Does Phil Vischer have a picture in his office somewhere of him standing beside Bob the Tomato, waving with two hands (seeing that the tomato has none) welcoming the crowds to the massive theme park Veggieland? Does Phil Vischer have an office?
I love Veggietales. I enjoy the earlier Veggietales content similar to my other favorite cartoons like Spongebob or Phineas and Ferb. The Silly Songs with Larry, the movie adaptations, that one horror episode with the hands: there’s great stuff and really witty jokes in there. You probably remember the Big Idea logo, with Bob and Larry standing next to it (I think Bob has to squeeze through the “a” or something. Eww that sounds gross. Lol.)
Despite all of the success Veggietales and Big Idea had, they were hoped to become much bigger than they did. Phil Vischer once had a vision self-described as “Walt Disney-” esque. That almost-quote is from a video interview I saw in a Christian Bookstore when I was maybe 10 years old. Or it was from an internet video I saw a year or two ago, I’m really not sure. But I know he said it, and other sources confirm that he had really big plans.
Although Vischer’s larger vision never became reality, the original “big idea” of Veggietales was quite successful; teach kids Biblical values and morals using Bible stories. Vischer began what became Big Idea Entertainment with his friend and fellow voice actor Mike Nawrocki. Veggietales episodes were released straight to VHS, with the first episode “Where’s God When I’m Scared?” released in 1993.
By the late 90s, Veggietales had gained a large audience and was making much more money than expected from an overtly religious production. Not to mention, they had actually helped pave the way for fresh animation techniques. Unfortunately, while Veggietales continued to be a success, Big Idea was in financial trouble. Vischer’s vision for the talking vegetables was bigger than the direct-to-video episodes. He wanted to do theatrical releases, start a TV network, and even build an amusement park. But as Big Idea tried to venture into new and bigger territories, it crumbled financially.
Between a loan taken out to make the first Veggies feature length film Jonah, A Veggietales Movie, a lawsuit filed by HiT Entertainment (which Big Idea lost but then appealed and won), and other circumstances, Big Idea had to file for bankruptcy in 2003 (even after Jonah, A Veggietales Movie grossed 25.6 million on a 14 million dollar budget in 2002).
Big Idea was then bought out by other companies, and several Veggietales projects were released through the years, with Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki still voicing most of the characters and having varied amounts of creative control. As time went on, Veggietales content was produced less often and generally with less success, and in 2021 Phil Vischer tweeted that he and Mike Nawrocki had officially ceased any involvement with Big Idea, citing creative disputes and pay disputes. No Veggietales content has been released since this separation.
I thought people might enjoy hearing a brief synopsis about what happened to Veggietales. Growing up, I thought only kids with very religious parents knew Veggietales, but when I saw how the series popularity seemed to spike with the obsession over the 90s nostalgia stuff, I realized it has a much broader audience than I thought.
I also felt that there was a good lesson to be learned from the story of Phil’s tomatoes. I don’t know what Phil felt as Big Idea filed for bankruptcy, but I bet you can find out in his book. I can’t remember what it’s called and I don’t want to look it up because my laptop is too slow. But if I were him, I would have felt like I failed, I think. And in a way he did, buttttt in a lot of ways he didn’t. He wanted to make a show that taught Biblical/Christian values to kids using stories from the Bible, and he did. He didn’t just reach the church audience either, but he had way more commercial success than almost anyone prior or since that has made similar content. The show still has a dedicated fan base that never stops talking about the Silly Songs with Larry and other things, and a lot of those people are now parents showing their kids the same old Veggietales episodes they watched as kids (Because last I checked you can find them all on Youtube for free.) So, I would say that Vischer succeeded.
If I fast forwarded 50 years and was unable to remember anything, and you sat me down and told me that in those 50 years I started a company, made a successful show that was meaningful to me, acquired a large and devoted fanbase, and then I got really ambitious and basically collapsed the company financially, I think would be pretty happy about it. It sounds like success to me, because the art was liked by people and had a positive impact, and it has stood the test of time. That’s a big deal, and a lot more commercial success than most artists experience. But if I were to have experienced and remembered the collapse of the company as Phil would, I would probably feel defeated.
It would seem that Phil and his vegetables (and fruits) have taught me yet another lesson. Success is subjective, and one man’s success may be one man’s failure. One man’s success might also be that same man’s failure. As Larry once said in “King George and the Ducky,” “Some King’s love horses, and some kings love cattle. Some kings love leading their troops into battle, but me, I’m not like that. I find that stuff yucky. I'd much rather stay in my tub with my ducky... Because I love my duck.”
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