When two things you love converge, it’s a beautiful thing. So when I first heard about Big Ideas’s Lord of the Beans back in April, I could scarcely contain my anticipation. VeggieTales meets Lord of the Rings?
How great is that? And how could I wait until November to see it? Well,
I got cut a little break in that regard. As a Big Idea ambassador, I
get to screen a preview copy of the latest Veggie offering a month or so
in advance and, in turn, show it to eager churchgoing kids. Are those
kiddies in for a treat!
Lord of the Beans is touted as
an epic, clocking in at 45 minutes (typical of recent Veggie videos),
all of which is devoted to the main story (atypical). Actually, there
are breaks for the traditional counter-top bookend scenes and the silly
song slightly beyond the mid-point. I was a bit surprised to see the
intro and conclusion intact; previews had led me to believe it might be
like Esther, which lacked all the normal Veggie conventions (and
was something of a disappointment). Certainly they didn’t take away from
the story - though that could’ve gone for an hour and a half and I
would’ve been thrilled! Larry’s antics with his “ukelele” that set the
stage for the story are amusing, and poor Bob doesn’t show up in Center
Earth at all, so it’s nice that he gets to be included somehow.
Because of the subject matter, I regarded this video a bit differently
than most Veggie offerings; I focused primarily on the degree to which
it parodies Lord of the Rings. The first thing that jumps out is
the amount of detail in these visuals. Although the reason for choosing
Veggies as the subject of their series was their lack of limbs, making
them easy to animate, the creators are no longer restrained by
limitations in animation technology. Ever since The Star of Christmas,
VeggieTales has peppered its offerings with artfully complex set pieces
and costumes. The landscapes here are impressive; I especially love the
outside shot of Billboy’s cozy flobbit hole. The Shire (incidentally,
the only location or character whose name remains unchanged) is lush and
green - though the grass seems a bit shorter than expected. Perhaps
they have lawnmowers? Anyway, every location is deeply detailed, the
costumes are beautifully realized, and every inch of animation is richly
textured - except for the expository flashbacks, which are rendered
more as storybook pages.
Also impressive is the musical score. Usually this aspect doesn’t stand out all that much, though it did in Minnesota Cuke
as well. In both cases, the source material has a distinctive score,
and its Veggie counterpart alludes to that. I love the flutey tones of
the Shire and the spooky chorus that strikes up whenever the Bean is
seen. Clearly, Howard Shore’s take on the book was an influence. In
terms of plot points, director Phil Vischer draws largely from Peter
Jackson. The scene in which we first meet Toto Baggypants and Randalf is
almost identical to the one in the film, though the Veggies milk more
silliness out of it. Indeed, up until the point when Toto agrees to
undertake the quest – at which point we very quickly jump ahead to the
formation of the Fellowship – it is extremely similar to the opening
Shire scenes in the film – though more abbreviated and a bit sillier, of
course.
The quest begins, and it turns out to be considerably
less fraught with peril than that of Frodo and company. This isn’t too
surprising, since Vischer’s tale is not one of good vs evil but rather
of discovering the proper use for the gifts we are given. Like Bilbo,
Billboy used the Bean for his own purposes for many years, and though it
initially made him successful and happy, it gradually began to lose its
luster. Billboy is more willing to give up his prize, recognizing that
his use of it has contributed to his general sense of malaise, and
although this object is not inherently evil, Toto remains nervous about
accepting it. Nonetheless, once the decision is made, he is determined
to follow through with his quest to discover its purpose. He and his
intrepid companions face the stinging blizzards of the Mountains of Much
Snowia and the wrath of the humorless Elders of the Razzberry Forest
before drawing near to the Land of Woe, where Toto must finish the
journey alone – at least until he meets a most unusual companion.
Given the focus of the story and the time constraints, I’m not
surprised that quite a few characters did not make the cut; still, it
was sad to see that Sam was excised entirely. Then again, given Junior’s
past history, the most likely companion for his Toto would be a flobbit
played by Laura Carrot, and I’m not sure how I would feel about a
female Sam. At any rate, the character wouldn’t really fit into the
story as Vischer decided to tell it. We do get quite a few characters
though. Stubble-sporting Ear-o-Corn is more Larry than Aragorn, but if
he’s far sillier than that stern ranger would ever be, he’s just as
valiant. Jimmy Gourd hams it up as pointy-eared Leg-o-Lamb, sneaking
around trees and rocks with his bow - complete with plunger arrows -
taut. Pa Grape’s axe-wielding Grumpy is mostly modeled after Gimli, but
he pulls triple duty, constantly craving food like Pippin and seeking to
undermine Toto like Boromir. Mr. Nezzer is in a leadership role as
usual as the wizened Randalf, but for a change he is competent and
scrupulous. Completing the fellowship is Leg-o-Lamb’s unnamed brother.
