Yo ho. Glad you all liked Buck's interview over at Jellyfishland. He sends his warm regards to everyone who sent him such nice mail.
Now… about that movie. The Pirate movie has grossed about $10mm after two weeks, which is about 1/3 less than Jonah at the same point in time. Obviously, Big Idea and Universal were hoping for a little more. It isn't a disaster, considering the film carried a fairly small budget, but it certainly could be doing better. As to why it isn't doing better, well, I'll list a whole host of reasons folks have suggested:
- Small family films don't do well at this point in movie history
- Too much marketing $ spent in places like NYC, not enough spent in the heartland
- VeggieTales isn't as popular as it was 5-10 years ago
- Movie wasn't Christian enough for the "home crowd," but the property is considered too Christian for everyone else
- No singing chipmunks anywhere on screen
- Not enough crazy slapstick/bathroom humor to fill a trailer and attract the Nickelodeon generation
- Johnny Depp's role too difficult to notice onscreen (Buck suggested this theory)
You probably have a few more, but that's my list. (And Buck's.) So… which ones are correct? I have no idea. I mean, that's the thing about the movie biz – "No one knows anything." Honestly? I think 1 thru 4 and 6 are all probably valid. (Okay, Buck, you raised a good point with #7, too.)
The reality is that the movie business is extraordinarily difficult, providing many more opportunities to fail than succeed. The Pirate movie was, perhaps, a long-shot from the beginning, but since Universal was helping out financially, the new owners of VeggieTales decided it was worth the effort. So there you go. The good news is that, unlike Jonah, the Pirate movie wasn't a central part of keeping Big Idea in business. The bad news is that the performance of the new film makes it fairly unlikely that we'll be seeing The Bob & Larry Movie go into production any time soon.
Next – someone asked when the next veggie DVD, Huckleberry Larry, was hitting stores. The answer: I dunno! The next episode (based on a script I wrote from an outline Mike and I developed together), has been lolling it's way through the development process for a good year now and, I believe, is finally in production. It is being animated in Singapore, of all places, because Canada, as a nation, was "too busy." Bob and Larry are really racking up the frequent flier miles, eh?
That's all for now… I'm hoping before long we can start talking about the things we've been developing here at Jellyfish Labs… soon… I hope…
Oh – I'm speaking at a bunch of conferences in the next few months: the Elmbrook Children's Pastors Conference (outside Milwaukee), the National Religious Broadcasting convention in Nashville, the Assembly of God Children's Pastors Conference (Little Rock) and the Willowcreek Children's Pastors Conference (Chicago), and the Gideon Film Festival in the Smokey Mountains. (See why it's taking so long to make new stuff at Jellyfish?!?) Maybe I'll see you at one of these!
May I suggest another possibility for the lack of movie receipts:
My wife and I love veggie tales, and we have two small children who also love veggie tales. We own nearly every single veggie tales video on DVD and/or VHS, so we’re generally reliable to buy any veggie tales video once it comes out.
Unfortunately, attending a first run movie for a family of 4 costs at least $40-$50 with movie tickets running $7-$9 each, and popcorn and drinks being so expensive. We just can’t afford to go to the movies as a family anymore, so we wait for the DVD which only costs about $20 and we can watch at our leisure. Also, the bombastic sound levels employed by most movie theaters these days tends to scare my children.
All of which is to say, PLEASE continue making movies, but don’t expect big box office from families like my own, rather just do direct to video. We’ll buy the videos – count on it.
Thanks for all you do. We are recommending “Me, myself, and Bob” to all our friends.
Sorry to hear the low numbers. What a crazy business!
I can see all those reasons being valid, especially #7: upping the Depp screen time changes everything.
My whole family are fans of the movie. In fact, it was our new son’s first movie. 🙂
We’re looking forward to hearing about Jellyfish Labs developments!
See you @ Conspire!
My parents took my 5 1/2 year old to see it. We, as busy parents, just don’t get out to see movies these days. I personally haven’t seen one since 2004. It might be the demographics of who has money to go to the theatres.
I also wonder if the timing had anything to do with it. Aren’t kids movies usually out in the summer? My daughter is in a full day, every seond day kindergarten, so she went on one of her non-school days.
Don’t be discouraged! You started out on home video and there is nothing wrong with keeping making direct to video espisodes.
I’m a youth minister and am currently using Veggie Tales with my JYG. We watch one and then I have made up discussion questions about the topic.
I saw a poll on…what’s it called…Box Office Mojo.com about the Pirates movie. 76% of the voters said they were most likely not to see the movie at all, not even on DVD. I don’t know exactly who was taking the poll, but yeah.
#4 is a good point, but Pirates still got great reviews from Plugged In, World mag and other Christian media reviews. It’s confusing that I hear people criticizing Veggietales because it “adds” stuff to Bible stories. But here’s a film not a Bible story at all…and Jonah does better.
By the way, I think we need more quality Christian cartoons like Veggietales.
I would say #4 is the top reason. Personally I liked Jonah better, but this film is still better than the majority of stuff kids see at the movies.
Does this mean it won’t come to the Big Screen in Australia? Man! This was VT’s big shot in Australia? Oh Well, keep it in tiny little Christian stores that noone goes to… they’re missing out on the fun and Classic is missing out on the money….
Should you happen to pass by Kansas City in your journeys, be sure to wave as you go by!
generally i love VeggieTales! i even went to this one with a group of five fellow 20-somethings.
honestly, i liked Jonah better than Pirates. thanks for the analysis!
peace,
-joshMshep
Colorado Springs, CO
I think too many Christian viewers are just to darn picky! And the funny thing is, so many of us let secular stuff slide by comparison! Was it last year that the film Tip of the Spear came out? And did Christians support this film? Nope, many protested that one actor turned out to be gay in real life. A film out of secular Hollywood about even Christian subjects is bound to have those kind of issues; but if believers started to support what little bit of good filters through that system, we might just see more, and lives would get touched.
I enjoyed the film for what it was, got entertained and blessed! Usually I’m happy if (I can actually afford to even go to a movie) and get entertained, but hey, here was a great big blessing that blasted its way in to the end of the film. What’s not to like?
I did not bother to compare it to the previous film, as in all good continuing story franchises, you don’t always tell the same story and you certainly don’t tell it the same way every time.
I would say that the advertising was not so hot. I learned about it after my family gave me a copy of Mr. Bean’s Holiday (Good clean fun) and it began with an ad for Pirates. I don’t think you can advertise enough, just ask Coke and Pepsi!
