VeggieTales: Are You My Neighbor?

Great humor, for both children and adults.

Good, relatively sophisticated music (not the all-too-simple tunes from Barney) representing many styles. Other VeggieTales shows feature R&B, ska, rock n' roll, scat, jazz, C&W, classical and more.

Some violence, but mostly the somewhat gentle (if violence can be gentle) "cartoonish" type.

Some scenes in other VeggieTales (the furnace in "Rack, Shack, and Benny, fro example) can be scary for very young children, though I can't think of any in this one.

Primarily intended for Christian viewers, but not too exclusionary (I have non-Christian friends who encourage their children to watch VeggieTales, because the basic values are sound, and nearly-universal). For example, "God" is used frequently, but I can't remember hearing "Jesus" or "The Holy Spirit" used.

Truly "Sunday morning values and Saturday morning fun".

My son loves VeggieTales, and my wife and I have been gradually working through all the episodes. We started in the middle of the series, and we've been going back and watching some of the earlier ones. After watching the first and second entries, I find it incredible that this was only their third entry and that it was released in 1995, the same year "Toy Story" was released. The animation is markedly improved from the first two entries ("Where's God When I'm S-Scared?" and "God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!"), and the writing is much sharper too.

As the title suggests, "Are You My Neighbor?" focuses on the message of what it means to be a good neighbor. It contains two stories and a silly song. The first story is a retelling of the parable of The Good Samaritan in a Dr. Seuss-style poem. It's so well told that viewers of all ages and religious backgrounds are sure to enjoy this story. The second story follows an adventure (a dream?) of Jr. Asparagus, Bob, and Larry in a loose parody of "Star Trek."

The songs are memorable and catchy (the silly song is now a VeggieTales classic), the animation looks good (especially for 1995), the stories are very well told, and the message of being a good neighbor is always a good reminder for young and old. In short, there's something to enjoy for everyone.