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VeggieTales_Where's_God_When_I'm_S-Scared_What's_The_Big_Idea_(behind_the_scenes)

VeggieTales Where's God When I'm S-Scared What's The Big Idea (behind the scenes)

The Making of the show.

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Where s god when i m s scared 1st edition vhs by thomasveggiedramafan-d7jzd8e

The very first edition of the tape (December 1993), before their deal with Word. This has become extinct because it only appeared in the magazine of the same name.

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A small pamphlet that was included within the Dec. 1993 VHS edition.

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A small pamphlet that was included within the Dec. 1993 VHS edition.

Where's God When I'm S-Scared? is the first episode of VeggieTales and was originally released on December 21, 1993. Larry and Bob try to comfort Junior Asparagus and tell him about God and how he will always protect him and that he is much bigger than the things Junior fears in "Tales from the Crisper." In "Daniel and the Lion's Den," Daniel gets thrown in the lion's den by three wisemen who are jealous of his talents.

Tales From the Crisper[]

Bob and Larry are seen standing on the kitchen countertop. They both recieve a letter from a child who is afraid that a monster is in her closet. When Bob and Larry are finished reading the letter, they both put on a show to explain that God will always protect you.

The show starts in Junior's house. He is watching a horror shaw called "Tales from the Crisper." The horror show was about a mad scientist who created a creater known as Frankencelery. He soon breaks out of the lab, a woman screams in panic, and Frankencelery goes out on rampage in the city, and several cars start crashing and people scream in panic. As Junior watches in horror, his mother calls him and tells him that it is time for bed.

He asks for four more minutes, but Mrs. Asparagus explains that he said that four minutes ago. She also asks Junior if the show was a little too scary for him. Junior mutters under his breath that he's not scared. As he trudged up the stairs, he looks at his family picture with a smile. On the picture was his father, his mother, and himself. After he looked at the picture, Junior's smile disapeared. The image changed and his family looked like monsters. In fear, Junior ran to his room in fright.

As Junior tries to sleep, two figures suddenly appear from the ceiling. One falls in his toy chest and the other falls safely on the floor. Junior screams and asks who they are. They both introduce themselves as Bob and Larry, then ask if he wants to hear a song. Junior accepts and listens to thier song. Bob and Larry scare him with the song about monsters, but then comforts him by telling him that God is bigger than all of them.

After the song, Bob takes him to his bedroom window. He asks him what he sees. Junior said he sees all the stars in the night time sky. Bob and Larry explain that God made all the stars and the world. Before they leave, they tell Junior someone else is going to visit. A few seconds later, Frankencelery drops in from the ceiling. Junior screams and hides in the toy chest. Frankencelery soon explains his real name is Phil Winklestien and he is not a monster, but he is just an actor for movies. He also says all the things he did on TV was fake, and he wouldn't hurt anyone.

Before Bob, Larry, and Phil leave, they sing a song. Junior's dad bursts in his room and asks what was all the racket, and he replies and said he was singing. Mr. Asparagus tucks him in to bed and leaves. Junior continues singing quietly, then falls asleep.

The Water Buffalo Song[]

Following the segment is the introduction to the first of "Silly Songs with Larry", The Water Buffalo Song. Wearing an oversized cowboy hat, Larry comes out and sings that "everybody's got a water buffalo", but Archibald Asparagus brings the song to abrupt end over the obvious falseness of the statement. The segment ends when Larry starts singing that "everybody's got a baby kangaroo," much to Archibald's displeasure.

Daniel and the Lion's Den[]

This episode starts at King Darius's palace in the city of Babylon. Three scallions, known as the wisemen, rush down the palace halls. They stop at a golden door and wait. Two maids watch them as the door opens. King Darius explains to the wisemen that he had a strange dream and he wants them to explain to him what it means. The wisemen reply and say they can't. Another figure runs down the hall, running into the camera, popping out his eyes and then smiles.

He tells the king his name is Daniel and he can't interpret dreams, but he explains that God knows the answer and he can give it to him so he can give the answer. Soon Daniel recieves the answer from God, and he tells it to King Darius. The king is impressed and ranks Daniel second in comand. As they leave, the wisemen feel jealous. They then glare at the two maids as they leave in disrespect for the wisemen.

The three men decide to do something about Daniel and they plan to attack him at night and throw him in the Lion's Den. The next morning, the three men rush to the king's thone. They greet King Darius and tell them thier plan. The wise men and the king both know Daniel worships God, which is how the wisemen trick the king. They say to the king that some people in Babylon don't worship him, and they listen to another ruler. They ask him to sign a paper that says whoever doesn't praise the king, they will go to the lion's den.

