Biography
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Born
1993
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Died
2015 (aged 22)
VeggieTales is an American Christian CGI-animated series and multimedia franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series stars Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber leading a variety of fruit and vegetable characters as they retell stories from the Bible and parody pop culture while also teaching life lessons according to a biblical world view. It was the first American video series to be completely computer-animated.
VeggieTales was first released in 1993 on VHS, as a direct-to-video series, and later on DVD and Blu-ray through to 2015. The success of the videos led to multiple spin-off television series, such as VeggieTales on TV!, which ran on NBC from 2006 to 2009, two Netflix series that debuted in 2014 and 2017, and a series produced by Trinity Broadcasting Network in 2019. Two films were released: Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008). The success of the animations helped establish a franchise of related media, including books, music, stage productions, and video games. The series is distinguished as the most successful Christian children's franchise of all time. It has sold over 16 million books, 7 million music CDs, and 235 million music streams as of 2025.
Vischer developed the idea for VeggieTales in the early 1990s while testing animation software as a medium for children's videos. Due to limitations in the Softimage 3D at the time, Vischer opted to avoid the technical production hurdle of designing characters with arms, legs, hair, and clothes. The first animation model for VeggieTales was an anthropomorphic candy bar. Further inspiration derived from Vischer's wife, Lisa, who suggested parents of the target audience might prefer a character who promoted healthier eating habits. Vischer then began to design the characters based on fruits and vegetables.
While most of the VeggieTales characters ended up being voiced by Vischer and Nawrocki, they also cast their friends and family to do voices in the early episodes. Dan Anderson (Dad Asparagus) and Jim Poole (Scooter) who collaborated with Vischer on dramas at their local church, were recruited for the cast. Vischer's wife also joined the cast as Junior Asparagus, which he was adverse to, initially. For the series' music, Vischer brought in Kurt Heinecke, who was the music director of his church at the time. The series' earlier animators included young college graduates Chris Olsen and Robert Ellis alongside Vischer. First offered in the direct-to-video market, the first release was the 30-minute video, Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, in December 1996 Softimage 3D was used to animate the characters for episodes until 1999 when it was replaced with the new animation software, Maya.
In January 2002, HIT Entertainment sued Big Idea, claiming Big Idea "abruptly walked away" from a 1997 deal with Lyrick Studios, which HIT acquired in 2001. The deal intended for HIT to manufacture and distribute VeggieTales merchandise. Having had no written contract with either Lyrick or HIT, Big Idea arranged a distribution deal with Warner Home Video, triggering the suit. In April 2003, a jury in Texas ruled Big Idea must pay $11 million to HIT—a decision which was overturned on appeal in 2005. Due to bankruptcy concerns from the jury decision, Vischer lost control over VeggieTales in 2004. Big Idea continued to produce the VeggieTales home video series until 2015.
On June 29, 2021, Vischer stated in a series of posts on his Twitter account that his wife, Nawrocki and Heinecke had left Big Idea, who intended to recast the voices for their respective characters. He also stated that Nawrocki and Heinecke had been let go from the series several years beforehand for budgetary reasons, being demoted solely to freelance work. They had asked to have a bigger role in the franchise following their involvement in The VeggieTales Show and the company refused, resulting in their complete departure.
See wiki for more information: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeggieTales
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