Maybe Larry and Bob should just be an extra special direct to DVD…but that’s just my opinion. Hang in there, He makes all things beautiful in His Time.
I’ve heard from some industry insiders that DVD sales figure into the final finacial success stories of films than most people relize. Of course usually the theater response is used to guage how many DVDs will sell. But their is the occasional film that is something of a sleeper hit in the theaters and then goes nuts on dvd … or at least becomes a slow but long lasting cash cow.
The film that everyone likes to point to as a low budget success story Napoleon Dynamite actually started on just a handful of screens and six months later is wrapped up with 44 million. That was a great take for any film but still, consider that was after six months and that just about every teenager ( and many other demographics ) has seen it? It was mostly a DVD hit.
What do you think Phil … is this old news and the market has changed or does Pirates still have a chance on DVD?
Don’t forget reason #8: Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie on DVD: $14.99 MSRP, $7.99 online. 4 tickets to see The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: $20 and up. And that doesn’t include the popcorn. And you only get to see it once (granted, it’s on the “big screen”). Going to the movie theatre is way too expensive.
That being said, I did take my wife and kids to see it on opening weekend. We all loved it. I’m buying the DVD when it comes out just so I can still-frame it to read all the posters on the walls in the “pirate bar” scene (did you all catch the map? lol).
VeggieTales movies are about all I can take my kids to. There aren’t many “G” movies these days — and even some of them aren’t that “safe”, what with the name calling and the bodily function references. That’s not what I want *my* kids to emulate.
It makes me a little sad. When I was a kid, we’d go to movies all the time. We used to go to the “Drive In” movie theatre at night. Now all they show there is R-rated junk (or maybe a PG-13 now and then). Nothing for kids, that’s for sure.
So, Phil, regardless of the numbers to date, you can take comfort in the fact that Bob and Larry are providing quality entertainment with a meaningful message and positive underlying values that we can take our kids to see without having to worry about it. I know you already know that. So do we. 😉
p.s. I love the stuff you always put in for the grown-ups. Like Rocky and Bullwinkle, there’s a whole layer that goes right over the heads of the kids. I’m sure they think I’m nuts when I start laughing hysterically when nothing funny is happening. Well, it might not be funny for them, but…
I like number 5 and 7! Another thing might be that Canada (or at least Ottawa) had only 2 theaters showing it and it was not at Silver City (a big name theater around here) Also there was virtually no ad work done here only on CHRI (Christian Radio) and one small calculator sized ad on the bottom of the paper for one day. Oh well We went and enjoyed it.
personally I liked the Pirates movie, however it wasn’t the film I expected or hoped for… I would have preferred it to have all been set as a period movie or handled the present a little more like Jonah, anyway my small criticisms have nothing to do with how the movie has done, a local reviewer in suburban IL gave it 3&1/2 stars and was hugely complimentary. there were moments in the film that actually moved me and i even teared up at a few times. my kids cracked up and loved the angry little cheese puff characters.
my main concern is that Veggie tales stays strong and viable as a franchise and can continue to create high quality DVD’s, and that the “Bob and Larry movie” gets made at some point, I would be disappointed if that story never got told.
anyway, that’s my two cents. God be with you today, and always
Jason
I think the movie is incredibly well-written. The sad part is that where a secular audience would see the references to God in the film (and maybe even dislike the movie because of it), Christian audiences might not appreciate the strong Christian message because they don’t see a Bible story there. The natural thing to do is to say, “The King is God, so…” and then try to figure out who Alexander and Eloise and Willory the Butler and Elliot/George/Sedgewick “are.” I think sometimes it goes over our heads that not every story is as simple as Aslan=Jesus, White Witch=Satan (and even that one is more complex than that). We really need to look for movies that expose spiritual principles as part of the story, a la The Lord of the Rings, and not just look for literal one-to-ones with specific Bible stories.
I wonder, too, if box office receipts may have something to do with the economy at large and not just this movie compared to Jonah? At the moment we’re in a little economic slump (I know my family is; we were able to go on some pre-paid tickets I got as a Christmas present) and maybe people just honestly don’t have cash on hand at the moment. Maybe it would be more instructive to compare receipts of Pirates to receipts of the #1 movies on the same weeks, draw a percentage, then do the same for Pirates and see how things stack up. Of course, I know the folks in Hollywood are interested in The Bottom Line and not Economic Realities, but you know. 🙂
reason #8
The movie wasn’t in the theater long enough. We were going to go see it last Friday night and it was gone and the only theater close to us that is playing it is 2 hours away. So hopefully we will be able to go see it this weekend.
But I have to agree that it is hard for a family to go see a movie.
at $8 a ticket X 3. Plus a sitter for the our 1 yr. old and then if we have to drive 2 hours to see it, you have gas money. That’s not cheap!
We will definitely be buying it on DVD though.
Hey Phil, don’t be discouraged. My mom says, according w/your interview w/klove, that your feeling a little discouraged. don’t let these worldly people get you down! Remember were’re only here for a little while and poof were’re gone! May what you and your people are going through is probably the same way Job went through when the youngest prophet, Elihu, was telling Job that everything was taken away from him to save Job from thinking proud of himself and going way from God! Rejoice Phil! Your in partership w/God! Ya, ok you probably already know this, but I’m only reminding.
“With God. All things are Possible.” Matthew 10:27. 🙂
We are a movie loving household that includes a producer and a screenwriter. We also have pastors and church planters in our family. So I think we can see many different sides here. We discussed this at some length and I think have come up with some solid points.
1) The main issue I think was that the writing for this one was weak. It was also weak for Jonah but there the excitement for VT was much higher. The excitement for VT died down a lot during the tough years of Big Ideas. The writing for some of the ½ hour episodes has been much stronger.
2) It was hard to distinguish the different characters. They all tended to merge together.
3) The original song … “The Pirates who …” was hilariously funny. That humor just did not appear in this story.
4) The Christian content was simply missing. This could have been very easily remedied by having Bob & Larry come out at the beginning and the end and mention that this is an allegory. I and my leaders went to a screening in Seattle (4 hours away!!) and although we enjoyed the movie and understood the allegory – and in no way criticized the movie to anyone else – we just were not excited about taking our church to this movie. It is an expensive venture. We were positive about it but not excited. It would not help our outreach. (This is also true about using the DVD for outreach.)