King Darius doesn't know that God was the other ruler the men were talking about, nor that they were going to throw Daniel in the dungeon. The wisemen arrive at Daniel's house and slam the door open. They take him away from home and toward the den. When they arrive, they thow him into the den and push a rock into the opening so he can't escape. He prays to God and he sleeps without the lions eating him because God protected him.

The next day, the king finds him there with the wisemen. They are all surprised he isn't dead. Instead, he is having pizza with them. They soon pull Daniel out of the den. He explains how God protected him and that he is safe. They both figure that this was all because of the wisemen. They see them run off into the distance, but then King Darius chases after them yelling.

What We Learned Today

Back at the countertop, QWERTY accidentally gives out a recipe for meatloaf, followed by the verse "So do not fear, for I am with you." -Isaiah 41:10.

Characters[]

  • Junior Asparagus as himself (debut)
  • Mom Asparagus as herself (debut)
  • Bob the Tomato as himself (debut)
  • Larry the Cucumber as Daniel & himself (debut)
  • Dad Asparagus as himself (debut)
  • Frankencelery (debut)
  • Singing Monsters
  • Archibald Asparagus As King Darius Herself
  • The Scallions As Wisemen
  • Penelope Pear as Maid

Trivia[]

  • Moral: Don't let fear dictate your life.
  • Surprisingly, this episode didn't scare most kids.
  • The only way the episode got recognition before being released was through Christain magazine advertisements which was expensive to get published in. The ads contained photo stills of the episode, an order form for the episode and a phone number to Big Idea studios if you wanted to call them and order the episode with a credit card. Also in the ads it was said that Christmas delivery was promised. Phil Vischer said that he and the guys (Mike Nawrocki, Chris Olsen, Robert Ellis) had to make Christmas delivery or else they'd be guilty of mail fraud.
  • There are 500 copies of the original VHS tape from when the show was only available for purchase via magazine. This version of the episode has differences from later copies, which include the following:
    • An unfinished version of the theme song instead has the chorus singing "VeggieTales! VeggieTales! VeggieTales!" over and over again for the entire time. When the episode was remade in 1994, new singing lines (which were not yet recorded in the original unfinished version) were added, including Bob singing "Broccoli! Celery! Gotta be," Junior singing "Lima beans! Collard greens! Peachy keen!," and Larry (whose voice at this point strangely sounds like what he would later sound like in "Are You My Neighbor?") singing "Cauliflower! Sweet and sour! Half an hour!"
      • In the commentary, Phil thought it was missing only "Broccoli! Celery! Gotta be," which is false.
    • Larry nods his head in this version of the theme song. This part was taken out of the finished version of the theme song, until it was reinstated in the 1998-2009 version of the theme song.
    • During the Frankencelery movie in the beginning of "Tales from the Crisper," the scientists' lines were not pitch-shifted up like in the later version of the episode. The lines were mixed around a bit, and there's also one line, "I didn't realize it when It was lying down! It's standing up!" that didn't make it into the final.
    • The fading transition effects were not used during "Tales from the Crisper" and "Daniel and the Lions' Den." Also, in the middle of some scenes (especially when Archibald charges toward Larry at the end of the Silly Song), visible fade-transition splicing of video sources can easily be seen, which the middle of the Frankencelery movie didn't have in this version.
    • The Silly Song Announcer's voiceover lines at the beginning of the Silly Song were rerecorded in later versions of the product.
    • Credits are placed after "Tales from the Crisper," "Daniel in the Lions' Den" and at the end of the closing countertop.
      • The "Daniel and the Lions' Den" credits are on a black background.
      • The final credits (after the closing countertop) are on a black background, using the instrumental VeggieTales theme song in the background. When the episode was re-issued in 1994, the credits for "Tales from the Crisper" and "Daniel and the Lions' Den" get placed after the closing countertop credits (which now uses a still from the Silly Song for a background).
    • Throughout the video, many lines were a couple seconds ahead of where they are in the final product.
    • QWERTY had no sounds in the original print of the episode.
  • If you look closely in the toy chest, you will see the blue wind-up lobster from "Are You My Neighbor?".
  • This is one of the only episodes where Larry has a dopey voice. The other is "God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?".
  • It is not known what fruit or vegetable the lions were, because the Lions Den was too dark to see.
  • This is the first appearance of Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Asparagus, Phil Winklestien, Mrs. Asparagus, The Scallions, Archibald Asparagus, Mabel, and Penelope.
    • All of the characters that appeared in this episode, except Mabel and Penelope, appeared in "Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space" while Mabel and Penelope appeared in "Lyle, the Kindly Viking" as the Viking Wifes and "Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie" as Jopponians.
