Anthomation Assesses The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie

Howdy guys, Anthomation here. Today, I shall review the film that will get all Christians cozying up by the TV set: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie.

The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2008 animated film directed by Mike Nawrocki and written by Phil Vischer, who are the creators of the VeggieTales show. It was produced by Big Idea and Starz Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the second theatrical film to feature characters from the VeggieTales video series following Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie in 2002. The film was released on January 11, 2008, and received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized the script but praised the animation. The film was also a box office bomb, grossing only $13 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.

Three lazy misfits – very timid Elliot (Larry the Cucumber), lazy Sedgewick (Mr. Lunt) and no self-confident George (Pa Grape) – dream of the day of putting on a show about pirates. With their own problems of might not having this dream come true, they soon find themselves traveling back in time into the 17th century and begin a quest to rescue a royal family from an evil tyrant, and learn about being pirates.

The story of the film is unbelievably basic, which is fitting since it’s a VeggieTales film. The premise of people being made fun of who have to prove themselves in the face of grave danger has been done to death, but how can I get mad at it? Like other VeggieTales properties, this film carries such an innocent aura around that it is extremely challenging to feel any disapproval towards it. It is like getting mad at Mickey Mouse or Charlie Brown or Popeye the Sailor Man. I mean, would you rather have a story that’s confused and even complex for something that should not be difficult to understand?  The one nitpick I would have is this pop song that they throw in out of nowhere when Elliot, George, and Sedgewick are being total slackers while on their quest of Robert the Terrible’s whereabouts. It takes away from the rest of the atmosphere of the film. I care for it. 

The animation is UNBELIEVABLY at the level anyone would expect it to be. Being that the film was released in 2007 and the original show premiered in 1993, it would be inevitable that improvements would be made to the final product. The characters are more properly rendered than before and the backgrounds seemed to have more detail to them. But again, this is VeggieTales. There is much changing and tinkering that will go on something that already has such a prominent identity. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix. The biggest strength of the original show is also the biggest strength of the film. That is the facial expressions on all of the characters. They are expressive and can convey the intended emotion of each character. Because none of the characters have arms or legs (except for Robert the Terrible), the animators could focus their efforts towards the faces and body movements. And it really shows. Now I am not advocating to get rid of all limbs for everyone that happens to be animated, but you can only get mad at people cutting corners when the end result falls short.

The characters carry out the same likeable and recognizable personas as in previous installments. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki voice almost all of the characters in the film. Vischer voices George (Pa Grape), Sedgewick (Mr. Lunt), among others. Nawrocki voices Elliot (Larry the Cucumber) among others. For the characters not voiced by the original creators of this veggie phenomenon, there is Robert the Terrible (voiced by Cam Clarke), the villain of the film.And there is Prince Alexander and Princess Eloise, the two spoiled brats that need a trio of cabin boys at their rescuing. Just paraphrasing the film had to say. In all seriousness, the characters definitely do their jobs and were able to get some chuckles here and there.

Even though this is the second VeggieTales movie, it still gave people what they expected. A story that can be a big thin, animation that shines in certain attributes, and characters that have a good heartedness to them, this is a film that was all that it is cracked up to be.

Score:

6/10