From the WSJ Opinion Archives
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
David vs. Cash Flow
Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are in a pickle.
Last November, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber were big Hollywood stars. Now they're in a pickle.
"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie" was one of the season's surprise hits, grossing more than $24 million at the box office, though its success was no surprise to longtime fans of Bob, Larry and the rest of the cartoon evangelical vegetables.
VeggieTales have dominated the Christian video market for the better part of a decade. The stories are silly and cute, with pop-culture references sprinkled throughout. Their messages are decidedly uncomplicated. If a child is unsure what to make of "Josh and the Big Wall," in which salad greens fight the battle of Jericho, the answer is right there on the front of the box. "A Lesson in Obedience," it says.
After its triumphant transition to the big screen, the company responsible for the VeggieTales franchise, Big Idea Productions, seemed a step closer to one of the goals stated on its Web site: "To become one of the top five family media brands in the country [rivaling Disney, Time Warner and other giants], and the most trusted of the family media brands."
But Big Idea ran into big challenges, including cash-flow problems and a lawsuit brought by a former distributor. It filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month as part of a deal to sell its assets to Classic Media LLC. A spokesman for Big Idea says it will continue developing VeggieTales videos.
"When things were going so well, I thought that was God wanting us to expand, so we grew like crazy," chief executive Phil Vischer told a reporter for Christian Retailing. In hindsight, he said, it was too much too soon. "Now I think it was more me having all these great ideas in my head and being so excited that I wanted to do them all at once."
Compare the fate of VeggieTales with that of another religious cartoon, "Davey and Goliath," which enjoyed widespread popularity in the 1960s and 1970s but more or less disappeared for 30 years.
Two years ago, advertising directors for Mountain Dew approached Davey's owners--the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America--for permission to use the character in a soft-drink commercial.
Some in the church considered it a mistake to bring back the claymation figures as shills for soda. But the church decided to let Davey do the Dew, hoping that it might bring a new generation of fans to the doe-eyed boy and his mellow dog. Ever since, Davey has been a hot property.
He appeared in a 90-second video on baptism at this year's ELCA Youth Gathering, where 40,000 teenagers hollered their approval. He is also the subject of a one-hour documentary ("Oh Davey! . . . History of the Davey and Goliath Television Series") that will air Sunday at 6 a.m. on ABC in New York and on various other dates around the country.
An hourlong TV special, "The Davey and Goliath Snowboard Christmas," is in production for 2004. The church hopes soon to reissue old Davey shows on DVD and begin production on new episodes that would air weekly on television stations nationwide.
It couldn't happen to a nicer lump of clay.
Davey, created by the same animators who made Gumby, was once all over Sunday morning TV. His innocent adventures with his dog and with his friend, Tommy, taught gentle, uncomplicated lessons about the wisdom of parents and the love of God.
"This is the only pop-culture icon owned by a church," says the Rev. Eric Shafer, director of communication for the ELCA. "Davey's like Tony the Tiger, or Gumby. We didn't want to sit on a valuable commodity that can do good work."
Still, they're taking a conservative approach. Little if any money from the church budget will go toward promoting Davey. New episodes will be produced only if donors support the project. "We're starting modestly," says Mr. Shafer.
Davey wouldn't have it any other way.
Mr. Eig is a Chicago-based Journal reporter.
