VeggieTales Review: Pistachio - The Little Boy That Woodn't

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Enjoyable take on Pinocchio with some good laughs.

Cons: Moral, while good, is over done

The Bottom Line:

Not one of their best

Good theme, but a bit preachy

Still full of good laughs

Pistachio - Fracturing Pinocchio to Prove that Father Nose Best

VeggieTales still seems to be going strong.  This series of mostly straight to video releases uses talking and singing vegetables to teach Christian morals to kids.  There is usually enough humor to entertain parents as well, hence the reason this single guy keeps buying and enjoying them.  Their latest release is Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn't.  As you might guess, it's a spoof on Pinocchio.

The first things long time fans will notice is that they've changed the theme song slightly.  It's not a big enough change that most people will be upset, but after being the same for almost 20 years, it is definitely noticable.

Okay, moving on to the actual episode.

As usual, we start on the countertop as co-host Bob the Tomato is returning from a vacation.  While he was gone, Larry the Cucumber had the crew from Extreme Re-Do: Crying Edition in to fix up the countertop.  Yes, this part was definitely for the adults, and I got a huge kick out of it.  They've also given Qwerty the computer an upgrade, and our letter of the week comes in a video e-mail.  A little boy is wondering why he should listen to his parents.  And so we roll film.

In the town of Bologna-Salami, there lives a lonely toy maker named Gelato (Larry the Cucumber).  He's filled some of his loneliness by taking in three duckling and hiring an assistant, Cricket the Caterpillar (Khalil, and it's been a long time since we've seen him).  One day, he is given a hunk of pistachio wood.  After craving all night, he finds that his new puppet comes to life.  But Pistachio (Junior Asparagus) isn't willing to listen to his father.  As a result, he winds up running from a puppeteer and being swindled at the carnival.  Will he learn to obey before it is too late?

As I was watching the story unfold, I couldn't help but regret the fact that they'd already used the Biblical parable of the prodigal son in a previous episode.  They recovered fairly well, however, by paralleling Pistachio's story with that of the lost sheep from the same chapter in Luke.  This allowed for some nice lessons in the second half about forgiveness and love.

Unfortunately, things are very heavy handed, especially in the first half.  Sometimes, they are able to slip in the lesson in such a clever way you don't really notice you are learning something.  Here, it's obvious we're being taught about obeying parents.  Now I have no problem with the lesson, especially when we remember the target audience is pre-schoolers, but I wish it weren't so obvious.

They do still get in plenty of laughs.  Just about every character is named after some kind of Italian food.  When we reach the traditional Pinocchio climax, Khalil makes some comments about his first appearance in the franchise, which was Jonah.  While nothing was as funny as the opening, I was amused through most of the show.

We do get a new silly song as well, or in this case Obscure Broadway Show Tunes.  Half way through the story, Larry and Petunia come out and sing "Where Have All the Staplers Gone?"  It's a bit strange, but that makes it funny.

This is not one of the more memorable VeggieTales episodes, but it does still entertain.  I just wish Pistachio: The Little Boy That Woodn't wasn't quite so focused on making sure we got the moral and had a little more fun along the way.

(And as much as I'd love to take credit for the pun in the title, I got the idea from the back of the DVD.)