100 Fun Facts About VeggieTales

LarryBoy, Larry's superhero alter ego, has what attached to the sides of his helmet?

Plungers. LarryBoy calls them his super-suction ears, and the caped spoof proved popular enough to spin off a cartoon series of his own.

How does a classic VeggieTales episode sign off?

God made you special and He loves you very much: Bob or Larry says it after the closing Bible verse, and the line went on to name a compilation DVD and a live stage show.

Where do Bob and Larry open and close each classic episode?

A kitchen countertop is home to the whole cast, and the 2014 series blew it up into a full Veggie city where Bob and Larry are roommates.

What is the name of the desktop computer that displays the closing Bible verse?

Qwerty isn't flawless: in the very first video he serves up a meatloaf recipe before he finds the verse.

Which two friends created VeggieTales?

Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki met on a Bible-college puppet team, and Nawrocki gave up plans for a career in medicine to make the show.

In the most famous Silly Song, Larry hops around the bathroom in a towel searching for what?

His hairbrush began as a razor: the song's writer couldn't find his in the shower and sang about it, then was told you can't sing about razors to little kids.

What is the title of the very first VeggieTales video?

Where's God When I'm S-Scared? has Bob and Larry calm a frightened Junior after a scary movie, and it reached video nearly two years before Toy Story hit cinemas.

Which relative of VeggieTales' creator first voiced Junior Asparagus?

His wife, Lisa, voiced Junior from the first video in 1993, and for years she voiced Junior's mother as well.

What does VeggieTales' asparagus with the red bow tie wear over his right eye?

A monocle. He first popped up in a 1992 promo, interrupting to call a show about talking vegetables utter nonsense, then joined the cast anyway.

How many teeth does Larry have?

One tooth is Larry's trademark, and in the 2013 Silly Song "Happy Tooth Day" he throws it a birthday party.

In VeggieTales, the giant Goliath is played by what kind of produce?

A pickle, and one who dons boxing gloves for the fight. Dave, told he was too small for the army, knocks him out with a single slung stone.

Larry, Mr. Lunt and Pa Grape form which famously lazy trio?

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything grew out of a ditty their writer made up as a touring soundman, about never having been to Boston in the fall.

What kind of hat does Junior Asparagus usually wear?

A yellow hat with a red brim is Junior's trademark. The 2019 revival explains how he is free for daytime shows: he is homeschooled.

Which movie hero does Larry's adventurer character Minnesota Cuke parody?

Indiana Jones becomes Minnesota Cuke, a children's museum curator, and the spoof ends with his arch-rival handing over the relic in exchange for friendship.

The 2005 video 'Lord of the Beans' parodies the fantasy saga of which author?

J.R.R. Tolkien's saga becomes the tale of Toto Baggypants, a young 'flobbit' who inherits a powerful bean instead of a ring.

The 2002 movie Jonah stars which Veggie as the reluctant prophet?

Archibald Asparagus plays Jonah and, in the modern framing story, Twippo, the singer the kids are driving to see, who turns up to offer them a lift.

Why was VeggieTales' original candy-bar star swapped for a vegetable?

Parents would prefer healthier heroes, the creator was warned: kids falling for a candy bar would upset them. So he tried a cucumber instead.

Why do the VeggieTales characters have no arms, legs or hair?

Limbs were too hard to animate with early-1990s software, as were hair and clothes, so the creator went looking for characters that needed none of them.

Mr. Lunt is unusual among the Veggies because he has no what?

Eyes. He has none, so he acts with the brim of his hat and the wrinkles of his brow, a quirk he shares with Pa Grape.

Rack, Shack & Benny takes place inside what kind of workplace?

A chocolate factory, where the boss builds a giant bunny statue and sends workers who won't bow and sing to it to the furnace.

When Silly Songs with Larry is cancelled, which love song does Mr. Lunt croon in its place?

His Cheeseburger was first written with Larry in mind, until its writer decided Mr. Lunt's attitude suited the Meat Loaf-style ballad better.

In 'Endangered Love', Larry dances with a stuffed toy of which animal while watching a soap opera?

Barbara Manatee's romance with Bill is cut short when Bob interrupts and suggests Larry read a book instead.

'Belly Button' was performed by which Veggie boy band?

Boyz in the Sink open by announcing they want to be taken seriously as artists, then sing about one member's missing belly button.

