Now Available to Own
AKA: Veggie Tales: Robin Good and His Not So Merry Men; VeggieTales: Robin Good
As a feisty do-gooder who’s – incidentally – also a cucumber, Robin Good’s face may be “as long as a boring sermon,” but luckily for the ham-hungry residents of the unluckily named village of Bethlingham, he’s “vegetable enough” to challenge the man nicknamed “the prince of ham” in order to put pork-related things right for the poor.
Hogging “this little piggy” for breakfast and another one or two for lunch and dinner, it’s safe to say that the ham-hoarding Prince John isn’t a fan of Good’s plan to fundraise from the rich to feed the poor ham-less masses.
Throwing him into the dungeon of despair for failure to conform to Prince John’s style of business as usual, Robin puts on a brave cucumber face while plotting to bring home the bacon ensuring the not-so-merry men of Bethlingham are into a wake-up call when Robin comes marching home again with plenty of ham-munition.
Filled with vibrant animation including magnificent attention to color design amidst eye-popping indigo skies and Sherwood Forest inspired sets, the technical specs of the disc are breathtaking on DVD.
Although some of the Sunday school lessons are laid on a bit heavily in this Christian themed children’s series, fortunately, the newest serving of Veggie Tales manages to emphasize wholesome entertainment over overt garnishes of gospel via witty puns guaranteed to keep the produce brand of morality fresh for Robin’s youngest viewers.
Amusing audiences with Abbott and Costello-themed riffs on our heroic cucumber’s last name and squeezing in all of the hammy slang that can fill the rest of the succinct disc’s fifty-minute running time, the episode’s writers deserve a special commendation for cuisine and condiment-related creativity.
Though it does take awhile for this title to get going, following a clunky Sixteen Candles inspired short which sacrificed natural storytelling to hammer the point home, following an infectiously funny ode to dish-protecting bubble wrap performed like a kiddie rap, Good soon gets back on track.
Non-religious and new to the series, while I can’t comment on whether or not this Veggie Tale will surpass the rest in terms of shelf-life, it’s a surprisingly fun-filled celebration of charitable giving destined to reach its target demographic, debuting in an Easter basket near you in time for the upcoming holiday.
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FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.
