Veggie Tales don't walk the plank

The ever-popular children’s series in Christian circles, VeggieTales, is not all peas and carrots. Big Idea Productions Inc. has gone through a change of hands since its beginnings and will soon release a new movie, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. The company originally distributed through Lyrick, but now through Warner Home Video.

CEO Phil Visher, with big dreams for Big Idea from its start, recognized the developmental impact of Disney and Nickelodeon on children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children watch four hours of television per day, making Christian programming for youngsters a worthwhile goal for Visher.

And since 1993, with the first VeggieTales film, Where is God When I’m Scared?

Visher has joined “Sunday morning values and Saturday morning fun” as the company slogan declares.

After Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber seemingly disappeared in 2003, many fans wondered what happened. Big Idea filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after a failure to get enough revenue from its first full-length film, Jonah.

According to Christianity Today, Jonah was projected to cost $10 million but ended up in the $20 million ballpark, leaving Big Idea to foot the bill.

Visher, the writer of Jonah, said, “In my excitement, the question of whether or not we were ready to make a movie somehow escaped me.” 

In addition to the disappointing shortfall of the movie, Big Idea had recently faced other financial obstacles.

 In 2001 the company had lost a lawsuit from its verbally contracted manufacturer and distributor, Lyrick, which also distributes the well-known children’s series Barney and Friends. After three years of negotiations between the two to instigate a written contract failed, Big Idea sought out Warner Home Video. This resulted in the Lyrick lawsuit. Today, Big Idea is owned by Classic Media (which also produced Lassie).

With new ownership and a fresh start, the company is excited to unveil its newest endeavor, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, scheduled to open in theaters Jan. 11. While many of the VeggieTales short films have been based on a Bible story with integrated humor, Pirates has no direct references to God or the Bible. Instead, it begins with a funny premise and contains messages of faith blended throughout.

As Visher says in his blog at philvisher.com, “I do intend for all my films to evidence, in some way, a Christian worldview; I intend to tell stories that illuminate the Christian experience or demonstrate Christian belief.”