In 'Pizza Angel', why is the box empty when the pizza finally arrives?

The hungry driver ate it himself: the number had fallen off Larry's door, and the delivery gourd got famished hunting for the house.

Which streaming service launched VeggieTales in the House in 2014?

Netflix's series gave the whole cast a redesign, and the 2019 revival made a point of bringing the original looks back.

In the 2014-2017 streaming shows, the grumpy rich zucchini next door to Bob and Larry is called what?

Ichabeezer yells at anyone who sets foot on his lawn and dotes only on Rooney, his pet dog, who happens to be an olive.

In The VeggieTales Show, Bob dreams of becoming the next what?

Mister Rogers is Bob's model, and his creator says what drives Bob crazy is that nothing ever went wrong on that show, while his own never go to plan.

When NBC broadcast VeggieTales on Saturday mornings in 2006, what did the network cut from the episodes?

References to God came out at the network's request. The show's creator learned only weeks before airing and said he would have turned the deal down had he known.

In 'Josh and the Big Wall!', what do Jericho's defenders rain down on the marching Israelites?

Slushies, served with a stream of insults. Two fed-up Israelites even build a rocket before agreeing to try the marching plan.

In Jonah, what kind of creature is Khalil, the prophet's travelling companion?

He explains his odd looks by claiming his mother was a caterpillar and his father was a worm.

Aboard the storm-tossed ship in Jonah, how does the crew decide who has angered God?

A game of Go Fish settles it: Jonah loses and walks the plank, and the crew fire a bowling ball at the whale that swallows him.

In the very first Silly Song, Larry, in a huge cowboy hat, sings that everybody's got a what?

A water buffalo. A furious asparagus storms in to stop the song, protesting that not everyone has one and that the show will get nasty letters.

Where do the 2008 VeggieTales movie's three heroes first work?

A dinner theater, where the three are lowly cabin boys who dream of the stage. Fired for wrecking the set in an audition, they land in an alley, where a time-travel gadget finds them.

In Madame Blueberry, which new mega-store promises her everything she needs to be happy?

Stuff-Mart. Her shopping spree packs her treehouse so full that the back door gives way, her things pour into a lake and the lightened house is flung across town.

After its 2003 bankruptcy sale, the VeggieTales studio left suburban Chicago for the outskirts of which city?

Nashville. The buyer, Classic Media, paid $19.3 million at auction and moved the studio to Tennessee, while the show's creator stayed behind in Chicago as a hired writer and voice.

In Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures, what is Larry's day job?

Newspaper janitor, with Bob as his boss at the paper. The spin-off reversed course on looks too, trading the main series' 3D computer animation for flat 2D cartoons.

What city does LarryBoy protect?

Bumblyburg meets its first menace when a tiny alien called Fib swells into a town-wrecking monster with every lie a boy tells, then shrinks to nothing once he owns up.

The Frankencelery who terrifies Junior turns out to be actor Phil Winklestein from which city?

Toledo, Ohio. By bedtime Junior is the one doing the reassuring, telling his dad the monster is really just a guy named Phil who isn't scary at all.

In LarryBoy and the Bad Apple, the villain enters the Larry-Cave through the hero's weakness for what?

Chocolate. His butler is snared next, in front of the television, and the two get free only once they see they need each other's help to resist.

Bacon Bill, the excitable strip of bacon in VeggieTales in the House, turns out to have which unlikely job?

Rocket scientist. He keeps a shark-shaped rocket of his own, and Larry, who brushes him off when they first meet, ends up his close friend.

Larry's bath-loving King George, who steals a boy's rubber duck, stands in for which Old Testament king?

David. As in the Bible story, the greedy king is undone by a visitor's tale of a rich man who steals a poor man's only sheep, and he hands the duck back.

In VeggieTales' Esther, why does the king have Queen Vashti thrown out of the palace?

She won't make him a sandwich at three in the morning, so his right-hand man throws her out, and the hunt for a new queen sweeps up a reluctant Esther.

In the Silly Song 'Dance of the Cucumber', Larry sings in which language while Bob translates?

Spanish. As Bob translates, the lyrics turn to mocking the tomato for being unable to dance, until he snaps and chases Larry off the set.

The boxy original design of VeggieTales' desktop computer was modeled on a machine from which company?

