VeggieTales in the House
VeggieTales in the House is an American-Canadian CGI computer-animated children's comedy web television series produced by Big Idea Entertainment (owned by DreamWorks Classics), and animated by Bardel Entertainment.[2] It takes place outside of VeggieTales, a Christian-themed video and film series, featuring anthropomorphic vegetables.[3] The series was executive produced by Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim & Catscratch. The series was released to Netflix on November 26, 2014.[1] The show lasted for three years before ending in 2016.[1] A follow-up series, titled VeggieTales in the City, was released on February 24, 2017, but ended by early 2018.[4][5]
| VeggieTales in the House | |
|---|---|
 VeggieTales in the House series poster | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | VeggieTales by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki |
| Developed by | Doug TenNapel |
| Written by | Ethan Nicolle Eric Branscum Michael J. Nelson Wes Halula Kristine Lacey Doug TenNapel |
| Directed by | Tim Hodge Craig George Bill Breneisen |
| Voices of | Phil Vischer Mike Nawrocki Tress MacNeille Rob Paulsen Kel Mitchell China Anne McClain Maurice LaMarche Tony Hale Jon Heder |
| Opening theme | VeggieTales in the House Theme Song |
| Ending theme | VeggieTales in the House Theme Song (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Terry Taylor Robert D. Watson Michael "Smidi" Smith Scott Krippayne |
| Country of origin | United States Canada (animation) |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (104 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Doug TenNapel |
| Producer(s) | Chris Neuhahn (supervising) Randy Dormans (supervising) |
| Running time | 22 minutes (two 11-minute stories)[1] |
| Production company(s) | Bardel Entertainment (animation) Big Idea Entertainment (DreamWorks Classics) |
| Distributor | Netflix Streaming Services |
| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
| Original release | November 26, 2014 – September 23, 2016 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | VeggieTales |
| Followed by | VeggieTales in the City |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The two creators of the traditional VeggieTales series from 1993, reprise their voices of the characters: Phil Vischer reprises the voices of Bob the Tomato, Archibald Asparagus, Jimmy Gourd, Phillipe Pea, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape and Mike Nawrocki reprises the voices of Larry the Cucumber, Jerry Gourd, and Jean-Claude Pea. Other characters on the show (including the rest of the original characters brought over from the original VeggieTales series) are voiced by Tress MacNeille as Petunia Rhubarb, Madame Blueberry, Laura Carrot, and Junior Asparagus, Rob Paulsen, who provides the voice of Ichabeezer and two new characters named Bacon Bill, and Motato, Maurice LaMarche, and Kel Mitchell, among others.
Despite the positive reception from critics, it, along with its sequel series VeggieTales in the City, was panned and received massive backlash from fans of the VeggieTales social media fanbase, with complaints over the characters’ redesigns and for being way too childlike and babyish compared to the original series, as well as the beloved characters being given different, "more stupid-acting and dim-witted" personalities, and the theological teachings being too shallow, though some praised the redesigned Petunia Rhubarb and considered her an improvement to the original character. Viewership of both the series and its follow-up on Netflix were in fact significantly lower than the viewership of the original series, and was eventually cancelled in March 2018, before a revival of the series titled "The VeggieTales Show" was announced.
Characters
Main
- Bob the Tomato (voiced by Phil Vischer) – One of the main characters of VeggieTales, he is best friends and roommates with Larry the Cucumber. Bob is usually the "straight man" in his relationship with Larry. He works part-time at Pa Grape's store doing various jobs and tasks. He enjoys doing things like reading, studying the weather with his weather machine, and helping out his friends in the house.
- Larry the Cucumber (voiced by Mike Nawrocki) – Best friends and roommate with Bob the Tomato, Larry is scatterbrained and has an energetic, childlike personality. He enjoys doing very silly things, like singing silly songs, eating large amounts of sardines, and riding his bicycle on the ceiling. He works driving the town's ice-cream cart and does odd jobs at Pa Grape's store. He secretly protects the city from crime as the superhero LarryBoy, making use of a LarryMobile and a secret lair underneath the apartment he shares with Bob.
- Petunia Rhubarb (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Good friends with Bob, Larry, and Tina Celerina. She often enjoys hanging out with them and often offers them advice whenever they get into a fight or face personal problems. She worked part-time at Pa Grape's store, but followed her love of plants and has opened a flower shop.
- Laura Carrot (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – A young carrot girl who is friends with Bob and Larry and Junior Asparagus, her best friend. She loves playing with her friends, including baseball and jump rope. She eventually gained a superheroine alter ego dubbed "Night Pony", where she helps fight crime with LarryBoy and the other superheroes of the house.
- Junior Asparagus (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Best friends with Laura, Junior is a typical child and looks up to Larry. Like Larry, he also has a superhero alter ego, "Junior Jetpack," using a jet pack given to him by Ichabeezer. Junior is often a superhero duo with LarryBoy.
- Pa Grape (voiced By Phil Vischer) – A wise old grape, he runs a convenience store called Pa's Corner Store. He often provides wise and insightful advice to his friends and customers.
