VeggieTales plant seeds of faith

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This article was published 11/03/2007 (7128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE folks who made kids fall in love with vegetables have imagined the unimaginable again: Moses as a cucumber cowboy.

That’s right. VeggieTales’ newest movie, Moe and the Big Exit, turns the Old Testament story of Moses and the Exodus into a Western with cowboy hats, belt buckles and all.

Each VeggieTale includes a central nugget of truth that children can take away and apply to their lives, said co-creator Mike Nawrocki, also the voice of main character Larry the Cucumber.

Moe and the Big Exit is no exception. Through silly songs and colourful scenes, the produce pals encourage children to let God be their strength and follow his directions.

The movie tells the story of Moe, a cowboy who is living it up in Dodgeball City while his kinfolk slave away digging the Grand Canyon. When God speaks to him from a burning tumbleweed, Moe confronts the mayor saying, “Let my people go.”

A heap of trouble rides right on in to Dodgeball City when the mayor refuses, and it doesn’t let up until he releases Moe’s people from bondage.

As the plot unfolds, Moe comes to recognize that the situation in Dodgeball City worsens whenever he relies on his own strength. Eventually Moe learns that in order to free his people, he has to rely on God and follow God’s plan.

During a phone interview from Toronto, where work is underway on a new VeggieTales feature film set for release next year, Nawrocki said he hopes Moe will help young children grasp the main ideas in the story of Moses, so when they are older they will be able to understand the real story more easily.

“We do the best we can to get the story right and boil down the message and the language into something that kids can understand,” Nawrocki said. “In doing that, some wonderful truths come out.”

Houstonian Jeremy Aganon is particular about what her six-year-old son Joshua watches, but VeggieTales gets the stamp of approval. She likes them because they teach valuable lessons.

Joshua has a collection of videos, along with a VeggieTales Bible dictionary, character clothing and toys. From his movies, he has learned things like how to not be afraid and that there are no monsters in his room, he said.

Those lessons, his mother said, came from the video “Where’s God When I am S-Scared?”

“We used the video to say, ‘God is bigger than the boogeyman,’ ” Aganon said.

The series opens the door to the Bible, and once that door swings open, parents can take over and set the record straight about the Bible stories that VeggieTales bring to life, she said.

“It kind of piques their interest right away and then we can say Moses isn’t really a cowboy,” Aganon said. “We make sure he knows the Bible facts behind it.”

Moe, at 52 minutes, is VeggieTales’ 34th direct-to-video episode. The computer-animated videos aimed at children ages two to nine are produced by Big Idea Inc. and have sold more than 50 million copies. In 2002, VeggieTales released its first feature film Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, and last year, the series was adapted for NBC’s Saturday morning cartoon lineup.

After more than a decade, VeggieTales is still a hit with children because kids can relate to the characters, said Craig Johnson, children’s pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston.

“They deal with the issues that kids deal with every day,” he said. “And while they are enjoying the program, they are getting a little message or character trait or Bible story that is tied in somehow.”

As director of Lakewood’s Kidslife ministry — which caters to almost 4,000 children from infancy to Grade 5 — Johnson knows it’s vital to keep children entertained. If they aren’t having a good time, they won’t sit through it — not though children’s church or a movie.

With VeggieTales, children grow “and they are entertained and they have a lot of fun,” Johnson said. “That is a huge milestone.”

— Houston Chronicle