IBM, whose boxy PC gave the computer its look. A later upgrade went the other way, with a sleeker shell and a black screen in place of the blue, modeled on Apple's iMac.

The original 'I Love My Lips' showed Larry a photo of which star, replaced after his death in 1998?

Sonny Bono. Larry, who sees lips in every inkblot, was shown the singer's photo; after his death it was swapped out, and since 2002 it has been a caricature of Larry's own voice actor.

VeggieTales' 'The Ballad of Little Joe' retells the Bible story of Joseph as what kind of film?

A Western. Joe's jealous brothers, played by the French Peas, sell him off, and he lands in Dodge Ball City, where a jealous co-worker frames him as a thief.

In LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed, the town comes to believe that LarryBoy's butler is secretly what?

A robot. He told a class he had to go home and recharge his batteries, two children took him at his word, and a gossip-fed weed spread the story across town.

In VeggieTales' Good Samaritan retelling, one feuding town wears pots on its heads and the other wears what?

Shoes. The towns hurl their headgear at each other until a pot-wearing boy rescues a robbed shoe-wearer, and the feud ends with both sides throwing flowers and candy instead.

Larry's voice actor later launched which Christian children's chapter-book series?

The Dead Sea Squirrels are a pair preserved in sea salt in a cave for 2,000 years. Revived in the present day, they pass on what they heard first-hand from Jesus.

When the French Peas force Bob to sing in Larry's spot, the segment gets renamed what?

Ukulele Karaoke with Bob. He copes until a fan shreds his lyric sheet, and the peas' hasty tape job leaves him singing nonsense.

In VeggieTales' Josh and the Big Wall, what do the French Peas guarding Jericho drop on the marching Israelites?

Slushies rain down from the walls along with insults, yet the soaked Israelites keep marching until the seventh day, when horns and shouting bring Jericho down.

In VeggieTales' retelling of Esther, the king's enemies are banished to the Island of Perpetual what?

Tickling is the punishment first handed to the Peaoni brothers, a gang of French Peas who try to crush King Xerxes with a piano while distracting him with a cake.

In Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, what do the pirates fire from a cannon at the whale that swallowed the prophet?

A bowling ball is their only ammunition, and the whale simply swallows it, which delivers a stowaway hiding inside the ball to keep the prophet company in its belly.

In the VeggieTales western Moe and the Big Exit, Moe's enslaved relatives are forced to dig which American landmark?

The Grand Canyon is the slaves' dig site in this cowboy retelling of Moses, whose plagues include rivers turning to tomato juice and a swarm of prairie dogs.

VeggieTales returned in 2019 with Bob as a harried stage director, a format inspired by which beloved TV series?

The Muppet Show was the model, with Bob running each performance from the wings of Mr. Nezzer's theater much as Kermit the Frog does.

Junior Asparagus, VeggieTales' little boy, was voiced for most of the series by which relative of Phil Vischer?

His wife, Lisa Vischer, took the part even though Phil was averse to the idea at first, and she was still voicing the boy when the Veggies returned to television in 2019.

In VeggieTales in the House, Junior Asparagus and his family live inside which giant household appliance?

A refrigerator houses the Asparagus family, while Laura's home is shaped like a carrot and Madame Blueberry's like a blue teapot.

The taunting French Peas of VeggieTales are an allusion to the French soldiers in which British comedy film?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail inspired the Peas, who first appeared as the Philistine army and, like the film's castle guards, torment passersby with nonsensical threats.

In Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, the runaway prophet is ordered to carry God's message to which corrupt city?

Nineveh is where he finally preaches, but only after trying to sail the opposite way to Tarshish and spending three days and nights inside a whale.

VeggieTales' Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas is narrated by Si Robertson, a star of which reality series?

Duck Dynasty made Si Robertson famous, and here he voices mall worker Silas Okra in a nod to the celebrity narrators of 1970s Rankin/Bass Christmas specials.

VeggieTales' Sumo of the Opera includes a flannelgraph-style segment explaining the origin of which holiday?

St. Patrick's Day gets its backstory from a talking sock named Lutfi, who tells how a kidnapped boy called Maewyn Succat escaped slavery in Ireland and later returned as a bishop.

Big Idea once announced VeggieTales kids' meal promotions with which fast-food chicken chain?

Chick-fil-A put the Veggies in its kids' meals as part of a batch of 2011 deals that also covered wooden puzzles, balloons and plush pillows.