- Jimmy and Jerry Gourd (voiced by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki) - Brothers that live together in an apartment not far from Bob and Larry's house. They don't do much, but they love to eat and spend time with their pet dust Danny, and their other pet guppy named Happy Sunshine Bubbles. Jimmy also gained a superhero alter ego by the name of JimmyBoy, where LarryBoy has taken Jimmy under his wing and trained him to be a superhero.
- Ichabeezer (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – Ichabeezer is a grumpy, gruff and elderly zucchini. He doesn't like or get along very well with the other veggies, especially when they get on his lawn. The only thing Ichabeezer truly likes is his beloved pet olive dog, Rooney. For the Netflix era, he has essentially assumed Mr. Nezzer's role as an outsider/villain foil for Bob and Larry. His home is a large mansion built out of the side of a couch.
Recurring
- Jean-Claude and Phillipe Pea (Voiced by Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer) – The brothers, Jean-Claude and Phillipe, are peas with French accents. The brothers appear to be school aged and presumably live together while their father lives in France.
- Madame Blueberry (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – A female blueberry with a slight British accent. She lives in a blue, teapot-shaped house, where she spends most of her time drinking tea and enjoying the "fancier" things in life. She has been known to win various contests and events around town such as karaoke and pie baking. She has an especially lovely singing voice and has a specialty for singing "the blues."
- Mr. Lunt (voiced by Phil Vischer) – A Hispanic gourd, he works around town and sells various items, often joking that his job changes every episode. He eventually set up his own place of business, where he can be seen doing his various odd jobs. Carrying on from the original videos, his lack of eyes is a running gag throughout the show.
- Archibald Asparagus (voiced by Phil Vischer) – The Mayor of the town with an upper crust British accent. He enjoys being the mayor and leader of the town, but more often than not, he can be overwhelmed by the amount of work he does. He often acts as a judge/impartial third party whenever something is wrong.
- Bacon Bill (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – An eccentric genius who is the son of one of Pa Grape's friends. He looks up to Larry as an older brother figure. He is very wacky, and can often be seen doing various silly things, mostly on Ichabeezer's lawn.
- Tina Celerina (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Petunia's best friend and employee of her flower shop. She is very scatterbrained and quirky, which can get her into trouble. Despite this, she has a very positive attitude and an outgoing personality.
- Motato (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – An evil, deformed Sweet Potato who is LarryBoy's chief nemesis. He is quite insane and enjoys wreaking havoc and chaos on the veggie citizens of the house. Along with his radish minions, he carries out various nefarious plots to destroy the town. His evil lair is located in the bathroom of the house.
- Callie Flower (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is a cauliflower. She is a classmate of Junior Asparagus.
- Mike Asparagus (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is Junior Asparagus's dad. He is also an astronaut.
- Lisa Asparagus (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is Junior Asparagus's mom.
Minor
- Tom Celeriac (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a potato celebrity with a mustache who does stunts and acts in movies. He usually makes the other veggies think they can do anything.
- Radishes (voiced by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki) are the evil minions of Motato. They do whatever Motato tells them.
- Gary Garlic (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a classmate of Junior Asparagus who can't control his strength sometimes.
- Beau Rockly (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a news reporter. He interviews LarryBoy.
- Harold Pea (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is Beau Rockly's cameraman. He helps interview LarryBoy.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 5 | November 26, 2014 | ||
| 5 | January 30, 2015 | ||||
| 5 | April 17, 2015 | ||||
| 2 | 11 | September 25, 2015 | |||
| 3 | 13 | March 25, 2016 | |||
| 4 | 13 | September 23, 2016 | |||
Home media
Big Idea Entertainment have released only two DVD volumes of VeggieTales in the House. Each release contained seven episodes from the first season, and one episode from the second season.
| Title | Season(s) | Episode count | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Puppies and Guppies | 1, 2 | 8 | March 25, 2016 |
| Contained "Puppies and Guppies" (1a), "Laura at Bat" (5a), "Larry's Cardboard Thumb (6b)", "Junior Gets a Pet" (11b), "Cool as a Cucumber (12a)", "Popcorntastrophe!" (13a), "Junior Jetpack" (13b) and "The Guppy Whisperer" (16b). | |||
| Captain LarryBeard and the Search for the Pirate Ship | 1, 2 | 8 | October 18, 2016 |
| Contained "Sorry, We're Closed Today" (1b), "Bob and the Awesome Frosting Mustache" (2a), "Trading Places" (3b), "The Gong Heard 'Round the House" (7a), "The Bucket List" (8a), "The Rich Young Comic Ruler" (12b), "Captain LarryBeard" (15b) and "DUO Day" (20b). | |||
References
- Dickson, Jeremy (November 20, 2014). "VeggieTales Q&A: Off the counter and onto Netflix". Kidscreen. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- Hearn, Samantha. Nolensville - Home for the Holidays, September 15, 2016, "Women in Business to hear from VeggieTales president". Accessed December 29, 2017.
- Chandler, Diana (November 26, 2014). "Netflix gives VeggieTales' Bob, Larry a new world". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- Jackson, Daniele (January 24, 2017). "New on Netflix in February: Finding Dory and Santa Clarita Diet". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- Hartropp, Joseph (February 23, 2017). "Brand New VeggieTales Brings Godly Vegetables Back To Netflix: Exclusive Clips". Christian Today. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
