With the addition of “Esther” to the VeggieTales movie lineup, we see these ordinarily cheerful vegetables take on a story that’s a little hard to recount. How would you tell the story of Esther in a way that children could relate to without getting nightmares?
First, you would take a cute scallion and ask her to play Esther. Then you’d cast Pa Grape in the role of Mordecai (although how we’re supposed to believe that a grape could be a scallion’s cousin, I don’t know.) A twist here, a plot change there, and you’re good to go.
The king awakens in the middle of the night and wants the queen to make him a sandwich. When she refuses, he throws her out, and the search for a new queen begins. A beauty pageant is held throughout the land, with all the contestants lined up backstage, nervous and trembling. One hapless young woman sings a song about puppies, which doesn’t do much to impress the king, played by Mr. Nezzar, or Haman, played by Mr. Lunt. When Esther steps onto the stage to sing a song her grandmother taught her about leaning on God, they are touched, and she is chosen to be the new queen.
Later, when the two most wanted peas in Persia plot to drop a piano on the king’s head, Esther, with the help of Mordecai, alerts the king to the danger. For their punishment, the peas are sent to the Isle of Perpetual Tickling, where you are tickled day and night, night and day, without a stop.
In this way, the crew at VeggieTales rewrote the story to make it palatable for children. We know that historically, Haman wanted to destroy the Jews as an entire race. In the movie, he wants them all sent to the Isle of Perpetual Tickling. We still feel the imminent danger Esther is in, but we won’t be overly scared for her. We cheer her on as she makes the decision to go speak to the king on behalf of her people, and applaud as the king send Haman to the Isle instead.
This is the first VeggieTales without a “Silly Song from Larry.” I think this was very appropriate. It was good to get the story of Esther beginning to end without the interruption.
Easily one of my top five favorite VeggieTales films, this is another to add to your collection. (You are collecting them, right?)
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