When Veggie Tales was all the craze in the 90’s my pastor was skeptical. He pointed out that the characters never mentioned Jesus as the way to be more patient, forgiving, loving, etc. I’m sure that if there had been a heavy evangelical message in the VT stories then it would not have been so readily received by the public - especially unbelievers. Believing parents were just happy to have a well done production that their little ones could watch that was entertaining, had a positive message and mentioned God.
Like everything else, Veggie-Tales was, and is, a tool.
I would no sooner base my K-5 Sunday School curriculum on Veggie-Tale movies as I would try to explain to a 5 year old they are going to Hell unless they accept Christ.
Adults have a tough time wrapping their mind around that one, but K-3? Third grade is about the time where we start talking about WHY Christ’s sacrifice was necessary. Before that time, Christ’s sacrifice happened, and that was that, really.
Veggie-Tales is an incredibly well crafted way of introducing kids to Bible stories that actually happened, and the lessons we need to take from those stories.
Jonah and the fish slappers is a pretty good one. I’m not sure what old Phil’s vision was for Veggie-Tales, but did he really think he could cram the old Catholic ‘mysteries of faith’ into a seven minute cartoon with Bob and Larry?
He’s got nothing to apologize for. I don’t snake my drains with garden rakes either. I use the right tool for that job.