Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002)

Directors:

Mike Nawrocki
Phil Vischer

Writers:

Phil Vischer (written by) &
Mike Nawrocki (written by) ...

Release Date:

4 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

Fresh Fish. Mixed Vegetables.

Plot:

When the singing Veggies encounter some car trouble, they're stranded at old, rundown seafood joint where nothing is quite as it seems...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Whale | Pirate Ship | God | Tomato

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Phil Vischer	...	Archibald Asparagus / Jonah / Twippo / Bob the Tomato / Mr. Lunt / Pirate Lunt / Percy Pea / Phillipe Pea / Pa Grape / Pirate Pa / Nezzer / King Twistomer / Cockney Pea #2 (voice)
Mike Nawrocki	...	Larry the Cucumber / Pirate Larry / Jean Claude Pea / Cockney Pea #1 / Self-Help Tape Voice / Jerry Gourd / Whooping BBQ Pea (voice)
Tim Hodge	...	Khalil (voice)
Lisa Vischer	...	Junior Asparagus (voice)
Dan Anderson	...	Dad Asparagus (voice)
Kristin Blegen	...	Laura Carrot (voice)
Shelby Vischer	...	Annie (voice)
Jim Poole	...	Scooter, Townsperson (voice)
Ron Smith	...	City Official, Crazy Jopponian (voice)
Sarah Catherine Brooks	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice)
Paige Craig	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice)
Adam Frick	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice)
Chris Geiger	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice)
Michael Harrison	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice) (as Mike Harrison)
Amy Howard	...	Message from the Lord Choir (voice)

Also Known As:

Big Idea's Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:G (certificate #39192) | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Big Idea Productions

Trivia:

All the places Jonah (Archibald) sings about in "It Cannot Be" are real places from that period of history, among them Joppa, Jericho, Damascus...

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During Jonah's song rejecting the Lord's call to Ninevah, Jonah is on a giant map of Israel. The city of Joppa is shown well inland. Joppa is a port town on the Mediterranean, and is shown as such in the next scene in the movie.

Quotes:

Jonah: [to God] Perhaps you've never been to Ninevah! Well, of course you haven't! A god like you would never go to a place like Ninevah!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dune (1984)

Soundtrack:

The Credits Song

The Veggie gang makes its way onto the big screen to tell the tale of Jonah.

I bought this movie before I ever even bothered watching it because I figured, hey, it's Veggie Tales. How can you go wrong, right? Well, I don't regret buying it, but it's not quite as good as most of the regular Veggie stuff.

Most of us have a pretty good grasp on the Jonah story right? Well, just as always with Veggie Tales, the heart of the story is there with the most important details, and then everything else gets mixed up and screwed around with. It starts off with Dad Asparagus and Bob the Tomato driving a bunch of the little veggies to a Twippo concert. Then they encounter some difficulties on the road and find themselves with two flat tires and crashed into a tree stump.

They get out and head for the nearest building, a seafood restaurant. When Junior Asparagus sits down at the table, he hears some people talking on the other side of the glass. It's the pirates who don't do anything! I don't remember what they ask Junior, but they eventually strike up a conversation, and the pirates tell Junior the story of that one time when they met Jonah and had a little adventure… Jonah was a prophet who traveled across Israel delivering God's messages to His people. Then Jonah gets a call from God to deliver a "turn and repent" message to Ninevah. But why Ninevah? The Israelites and the Ninevites don't get along, and Jonah would rather die than go there. So he decides to go against God's orders and sail as far as possible in the opposite direction, to Tarshish. He hires the pirates who don't do anything to take him out there, and so the four of them set sail for Tarshish.

Just like in the Bible story, there's a big storm because of Jonah, and after they cast lots to determine who is responsible (done quite ingeniously in the movie I think), they throw Jonah into the ocean. The storm goes away when they throw him in, and a whale (not a big fish like the story) comes along and swallows Jonah up. There Jonah has a little encounter with a choir of asparagus angels, and then the whale barfs him up on the shore, and he heads out for Ninevah.

I think the hilarious thing is how the pirates end the story. Just like in the Bible story, at the end, Jonah is wailing and mourning and whining and crying and there's no real conclusion, and that's how it ends in the movie. The pirates just say "the end" and that's pretty much it. Of course, there's still some other stuff that happens outside of the story segment of the movie.

Overall it's done pretty cleverly, but it doesn't quite have the same Veggie Tales zip that it should. The special features on the DVD and certainly worth the cost though.

Bottom Line: 3 out of 4 (worth watching)