Veggie Tales: The Whole Story
For a very complete story on how Veggie Tales got to the inconceivable point of trying to remove all references to God and/or the Bible from the show to be aired on NBC, check out Phil Vischer’s blog. He takes you all the way from the founding of the company in 1990 to bankruptcy due to lawsuit and then to where we are today.
For those outraged Veggie Tales fans, the short answer is that Phil Vischer no longer has any control over the show whatsoever and that clearly hurts.
As a, er, non-believer who nevertheless loves VeggieTales (long story), I was shocked that it was possible to cut Christianity out of the shows.
Reading this, my assumption that “Dave And The Giant Pickle” would be a mess seems to be confirmed.
I read a quote from Vischer elsewhere where he seemed to be taking it in stride, in the “hey, they’re on network television!” way.
But it certainly seems like NBC, Big Idea, and Vischer didn’t communicate very well.
Thank you, Steve. It is entirely possible to love Veggie Tales without religious-cleansing. Why can’t NBC see that?
Hmmm…parents relying on an animated cucumber to instill religious values in their children? Who could object to that?
Oh, come now, luke1152. No self-respecting parent *relies* on cartoons to instill values in his/her children. But it’s nice to have something supportive on hand when you need a break and the kiddos want a little entertainment. It’s also something families can watch together and then talk about afterward.
Thank you, Steve. It is entirely possible to love Veggie Tales without religious-cleansing. Why can’t NBC see that?
Of course, it’s also possible to make educational and entertaining VT stuff without referencing the Bible (cf. most sill songs).