for a new VeggieTales theatrical movie.Big Idea has also published several VeggieTales books and music CDs, as well as branded items such as toys, clothing, and garden seeds for vegetables and flowers.