VeggieTales' The Star of Christmas follows two jingle writers staging a lavish musical in which crime-ridden city?

London in the Victorian age is the setting, where Cavis and Millward wire their scenery with newfangled electric lights and end up burning down the theater.

VeggieTales' 2008 pirate movie ends with the cast singing Rock Monster, a parody of a hit by which band?

The B-52's had the original hit, Rock Lobster, and its writers share the songwriting credit on the Veggie version with Mike Nawrocki.

It's a Meaningful Life, VeggieTales' spin on a Frank Capra film, casts Larry as a hometown star in which sport?

Football is Stewart Green's game, and a magic train shows him the town he would have left behind had he caught the winning pass and gone on to stardom.

Which actor guest-starred as Bruce Onion, the tycoon out to flatten the park, in VeggieTales' Celery Night Fever?

Terry Crews voiced Bruce Onion and a character called Terry Turnip, in a story where Laura Carrot reunites a feuding disco band to save the city park.

Before co-creating VeggieTales, Larry's voice actor had been planning a career in which field?

Medicine was the plan until Nawrocki dropped it to join Phil Vischer in founding Big Idea Productions.

VeggieTales' two creators met at Bible college while serving in what kind of ministry?

Puppetry brought them together at St. Paul Bible College, now Crown College, and both men went on to voice most of the Veggie cast themselves.

Mr. Lunt, VeggieTales' hat-wearing gourd, speaks with a Hispanic accent but grew up in which US state?

New Jersey is home for Mr. Lunt, a decorative gourd who started out as Mr. Nezzer's sidekick and once sported a gold tooth.

Pa Grape, VeggieTales' elderly grape in a top hat, speaks with a slight accent from which language?

Yiddish colors Pa Grape's speech, and the tinkering elder has played both Mordecai and an eccentric Victorian inventor named Seymour Schwenk.

On NBC's VeggieTales on TV!, Jimmy Gourd turned up at Bob's house each week doing which job?

Mailman Jimmy delivered the viewer letter that set up each story, singing a Mail Song that Bob and Larry sometimes found tedious.

VeggieTales presents Lyle the Kindly Viking as the long-lost musical of which famous theatrical duo?

Gilbert and Sullivan get the credit at first, but the authors turn out to be two other men who merely have Gilbert and Sullivan as first names.

Duke and the Great Pie War, VeggieTales' tale of a clumsy jousting knight, retells which book of the Old Testament?

Ruth is the source: the knight must out-joust a selfish relative to restore the fortunes of an exiled foreign princess and her mother-in-law.

Which red-haired VeggieTales leading lady debuted in 2005 as an exiled princess opposite Larry's knight?

Petunia Rhubarb became Larry's regular co-star after that debut, later gaining a fashionista superhero identity called Vogue.

Which trio of recurring VeggieTales troublemakers have no names and are known only by the numbers one to three?

The Scallions go by #1, #2 and #3, and the devious trio have turned up as bandits, swindlers and salesmen across the series.

Phil Vischer based the voice of VeggieTales' zucchini boss Mr. Nezzer on Ken Page's performance as which villain?

Oogie Boogie, the bogeyman of The Nightmare Before Christmas, lent Mr. Nezzer his sound, and concern over that voice later kept the zucchini out of two streaming series.

After its bankruptcy sale, VeggieTales studio Big Idea moved its headquarters from suburban Chicago to which state?

Tennessee became home in 2004, when the studio left Lombard, Illinois, for Franklin, a suburb of Nashville.

Which Hollywood cartoon studio became VeggieTales' owner in 2012 by buying the franchise's parent company?

DreamWorks Animation took charge of new productions a year later, and the last video of the original series borrowed the redesigned characters of the studio's spin-off shows.

A lawsuit that helped bankrupt VeggieTales' studio arose from a deal with the company behind which preschool TV star?

Barney's home, Lyrick Studios, had distributed the Veggies, and after HIT Entertainment bought Lyrick it sued and won an $11 million verdict that was later overturned.

VeggieTales on TV! aired Saturday mornings on NBC as part of which children's programming block?

Qubo carried the Veggies for three seasons on NBC, Telemundo and Ion Television, opening each episode at the front gate of Bob's house.

Which Christian broadcaster revived the franchise in 2019 by producing The VeggieTales Show with its original creators?

