VeggieTales Review: Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good lessons on what it means to be a friend.

Cons: Not as funny as previous entries.

The Bottom Line:

Learning to be friends

Comedy is missing but

Still a fun entry

Clues to Friendship

With 27 videos released over the last 13 years, VeggieTales has become something of an institution. These computer animated vegetables have not only won over their target age group of kids but also teens and adults of every age. The blend of silliness with seriousness works well to impart Biblical lessons to all.

The latest in the series, Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler, takes on the issue of friendship. What exactly does it take to be a good friend? Naturally, Bob the Tomato is ready with two stories that help answer the question.

First up, we get "The Asparagus of La Mancha." Don Quixote (Archibald Asparagus) runs a popular restaurant. When he starts having a series of bad dreams, he tries to figure out what they mean. Could the grand opening of the latest Food Factory restaurant right across the street be what the dreams were foretelling?

Naturally, Don's business drops off immediately, and he becomes concerned about loosing his business and best friends/waiter Poncho (Mr. Lunt). Is there anything he can do to get the Food Factory to go away or is it as useless as tilting at windmills?

Up next is the silly song, one of the weaker ones. In it, Larry tries to get his ball back from behind the wall of a "Gated Community" while the residences sing about how great life there is. It's been a while, but I think I now have a new least favorite silly song. This one had an interesting premise, but it didn't really go anywhere.

Finally comes the main feature. Larry the Cucumber takes on the role of Sheerluck Holmes, the best detective in London. That is, if you believe the press. Holmes is actually not nearly as brilliant as everyone thinks he is. The true detective is Dr. Watson (Bob the Tomato). The two are summoned to Buckingham Palace where they must find the missing keys to the vault that contains the secret of England's greatness, The Golden Ruler. But Watson is getting tired of Holmes hogging all the credit. Will the riff in their relationship mean the loss of this valuable asset?

I didn't feel this entry in the series was quite up to par. The stories were good and animation fine, but it lacked the humor of the previous entries. Normally, these videos can be counted on to make you laugh and smile no matter your age, but this one contained few good jokes. Instead, the stories seemed to be heavier handed then normal in getting the moral across. On top of this, the two songs weren't especially memorable.

This isn't to say I didn't like the video. The lessons on sticking by your friends and treating them well are important and the stories are fun. Kids, the true audience, should love it. Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler just won't be as popular with the adult fans of the series.