The Real Heroes Behind the New Veggie Tales Movie

CBN.com - Veggie Tales co-creators, Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer have teamed up to produce another larger than life Veggie event. The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything takes on the big screen Jan. 11.

These unlikely heroes time travel to the 17th century to rescue a princess from pirates. Along the way, they discover something we all need to remember.

“It’s got a great message for kids about how God calls us all into adventure. And the adventure He calls us into, He will equip us for. And you don’t have to worry if you think you’re tall enough or smart enough or fast enough or brave enough. If God has called you into this adventure, you can do it,” says Veggie Tales creator, Phil Vischer.

Recently, Reporter Will Dawson sat down with the crew behind the making of this film, to get a behind the scenes sneak peak.

Will Dawson:  The life of a pirate is a very difficult thing. How much more so than with no arms.

Phil Vischer:  It only goes down hill from there.  

Mike Nawrocki:  Sword fighting can be very difficult in that sense. We actually have our own set of guidelines and rules about how vegetables pick things up … what works and what doesn’t. It’s amazing how you can suspend that disbelief.  If we can keep objects close, you really don’t notice they don’t have arms, and they’re swimming.  Seqwich goes in and swims 90 miles.

Phil Vischer: But he points it out afterwards. He said, ‘I just swam 90 nautical miles without arms or legs.’

These veggies do more than fighting and swimming. They actually have quite a reputation for singing. Music director, Kurt Heinecke shared what we can expect musically in The Pirates That Don’t Do Anything.

Kurt Heinecke: For an 80 plus minute movie, we’ve got like 70 minutes of music in there. So it was a huge challenge but tons of fun.

Mike Nawrocki: It was supposed to be a musical, but it’s hard to do Veggie Tales without putting a lot of music in.

Phil Vischer: The vegetables keep breaking out in song even when they are not supposed to.

Mike Nawrocki: They can’t help it.

Kurt Heinecke: This time I got to work with an 80 piece orchestra and record some huge symphonic music, but we’re kinda poking fun at this genre of adventure, pirate adventure.

Will Dawson: Do you mind showing me a little part of it?

Kurt Heinecke:  It’s fun to take a stronger piece of music and flip flop it and have this little flute come in as the mood changes, and that’s what this sounds like.

Though Bob, Larry, and friends have grown in popularity, the motives of Veggie Tales remain the same. 

Phil Vischer: Plato said, ‘Whoever tells the story shapes the culture.’  We’re weaving a tale about God into a parable and for kids to watch it over and over just because they love the story. That lesson just gets embedded into their lives.  And that’s what we’re really hoping to do. It’s coming out January 11th.  Go see it. Or we will question your salvation!

The film opens in theaters January 11. Group tickets are available, along with more information about the film, at the movie’s Web site, www.veggiepirates.com.

Check out our special page about the film for more details.