VeggieTales Review: An Easter Carol

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: A fun and powerful look at what Easter really means for Christians.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Familiar story

With different holiday twist

Gets the meaning right

Hope of Easter Fully Explained

Returning to the Victorian world first created for The Star of Christmas, the creators of the kid's computer animated series VeggieTales release their first Easter special, An Easter Carol.

Business tycoon Ebenezer Nezzer has finally figured out his life's work. Creating plastic Easter eggs is no longer enough. Misinterpreting his grandmother's last words, he decides to destroy the local church and build Easterland, an Easter theme park full of egg hunts and chocolate bunnies in its place to keep Easter, and Grandma's memory, alive all year long. Beside, church is just something that keeps people from buying his eggs on Easter morning.

But the night before Easter, he has a vision. A music box angel named Hope (voiced by Rebecca St. James) shows him Easter past, present, and future. Will it be enough to show him what his grandmother already knew?

Since this is a follow up to The Star of Christmas, it uses the same characters in the same rolls as before. This episode only makes passing references to the earlier story, so it isn't necessary to have seen it, but it does help.

I've been looking forward to this episode ever since it was announced since I love its source material, A Christmas Carol. I certainly wasn't disappointed. The story is fun and entertaining. While we see little of series regulars Bob and Larry, their sub-plot trying to steal the plans for Easterland is hilarious. I especially love the scene with the seesaw. The story goes beyond the resurrection of Jesus to touch on what that means in the lives of Christians, something I truly appreciated. At 49 minutes, this is longer then the average episode, but it never drags for a minute. Several new songs add greatly to the enjoyment. I especially loved their tribute to "The Music Man" and Rebecca St. James' beautiful and powerful song.

The DVD is exactly what we've come to expect from Big Idea. The main feature is presented in full frame, with audio in your choice of stereo or full surround. There's an audio commentary, behind the scenes features, and fun games and activities for the kids. They even have a featurette on how real stained glass is made since stained glass windows play such an important part of the film.

Easter specials are not nearly as plentiful as Christmas specials are. An Easter Carol is one that parents will snap up and kids will love. I know I'll be watching it every Easter for a long time to come.