5) The movie lacked many of the features that make VT fun to watch. It lacked some of the insane/adult humor. There are times when college kids could laugh at the gags and sayings. Those just were not there. It lacked the songs. The Kindly Viking had wonderful songs end to end. That’s one of the things that would make a movie like this much stronger. Jonah had at least one strong song – that carried a lot of weight and moved the story forward. This story also lacked silly songs to break it up. How easy it would have been to have 2 or 3 silly songs in the story that broke it into pieces. This would have been a great step up.
6) Universal did a good job of promoting it, and it even had pretty good marks at BoxOfficeMojo (if you ignore the “F’s” which are simply Christian movie haters who never saw the film), so most people thought the story was okay. The animation was also okay. VT can’t compete with Pixar. The only thing they can do is have absolutely over the top great songs and story telling. But the story was average at best. (They could have done much, much better. They have done much better.) With an okay story and okay animation, the only hope was that there was a strong and moving Christian message so that the churches would support it. But it did not have that either. A “Christian” movie (how I dislike that term) needs to have at least one leg to stand on. But when the story is only okay and the animal is only okay – and it appears on 1300 screen (instead of 2500 like a big movie) … what else could you expect but what we got?
All this is not to be critical or negative: as Christians we must simply stop patting each other on the back or feeling sorry for ourselves. We’re playing with the big boys now and it is a different league. We must have either GREAT story telling or GREAT movie making quality (animation/special effects.) The second of these is getting old to a lot of people. What Christians have is great stories. I know that VT can do better than this. But it will take a much bigger effort.
I will be there to pray and cheer every step of the way. Phil Vischer, you are one of my heroes.
Phil, my husband and I anxiously awaited the box office numbers for opening weekend. We love supporting you and Big Idea, and were so sad for everyone involved when the numbers were lower than projected. We knew how much time, effort and love went into the production.
Be that as it may, the reason we love VeggieTales is because it has always remained true to its mission of impacting kid’s lives in a positive way. You guys may not make a bazillion dollars doing what you do, but you touch the lives of kids. That is by far a much superior mission than anything else the world has to offer!
One thing we know, but sometimes lose sight of is when you give your project over to God, He is in control. Good, bad, or indifferent, the outcome is on Him. It’s all about His purpose and plan. If He wants Big Idea (or you) to get into the movie making business it will happen. The proverbial window will open, somehow. If not, then that’s not where He wants you…at least right now. Either way, there are a lot of us out there that look forward to the stories that He will continue to inspire you (and the VT people) to write!
We loved Pirates. You all did a great job! Our sincerest thanks for all you do for our kids!
Maybe this is God’s way of telling everybody VeggieTales should concentrate on making shorter segments, which are more appropriate to the attention of the target audience, for the home market, where they see the same thing repeatedly to drive in the message.
I suspect that if you were targeting older kids, for whom “going to the movies” can be a big event, and whose attention spans are longer, a movie would have been more appropriate and sold better.
I have to say too, about the film(which btw I watched when the theaters close by finally got it).
I keep track of movie grosses and so on, it’s just something I like to do. And I noticed that while “Pirates” hasn’t made a lot of money. It has done fairly well on the screens it’s been on. Especially after first coming out. It’s per theater avg was respectable. So maybe if it could have just gotten in more theaters..
Because it has routinely beaten “Alvin and the Chipmunks” in it’s per theater avg since it was released. Granted Alvin has been out longer, and it’s revenue has slowed, and even with the same theater count, “Pirates” wouldn’t have done that kind of money, but I do think it would have done surprisingly well.
Well, here I am, number 20. I just wanted to let you know that your book is one of my current reads, and so far, I have been immensely blessed. Ever since I attended my sister’s graduation in 2003 where you…commenced…I have had you on my heart. I am so blessed that the Lord is using you in the way that He is, and so excited to see what He does next. As if VeggieTales weren’t enough, but He has MORE than just that for you. God Bless you Phil.
I think I’m most heartbroken to hear that we may never see the Bob &n Larry Movie. 🙁
Based on my own experience, I think the reason for the low numbers was lack of awareness. Most of my church had no idea the movie was coming out soon (or at all), despite the poster I hung up.
I’m really on the edge of my seat waiting to see what’s going on at Jellyfish. I’ll have a lot to talk about on my Jelly MySpace page!
I disagree with some of the posters here. I feel really strongly that the numbers are not due to the content of the movie. I think there are a few very simple reasons why Pirates has not done as well as Jonah did:
1) The VT brand is not as strong as it was in 2002.
2) A January release is going to do worse than an October release (Jonah was released in Oct 2002). I tried to promote this movie to my Awana clubs, but that was hard to do over the holidays. (The Ambassador kits being shipped so late didn’t help, either.) Most of us were back in town barely a week before the movie opened.
3) Alvin and those darn chipmunks. Like it or hate it (I haven’t seen it myself) Alvin is doing pretty good at the box office, and Pirates just can’t compete. Alvin took in $4.5M this last weekend, it’s seventh weekend, which is more than Pirates took in on its first weekend ($4.2M). Last weekend Pirates only took in $1.2M. Jonah in contrast had no direct competition.
I think if you had a time machine and swapped Pirates with Jonah, then Pirates would have done as well (or better) than Jonah in 2002, and Jonah would be doing about the same as Pirates is doing now.
I saw it opening night and enjoyed it. The review I wrote at Epinions.com has gotten a rather large number of hits, which shows me the interest is there.
I think the timing was poor (right after Christmas when people are back in school).
But I’ve got to include cost as a factor as well. Here in Los Angeles, it’s not $11 for an adult movie ticket. I’m a single guy, but even that gets expensive after a while. I would expect most families would wait until it hits DVD. Hopefully those sales will be stronger. I know I’ll be buying it to complete my VT collection.
Hey never fear! we may see that Bob and Larry Movie yet! don’t give up on the movie so soon! Everybody Pray, that God will allow Big Idea to make it big through God! Don’t Give Up! ;D
Oh darn. That stinks. Well it’s okay Phil. The movie still rocked. Not sure how that helps but it rocked!
Hurry up and stop being busy so we can see more Jellyfish stuff! 🙂
~Beth
In spite of the lackadaisical results this far for Pirates, I enjoyed it. I think it was quality entertainment. On the other hand, I think it is probably better for films like this to be pushed through the “church theater” avenue. This is being done by a number of small film producers right now, sadly oftentimes as an excuse for poorly produced films. In any case, one of the problems is that movies are so expensive. There are many movies I want to see, but I can’t afford to go often – at $10/ticket (and taking along the wife makes $20).
I was hoping the mention of Huck was you endorsing Mike Huckabee for president. 🙂 Well, I can dream.
