When I first heard that the folks at VeggieTales were going to do the story of Bathsheba, I thought their brains must be the size of peas. How would you tell that story in a way that is appropriate for children? Well, I should have had a little more faith. They not only did it, but they did it very well.
Taking their cue from the fact that there was a bath involved in the original Bible story, they created a storyline where the object of desire was a rubber duck.
Larry the Cucumber plays King George, a man who is so obsessed with taking baths that he has not one, but an entire closet full, of rubber duckies. He enjoys heading for the tub whenever things in the kingdom get a little too hard to deal with, and this happens quite a bit because there’s a war on. In fact, it’s the Great Pie War, and King George’s kingdom isn’t fairing very well. But he doesn’t want to think about that; he wants to take a bath. His right-hand man, Louis, is essentially running the kingdom while His Majesty scrubs his back.
One day the king is out on his balcony and he looks down at the village below. What is that he sees? A young boy is having a bath on his roof, and he is holding a rubber ducky! It’s the most beautiful ducky the king has ever seen, and he decides he must have it! Against Louis’s council, he sneaks out and steals it, and then he sends Thomas, owner of said duck, out to fight in the Pie War.
Thomas proves himself to be a war hero, deflecting many a blueberry and banana cream pie, and the king thinks he’s happy now that he has “the duck.” But King George has to learn, the hard way, that being selfish will never bring him true happiness.
Our “Silly Song with Larry” for this episode is “Endangered Love,” which is one of my favorites. Larry enjoys watching soap operas, and his favorite soap star is Barbara Manatee. She is desperate to go to the ball, but Phil, her erstwhile boyfriend, won’t take her because he can’t dance. It’s a shame – she has a new pair of shoes and some manatee lipstick. Larry eagerly volunteers to escort her, earning himself some raised eyebrows from Bob the Tomato.
If you and your family would like to watch a funny show designed to teach you about sharing and gratitude, this VeggieTales classic is one for you.
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