REVIEW

DVD Review: VeggieTales - Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue

Written by Cindy Collins Smith
Published July 15, 2008

VeggieTales is back, this time putting a vegetable spin on the American big river classic Huckleberry Finn.

It's 1904, the year of the St. Louis World's Fair. Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry (a.k.a. Tom and Huck) are homesteading along the banks of the mighty Mississippi River and are within days of owning their own land. As they dream of opening a theme park and starting a tax preparation business, they meet a mysterious stranger who is on the run and trying to find his mama. If they help him, they risk losing all they’ve worked for. If they don't, he will be returned, unfairly, to a life of involuntary servitude. What should they do? That's the moral dilemma at the heart of this new VeggieTale that teaches kids the importance of helping others.

So does this new Veggie disc deliver on what fans expect of the series?

For Parents of Children Under 10

Unless your kids are way too old for their age, they are almost sure to love this DVD. The stranger, Big Jim (a.k.a. "Little Jimmy"), is endearingly innocent. Larry the Cucumber (okay... Huck) is at his best, steadfastly sticking to Little Jimmy's side, until he sees him safely down the river to the St. Louis World's Fair. The recurring gag with the logger who likes to bark like a dog is designed to get them giggling. And who knows? You may even be able to refer back to this disc someday when your child has to write a paper about the Homestead Act or needs help understanding Huckleberry Finn. (After all, it's not that big a leap from helping a slave escape to helping an involuntary indentured servant get away.)

For its mandatory dose of didacticism, this VeggieTale takes its inspiration from Bible verse James 4:17. Or as Phil Vischer (VeggieTales co-creator and writer of this story) says: “Sometimes not helping someone can be just as bad as actually hurting them.”

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Cindy Collins Smith is a writer/editor with contributions in several Midnight Marquee/Luminary Press books—including the recently published You're Next: Loss of Identity in the Horror Film. She is known in Ripper circles as the owner of the Hollywood Ripper website, which covers nine decades of Ripper and Faux Ripper movies, and she is a serial contributor to Ripperologist magazine. In her day job, Ms. Smith edits a magazine, a newsletter and conference publications for a professional association. She also helps develop social media strategies.
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DVD Review: VeggieTales - Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue
Published: July 15, 2008
Type: Review
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Animation, Video: Family
Writer: Cindy Collins Smith
Cindy Collins Smith's BC Writer page
Cindy Collins Smith's personal site
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