My local theatre hasn’t gotten it yet (and frankly, I doubt they will at this point). My wife, son and I would have gone, despite the $24 that the 3 tickets would have cost (8 bucks each, even for children at matinees) because we want to support the movie. We could drive 90 minutes or so to see it, but that’s not an appealing way to spend a day (3+ hours driving with a movie in the middle is a great recipe for an unbearably cranky and fidgety four-year-old).
We haven’t given up all hope – if the local theatre gets it, we’ll still be there. But at this point, it looks like we’ll have to wait for the DVD. Too bad, too – we’d been getting our son ready for it since the first time we heard a release date.
Which is all to say that distribution may have been a factory in the low box office.
My local theatre hasn’t gotten it yet (and frankly, I doubt they will at this point). My wife, son and I would have gone, despite the $24 that the 3 tickets would have cost (8 bucks each, even for children at matinees) because we want to support the movie. We could drive 90 minutes or so to see it, but that’s not an appealing way to spend a day (3+ hours driving with a movie in the middle is a great recipe for an unbearably cranky and fidgety four-year-old).
We haven’t given up all hope – if the local theatre gets it, we’ll still be there. But at this point, it looks like we’ll have to wait for the DVD. Too bad, too – we’d been getting our son ready for it since the first time we heard a release date.
Which is all to say that distribution may have been a factor in the low box office.
Phil, have you ever considered ever making another show besides VG? Like make another show for teens, remember your puppets? Can you still do that? Be expansive! something that is going to reach to the older and mature in an innocent way. like maybe Manga, only approiate for all ages, I know my sister would love to see or read it! 😉
Does anybody read these past number 27? Guess what- #28,29, & 30- I did!!! What am I doing with my day, you might ask? Yeah, I can’t answer that with confidence…
Anyway, yay Pirates! Just b/c they are the pirates who don’t do anything, in the first place. Who doesn’t want to spend time with those guys, eh?
And yay, Phil- I went to see this movie within the week of reading your book… twice. Once to myself with my quiet voice in my head, and the second time out loud to my husband- for the whole day. Yes, we have 5 small children, but they didn’t need us to be parents that day, I think. Or something like that. Eh-hem… So, I think we really went just to keep experiencing your story. It was worth it. Just for kicks, II have to explain what it took to get there.
First, it took a really good sense of humor. So does waking up every day of our lives, right now. Then it took brainstorming- again, we do that for about every task that we set out to accomplish with this brood. Then it took lots of phone rejections for babysitting for our 12 month old who likes to scream in the movie theater. In the end, we tag-teamed it (most things end this way)- I went with the girls, picked up hubby and the boys, drove them back (we’re sharing a car) and ate dinner in a grocery store with the baby and the girls while we waited for the masculine team to watch it. It was good times. Oh, I forgot to mention the part where we had to put a muzzle over the 3yr old girl’s mouth so she wouldn’t give any of the movie away to her brothers, or more importantly, her father! Finally, it took every Fandango movie theater gift card that we had accumulated over the past year, and a coupon, and some snuck-in snacks (yes, guilty as charged).
Oh, and I’m meeting with my pastor to see if I can cut into the church budget to go to the Willow Creek Conference (so many resources being offered there- check that out, too). How much brainstorming will that take for my family- only so much grace, today. Check back with me the week before.
I’m so happy to say that Pirates was my3 year old’s first movie theater experience – she’s fallen in love with Bob and Larry. I was amazed, but she was riveted to her seat the whole time. As expensive as going to the movies can be these days, I very much wanted to take her to see this film. It was important to her and to us that it be her first theater experience. I’m so happy to say that it was all thanks to Phil and his dream. can’t want to see what Jellyfish brings us. Phil, thank you so much for all you’ve done and all you continue to do. I’m proud to say that you and your work has made an impact on my life as well.
Gosh I can’t believe ticket prices these days…
I only paid $4 for the movie ticket matinee. I find it really sad people weren’t able to go because of the price. 🙁
Hopefully the DVD will do well!
OWA please finish “The Bob and Larry Story” sooner then later! Listen, my 9yr old went “graciously” with his 7yr old sister and I to Pirates; but “only for the popcorn” I was told……..at the midway point he leans over and told me “Mom I am sooo glad I came, this is way better then I thought it was going to be, I LOVE IT”. (A side note should be incerted here stating that the “Silly Songs” episode “The Pirates that don’t do Anything” song came out on I have watched over 100(+) times because it was HIS all time favorite! not too long ago……Thanks
I just finished reading your book – thanks for the reminder to pursue God first! Seems like I need lots of (almost) daily reminders in that regard. Sad story, but thanks for sharing and encouraging us all.
About the movie…
We took a group of about 100 kids and parents to the movie opening weekend. We did the pre-movie party thing (from the website) right before we went to the theatre. The theatre sat 160 and there were only about 1/2 dz. seats left open – several of our church and school families met us there. We took our bus ministry kids from our church as well as our church families. As I sat in the dark theatre, after we had got every one partied, fed, transported seated and settled, feeling kind of tired, the children burst into laughter, you know, that sweet innocent sudden burst of total enjoyment, and I smiled! The hours of planning, set up and clean up of our little party were worth it. You had provided a safe, fun experience for our kids. Thanks Phil (and the entire production team) for you tireless efforts to put out another wholesome, family, biblical-values movie. It was worth it.
By the way, we own every single VT movie and show them regularly to the kids at our church.
Sorry the movie didn’t do as well as hoped, but we did our part to support it!
God bless you.
My favorite lines:
“It was a good life. Especially that one day from 2 to 2:30.”
“Weather Channel.”
“Drop me off in 1972. I’ll walk from there!”
Mr. Vischer, I wanted to thank you for doing again an excellent job at putting an important moral lesson into a format that kids will connect with, enjoy, and thus, remember. If your only goal was to have made a big, money-making, hollywood-style kid movie, you may have fallen short of the mark, but if your goal was to make a family centered film that did a beautiful job of illuminating and making memorable priceless nuggets of truth, then you have achieved unequivocal success. Please don’t let the “numbers” dismay you from continuing to do what “Bob and Larry” have always done an incredible job at- making the truths of the Bible fun and attractive for children. I, and my children, George, 6; Ian, 4; Grace, 3; and Claire, 1, thankyou from the bottom of our uplifted hearts. Remember, even a big movie producer can do what’s right! 🙂 Sincerely, Charity Buchan
Well the movie is showing some staying power. This week it held onto its slot above Sweeny,Charlie, and Kite according to predictions. I think their is plenty of room for it to still come off as a modest success.
