I arrived home the other day to a delightful surprise: a VeggieTales
ambassador kit containing promotional materials and a preview copy of Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson’s Hairbrush.
I have to get busy distributing the activity packs and seeing about
showing the movie at church before its release date the end of next
month. But first I need to record my impressions of the latest offering
from my favorite brand of Christian entertainment.
The show
begins, as most do, with a letter, though in this case it winds up being
two letters, both addressing the same distressing topic: bullies. I
recently saw an episode of Dr. Phil in which his battered young guests
received a shot of encouragement from the exquisite Clay Aiken, who has
never hidden the fact that before his rapid rise to stardom he was
looked upon as a loser by many of his peers. By the time he left high
school, he’d learned how to stand tall in the face of bullies, and I
think he would heartily appreciate the episode’s message. I,
meanwhile, would heartily appreciate the possibility of a guest
appearance by him in a future video. If Rebecca St.-James can do it, why
not Clay? A girl can dream.
Anyway, the topic at hand is
bullies, and who better to demonstrate that affliction than juvenile
goody-goody Junior Asparagus? Some folks don’t care much for Junior
because of his preciousness, not to mention the self-righteousness he
displays in several episodes. I, however, still think he’s darn cute,
and his segment of this show is most enjoyable. It plays a bit like A Christmas Story
as we are treated to visions of his wild imagination. In these
daydreams, he fills the shoes of Robin Hood (accompanied by some
marvelous minstrel music), a star quarterback and a starship captain.
But his real-life problem is as daunting as any his overactive
imagination can cook up. With a little help from his dad and his friends
(among them, the adorable bespectacled Annie, who rather resembles me),
he comes to a conclusion by the end of the tale about how to deal with a
particularly ferocious bully so that he can get back to his
merry-making on the playground. Keep an ear out for a soft echo of Little Guys Can Do Big Things Too from Dave and the Giant Pickle
as Junior, inspired by something greater than Garrison Keillor’s famed
powder milk biscuits, goes out and does what needs to be done.
Incidentally – and I may have mentioned this in my review of Duke and the Great Pie War
because I was so impressed with it just from the preview – Junior has a
really cool tree house. It’s just your basic tree house, really, I
suppose, but I envy him. I always wanted one but never had a tree big
enough to support it. Oh, well, that’s a subject for another episode, I
suppose…
For the astute observer, a scene near the beginning
of Junior’s escapades provides us with a glimpse of the next segment, a
Silly Song entitled Pizza Angel. It’s reminiscent of His Cheeseburger,
in which Mr. Lunt croons passionately about Jerry Gourd’s unrequited
love affair with a cheeseburger. Here, Larry is doing the singing for
himself, moaning about the fact that his beloved pizza is taking far too
long to arrive. The tragic ballad recalls such maudlin fare as Leader of the Pack, while I assume the title is a play on Johnny Angel.
Larry sings with such gusto, you’re likely to catch your tummy rumbling
just a bit by the end of the song. You may even be inspired to order a
pizza yourself – or, given the outcome of the song, perhaps it’s more
likely you will be dissuaded from your next attempt at a quick and yummy
meal. Kudos to the ever-savvy lyricist for the reference to ordering
pizza online.
Minnesota Cuke (Larry) is the main attraction,
and he draws us in right from the outset, clutching a golden carrot
while he frantically sleds away from the noseless snowman head
relentlessly pursuing him. As if sudden near-avalanches aren’t enough,
he has to deal with Professor Rattan (Mr. Lunt), who has undermined
every mission he’s ever undertaken. In fact, their rivalry dates all the
way back to early elementary school, when Rattan replaced the gummy
worms in Minnesota’s lunch with real worms, fostering a lifelong hatred
of the invertebrates akin to Indiana Jones’ ophidiophobia. (What a
cumbersome word to describe “fear of snakes” I think I fear the word
more!)
This is not Minnesota’s first appearance. He also
starred in a video game, which I admired but never wound up buying.
Maybe one of these days. I hope he becomes a recurring character like
Larry-Boy. His posse includes his assistant Martin (Bob), a pair of
barbers (of Seville) and the lovely Julia, apparently sliding into being
typecast as Larry’s love interest, which is basically a new direction
for VeggieTales. She was first seen as Petunia in Duke and the Great Pie War.
I wouldn’t be shocked if she showed up in the next video as an elf
maiden with a name suspiciously similar to Arwen. The two have great
chemistry in this adventure, and we’re treated to several exciting feats
of daring-do in which both are participants. The soundtrack is
inspiring, with its swelling heroic backdrops, including a nod to the
all-time most popular Silly Song.
I found it amusing that this
adventure revolves around Niagara Falls. We just visited the falls last
weekend with our exchange student, Cathi, who had to settle for the
American side due to visa complications. Thanks to the Maid of the Mist,
however, she managed to get a pretty up close and personal look at both
majestic waterfalls. Every time I visit Niagara Falls, I am reminded of
Superman II and that delightful scene in which he rescues a
child who falls over the railing; as he flies her up to safety, an
elderly woman in the crowd comments, “What a nice man!” One would think
that such a national landmark – not to mention the honeymoon capitol of
the world – would make an ideal location for many a movie, but the only
other film reference we could come up with was Bruce Almighty. Now I have another movie to add to my flimsy arsenal. I have a feeling I’m missing a lot of movies…
VeggieTales is usually pretty good about rewarding those fans who are
faithful enough to sit through the credits, and in this case those who
persevere are rewarded with the Minnesota Cuke theme song, performed by
bluegrass legend Charlie Daniels. It all adds up to a wildly
entertaining ride, one of the best Veggie offerings yet, making me even
more optimistic about their November release – one video to rule them
all.
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