Mark Twain and Hannah Montana Merge in Princess and the Pop Star

More than a decade ago, the Christian computer-animated video series VeggieTales introduced LarryBoy, a cucumber superhero who has since gotten three full-blown videos, along with several lower-quality videos and a number of tie-in books and toys. With action-packed storylines appealing especially to boys, the LarryBoy videos have found an honored place in Veggie lore and helped pave the way for more cinematic side-trips like the expeditions of Minnesota Cuke, an adventurer whose exploits offer a tip of the fedora to Indiana Jones.

With last year’s Sweetpea Beauty, VeggieTales began branching off into videos specifically aimed at girls. While previous installments have featured female protagonists, never before had the packaging and merchandising so thoroughly indicated that particular focus. This summer, we have Princess and the Pop Star: A Story of Trading Places. When LarryBoy first appeared, we were merely getting Larry dressing up in a costume. He didn’t want to be plain old Larry; he wanted to be special. He wanted to be a superhero. There are some echoes of that in this video, in which Princess (a name, not a title) Poppyseed (Laura Carrot) dreams of meeting her lookalike idol, Vanna Banana, and of becoming a pop star like her.

Princess lives on a humble farm with her inventor father, practical mother and chaotic siblings, and she resents her chores and her lack of glamour. Mostly, though, it drives her crazy that she can never get any privacy. The biggest offender when it comes to infringing on her space is her adoring little brother Pepper. When his exuberance causes Princess to miss out on the chance of a lifetime, she reaches a breaking point. Meanwhile, Vanna is unhappy too. Shuttled here and there by her manager mother (Madame Blueberry) and a gaggle of personal assistants, she yearns for the life of a regular kid. She wants some time away from the spotlight. Most of all, she craves the warmth of a loving family. When the two girls bump into each other on the playground, they compare sob stories and notice their striking physical similarities. If each wants exactly what the other one has, why not trade places?

This is an upbeat video that marks the first time that the main storyline stars a character who is a female child. For the third time in the past year or so, childlike Larry the Cucumber is cast in the role of parent; it seems like they are trying to mature him a bit, or at least the characters he portrays; he’s still pretty silly in the countertop scenes, though at least he is attempting to proactively answer a youngster’s question. Aside from Larry and the double Lauras – one of whom is played by a different actress with much more of a pop star sound – the only other major Veggie characters to make an appearance in this story are Madame Blueberry and Jimmy Gourd, who plays a television personality, though Pa Grape has a cameo on a charming Little House on the Prairie parody that I especially appreciated since I recently watched the first season of that classic 70s show on DVD.

I think the theme is generally well done. Both girls are likable but not entirely contented. Of the two, Vanna seems more serene and wise, while Princess is a bundle of angst and ambition. While Vanna is the one who comes up with the switcheroo to begin with, Princess is the one who is unwilling to let go of the ruse when the jig is up. Presumably the intention was for this to be a short-term thing, just a couple of days that would allow Vanna a break and Princess a shot at her dream, but the corn-fed youngster seems to think that filling Vanna’s shoes permanently is an actual option. As much as anything else, this is a video about contentment with one’s circumstances, which makes it a tad repetitive since we got that same theme only two videos ago with It’s a Meaningful Life. Princess needs to realize how blessed she is to have such a large, loving family and appreciate her unique place in it. Vanna, on the other hand, could use a reminder of what a privilege it is to have her life and of the capacity she has to touch people’s lives as a result.

On the other hand, especially after watching the special feature in which Mike Nawrocki talks about how they were trying to convey an idea that God has a special plan for each person, I wonder if the message is a bit mixed. The lesson as stated on the cover is “being yourself,” and both girls have legitimate complaints about their lifestyle. Vanna wants to feel like a beloved daughter instead of a commodity; Princess wants a little space to dream her big dreams. I think part of being yourself is realizing where changes might be made and acting on them. That’s not to say the video discourages this; it does encourage clearer communication with one’s parents, especially on Vanna’s end. But I do think there’s a danger of confusing contentment with complacence. It seems to me that following God’s will often requires stepping outside of one’s comfort zone. For the target audience, it’s appropriate to urge them to simply count their blessings and try to be the best they can be right where they are, but I don’t think kids should feel pigeonholed either. With enough practice, Princess could grow up to become a singer, and Vanna could hang up her microphone and raise a family out in the country. However, that would be years down the line, and it would have to be the result of conscious decisions rather than insertion into another person’s life.