I think #4 is part of it but if you are like me and my family, we just love everything “bob & larry.” We have twin boys that are days shy of their third birthday. Our days revolve around Bob & Larry so of course we were counting the days until the movie came out. It was hard though… in the sense of finding a time that worked for us. Originally we wanted to get all the families in our play group together and go see it but when you have to work around life in addition to naps (yes we still take naps–THANK GOD!) we couldn’t make it for our group. They boys wanted to go so bad that we actually opted to skip church that Sunday! It was their first movie in a theater. It was so awesome that it was their first movie theater experience. They loved it and keep asking to go see it again. Something I am going to try to do. We will definitely purchase it when it comes out on video.
So the ticket sales are slow… In the big picture that doesn’t really matter. Contentment doesn’t come from ticket sales! What matters is that you (PHIL) have an unbelievable spiritual gift that God is allowing you to share. Praise God! I am so thankful that you had (and continue) to have the vision for VeggieTales. While the other boys in our play group are all about “diego” and spider man, it makes us so happy to see that “bob and larry” are their heroes. We love that as the boys are entertained with the videos and books they are also learning Biblical truths! You have given parents like us a wonderful medium to aid us in raising children of faith. May God continue to bless you and your work!
Buttercup
Cockeysville, MD
I vote for the “cost of tickets” aspect. We’re honestly waiting till it gets to the cheap theater so we can afford to take all our kids.
But, as Phil noted, the “success” of a movie has more to do with its box office-cost ratio than its actual box office.
A couple people cited Box Office Mojo, which ranks _Pirates_ currently as the #8 in its list of “Christian” films (though it’s pretty much Christian films of the last 10 years and doesn’t include all the wonderful Christian movies of the 1930s-1980s).
Also, as noted above, it’s important to remember that family movies often do far better in home video than box office, and studios realize that.
_Pirates_ has outperformed the _Left Behind_ and _Omega Code_ franchises which, prior to _The Passion_ already had people talking about a Christian movie Renaissance. _Therese_ was produced in 2000, when people were talking about said Renaissance, but came out in theaters in 2004, post-Passion. It was on Blockbuster’s “new releases” shelf for well over a year, and It’s #20 on their list.
The “Love’s” series is way low on the list, and that’s considered very successful.
So, relative to Christian movies, _Pirates_ is doing just fine.
Oh, I just loved wacthing the movie! I seen it twice! because my I wanted to take my two sisters to wacth it. I’m ready for the dvd, By the way does anybody think that blue-ray disc is going to take over regular discs or not?
I hope not! I can’t afford a three hundred and something player 🙁 my dvd player was expensive enough!
By the way again, is E llen going to be a regular veggie tale like petinua and mamde blueberry? (sorry on spelling) or is she just going to be used once then gone like Ester?
Mid-January isn’t a big time for movies, but maybe that’s what you were banking on.
I think a Larry Boy movie would have a been a bit more popular than the Pirates personally. He’s more popular.
Actually, not so much Johnny Depp, but I think having more Bob the Tomato would have helped to be honest. At the theatre I was in, when Bob appeared at the end, all the little kids got really excited.
If you want to check out how similar movies did, see this web site:
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=computeranimation.htm
You’ll see the Pirate movie landed about where it should have for those with okay animaltion, an okay story, and little or no Christian content. It should have been totally predicactable. Why are we at all surprised? This is not brain surgery.
Sorry, I don’t get out much or surf the web much… oh well, life goes on!
I’m also sorry that the receipts aren’t as good as hoped. We took our 3 y/o on the second weekend and the theatre was full. (It probably helped that the church congregation that meets in said theater had just finished their service.) I suspect that its not any one thing, but rather a combination of family economics, the January release being tougher for families with little kids and maybe a bit of fatigue with the animated feature in general. (Ratatouille didn’t fare as well as its predecessors either.) DVD sales should be much better.
For what its worth, my daughter loves VT and she enjoyed the movie. The cheese curls were a bit too scary and she didn’t know what to do with Rock Monster. But, its been over two weeks and she’s pretending that she and her stuffed animals are the characters from the movie. That should say something…
One other thought: why is everyone so glum?
Why not say, instead of ‘Oh, the numbers aren’t so good,” “Yay! Look at what we did!”
When _Golden Compass_ came out, they didn’t say, “Boo-hoo! We only made $27 mil.!” They said, “Hey! Look how much money we made!” When _Farenheit 9/11_ came out, they didn’t say, “Boo hoo! We only made $27 mil!” They said, “Look at hoe much money we made!”
Mother Angelica was once talking with an NBC executive. He said, “What are your ratings?”
She said, “I don’t know.”
H said, “You don’t know? HOw can you not know your ratings? In this business, that’s our Gospel!”
She said, “No. That’s your problem.”
She said, “If just one soul is saved by this network, then it’sworth it.”
That’s what it’s ultimately all about. You made the movie. It’s a miracle, in many ways, that it got made at all. Let God handle the rest.
Hey Larry boy gives me an idea!
Remember larry boy and the bad apple, that was about temptation. well why not do something w/ jealously! Let’s keep all the original charters from the bad apple (except the bad apple herself and Curly) and put in a new character who is a broccoli w/sunglasses and a green eye that flies (his side kick). they go out and try to get a few people jealous and w/that few people the eye fly grows bigger and when it gets big enough it’ll shine it green light from the eye and make everyone in town jealous including Alfred. now it’s up to Larry boy and his partner in training, the Red Wonder (Bob the Tomato). and together they defeat the evil eye! Also include khail and the two Spanish carrots as newspaper people out to get a story. kind of competion between the tv news and the newspaper.
Boy that was a mouth full, but worth it 😉 ! Hey Phil, i hope u consider this! Lord willing!
I’d HAPPILY support the production of the Bob and Larry movie- despite whatever negative thoughts towards the Pirates’ success in the box office-if uh, it didn’t star any humans in it. That’s what a few sources say about the movie plans anyways.
The guys as Veggietales have wisely kept some bits constant throughout the series’ long history for the right reasons, and adding human people all of the sudden wouldn’t float too well with us fans, I believe. And neither with the budget.
It’d be like drastically changing the theme song or permanently ridding Silly Songs with Larry, but a gajillion times worse!
I’m curious to know what other people believe about this idea, but coming from this loving and loyal fan, PLEASE DON’T ADD ANY HUMANS TO VEGGIETALES. That is all 🙂
Well, how about the pigs and the dogs? Do U think they are messing up the VT show?