TBN, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, licensed the characters rather than buying them, and set the new series in a theater owned by Mr. Nezzer.

VeggieTales in the House was developed by Doug TenNapel, best known for creating which 1990s video game hero?

Earthworm Jim made TenNapel's name, and his Veggie series ran for 52 episodes, each split into a pair of 11-minute stories.

In VeggieTales' Gideon: Tuba Warrior, a tiny army of carrots and peas defeats the Midianites with horns and what?

Flashlights and horns are all that six carrots and six peas need, and the angel who recruits Gideon admits to being afraid of the dark too.

In VeggieTales' 2008 pirate movie, cowardly Sedgewick stays behind in a cave that seems to be full of which snack?

Cheese curls tempt him to stay, until the curls turn out to be living worm-like creatures that chase him out of the cave and force him to face his fears.

The shelved VeggieTales origin film The Bob and Larry Movie would have been the franchise's first to feature what?

Humans were to appear for the first time, with Bob renting an apartment inside the nightstand of a boy named Dexter.

VeggieTales in the House gave Junior's father the name Mike and which adventurous job?

Astronaut is the job, earning him the title Captain Mike, a name borrowed from co-creator Mike Nawrocki.

Which Christian rock band recorded In the Belly of the Whale for the soundtrack of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie?

Newsboys contributed to both Veggie films, returning in 2008 to perform Yo Ho Hero with songwriter Steve Taylor.

Which country music star performed the theme song for VeggieTales' globe-trotting adventurer Minnesota Cuke?

Charlie Daniels sang the theme as a featured music video on the first Minnesota Cuke adventure, a race to find a relic said to hold Samson's strength.

VeggieTales made Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving to announce a partnership with which gift-giving charity?

Operation Christmas Child was the partner, and the video ties in by showing young Nick secretly leaving coins for three girls who cannot pay a fine.

Which country singer voiced Mirabelle, lead singer of a stranded family band, in VeggieTales' Beauty and the Beet?

Kellie Pickler voiced Mirabelle, whose family band must cook, clean and sing for a cranky ski-resort manager named Mr. Beet to pay for their room.

Noah's Ark, the final episode of the original VeggieTales video series, cast which comedian as Noah's doubting son Shem?

Wayne Brady voiced Shem, who is ready to jump ship after forty days of rain aboard an ark built from an orange slice.

Which villain of VeggieTales' 2008 pirate movie, a king's banished brother, kidnaps his nephew Prince Alexander?

Robert the Terrible wants revenge on the king who banished him, but George, a lowly dinner-theater cabin boy, finds his self-respect and knocks him down with a chandelier.

What is the title of Phil Vischer's memoir about dreams, God and building the VeggieTales studio he later lost?

Me, Myself, and Bob tells how Vischer came to believe his heart had turned from God while he ran the company, and why he treated its collapse as a wake-up call.

In VeggieTales' A Snoodle's Tale, what produces a brand-new Snoodle in Snoodleburg every fourth Tuesday?

A clock tower spits each newcomer down a chute, and young Snoodle Doo arrives with wings, a paintbrush and a kazoo but no idea what he is good at.

In Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, the Veggie children are being driven to a concert by which popular singer?

Twippo turns up in person at the seafood restaurant where the stranded children hear the prophet's tale, and offers everyone a lift to the show.

In VeggieTales' The Star of Christmas, the relic that the heroes steal by mistake is the Turtle of where?

Damascus lends its name to the turtle, which the church's guard says most experts consider a hoax, while the real Star stays safe.

Exclusive VeggieTales stage shows were produced for Silver Dollar City and which other American theme park?

Dollywood hosted its own Veggie stage show, a cousin of the touring VeggieTales Live productions known for their large inflatable character costumes.

In VeggieTales' Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men, the greedy prince takes which food from the townspeople?

Ham is what the prince hoards, and when donations dry up Robin's fundraising friends decide that robbing the rich might be good after all.

VeggieTales' retelling of Esther borrows its settings and undertones from The Godfather and which Humphrey Bogart film?

Casablanca and the mob saga shape the Persian court, where the king's right-hand man cruises the streets in a faux-car collecting eligible maidens.

In VeggieTales' Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler, which food is causing restaurateur Don Quixote's bad dreams?

Salsa is the culprit, and once Poncho weans him off it the pair decide to open for breakfast, hours before the rival across the street opens its doors.