The reasons for his inclusion don’t become apparent until the
conclusion, when his contribution supports the theme of everyone having
gifts and needing to use them in the best way possible.
The
aforementioned Billboy is played by Archibald Asparagus, that
sophisticated, monocled Brit. His speech is one of my favorite moments
in the video. In addition to performing a stirring song, he speaks what
are probably the two most amusing lines in the whole adventure. The
villainous leek who still lacks a name plays Lord Scaryman, whose army
of Sporks engages the Fellowship in battle when they infiltrate the Land
of Woe seeking to rescue Toto. Mr. Lunt plays Ahem, a Gollum-like
character who used the Bean to enable his life of ease before it fell
out of his possession. Other characters include the Elders, ent-like
creatures whose deep-voiced leader engages in a long-winded set of
greetings with Randalf, and a very random yet useful unicycle-riding
chap who clearly is a reference to poor maligned Tom Bombadil.
One character I could have done without was Akmetha. She’s almost
certainly the most annoying character in the Veggie canon, having made
her first appearance in Esther singing a dreadful rendition of a song about puppies. Silly Songs With Elves
gives us the nod to Aragorn and Arwen’s romance that I thought might
occur, but I expected the Elven beauty to be portrayed by Petunia, who
has been Larry’s romantic interest in the past two videos. Instead we
have Akmetha, looking batty as ever and especially irate, spewing some
high-pitched, quick form of speech that sounds nothing like Elvish and
which translates as broken English. I thought Elves were supposed to be
superior beings! So she got on my nerves a bit, but I loved Larry’s part
of the song, in which he croons about his love in the style of Elvis
(with regalia to match), so I can live with her brief appearances. The
other songs are well done. All those performed by individuals are a
capella style except one, which features the jarring instrumentals of an
accordion. Randalf’s explanation of the Beans of Power is deep and
resonant with just a touch of Gospel flavor, while Junior’s is typically
soft and sweet and sounds a bit like his Robin Hood song from Minnesota Cuke. The latter is reprised later with the ensemble, sounding joyful instead of querulous.
There are dozens of little references to Lord of the Rings,
and when it comes out for real on November 1, this is one DVD whose
special features I will be examining closely. There seem to be a few
tiny discrepancies, though Vischer probably just stuck them in there to
add to the silliness. For instance, Randalf tells Billboy there are many
Beans of Power and that they should not be used lightly. Obviously this
is almost exactly what Gandalf said to Bilbo, so it makes sense, but
later Randalf seems to tell Toto that his is the only remaining Bean.
Well, maybe if he’d said there were many Beans; perhaps the intimation is that there would be
Many beans if the previous owners had used them properly. In most
instances where I saw something askew, another character mentioned it
just after I questioned it. Larry rides a unicycle, and Bob and I wonder
how he can accomplish it without legs. Randalf reads a small
inscription over a door (referencing both the entrance to Moria and Riddles in the Dark)
that encompasses several lines of poetry, and Leg-o-Lamb and I both
question how so few runes can translate to so many words. So I suppose
these are less discrepancies than poking gentle fun at certain aspects
of Tolkien’s world.
Veggietales often puts special effort into
the credits, and here they are graced with artistic renderings of
scenes, much like those found at the conclusion of Return of the King. There’s also a new song by Wynonna entitled It’s About Love,
which my mom really liked, though I couldn’t get into it – maybe
because I was hoping for something with more of a Celtic flavor to it.
Nonetheless, it goes well with the idea that we are given gifts that
will help us to help others. So Toto may not be eradicating evil, but
he’s spreading love one good deed at a time, and we’re left with the
impression that if we each do the same, our small contributions can make
the world a considerably better place. Like the Bean, which by all
appearances is ordinary and insignificant, we may have gifts that are
not obvious, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. We just may have
to do some searching. Though Lord of the Rings fans will find
this video funnier than those who are unfamiliar with the source
material, its message is equally accessible to everyone, and it’s one
well worth hearing. So three cheers for hobbits and flobbits!
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