We are looking forward to the DVD. I have 4 kids who absolutely love Veggie Tales. We especially love the music CD’s and listen to them in the car every day driving to school. The reasons we did not go to see Pirates in the theater are twofold. The cost and the weather. I have 4 kids and tickets, popcorn, drinks for 6 people is just a fortune at $8.50 a piece. I was willing to make an attempt to go, but every weekend we wanted to go see the movie, we either had something going on or it was 20 below zero out and we just didn’t feel like buddling up all the kids and heading out. We just don’t go to movies that often. The last movie we went to was the Passion back in 2004.
Can’t wait for the DVD. Keep up the great work. I don’t know what we would do without VT in our home.
Well there was an “Edward Scissorhands” gag in the film ^^ that’s a little bit of Johnny Depp in there.
I LOVED THE MOVIE!!!
I have been a loyal VeggieTales fan since it started when I didn’t even have kids. Now my kids love Veggies, Larryboy, and Penguins. I was extremely disappointed with The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. My son cried through half of the movie because he was scared of the psychotic cheese curls. The message was so obscure I might as well have been watch PBS (and not paid $10 a ticket). I am no longer a loyal VeggieTales fan. Maybe that is the reason the movie didn’t do well.
We liked Jonah and are sorry the company has been sold and is no longer the Veggies we loved.
I can truthfully say that the reason I did not take my kids to see this movie is because it was not shown anywhere near me. I live in northeast Nebraska and it would of been at least a 2 hr drive each way to see the movie. If this had been released in a open release we might of been able to see it in our little theater. I can tell you that when it comes out on DVD it will be bought.
We LOVED this movie! 🙂 My boys are ages 4, 5 and 9, and we saw it opening weekend. I think the timing may have been the reason it didn’t do as well as Jonah. Wasn’t the lack of advertising, that’s for sure, here in OC. It was a kick to see my boys point out their favorite characters riding alongside the bus, everyday. It had a good story, and we’re definitely buying it on dvd, when it comes out.
Speaking of Jonah, I guess we’re gonna have to get that online…ours was scratched, and so we’ve gone everywhere to try to replace it, with no luck!
I loved the music from Jonah, and it was matched by what we heard in Pirates…c’mon, you’ve got the newsboys, you’ve got “Rock Monster”…..what more could you want? Correct me if I’m wrong! 🙂
This household shall remain a veggie household.
My kids LOVED the Pirates movie. We saw it opening weekend, and they are still asking when I am going to buy the DVD.
We’ll get and recomend the dvd…
When’s the Jellyfish stuff coming out?
Wow…some pretty harsh comments in here. It’s interesting that people come to an artist’s website and then proceed to tell him he’s made an “okay” film with “okay” writing (or “weak” writing, depending on whose post you read) and “little or no Christian content”. (But I’m sure Phil knows he’s opening himself up to that kind of criticism by having this site, so I shan’t go on about that too much.) I think that last bit tells you a lot about why the film has not been as successful as “Jonah”; I think Christians felt they were making a strong statement by going to “Jonah” – “Look, it’s in real theatres, and it’s from the BIBLE!” – and they didn’t feel as strongly about supporting an allegory using lackadaisical pirates to illustrate how God allows us all to be “heroes” if we trust in Him.
In any case, my son, my wife and I loved it, and we can’t wait for the DVD to come out. And we’re still hopeful for the Bob and Larry movie…that’s the one I really want to see.
Keep up the great work, Phil, and God bless.
To Friend:
No. I’m pretty sure pigs and dogs aren’t considered as humans. And I think there was a lion in the first episode, but I don’t think we don’t ever see it. Clever budget-saving tactic. Maybe they could’ve have made a cardboard lion 🙂
To Linda:
And I thought I was harsh.
Anyhow, I can’t wait for the the two new DVDs to come out! 😀
Happy Valentine’s day Everyone! 🙂
I’m saying this now b/c I won’t be here for 4 days b/c I don’t have school during those days or internet at home. So…
Happy Valentines Day! 😉
Linda, I don’t even think the cheese curls were even in the first half of the movie…and my 3-year-old thought the cheese curls were the best part of the movie, so I doubt you can blame that one on the filmmakers.
I wonder how many of the posters here would have experienced the film if Big Idea hadn’t been sold. I suspect a lot of folks are looking at VeggieTales in a different way now because there is a secular company at the helm – it just seems that the “it’s not the same now that the heathens are running things” theme keeps coming up. (Based on “Wizard of Ha’s”, which is as good as most of what Big Idea has done in the past, I’d disagree.) From the sound of it, Universal would have been happy to have the Christian themes more clearly stated – but that’s not the movie Phil and Mike chose to make. So don’t blame the secular guys for toning it down – and don’t tell me that the Christian themes in the Larry-Boy videos are any more obvious than those in “Pirates”, because they aren’t. Larry-Boy just has the Scripture at the end, and “Pirates” doesn’t.
Oh, well. Everyone gets to have their opinion, and now you know mine. God bless, y’all.
I believe the reason for the lower numbers was a combination of factors:
1. Timing – winter, after Christmas – not as good a time for families to head out. We personally had sick kids and low funds after Christmas
2. Economy – even if we were healthy, we were still debating whether or not we should go because of the cost
3. Publicity – I personally didn’t see any publicity in my area, I knew about it from this website
I don’t think anyone can fault content for opening weekend numbers because no one has seen it yet, that’s why it’s called “opening weekend”
Phil, The movie was good. That’s the bottom line. Some movies don’t sell alot, and they are still good. Some movies are stupid and evil and aweful, and they do really well. Like Michael Moore movies. Hopefully they didn’t lose money, or that they will eventually make a profit via video sales or whatever. But the movie was good. It will be a timeless classic.
And to all the mean critics … Come on man (Linda). Have YOU ever stuck your kneck out, created something cool, and stuck it out there for the aproval or disaproval of … well … Linda people? Don’t be a fairweather friend.
As a mom, I have to stick up for Linda. Children can sometimes be frightened by things that everyone else sees as totally cute and benign. I can see why some kids may have been frightened by the screaming cheese curls. People shouldn’t be nasty to a mom for expressing her frustration toward a movie that may have caused her little one distress. I have been there…trying to console a crying child who wants to leave for whatever reason, while the other child is begging to stay! For heaven’s sake, give her a break.
