Don't Stop Believing

**Don't Stop Believing** is the twenty-first episode of The VeggieTales Show, which teaches a lesson in learning to trust.

## Plot

The Veggies receive a letter from the Veggie Fan Club where the fan asks for help on understanding what “faith” looks like and how to practice it in their everyday lives. Does having faith mean believing really hard or believing in impossible things? Pa Grape suggests the Veggies act out the story of Abraham and Sarah. They trusted God for a child even when it seemed impossible.  Their faith in God helps us all learn about how to practice faith in God every day in big things and in small things.

## Characters

* Bob the Tomato
* Larry the Cucumber
* Archibald Asparagus
* Junior Asparagus
* Pa Grape
* Jimmy and Jerry Gourd
* Mr. Lunt
* The French Peas
* Madame Blueberry
* Petunia Rhubarb
* Dr. Flurry
* Mr. Nezzer
* Jimmy Neutron
* Timmy Turner
* Wubbzy
* Dora
* Boots
* Backpack
* Map
* Swiper
* Fiesta Trio
* Benny
* Isa
* Tico
* Diego
* Baby Jaguar
* Bruce Onion (*non-speaking role; theme song only*)
* Lisa Asparagus (*indirectly mentioned*)
* Mike Asparagus (*indirectly mentioned*)

## Songs

* The VeggieTales Show Theme Song
* Is It Possible?
* Put Your Faith in God

## Fun Facts

### Trivia

* This episode was released exactly 19 years after the 2002 Warner Home Video reprints of the 3-2-1 Penguins! episodes Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn and The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka.
* This is the first episodes of several things:
	+ The first episode to feature Junior since The One and Only You!
	+ The first episode to feature Dr. Flurry since The Wonderfulness of Wisdom.
	+ The first episode in which Archibald narrates a Bible story since The Good Shepherd, and the first episode in which he does so for the second segment since The Giving-est Day.
	+ The first time Pa is seen with a brown beard since God Loves You Very Much.
	+ The first episode to not show Jean-Claude as the "Verse angel" in the closing segment. Only his voice is heard in this part.
	+ The first time Dr. Flurry has a role in the Bible story.
	+ The first episode to feature more than one verse since The Power of Love.
	+ The first episode in which Archibald quotes a verse outside of a LarryBoy episode since God Wants Us to Make Peace.
	+ The first episode in which Petunia quotes a verse since The Power of Love.
	+ The first episode in which Larry quotes a verse since Samson's Bad Hair Day.
	+ The first episode to acknowledge or mention Junior's parents since Bye Bye Bacon Bill! and the first since the aforementioned episode in which they featured in some way other than making pictured cameos, although they are only mentioned in this episode.
* This is the second episode to have a game show-themed segment, after the Wheel of Bravery segment from A Tale of True Courage.
* There were a couple of differences between pre-production and the final product:
	+ Larry's comment about noses growing was originally going to be about turtles breathing through their bottoms. This was most likely changed for being too off-color.
	+ Elizabeth's letter was originally going to be about whether or not faith is about believing in silly things. This was changed to her questioning how she could have faith if she keeps losing in all of her team's baseball games. Despite this change, the topic of faith being about believing in silly things is still acknowledged by Petunia and Bob.
* This was the twenty-sixth episode in production, while it was the twenty-first released. Going by production order, this makes it the final episode of The Veggietales Show. It was also the last production to be made before Big Idea shut down production in late June 2021, forcing Phil Vischer, Lisa Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, and Kurt Heinecke to get laid off as a result.
* This is the third episode where Larry does not have a role in the Bible story, with the first being God Wants Us to Make Peace and the second being The One and Only You!
* The verses that Archibald, Petunia, and Larry quote at the beginning of this episode are John 11:35, Matthew 28:20, and 1 Corinthians 13:13, respectively.
* This is the final episode to be written by Phil Vischer.
* This is the last episode to have Phil Vischer voice Map, Swiper, and Fiesta Trio.

### Remarks

* Bob tells Jimmy that faith isn't about holding your breath and closing your eyes. However, Jimmy was crossing his eyes instead of closing them.
* When the veggies talk about faith, their voices are sped up, although in the pre-produced version, their dialogue is played at a normal speed here. This change was possibly made to keep the episode's duration under 23 minutes.
* Pa hands Bob a script for the Abraham and Sarah story, but Bob did not actually have a part in the story.
	+ However, he was seen holding the script when Mr. Lunt says "And give Mr. Lunt whatever he wants. He is a great guy," to which Bob acknowledges that the line was not in the script. This likely indicates that Bob was only reading the script to see if the story goes well and if everyone in the story reads their lines right.
* Although Pa's costume has the same design from his previous portrayals as Abraham, it does not have the same color scheme from before.
* Abraham throughout the story is referred to as Abraham which is odd because before Issac was born, his name was Abram.

### Goofs

* When Jimmy talks about Pinocchio, he is seen floating a couple of times.
* When Larry says "Faith is when we trust someone to do what they say they'll do.", "faith" is cut off.

### Inside References

* Larry acknowledges that *VeggieTales* has previously done many shows about love, as well as one about hope.
* Pa Grape reprises his role as Abraham from Abe and the Amazing Promise and God Wants Us to Make Peace.
* Several costumes are re-used during the Bible story:
	+ Pa’s Abraham costume is in the same color scheme as his Simeon costume from The Best Christmas Gift. The French Peas' baby costumes are also identical to the one worn by the baby pea in the same episode.
	+ Madame Blueberry's young Sarah costume is re-used from several previous episodes. Her older Sarah costume is a recolored version of this costume, as well as other costumes she wore in certain other episodes.
	+ Jimmy and Jerry's costumes are re-used from a few earlier episodes.
	+ Petunia's costume is re-used from a few previous episodes.
	+ Mr. Lunt's costume is re-used from It's Cool to Be Kind and Forgiveness Brings the Fixing.
* Mr. Lunt's role as God is done offscreen, a likely callback to a similar role he had in The One and Only You!, which was also done in the same manner.
* Some of the lyrics in the final verse of Is It Possible? are "save a man inside a whale" and "break his children out of jail."
* Madame Blueberry tries passing off Nuzzle Buttons as a baby.

### Real-World References

* The title is most likely a reference to the 1981 Journey song of the same name.
* When Jimmy jumps off the diving board, he shouts, "I believe I can fly!" This is a likely reference to the 1996 R. Kelly song of the same name, which was also used in the 1996 Warner Bros. film, *Space Jam*.
* Jimmy mentions the classic fairytale, *Pinocchio* to Pa and Madame Blueberry during the bible story.