VeggieTales Trailer and Questions: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything January 11, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Fatherhood, Breaking News, Family, Movies, The Cultural Conversation, The Arts in the City , add a comment“The children’s franchise delivers an entertaining spoof as the vegetables find the heroes in themselves.” — LA TIMES
“Most Entertaining” - Hollywood Reporter
“Pirates imparts the Bible-inspired storytelling parents and kids have come to expect from VeggieTales in a less obvious but as-fun-as-always package.” - Christianity Today
DISCUSSION STARTERS:
Here are some questions from Christianity Today’s review to begin dialogue with your children once you have seen the movie:
1. Why do you think George, Elliot and Sedgewick feel that “guys like us will never be more than cabin boys”? Are some people just not cut out to be heroes? Why or why not? What do you think it means to be a hero?
2. If Elliot, Sedgewick and George are supposed to be normal people like us in the story, who does the King represent? Why do you think that?
3. Could the pirates have been victorious without the King? Why or why not? List the ways the King helps them throughout the movie. What do you think this movie says about your ability to do good things without God?
4. Each of the three main characters has a weakness that holds him back. What is a weakness that you feel holds you back? Why would God allow humans to have weaknesses like this to struggle with? Read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. What does this mean? How do you see this illustrated in the movie?
Check out the trailers for this movie that opens today!
Trailers featuring the creators, Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki:
And the official movie trailer from Universal Studios :
Park Alumni: Veggietales Creators January 10, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentThis weekend, the Veggietales “Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” opens nationwide. The creators of Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer, Kurt Heinecke and Mike Nawrocki attended Park in the early 1990’s and many of the early character voices are played by Park people, including Kristin Blegen, Dan Anderson, Mike Sage, and Jim Poole, who is a co-founder of Steep Theater in Chicago. Park has had a long history of excellence in the arts and we are glad to see our alumni creating such excellent work! Get out there and check this movie out this weekend.
Besides its spiritual content, Nawrocki believes the Pirates film has a great deal to offer audiences. It’s based on some of the most popular VeggieTales characters — three wannabe pirates who are finally forced to become heroes. He described the film as part Pirates of the Caribbean, part Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and part Three Amigos.
Unlike many VeggieTales stories, the Pirates film isn’t based on a Bible story, Nawrocki said. There’s not an altar call at the end, and little mention of God. Instead, there is an Aslan-like king, who helps the pirates along their way.
The film is more of a parable. And while viewers will get a lesson about what it means to be a hero, Nawrocki says they’ll also have a good time along the way.”I love this story,” he said. “It’s well paced, and it’s a really funny piece of entertainment.”
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Many of you know that VeggieTales has had a roller-coaster history, one full of ups and downs and enveloped in God’s grace as the company had a big movie, yet succumbed to bankruptcy after selling more than 40 million kid’s videos. Vischer told that Big Idea’s past struggles were a lesson in faith. He, Heineke and Nawrocki made the first VeggieTales episode, Where is God When I Am S-Scared?, for about $60,000, working out of an unheated storefront in Chicago in the early 1990s. By 2003, Big Idea had sold more than 25 million videos and had more than 200 employees. The company had experienced one miracle after another, Vischer said.
Then everything crashed.
Sales flattened out, causing the company to struggle to make payroll. Instead of cutting staff, Vischer held out hope that God would save the company. If the Jonah film, released in 2002, had been a blockbuster success, all the company’s worries would have been over. While Jonah did well, grossing more than $26 million despite being made on a shoestring budget for a computer-generated imagery film, it didn’t save Big Idea. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and was bought by Classic Media LLC.
Vischer, who had been Big Idea’s sole owner, lost everything in the company’s struggles. Yet he seems remarkably content. He told a writer “Back then, my whole identity was wrapped up in 80 minutes of celluloid,” he said. “You don’t want to be in a place where a single project can destroy your identity.” If the Pirates film is a success, Vischer said, he’ll be glad for it. If not, “then I’ll move on to what God has in store next.”
