Tell me about Veggie Tales - Page 2

[karen ann]

As an atheist, they're not going to be my 1st choice in any event..... but, I've said it before and I'll say it.again.

Talking produce gives me the willies. Evil talking produce really wigs me out. (all talking produce is evil)

[hipumpkins]

Their voices crack me up. I like em but we have only seen maybe 2 of them.

[tuansprincess]

I enjoy the songs. I recently saw the "Wizard of Has" and was really dissapointed. I get that they were doing a "Prodigal Son" story, but I was so upset that they took a story with several very strong female characters (Witch of the West, Dorothy - Glinda was the only female I think in the story) and made them male. I don't think that my dc should only read stories with female characters, but I want a balance, kwim? And taking one of the precious few that have strong female characters and making them male chafes me!

But the actual idea of talking veggies isn't any more weird than talking animals or the like.

And the religious teachings aren't anything they won't hear if they happen to visit a friends sunday school or something.

[eckmannl]

I took my kids to see the pirates that didn't do anything today. I have never before seen a veggie tales episode or movie or anything. I was under the assumption they were overly christian and I didn't really want any part of them. I was pleasantly surprised at the movie. My kids are 3 and almost 5 and they both liked it. There was some name calling... a ninny I think was the name which I could have done without. The only thing that made me uncomfortable about the movie was that in the end they are discussing how you should always do the right thing even if you don't want to. A veggie asked about a certain instance in the movie and it was explained that it was a test. I was cringing while expecting to hear more specific religious reasons attached to that, but there weren't. I would absolutely let my kids see it again. Thanks for the info in this thread. I'm glad to hear that there are other movies that are not completely religious and more moral.

[CherryBomb]

It really depends on which ones you're watching. I mean, the Jonah movie (which is hilarious!) is obviously overtly religious. Others aren't.

[princesstutu]

Originally Posted by CherryBomb

It really depends on which ones you're watching. I mean, the Jonah movie (which is hilarious!) is obviously overtly religious. Others aren't.

I find it hilarious that the Jonah movie is my fave VT vid and it's so "overtly religious." I tend to laugh at myself a lot, tho.

I'm looking forward to this film even more, now. We LOVE the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. One of my fave VT songs, it is.

[Jennisee]

We checked one out from the library, and it was too religious for us. Maybe it was one of the older ones?

[nonconformnmom]

Originally Posted by eckmannl

I took my kids to see the pirates that didn't do anything today. I have never before seen a veggie tales episode or movie or anything. I was under the assumption they were overly christian and I didn't really want any part of them. I was pleasantly surprised at the movie. My kids are 3 and almost 5 and they both liked it.

Same here. I understand that the Veggie Tales has new ownership and that the pirates movie was "scrubbed of all biblical references" by the new management.

I found the characters creepy. Most of them have no eyes! What is the symbolism of that - perhaps that religion makes us blind followers? Also, they have no arms yet swords and dust mops and things float around attached to nothing. I don't understand the whole veggie aspect of it, since they being vegetables really never comes into play.

My 5 yo enjoyed it okay but my 3 yo cried when the scary cheese curls came on. I thought she could get through that part and then be okay, but she continued to cry whenever scary music or dark scenes came on so I had to take her out before the movie was half over. I spent the last half in the lobby while my older daughter and the 5 yo watched it to the end.

[grisandole]

We are not Christian (dh is Buddhist, I'm pagan, the in-laws are Jewish) but we let ds2 watch veggie tales. He's 5 and still loves them, he really liked the pirate movie. My older ds, now 15, liked veggie tales up until he was around 9, lol.

I think they are cute.

[sunshine1793]

Personally, I really love Veggie Tales. I think they are hilarious, and I like the voices, bright colors, stories, and music. The scripts are really witty and clever, imo. They have been such a help to me, because my 8 month dd enjoys them when I need 15-20 min for a shower or to get dinner cooking, etc, or a little break... The videos are Christian, but I don't think they are offensively so.... They aren't full of church phrases or rules, or things you need to believe (dogma, theology, etc). They are more about being friendly and kind, and simply "God made you special and He loves you very much."

We have:

"God Made You Special" - This was the first one we bought, and dd's favorite, perhaps because of the music. There is a lot about God in this one, but also a person's intrinsic value.

"Lyle the Kindly Viking" - this is a good one about sharing, but it does reference God and the Bible a few times.

"Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler" - I don't think it mentions God in either of the stories, just in the introduction and closing of the video. It is about not taking credit for other people's ideas (the 'golden ruler' gets stolen about the same time as Larry takes credit for Bob's work, and is found when Larry realizes it), working together, helping a friend, sticking by a friend in a tough time.

"Moe and the Big Exit" - a western version of Moses. It doesnt include Miriam though, just Moses and Aaron. That is my only criticism of VT - the lack of women characters. This one isn't quite as good as the others, imo.

We also have "Lord of the beans" and "The wizard of has" and some of the silly songs dvds but I haven't watched them much. I did enjoy the wizard of has though. But again, like a pp said, no women characters. Oh yeah, we have the Christmas one as well, but it also isn't a big favorite.

[SarahLi]

I don't mind veggie tales although I hate "Josh and the big wall". It's a story about genocide in the Old Testament and this video makes a big joke of it.

[mamaofthree]

Some of them are pretty religious (IMO that is lol) some don't really seem that religious at all. The videos with the singing only are pretty funny actually. We rarely get them except if the wee boys find them at the library.
Over all I think they are pretty harmless. Depends on how preachy you want them to be. I didn't care for the easter bunny one, too weird to me.

h

[marisa724]

We have no organized religion around here but we do enjoy some Veggie Tales. We've gotten a couple from the library (the viking one springs to mind) and we actually own the "Silly Songs" dvd, which really has nothing to do with religious themes at all. We just watched it the other night as a family (DH is also a fan ).

DS (4) and I went to see the Pirates movie last week, and we both had a good time. There was a part right at the end where the 'morality' was clear, but it wasn't overtly Christian. I was comfortable with the amount of 'lesson' they included, I guess. Mostly it was just silly and adventurous, with one sorta scary part (for DS) - featuring some evil cheese.

I have to say that I personally was thrilled at the 'cover' of the B-52s "Rock Lobster" at the end (lyrics changed to "Rock Monster" to fit the plot of the story).

A PP said that most of the characters didn't have eyes, and I don't think that's true -- most of them do (either big googly ones or little dark dots -- I can only think of Pa Grape right now who only has eyebrows). But it's true, they have no arms -- it's a little weird but also a little funny to see things float next to them.

[llamalluv]

Originally Posted by BoxOfRainMama

Thanks for starting this thread.... I was wondering/interested in this one too. MY 3 year old is into pirates but we are not christian... I think I will take him, going to the movies is so fun.

I saw this recently - there were not as many references to God and Christianity in the 80 minute movie as there are in the typical 30 minute videos. But, there WERE a lot of "inside jokes". For instance, the whole thing with the cheese curls will probably not make any sense to you. I mean, I'm a fan since the first video, and I barely got the joke.

[llamalluv]

I found the characters creepy. Most of them have no eyes! What is the symbolism of that - perhaps that religion makes us blind followers? Also, they have no arms yet swords and dust mops and things float around attached to nothing.

Um...no. It's another one of those running jokes. Mr. Lunt also has no belly button, and there is a whole song about that.

[JesseMomme]

I thought they were really funny, but not being religious I cringed a bit at the more overt stuff, however, my kids enjoyed them when they were little, so we didn't react either way. Now we don't seem to have any (we had a couple given to us on VHS and those are all gone now) and I'm not sure my boys even remember them.