VeggieTales Review: The Little House that Stood

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Creative retelling of two parables
Cons: Two lessons instead of the usual one
The Bottom Line:
Mother parables
Fresh take on the familiar
Creative and fun

"Larry Liked to Make Up Statistics."  "That's Only 50% True."

Every so often, VeggieTales deviates from its formula.  Usually, that means it has no wrap around, but for their latest video, it means there is no one central theme to the stories.  Instead, the two segments in The Little House That Stood are themed around a mash up of Mother Goose with Biblical parables.

Of course, if you are a fan of these computer animated Vegetables, you know to expect plenty of fun with your Biblical lessons.  That’s certainly the case here in both cases.  Heck, it starts at the very beginning when we see Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato in some pretty fun costumes and meet Mother Goose (okay, just a normal goose) as our two hosts discuss the two letters from kids they are prepared to satisfy.  And in a throw back to the old days, these are actual letters and not a kid on the computer.  One letter asks for a parable while the other wants something fun from Mother Goose.  And it’s Larry who comes up with the perfect solution.

The first segment is the title one.  In “The Little House that Stood,” we meet three builders in the town of Cabbageville.  Larry builds with straw, Mr. Lunt with brick, and Bob with sticks.  But Bob also picks his location carefully and follows the master builder blue print, including creating a firm foundation.

Just as three pigs move to town, there is a contest for new builder, with our three main characters hoping to win Builder of the Year.  Oh yeah, and a storm comes, flooding Wolf Creek and putting pressure on Huff n Puff Dam.  I’m sure you can see where this one is going.

Our second story is “The Good Egg of Gooseville” and finds Bob the one in need of a lesson.  He’s playing mayor Humpty Dumpty and is completely stressed out by the amount of work he has to do keeping peace in the village.  One Jack is practicing his candle jumping while Little Miss Muffet is finding a thorn in her tuffet and Little Bo Peep’s sheep are running around town – again.  The other Jack and Jill are constantly looking for something in the well.  Meanwhile, Mama Bear is upset because she lives next to the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe, and she doesn’t like having all those kids around.  Think of what they are doing to property values.  The pressure is making Humpty/Bob start to crack, so he goes on a vacation on the top of the wall.  What will happen next?

And yes, between these two stories we get a brand new silly song.  “Happy Tooth Day” finds Larry celebrating the day he got his tooth.  And he has a special gift for his tooth.  The results?  Pretty funny when Bob is around.

All told, this is another fun video.  Both mash ups actually work, and the clever way they did it, especially in the first one, will entertain adults even if their kids don’t get all the jokes.  There are several references adults will get and should really make them laugh.  I will admit, I didn’t catch the parable they were retelling in the second story (Good Samaritan) until the wrap up, but I certainly caught the lesson.

And that is my only complaint about the video.  I like it when they have one coherent lesson they are teaching.  Here, even the verse that Qwerty spits out at the end is actually the references for both parables.  But then again, it provides the opportunity for parents to read the original parable with their kids.  Really, it’s a minor issue overall.  I mean, we’ve got a fun 45 minutes that does teach Bible lessons in creative ways.  What else do you really want?

As always, the voice talent is great.  Original creators Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer provide many of the voices, and they are fun.  They’ve expanded the cast quite a bit here, and all the voices match the new characters.

The animation is a good as well.  It’s not the big budget quality we’d see from Pixar or Dreamworks, but it tells the story well and never gets in the way.

So, ultimately, it’s another fun lesson or two in The Little House That Stood.  If you’ve got kids (or are young at heart yourself), this is a must get VeggieTales.