Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie

My family and I are big VeggieTales fan from the UK. The movie wasn't released over here, so I had to get a Region 1 DVD and a Multi-region player just to see it.

To be honest, the film, while good, was slightly disappointing. However the DVD extras were fantastic and also explained the reason for my initial disappointment.

One of the DVD extras tries to justify what I consider the movies two biggest faults. These are the choice of story and the choice of characters from the VeggieTale universe.

The problem with the story is that they stick to the well-known Bible Story TOO WELL. They carry on past the 'famous bit' and show the end of the story, which shows that actually Jonah is a bit mean and was disappointed that God didn't kill everyone! This means the main story ends on a bit of a down, and the tacked on `big finale' seems out of place to me.

The fact that the main character turns out to be not so nice partially explains the "casting".

If you're a big VeggieTale fan, you'll be left wondering why both the stars `Bob and Larry' have such a small part. If you're not a fan, you'll be wondering who all these characters are, especially "The Pirates who don't do anything!"

As a VeggieTale fan, I was also disappointed by a) The introduction of a major non-vegetable character!!! b) The fact that they continue to move away from the original ‘joke' that vegetables can't hold anything (due to lack of arms). The movie has object's being held by ‘invisible' hands and that just doesn't seem right to me.

All that aside, the movie is pretty good. Bright, fun, silly, and a good `moral' Bible story without `morality' being laid on too thickly.

The DVD extras disk was full of VERY funny stuff, and made up for the aggravation of having to send across the pond for a DVD.

P.S. It took me a while to realise that while the Outtakes appear in Spanish (!?!) the English version is available as an ‘alternative' language.

Way to go Big Idea! This movie continues the string of excellence that is Veggie Tales. Great animation, very funny dialogs, great music, and enough little bits to keep the adults as engrossed as the kids (how many movie references did you catch?). Since I saw the first video I felt you could not go wrong with VeggieTales and with Jonah, this advice is still valid.

Bruce

After countless 1/2 hour videos and even more countless silly songs, Veggie Tales hits the big screen with a whale of a tale (get it, WHALE of a tale? HA HA!) in JONAH: A VEGGIE TALES MOVIE. True to the Veggie theme, the entire cast is made completely of talking fruits and veggies (save for a camel, a whale, and an annoying little catapillar named Khalil). Although the movie tells the biblical story of Jonah, plenty of artistic lisence is taken to provide an upbeat, musical, and knee slapping experiance for the entire audiance. And when I mean the entire audiance, I mean everyone from little bitty kids to adults. You see, the creators of Veggie Tales (Big Idea) always try to throw in a few jokes every now and then that only adults will be able to enjoy, but unless you are actually paying attention to the film you might miss it.

Now I've said that artistic lisence is taken in telling the Jonah story; however, this does not mean that you are being told an entirely different story from the one in the bible. Overall, the story told in JONAH is basically the same as it is told in the Bible, so parents don't worry about showing this film to your kids...in fact, I encourage you to see this film with your kids. Have a good time with them. Know that you are seeing a quality film and a pretty faithful retelling of the Jonah story.

I just got back from the theatre from seeing this film. I took my 3 year old daughter who is an avid veggie fan to see the film. It was her first movie and Jonah was well worth being her inaugural film going experience. But this is far from just a kid's movie. One of the Chicago newspaper reviewers said that this was not a film for adults without children. This would be far from accurate. The movie certainly works for children, but those familiar with the Veggie franchise understand that much in the same way as Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones, and the Muppets that much of the humor is for the adults.

The movie works on a number of levels:

1) It tells a cohesive story for both the Veghead and the Veggie novice. Three of the main characters in the film are the Pirates who don't do anything who have a prominent part in the Veggie sing-a-long videos. However, there is nothing in the film that hinges on previous experience with Bob, Larry et al.

2) The movie entertains and instructs. Veggie Tales are educational. They are meant to be. This film is certainly no exception. The point of this story is to be compassionate and merciful. It makes that point by telling the story of a character who was neither and a God who was both. The story effectively segues between Veggie present and Bible past to let the modern day characters learn from the Biblical ones. I do not want to leave you with the impression that this film is merely a 90 minute flannel graph (Oooh flannel graph) for church going children. This is a fine and funny film for kids of all ages (Including 38). The animation is crisp. The musical numbers are fun and provocative.

3) Junior Asparagus is in a limited role. I am not certain if I am the only one who thinks this but Jr. Asparagus is the animated Wesley Crusher. (He actually does help save the ship in one episode.) I like Jr. in small doses and I was certainly able to swallow his part in this movie.

4) Larry the Cucumber is an integral part of the film. I am a big fan of Larry and I certainly think he is the funniest cucumber making movies today.

5) Silliness abounds. From the opening car trip sing-a-long to the closing credits, the high standard of Veggie insanity is maintained.

The film is certainly not Citizen Kane for the green grocer section. It could certainly be better in parts. Some of the teaching points are a little too pronounced. I also took umbrage with a legal proceeding taking place in a land where we are continually told that they did not know wrong from right. Also I write very silly songs and live near Lombard, IL where the movie was filmed and my phone never rang once. The film is certainly strong enough to overcome these minor flaws (but when Veggie 2 starts being created, I better get a call!)

Overall, Big Idea Productions should be very pleased with this movie and I think the film going public should be as well.

I call this movie pretty good because, well, there have been better. Maybe VeggieTales should keep to cramming all the jokes into its standard thrity-minute length. However, this is still a movie the kids can enjoy and the parents can endure.

What surprised me the most was how accurate the story was to the actual Biblical story. While some things are added for a laugh, such as Ninevites slapping people with fish (showing the movie's Monty Python influence), some things were made so that it was more accurate. For examples, Jonah didn't want to go to Ninevah, he did decide to go to Tarshish instead, he did stay in the whale for three days and nights, and the vine episode at the end really involved a worm eating it away (although this worm is Khalil, the half catapillar hooked on motivational tapes.)

This VeggieTale is funny for family, but some may find it a bit dull compared to the thirty-minute ones of before. Still, it's worth the eight dollars.

P.S. If you get bored with the kiddie humor throughout, there's something more for the parents at the end: The Credits Song. After the pseudo-rock song, listen for the Pirates singing a song which has nothing to do with the movie and eventually ends with Pa Grape needing a Tums.