I wasn’t trying to be nasty, Lisa. Sorry if it came off that way. But to blame the fact that her child was crying about the cheese curls on the creators of the film seems absurd to me. As I said, I have a three-year old who LOVED the cheese curls; all I was trying to point out is that every child is different when it comes to that kind of thing, and you can’t (or shouldn’t) blame Phil or Mike or Universal for that. I was probably also a bit bothered by the overall negativity of her post – phrases like “extremely disappointed” and “the message was so obscure…” seemed unnecessarily hostile to me.
In any case, I’m truly sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings.
Couple things…
1) My 3 yr Old’s teacher asked the class what they would like to be when they grow up. Most kids said firemen or policemen or whatever normal 3 yr old’s say. While all noble professions my son would have none of it. He wants to grow up to be LarryBoy!!!
I just read your book. I hope he grows up to understand the Jedi lessons you learned.
2) I just saw the movie. I loved it!!!! My kids loved it!!!! If I could have taken my dog to the movie he would have loved it. Its great. I think people who say that God wasn’t in the movie aren’t paying attention. The voice of the king was the same as the guy in snoodle’s tale! (my favoite veggie video) Seems pretty obvious to me. It’s a great message about how God is always looking out for us (that’s what I got out of it anyway). Thanks for doing it.
We just saw the Pirate movie for the second time and let me just
say, it was awesome! We had so much fun! You should have heard the children’s laughter. I am saddened this movie did not do as well as I would have hoped. But, on the contrary, Veggie Tales
has made a world of a difference in our family. In our lives, the values learned, the characters my son truly adores, has made such a huge impact. Even though Veggie Tales has not changed the world, the messages make a huge impact on my family.
You are making a difference. =)
My little brother turned four right before seeing the movie. It wasn’t the cheese curls themselves that scared him, but the fact Mr. Lunt gave up, and was juts going to sit there and get eaten. It’s amazing how much kids understand.
And Phil, the movie was okay, but I was disappointed. I love pretty much all the other veggietales episodes and movies. (Hey, I thought Jonah was PIXAR quality story wise!) But this one was missing something. Something that made Jonah and most of the other VT things a success. I don’t know if it was because the way the company is set up now, what you were going through when it was written, but that’s my opinion, and I hope these comments on here will be used to make VT and your new projects at Jellyfish a success, not necessarily financially, but you know. Give audiences something good and worthwhile, and maybe even point thjem twards God.
So, my thoughts.
1.) I agree a lot with John’s (post 17) theories. For me, it didn’t feel like I was watching a veggie movie. It seemed you had taken God out of it, and it was turned into a normal, feel good morale that you find in many kids movies these days Sure “everyone can be a hero!” But who makes them a hero? It’s like I mentioned earlier, about the “heart” missing from the movie.
2.) Another thing….. where were the songs! There was no catchy tune for me to hum, and I don’t remember the song the movie was based on even being in there. What happened???
3.) One last thing that bugged me. The animation colors were EXTREMELY BRIGHT. It hurt my eyes a bit to watch some of the sea sequences. I think going with a broader color pallet would have helped.
There were lots of other factors, but those were the three main buggers for me. May God bless your future projects, and I’ll be looking forward to them. 🙂
Mackenzie (aka, 16yo future filmmaker. 😀 )
I liked the movie, b/c I thought ‘we finally get to see the real personality of the characters!’ yaya! I hope you do more, I’d like to know what Larry is like, George is like and Sedwig is like and what the rest of the gang is like! you know, their real personalities, not acting. I mean, I like it when they act in there movies, but like who is Mr. Lunt, Mr. Nezzer, we know them as the good guys or bad. Not themselves. Do you know what I mean?
Oh and Linda, I’ve been in a theather and seen what is scary and nasty. compared to all the other movies to the new VT movie, The VT movie tops them all, meaning it’s the greatest movie I’ve ever see and probably will either ever see or some day see again. (like the new bob and larry movie). Besides your kid will grow up see the movie again and won’t be scared, but probably think it’s funny! 😀
I knoooow when it hits stores! But, I don’t think I’m allowed to tell anyone…though I guess it would be alright if I told you, you being who you are and all. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just ask when I get there in March, huh? Ooo, Brian says I’ll be getting there right at the end of production…score! I can’t wait to see. I can’t wait to see!
I enjoyed “Pirates” very much. I was touched by the theme of God supplying what we need when we need it as we serve Him. It’s something I talked to the kids about in our Sunday morning program (they got the point!).
First of all, my three year old was scared, too, actually in all sorts of scenes, not just the cheese curls. I pretty much had to MAKE her stay for most of the movie, which is not what you want for a “first movie in the theater” experience. There was a LOT of dramatic action with relatively few/short comedic/musical/lighter interludes to interrupt the tension and my daughter is a sensitive soul, who is always very responsive to even the scoring choices; Kurt H. is too good of a composer! All that being said, I recognize that (obviously) not all kids will respond the same, and most won’t think this was too dramatic for the intended audience. I also see no particular reason an overt Christian message was necessary, though we always welcome one.
THAT being said, my husband and I, both loyal Veggietales fans (I cringe at the very idea of possibly having gone through my daughter’s childhood with Barney instead of Bob and Larry!) also felt a bit disappointed at the film, beyond the fact it scared the bejeebers out of our kid. We found it less funny than we had hoped (the jokes seemed to fall flat, kind of like in “Groundhog Day” when the main character is trying too hard to seem at ease and funny because he’d done the same thing over and over a gazillion times) and I personally felt the plot was too cookie-cutter for comfort (yeah, yeah, I know, who does crazy cheese curls? I’m not talking specifics, just the general flow of the action). Somehow, other people write things that have the same plot — there’s nothing new under the sun — but are entirely watchable, and don’t FEEL like a rehash.
All THAT being said, I’d much rather sit down to Pirates than lots of other stuff being put out for kids nowadays, and will support Phil Vischer and VTs as long as they keep putting out quality, God-honoring entertainment!
A side note: Is it just me or is Larry’s voice getting progressively more “normal” — I liked the old, happy-squeaky Larry better. World-worn, tired Larry doesn’t work quite so well…
I know, Larry seems to be getting older in the shows. Because in the old shows, he seemed a bit younger.
To Lydia: … by the way Tell us when the movie comes out and how did you find out?!
