If You Like To Talk To Tomatoes...

I don't know if any of the rest of you get the Big Idea Newsletter email, but...I do.

Anyway, I just got this message (with much cooler pics in the email):

Captain's Log for 'Jonah -- a VeggieTales Movie'

ISSUE #1 -The Pirates are Taking Over!

For 3,000 years, people have told the story of a guy who was eaten by a whale ... and lived to tell about it! But never, in all this time, has it been told quite like this. Jonah - a VeggieTales Movie is set to debut this fall at a theater near you! And it's those lazy scalawags, the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, who will be giving you up-to-date progress reports on the making of Jonah!

While they may never have been to Boston in the fall, the Pirates do star in Jonah, which makes them privy to all kinds of cool, insider-only info (like when to look for stuff in the movie that you probably would have missed, otherwise). They also have some really cool downloadable pictures and actual dialog lines from Jonah to share with you. And that's just the tip of the cheese-curl!

Watch your inbox for the latest Jonah news, as we count down to the big-screen premier this fall!

 

Okay, so has anyone heard about this VeggieTales Live thing? It's coming to my town pretty soon.

 

I have not. I want to go.

 

Hmm, maybe it's a hoax. I'd think you'd have heard about from your e-mail newsletter thing.

 

No, it's real. I've heard of it. I've just not really heard much about it.

 

oh WHERE ismyhairbush?

oh WHERE ismyhairbrush?

ohwhereowhereowhereowhereoWHERRRRRRRE..

ismyhairbrush?





larrry is the coolest vegetable in the world. I don't care if veggitales are extremely christian sometimes. i LOVE them!!!

 

goashdarnlagstupiddoublepost = satan!!!!

 

Check this out, fresh from the newsletter:

Become a Big Idea Ambassador!
Jonah ? a VeggieTales Movie opens in theaters across the country on October 4, and as you can imagine, we are very excited about this new adventure. We're also excited to fill you in on the new Big Idea Ambassador program, which will let VeggieTales super-fans help us get the word out about Jonah!

The goal of the Ambassador program is simple: to get as many of our biggest fans, their families and friends as possible to go see Jonah on opening weekend. We hope that a whale-sized splash at the box office will draw even more people to the movie, and its biblical message about mercy and compassion.

All Ambassadors will receive a kit of promotional materials to help spread the word, including posters, coloring pages, hand-outs, and a personalized Big Idea business card! We need to have an even number of Big Idea Ambassadors spread throughout the United States and Canada, so a limited number of fans in each state or province will be able to sign up.

If you're interested in spreading the word in your town, learn more at BigIdea.com. And thanks for your continued support of Big Idea!

Coool! Y'all check that out.

And what about the DVDs? Y'all know they are now going to start releasing all the shows on DVD. *sniff* I don't have the money to replace my videos.

 

[color=663300]well, queenie if you are really nice, maybe someone will get them for you for your birthday! [/color]

 

[color=663300]and I mean nice. [/color]

 

[color=663300]and I mean nice. [/color]

edit double post. sorry

 

[color=663300]Hey look at that, it's me four times in a row. sorry, but I was just checkin if this thread would move. it didn't last night at all...[/color]

 

Captain's Log for 'Jonah -- a VeggieTales Movie'

ISSUE #3 - The Music of Jonah

Phil Vischer, Big Idea's top tomato, talks about scoring Jonah!

Composer Kurt Heinecke conducts the orchestra in a piece from the Jonah ? a VeggieTales Movie score.
Music has always played a key role in VeggieTales®, probably because Mike and I, the primary writers and directors, are so musical. Neither of us can actually read or write music, nor can we play any instrument well enough to impress anyone, but we both tend to walk around with little songs falling out of our heads.

Learning how to score a film (create the music that plays under the action) has been quite an adventure! Over the years we've slowly added more complexity (as well as live instruments) to our scores. The scoring process for Jonah started more than a year ago, as composer Kurt Heinecke and I began discussing basic themes (the key melodies that will be used throughout a score).

We had already recorded and arranged most of the songs, so we had those melodies to draw on. For example, the melody line from Jonah's opening song, "A Message From the Lord," reoccurs throughout the film whenever Jonah tries to put on his "prophet hat" and give people God's messages. But we also needed themes representing the film itself, Jonah's traveling buddy Khalil, the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (in addition to their own theme song, which we also used), Jonah's flight, and the film's major locations -- like Joppa (the 'good' guys), and Nineveh (the 'bad' guys).


Jim Gray directs the orchestra assembled at the Bastyr University Chapel in Seattle.
Developing all these themes was quite a bit of work in and of itself! But of all of them, my favorite theme is probably the one that represents the film's teaching. Jonah is ultimately about God's mercy -- how he wants to give us all second chances, even though we don't deserve them.

