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Title: Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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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) | |
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Lisa Vischer | ... | Junior Asparagus (voice) |
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Dan Anderson | ... | Dad Asparagus (voice) |
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Kristin Blegen | ... | Laura Carrot (voice) |
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Shelby Morimoto | ... | Annie (voice) (as Shelby Vischer) |
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Jim Poole | ... | Scooter / Townsperson (voice) |
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Ron Smith | ... | City Official / Crazy Jopponian (voice) |
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Sarah Catherine Brooks | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) |
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Paige Craig | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) |
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Adam Frick | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) |
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Chris Geiger | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) |
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Michael Harrison | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) (as Mike Harrison) |
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Amy Howard | ... | Message from the Lord Choir (voice) |
When the singing Veggies encounter some car trouble, they're stranded at old, rundown seafood joint where nothing is quite as it seems. As Bob the Tomato and the kids settle in to wait for a tow truck to help get their van back on the road, the "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" share a little story about a guy named Jonah. Jonah was kind of like a mailman except his messages came straight from God. Jonah loves his job, until the day comes when he has to deliver a message to the people of Nineveh. Instead of carrying out his mission, Jonah turns and sets sail in the opposite direction onboard a pirate ship. Soon Jonah embarks on an adventure that leads him into the belly of a whale, and to the heart of Nineveh for a hilarious showdown. Written by Anonymous
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Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a perfectly good-hearted, innocuous tool to help indoctrinate your children into the Christian faith. Of course, that's a little too brash, but it's an accurate summation of the animated film that features bright colors, grandscale animated settings, themes relevant to real life, and talking vegetables that simplify stories to make them accessible to your little ones.
This film seems to defy film criticism in the way that it already has its own route to its target audience. In addition, the audience who wants nothing to do with the film will find no challenge in trying to ignore it. Its target audience will find the film recommend to their young children at certain church events and religious gatherings and children will likely be fascinated by the franchise's aforementioned traits. Honestly, the VeggieTales shorts aren't the worst type of videos to show your children. However, if one can look past the colorful qualities for just a few moments, they will find nothing more than a surface-level, preachy, morality play that grows tiresome quickly and is thankfully punctuated by a fluffy song in between the dreary exposition of the Bible.
The film opens with Bob the Tomato driving Dad Asparagus and several young vegetable children to a concert. They wind up getting into a bit of a wreck and seek help at a seafood restaurant where they meet "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." "The Pirates" decide to entertain the gang by telling them the story of Jonah, an ambitious prophet who makes a living preaching the word of God to different towns. One day, God himself implores Jonah to preach his word to the town of Nineveh, a dangerous, unholy village, to which Jonah refuses and decides to travel to Tarshish, the furthest you can get from Nineveh.
What unfolds is something of a road movie, with Jonah, who is an asparagus creature mind you, meeting random assortments of food, getting infamously swallowed by the whale, and learning such themes as compassion and mercy. Even the Veggie children learn of such themes, one meaning to respect your companions, the other meaning to give others second chances even if they don't deserve them. Such morals are the foundation of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie's existence and, in seventy-eight minutes, it does more than get its point across. It beats the morals and themes into the head of the viewer until you feel like telling everyone within your vicinity what you learned just to make the knowledge you gained seem more useful in some way.
Thank the lord there are at least catchy songs that turn up every now and then to snap you back into reality. One song in particular I enjoyed, and wish was actually a complete tune, is "Billy Joe McGuffrey," which the young Veggie children are singing in the car which winds up distracting Bob the Tomato as he drives in a rush to see the concert. The fast-paced tune, the frantic animation, and the excitement of everything happening at once made me feel like a young kid watching the VeggieTales on a Saturday morning. What followed were other catchy tunes that, thankfully, were complete songs, like "Message From the Lord" and "Jonah Was a Prophet," two songs I'll be damned if I could get out of my head.
I think that's value of watching something like Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie when you're either too old or an outsider of the target audience is the nostalgia factor. My generation was one that probably got the most use out of this franchise, and seeing these characters come back for one harmless film was something that, at the very least, was cheerful and amusing. On another note, not completely necessary. However, at a concise seventy-eight minutes and featuring a few catchy anthems, it's not a real task by any means.
Voiced by: Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Lisa Vischer, Dan Anderson, Shelby Vischer, Kristin Blegen, and Jim Poole. Directed by: Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki.