VeggieTales

***VeggieTales*** is an American Christian franchise of children's computer animated home entertainment series, television series, feature films, books, games, and albums. Sarcastic, limbless, talking fruit and vegetable characters feature in videos that retell Bible stories and parody mainstream pop culture. Each episode presents a life lesson through a biblical worldview, Christian history and concepts. The lessons include dealing with bullies, handling peer pressure, 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. it was one of the earliest computer animated franchises, predating both *ReBoot* and *Toy Story*.

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 and sings 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 children's franchise of all time. In 1999 and 2000, near the height of the series' popularity, the videos outsold every other kids property in the world to date, including Pokémon, Scooby-Doo, and Barney the Dinosaur. *VeggieTales* has also sold over 16 million books, 7 million music CDs, and 235 million music streams.

Originally released in direct-to-video format, Veggietales debuted on December 21, 1993 and released 58 original episodes on video, DVD, and Blu-ray 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 Lombard, Illinois, a suburb outside of Chicago. After Big Idea Entertainment filed for bankruptcy in 2003, VeggieTales was purchased by Classic Media in 2004 and production moved to Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb outside of Nashville. 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 Franklin, Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, Glendale, California, and Vancouver, Canada. In 2016, Comcast's NBCUniversal bought DreamWorks Animation and since then, Universal Studios currently owns the rights to VeggieTales. Due to the relocation of the Big Idea Entertainment’s headquarters by NBCUniversal after DreamWorks sold the Franklin studio proceeding the finale of VeggieTales in the City in 2017, future Veggietales productions will be produced in Tustin, a city in Orange County, California beginning in 2018.

In 2018, NBCUniversal greenlit a new series, *The VeggieTales Show*, which airs on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Smile, and its streaming service entitled Yippee!, beginning 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, fruits and flowers.