c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Disney started with a mouse.

So why not build the next family entertainment empire around a cucumber and a tomato?

Tens of thousands of families across the country are expected to visit religious bookstores to buy”Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed,”the much-anticipated latest title in the Veggie Tales video series.

In conjunction with the video’s July 24 release, Christian stores held screenings to satisfy the growing appetite for the talking produce that mix silly songs, biblically centered moral tales and state-of-the art computer animation.

While Disney struggles in the Christian marketplace over issues of gay rights and sexually explicit and violent movies and CDs, Veggie Tales has mushroomed in popularity since Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato made their debut in 1994. Last year Big Idea Productions sold nearly 6 million Veggie Tale videos, and this year it anticipates selling 10 million.

With Disney-like business acumen, the company has put out a host of Veggie Tale-related products, from stuffed toys to greeting cards to children’s books. Its first feature film _ an animated version of the story of Jonah _ is due out in 2001.

At a no-alcohol coming-out party for the latest video in mid-July at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando, Fla., chief executive officer Phil Vischer told some 600 Christian retailers from around the country that Big Idea’s big idea is to replace Disney as the most trusted family media company in the world.”There is a God. He made us special. And he loves us very much. That is the hope we put in our stores,”Vischer said from the Hard Rock stage.”The world doesn’t need more magic. The world needs God.” It was a mission to offer values-centered programming as an alternative to the major media entertainment companies that led Vischer, a computer animator and Bible college dropout, to found Big Idea in 1991.

From the first release in 1994 _”Where’s God When I’m Scared?”_ the Veggie Tales videos have featured short stories and silly songs that relate a biblical message with talking vegetables. The target audience is ages 3 to 10, but the campy humor and characters such as Jr. Asparagus and Larry the Cucumber also appeal to adults.

Growing at first by word-of-mouth through outlets in religious bookstores, Big Idea has begun to reach Rugrats and Teletubbies numbers through mass-market retailing in major department stores and drugstore chains. However, the company still gives religious bookstores first crack at selling the latest video.

Veggie Tales has often taken all the top 10 spots in Christian video sales. At the recent Orlando meeting of CBA, formerly known as the Christian Booksellers Association, a giant cucumber and tomato hovered over the football-field-sized exhibition space, while several companies promoted the videos and tie-in products such as puzzles, toys and games featuring the popular characters.

What makes the premiere of”Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed”such a big event is that between repeated home showings and their use in vacation Bible schools and church youth groups, many fans said they are starving for fresh veggies.

Still, at the home of the Barr family in Brecksville, Ohio, on a recent hot summer afternoon, smiles were constant on the faces of all four children, ages 4 to 12, as they watched a well-worn tape of”Dave and the Giant Pickle,”a computer-animated retelling of the David and Goliath story.

Four-year-old Annie, clutching a Bob the Tomato puppet and wearing a Veggie Tales T-shirt proclaiming”A Thankful Heart Is a Happy Thing,”says the message she gets from the videos is God”loves us.” Her 12-year-old brother, Adam, appreciates the computer animation and the creative way vegetables are used to tell religious stories.”I like that they don’t have to stay on the same subject as the Bible does,”he said.

Adam added that he thinks God would be proud of Veggie Tales.”I see God as someone who has a sense of humor and not a boring person,”he said.

Their mother, Cheryl, said she sometimes gives the videos as gifts to children who do not attend church regularly.”They’ve taken the Bible and been able to keep the solid truth of the Bible and show it in a way children can understand,”she said.

With Disney branching out to R-rated movies, violent television shows and controversial albums that have made it the subject of boycotts by groups as large as the Southern Baptist Convention, Vischer said there is a great need for Big Idea’s products.

The company’s 20-year goal, he said, is to become”the most trusted family media company in the world.” To that end, he told the retailers the company will never measure its success in terms of profits.”This is far beyond a Phil thing. This is a God thing,”Vischer said.

The company is privately held and does not reveal financial statements. But Bob Patin, a partner in the company, said revenue has tripled this year and the company is looking to expand its licensing arrangements as well as explore possibilities for a television show and a live theatrical production.”We’re absolutely going to change the world,”Patin said.”We can be one of those embedded parts of family life that help parents parent.”

AMB END BRIGGS