Last month, when I went to pick up the latest installment in the
VeggieTales series, I encountered an advertisement for the next video.
It was apparently long-awaited, originally having been slated for
release late last year, but I had never heard of it before, so I was
thrilled to discover that yet another addition to my collection would be
arriving in a few short weeks. Moreover, the previews left me prepared
for one of the greatest Veggie offerings to date, riddled with allusions
and hearty helpings of humor and heart. I am an absolute Veggie
devotee, and ranking the episodes would prove a task too strenuous for
my hierarchically challenged mind, but A Snoodle’s Tale would almost certainly land in my top five.
I enjoyed it so much that I did not even miss the asparagi (both Junior
and family and Archibald), Pa Grape, Laura Carrot… The only regulars
who appeared here were Bob, Larry, Scooter, and Jimmy Gourd. Silly Songs
with Larry also featured the unfortunately named Akmetha, the batty
leek (I think?) who first graced the screen screeching her love of
puppies before the king in Esther and has maintained a silly song presence since. At least her singing voice has improved…
A Snoodle’s Tale segues directly out of The Ballad of Little Joe;
it begins with Bob awaiting Larry’s return from Danish Immersion Camp
with a large “Velkommen Hjem Larry” sign. But when Larry arrives, he
reveals – to Bob’s horror – that a canoeing incident on the first day
left him stranded at the Overdone British Literary Adaptations Camp.
This means that he doesn’t even know enough Danish to translate the
“Welcome Home” sign, let alone fill the role of the Danish truck driver
in the story that Bob prepared for the show. However, it does leave him
qualified to tell another equally satisfying tale…
The Strange Case of Dr. Jiggle and Mr. Sly takes us back to the streets of London, which appeared before in The Star of Christmas and An Easter Carol.
But this time, all the action takes place at night, lending this
portion of the video a dark and gritty feel entirely opposite to the
second half. This Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde spoof also carries hints of
Sherlock Holmes and Watson in the interactions of Butterbun (Scooter)
and Pool (Larry). But the object of scrutiny is the kindly but portly
Dr. Jiggle and his mysterious new boarder, Mr. Sly, who dresses and
dances as though he stepped right out of Saturday Night Fever.
Though the original tale is a horror classic, there’s nothing scary in
this riotous tale about a self-conscious gourd and his disco
aspirations.
There is only one song in the first portion,
reprised once. It begins soft and wistful and builds to an over-the-top,
operatic chorus, resulting in an effect that is at once impressive and
comical. The silly song, “Sport Utility Vehicles,” employs a similar
approach, with soft, lovey-dovey verses and a loud pop chorus that
climaxes with delusions of grandeur that we hear in the music as much as
the words. (The instrumentation in this part was slightly reminiscent
for me of the heroic version of the Into the West chorus that accompanied Sam’s Frodo-laden trek up Mt. Doom in Return of the King,
an interesting observation since the Snoodle’s hike up Mt. Ginches in
the main story reminded me of the same thing. Maybe not so interesting… I
probably still just have hobbits on the brain! Then again, I was
mesmerized by the comfort of the stranger’s home in A Snoodle’s Tale,
but it was not until Mike Nawrocki referred to its hobbitishness on the
commentary track that I connected it with Tolkien. Now a VeggieTales Lord of the Rings parody – that would be perfection…) At any rate, Sport Utility Vehicle
is an entertaining duet, part love song, part ode to the SUV, and all
over-the-top. It’s also the last song in the video, unless you count
Qwerty’s “What We Have Learned” ditty.
The title tale is a throwback to The Story of Flibber-o-loo, which is featured after the credits as a bonus. Both are done entirely in rhyme very much in the style of Dr. Seuss, but Snoodle
takes the Seussian inspiration a step further, incorporating brightly
colored, wildly imaginative sets and dozens of bizarre words of which
the good doctor would no doubt approve. The lush settings are the most
aesthetically pleasing I have ever seen in a VeggieTales videos, and
that’s saying quite a bit. Furthermore, the Snoodles are an entirely
different type of creature, something we’ve never encountered before.
Their appearance is rather gourd-like, but their skin is pastel and they
sport wings, tufts of hair, and hands (but no arms).
This beautifully told story borrows some of its phrasing from The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas,
the two books which I believe were Seuss’s finest achievements. For
instance, the introduction to the idyllic lands surrounding Snoodleberg
bears a remarkable resemblance to the Onceler’s initial description of
the forest he destroyed. Moreover, there is an ironic correlation
between the snoodle-creating tower in the center of town and the
Onceler’s old factory, as well as between the stranger’s home at the top
of Mount Ginches and the Grinch’s cave. This is a brilliant homage to
Dr. Seuss.
Bob, who narrates the story, is the only familiar
character. This story focuses on one particular snoodle, a young fellow
(voiced by an actual child, as opposed to Junior Asparagus) whose
belittlement by the larger snoodles around him causes him to leave home,
deflated. His journey of self-discovery takes him to the peak of Mount
Ginches, which he is disturbed to find populated by more than just
birds. But he soon discovers that this stranger is unlike all the
others. While they shower him with scorn, this snoodle makes the
youngster feel welcome and assures him that he is special. The sequence
with the stranger is quite remarkable; we never see his face, but his
warm British voice and the way the animators showed his surroundings
reacting to him yield an incredible sense of compassion and comfort.
This incomplete revelation is utterly appropriate for this presence at
the heart of each Veggie video who did not manifest himself until this
moment.
This latest Veggie episode more than lived up to my
expectations. By turns inspiring, heartwarming and hilarious, it is a
brilliant addition to any Veggie lover’s collection and, in spite of the
allusion to Little Joe, I would recommend it to the uninitiated
as evidence of the Veggie team’s intelligence, emotional depth and
dedication. Here’s to a job well done!
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