Christianity Today

It's been almost 20 years since a quirky league of extraordinary vegetables burst into the Christian imagination. Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and their friends have long since become cultural icons, and they're throwing a party with a boxed set re-release of their first 10 episodes: VeggieTales: All the Shows-Volume One 1993-1999 (Big Idea).

The shows have been hit-or-miss in recent years, but these originals are timeless classics, packed with great messages for kids, winks at pop culture, increasingly impressive animation, and truly ROTFL moments, especially in the absurd Silly Songs with Larry. "The Hairbrush Song" (from 1995's Are You My Neighbor?) was an instant earworm, and who can forget the Brit-accented narrator describing Pa Grape as "shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of Larry in a towel"?

Hilarity aside, I am among millions of parents grateful that these videos came alongside us to teach our children about forgiveness, fear, peer pressure, gratefulness, and, most of all, the deep-seeded (pun intended!) love of a God who clearly has a sense of humor.

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