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In the twenty-fifth Veggie Tales release (is that possible?!?!?), the cast of characters follow its usual approach: answer a letter from a fan, and use that as a lead in to the story.  A short story follows, with a song interlude next, then another story followed by a recap that drives home the lesson of the stories.  This formula has been successful to the tune of millions of sales for Big Idea Productions, so why deviate from what works?

The story opens with a letter from a young girl who recently has become an older sister, and is saddened by the seeming lack of attention she now receives.  "Babysitter in De-Nile" is the response from Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, our hosts.  A re-working of the Moses story, "De-Nile" features Laura the Carrot as Miriam, the older sister of Moses, who emphatically does not enjoy baby-sitting her younger sibling.  When the Egyptians pose a threat, though, she takes action by hiding Moses in the reeds on the riverbank, where he is discovered by a princess who speaks in Valley Girl.  She promises to protect Moses and his family, and the situation is resolved.  The ending feels rushed, as the story doesn't develop much past the problem at hand.

"The Blues with Larry" picks up the pace, with special guest Blind Lemon Lincoln.  Lincoln becomes quickly dismayed, though, when he finds Larry is too happy to be able to sing the blues, instead trilling about ice cream and cookies.  Despite his efforts to depress Larry, Lincoln ultimately ends up frustrated and leaves the set.  This skit works for both adults and children, as the jokes work for kids and for music fans of all ages.

"Duke and the Great Pie War" is the second story , and is given more time to breathe.  Larry returns as Duke Duke, leader of the village of Scone.  Lucas (Bob the tomato) is his trusty sidekick.  Duke completes (barely) Knight Training School under the tutelage of Pa Grape.  But all is not well in the Kingdom of Scone…

The Rhubarbarians are attempting to take over Scone.  Naturally, to complicate things, Duke meets and falls in love with Petunia, a lithesome young Rhubarbarian.  She and her mother-in-law, Nona, are acting out a scaled down version of the story of Naomi and Ruth. Against the advice of Lucas, and the rest of his subjects, Duke agrees to do battle with "Otis the Elevator" (Mr. Lunt) in a test of their medieval skills.  Duke's response to his critics is that "true love means thinking of others first."

Naturally, our hero prevails, coming from behind to win a riddle sequence that pays homage to Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First?" He and Petunia are quickly married, and peace settles over the land.
 
"Duke and the Great Pie War" is rife with in jokes for the adult audiences, and the script will appeal to fans of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  The French Peas give a chuckle as well, appearing as the "Three Dog Knights." 

Veggie Tales achieves their goal, as usual.  Kids will love the animation, and learn the lesson of Romans 12:10.  Adults will appreciate the writing that is savvy enough to include them, making repeated viewing of the show much more palatable than most childrens' videos.  Duke is not their best or most original production, but it ranks somewhere in the upper half of their catalog.  My five year old still prefers The Ballad of Little Joe, or Lyle the Kindly Viking, but gave Duke and the Great Pie War two thumbs up.

Brian A. Smith 5/7/2005