I forgot something else to say before leaving
Are we going to get the PWDDA playstation game, like Larryboy and the bad apple? or not, b/c the kids would be scared of that too? I’m sure the movie wasn’t suppose to scare anyone, I thought some of it was funny like when Sedwige swam all those miles, or when One eyed Pete’s eye popped open, or after the fact when their fired and their talking about we only got fired b/c of an audition, and they akind forgot all the other things that happend besides failing the audition, they almost killed Nezzer! 🙂 🙁
A kinda funny, but more suprising, but you got to admit it’s not The Pirates of the Carabien (or whatever you spell that movie). Thank God! I went to wacth that w/my friend, she had a great time wacthing it, I ducked away or hide my face. I was scared (dumb movie), see that’s scary! Not gurling Cheetos.
hi Phil !
The Pirates movie was awesome! Unluckily, the theater we went to in Harrisburg, PA, we were the only people watching it………..on the 2nd night of release! And to those people who were talking about a larryboy movie or the Bob and Larry movie: We might be able to do it for free w/ “Blender” a free but complicated 3-d program. Available at Blender.org. Check it out Phil. And if u want 2 give me the script, tell me :-(})
God Bless!
P.s. pls check Blender out Phil, i use it
hi Phil !
The Pirates movie was awesome! Unluckily, the theater we went to in Harrisburg, PA, we were the only people watching it………..on the 2nd night of release! And to those people who were talking about a larryboy movie or the Bob and Larry movie: We might be able to do it for free w/ “Blender” a free but complicated 3-d program. Available at Blender.org. Check it out Phil. And if u want 2 give me the script, tell me 🙂 just for fun.
God Bless!
P.s. pls check Blender out Phil, i use it
Well.. we saw it.. WE ABSOULUTLY LOVED IT!! (But mostly me, and my mom.) But our favorite part of it is the part when they get the awards from the king. (we were both crying)
I’m a huge fan of Veggie Tales.. (Ten years old.. and actully watches the Behind the Scenes.. and listens to the commentary!)
Keep up the good work!!
You think that a place like Utah would have the pirate movie in more than a few theaters. But no. There were only three theaters (none near our town) showing the movie and only for a few weeks. So my family, who also owns almost every Veggietales DVD, will have to wait until the movie comes out on DVD. Hope to see some stuff coming from your new company real soon.
Wow! So do I. It’s cool to see how they make the VT gang and their newest Techology is, huh? 🙂
Phil! I know you probably don’t know about this, but when do the 3-2-1 penguins! come out? I am wanting to see them! I can’t see them on TV b/c we don’t have it. My parents said ‘they want nothing to do with this world’ and I don’t blame them, anymore for Tv if a commerical comes on and it has it’s nastiness on it, we have to quickly shut it off! and to make it worst, the show is no better than the commericals. 🙁 I’m the kind of person that the most fun I’ll get is going to the movies, which is not often, or going to walmart. Plus I’m waiting on your guy’s new VT show, I know, you probably don’t know when the shows come out, but that’s ok. We’ll wait…
CB: waiting… waiting…
CD: Corey you need a hobby, try standing on your head!
CB: why? besides I tried that! Took me an hour to get any feeling back in my body again.
CD: oh, well try wiggling your finger like a worm.
CB: I can’t do that I don’t know how.
CD: here I’ll show you, that’ll pass the time.
My gosh I just noticed the carboard veggies in the background. I found it both creepy hilarious omigosh. They’re just kinda standing there going 😀
MY HUSBAND: Two adults for “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”, please.
TICKET CLERK: And uh… one child?
MY HUSBAND: Um. No. Just two adults.
TICKET CLERK: All right, dude…
ME, WHISPERING: Thank you, honey!
MY HUSBAND: The things I do for you…
You have a Lord of the Rings parody. You have a Wizard of Oz parody. And now there’s talk of a Huckleberry Finn parody. When are you going to write a script for a parody of Narnia?
I’m not too keen of the idea of overdoing the formula ‘okay let’s parody this popular book/movie and have the veggies dress like these trademark characters and stick em in the woods or some magical fairytale area’. It works completely fine once or twice, but otherwise it’s a little ‘off’ for Veggietales’. It’s mismatching. And the environment is too complex for a series like this. That said, I won’t be too happy if they made another parody like Narnia TOO soon :/
I like it better when they do bible or original stories, or even parody a particular series in which they don’t directly copy the events from the book/media. Those were always fun.
Okay, I’ve read the first thirty, and I want to get on with this.
1: If the market isn’t good for small family movies now, then this is the perfect time to start production on one. The market works in cycles, you know. Same for the economy. Things should pick up in five years, about the time B&L should be out.
2: agreed. I hope the advertising company Universal/Classic/Entertainment Rights contracted goes in their “don’t call again” file. Their targeting was incompetent.
3: fair. Big Idea was at the height of its popularity, which is why you tried a movie in the first place. Since the bankruptcy/sale, Veggie Tales has been more reserved.
4: The “Home Crowd”? I would call the “Home Crowd” those who really grok Veggie Tales, and know stuff like Larry-Boy showing that it’s possible to be Christian without telling Bible stories or shoveling memory verses. This wasn’t Christian enough for the sidelined Christians who don’t know otherwise.
5: well, talking animals are bigger sellers than talking vegetables, which are above talking minerals.
6: a word on demographics: I’m a college student, and I went to see the movie alone. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
7: Well, if you’d said Johnny was in it, that would have been another 50 million right there!
More seriously, I think it may have been bad timing also because the audiences are getting tired of pirates, and cashing in on pirates.
My husband and I took our almost-4-year-old daughter to see this movie on opening weekend, and it was too intense for her. We left after about half the movie because she was trembling in my lap, afraid that the bad guy was coming back onscreen.
I think also that because the characters weren’t familiar to her (same veggies, different names and personalities, to some extent) it just didn’t hold her interest. It wasn’t really holding our interest either, though to be fair, we were dealing with a scared kid and had multiple potty breaks. 🙂 I look forward to giving it another chance on DVD in the future.
I don’t see how children find this movie frightening. I thought Jonah was more intense with the score and Jonah nearly dying like three times in the movie. Actually I wouldn’t even use the word ‘intense’, and the I thought Pirates was much light-hearted than the sequel.
I made a special point to see it on the FIRST night it opened. I emailed all my friends too reminding them to take their kids to see it. My two sons (5 and 8 year olds) really liked it and my husband and I were cracking up at virtually every line out of Mr. Lunt’s mouth. We love him.
We are BIG Veggie fans, own every single DVD and have followed Big Idea for a long time.
Thanks for the movie and sorry it didn’t do as well as we all hoped. With all the other JUNK out there that is “supposed” to be for children doing well, it’s a shame that this movie didn’t.
Really speaks to our times, doesn’t it?