I have always been excited about the idea of dipping into the rich heritage of church music for film scores. So I sent Kurt off on a mission to find a hymn we could use in the score that dealt with God's mercy. A few weeks later he came back with an old, 19th century hymn that fit perfectly! For a film about mercy -- about a guy trying to escape across the sea to get away from God -- we found a beautiful little hymn that starts out:

"There's a wideness in God's mercy -- like the wideness of the sea.
There's a kindness in God's justice -- that is more than liberty." *

We never actually use the lyrics in the film, only the melody. But for those who recognize the hymn or who've heard about it and read the words, hearing that melody hinted at early on when the film's theme is first mentioned, then hearing it explode near the end when all is revealed, is about enough to bring tears to your eyes.

I'd like to make it a hallmark of our film scores that those familiar with classic church music will find all sorts of gems hidden inside.


Tune up those instruments! The score for Jonah was performed by the Seattle Session Orchestra.
After the themes were developed, Kurt and I spent about four months actually weaving them into a tapestry to support the story -- from happy days in Joppa, to the darkness of Nineveh, through a raging storm and into the belly of a whale. I would sketch out "stick figure drawings:" "Let's start with this theme, then move to this one, pick up tempo -- now explode!" Kurt would complete the picture with gorgeous colors: "The strings will take this line, the oboe here, then contra bassoon ..."

Of course, the ultimate thrill was to sit in a beautiful church in Seattle and listen to a full orchestra bring our music to life! And when they got to the end and the church was filled with that old hymn about God's mercy, even though I doubt any of the musicians knew exactly what they were playing, well ... I needed a hankie!

As good as a story might be, I believe the role of the music in a film is to connect the story to your heart. It took more than a year's worth of work, but when you hear it, I t

 

Great to see this thread again! I will definitely see the movie.

 

I'm very excited about it!

merlin said the trailer was in front of Lilo & Stitch where he lives. Awesome! Too bad it wasn't with our Lilo.

 

My sister would sing the Vegi tale song and try to drive me nuts with it. And she's twenty one. I always though she pulled the song out of her but. Now I see the error in my thinking.

I am absolutely horrified that this show actually existed.

*throws holt water on the thread*

The power of Christ compells you!
The power of Christ compells you!

 

I am absolutely horrified that this show actually existed.

Horrified?

And it still exists.

 

Yay! Jonah is finally coming out this Friday! I'm very excited.

I thought I would share with y'all the Captain's Log's Fun Facts to Spot!


1) In the opening scene, make sure to check out the license plate of the veggies' mini-van.

2) A bit of Midwestern pride -- the road map Bob and Dad are reading in the mini-van has some Chicago landmarks in it (Lake Michigan and Routes 55, 59, 88, 90, 94, 355, etc.).

3) When Bob loses control of the mini-van and drives by a cabin, the car from Esther is parked next to the cabin, perched atop some concrete blocks.

4) If you listen closely in the dining room of the restaurant, you can hear a Muzak®-like interpretation of the song "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."

5) The ship hanging in the seafood restaurant is Lyle's little boat from Lyle the Kindly Viking.

6) There is a net hanging in the restaurant with a bunch of toys and other items in it. Make sure you look for these items later, aboard the ship of the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.

7) Can anyone spot the twitchy-eyed Miss Achmetha (from Esther) in the city of Joppa?

8) The book that Jonah is reading in his tent is actually the Lyle the Kindly Viking pop-up book.

9) What is Larryboy's plunger doing on the side of the pirate ship?

10) The shot where Jonah is riding Reginald the camel through the desert is homage to a similar shot from the film Lawrence of Arabia.

11) King Twistomer is actually the gourd who sat on Larry's high silk hat in the Silly Song by the same name (from the VeggieTales episode Lyle the Kindly Viking).

12) Look for Larry the Cucumber barking after an outboard boat motor. This occurs after the motor goes out of control on the pirate ship.

13) If you thought you spotted Art Bigotti's bowling ball, you are right on the money! It can be seen when the Pirates are stuffing the ship's cannon with supplies. The last item they grab is Art Bigotti's signature bowling ball.

14) The city of Lombard, Illinois (home to Big Idea Productions) is included on Angus' cruise sign. This occurs in the city of Joppa, when Jonah is trying to buy a ticket to sail as far away from Nineveh as he possibly can get.

15) The look of the angels in the belly of the whale, who sing the song "Second Chances," was loosely based on the members of the group Anointed, who provide the angels with their "heavenly" voices.

16) Local color? During the musical number in the city of Joppa, there is a postman hopping around delivering letters. All of the letters have a return address of: Big Idea, Lombard, IL 60148

17) Stay for the end of the credits. You'll be glad you did!