I love the cozy Poppyseed farm, which has a rambling, lived-in appearance. This is not a rich family, but neither would I call them poor. They have enough, and their land looks like a marvelous playground. I’m less enamored with the flashy Vanna segments. Obviously, this video takes its inspiration from two major sources: Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper and the mega-popular Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Twain’s tale is a classic that has been adapted time and again, but I have my doubts that Hannah Montana, the saga of a pop star trying to live like both Vanna and Princess without mixing up her very different identities, has that kind of staying power. With that show having concluded in January, it’s already moving into the realm of yesterday’s news, since its trendiness was its main draw. Because of that, this video feels just a bit dated right out of the gate, which is not a complaint I have had about any previous VeggieTales videos. I just wonder if they were trying to be a little too topical.

Like most of the videos in the series, this one has a Silly Song. Entitled Astonishing Wigs, it allows uppity Archibald Asparagus the opportunity to expound upon the history of wigs as fashionable items. Archibald is one of my favorite characters, and given his absence in the story, I’m especially glad to see him here, and his extravagant style cracks me up as always. As a song, it’s decent but not that melodious. My main complaint, though, is that at one point, a trio of bewigged pigs gets up and sings. Aside from Barbara Manatee, a television character within the world of VeggieTales who we hear but never actually see, and a couple of invertebrates, I can’t recall any instance of talking animals in this series, and the pigs just feel out of place. Dozens of children’s stories involve talking pigs; including them here just feels old hat and not really VeggieTales’ style. I doubt I would have objected to their presence if they had just acted like regular pigs wandering around in mild confusion over the heavy objects on their heads; it’s the singing and dancing that annoys me. Otherwise, though, the song is enjoyable.

Naturally, with two main characters who love to sing, this video is heavy on the music, and while we maybe hear one of the songs a couple more times than necessary, Vanna’s hits are very catchy and definitely have the Hannah Montana sound to them. At the same time, they don’t feel out of place in a Veggie video. The girls’ individual songs asserting their longings both establish the characters well, and Vanna’s is quite poignant. Meanwhile, the final song ties the video together and expresses the main theme well. With as many times as it gets repeated in the video, I suspect that Vanna’s most popular song will get firmly lodged into the minds of many young viewers. I know I can’t get it out of my head.

I bought my DVD at Walmart, where it came packaged with a bonus DVD entitled Girl Power! This DVD includes the contents of three older videos with female leads: Madame Blueberry, Duke and the Great Pie War and Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen. While the latter two feature heroic characters, Madame Blueberry is petty and greedy at the beginning of her tale, not to mention too easily manipulated. She does eventually come to her senses, but I’m not sure the video is really an example of “girl power.” However, the only other video that would really fit is Sweetpea Beauty, which presumably is too new for them to want to put in a package DVD.  Besides, Madame Blueberry also includes Annie, the soft-spoken, bespectacled young leek who is the one Veggie who reminds me most of myself, and her role, while small, does fit the theme better than the title character’s. Incidentally, if these female-focused videos continue, I hope Annie gets a starring role soon.

For longtime Veggie fans, this bonus DVD will most likely be superfluous, though even if you weren’t getting a bonus, you’d probably still pay less at WalMart than just about anywhere else. For those new to the series, however, this is a great way to get acquainted, as you’re basically getting four videos for the price of one. While VeggieTales has a number of female side characters, Madame Blueberry and Petunia, from Duke and the Great Pie War, are really the only fairly major characters aside from Laura and perhaps Mom Asparagus. While an oddball female character from Esther has made appearances in subsequent videos, Esther herself hasn’t, and I wonder why that is. I would think she could be a valuable addition to the ensemble.

Princess and the Pop Star isn’t perfect, with its excessive trendiness and its mildly mixed message. Nonetheless, the video is fun and heartfelt, and the relationships between Vanna and her mother and Princess and Pepper are particularly touching. Having immersed myself in the Trixie Belden series this year, I found that Princess’s boisterous home life, complete with a plethora of chores and a tagalong little brother, made me think of Trixie, while Vanna’s longing for a deeper connection with her mother reminded me of Trixie’s best friend Honey. One hopes that after the events of the video, these girls will remain friends and share their worlds with each other, even as each becomes more satisfied with her own. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy curiosity about how other people live, but perhaps after watching this video, young viewers might be more inclined to look at their own lives from an outsider’s perspective and see the advantages familiarity has caused them to overlook.