    • This is the first episode where Bob and Larry come to Junior's Bedroom to teach Junior that God is Bigger than monsters.
      • Out of all these characters, Penelope is the only character not to speak in this episode.
      • This is the first episode where Bob and Larry have their first picture. They were in the same pose like in the VeggieTales Screen Test Take 38.
  • This is the first episode for a Silly Song. The Water Buffalo Song was originally going to be the only Silly Song until Silly Song fans wanted more.
  • The masterpiece collection print of the Lyle the Kindly Viking video didn't include the silly song "Larry's High Silk Hat". The song "King Darius Suite" from this served as a replacement.
  • This is the first VeggieTales show for a musical. The other two are "Lyle the Kindly Viking" and "MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle".
  • Penelope is seen without her hair, meaning she may wear wigs in the further episodes.
  • This is the VeggieTales Show with a musical Bible Story.
  • This is based off Jesus Walks on Water and Daniel.
  • Lions were originally going to be animated for the "Daniel and the Lions' Den" segment, but animal fur is one of the most expensive things in animation. So decapitated yellow eyes were made instead, according to The DVD commentary. The aforementioned "animal fur - one of the most expensive things" was again said in the DVD commentary and the behind the scenes of Jonah. The Jonah film was originally intended to be an adaptation of the story of Noah, but the idea of "animal fur" killed them.
  • The house (minus Junior Asparagus's bedroom) from the "Tales from the Crisper" segment was animated after a rental house that Phil Vischer was living in with his wife Lisa according to the DVD commentary.
  • The episode was made on Phil Vischer's one computer with two interns, in a rental office in Chicago, and was finished in time for the 1993 holiday season according to Vishcher himself.
  • Lucy Anderson, the girl who wrote the letter to Bob and Larry, was read by a real kid and the only kid. Phil Vischer thought it would be hard to get kids to read the letters. You can hear about this on the "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?!" audio commentary.
  • The toy dinosaur in Junior's bedroom has made very few scenery appearances. It appeared in this episode, "Are You My Neighbor?",a few VeggieTales books and a VeggieTales computer game.
  • "Tales From The Crisper" is a homage of the HBO series, "Tales From The Crypt".
  • Rumor has it that a Blu-Ray release was planned for this episode.
  • Some people found Larry from The Waterbuffalo Song to be creepy.
  • Before Phil Vischer hired his interns Chris Olsen and Robert Ellis who graduated in computer graphics in college, he was originally going to animate the whole film from beginning to end. In the end it was impossible, if his two interns hadn't accepted the job than everything would've been a complete disaster. He started from the countertop all the way where Junior runs into his room and lays in his bed.
  • The only episode where QWERTY made a mistake pulling up a bible verse.
  • Even though Pixar, the makers of Toy Story, made short films back in the mid and late 1980's, 3D technology hadn't really been made into the public or on the market yet. Big Idea started off as the first American computer animated series with this first episode with very little money.
  • There are three hidden Easter eggs hidden within the DVD. There are in the main menu, special features menu and the Fun menu. To find them, just keep pressing left or right in your remote until you'll find a star in those menus. If you click on one of them, you'll watch interviews about the VeggieTales characters and their voice actors. Those characters are Larry, Bob and Junior.
  • In the story of Daniel, King Darius wasn't king of Babylon during the lion's den but rather king of Persia (which is now Iran). The king of Babylon during the time was King Nebuchadnezzer.
  • The lighting flash you see in Darius' court during the song where the wisemen sing about the new law wasn't actually a lighting flash. The flash was actually a render glitch that the animators couldn't get rid of. So instead they kept it as at lighting flash with a thunder clap sound effect thrown in.
  • A_Rare_VeggieTales_Bonus_Feature-_Early_Animation_Tests_(Featuring_Take_38)

    A Rare VeggieTales Bonus Feature- Early Animation Tests (Featuring Take 38)

    A rare VeggieTales bonus feature which includes the early animation tests (featuring Mr. Cuke's Screen Test and Take 38), which never made it into any DVD versions.

    The VeggieTales Early Animation Tests behind-the-scenes feature on the 2004 Warner Home Video VHS also included the earliest VeggieTales animation test Mr. Cuke's Screen Test and the original VeggieTales pitch reel VeggieTales Screen Test Take 38, both which never made it into any of the DVD releases for unknown reasons.
  • The 1995 VHS reprint uses the same version of the episode like the 1994 VHS reprint, and strangely doesn't have the Big Idea logo at the end (despite that logo being on the back and side of the VHS cover).
    RARE VeggieTales Magazine Image from 1993!!!!!

    The character lineup (including Bob, Larry, Junior, Mom and Dad, and the Toaster) in an early magazine for the episode. The lineup shows a smiling toaster. It is implied that there was going to be a toaster in the show, but it never fell through.

Goofs[]

  • When Junior tells his father about God, the camera zooms on the father 2 times, while this is happening, the viewer can see a picture of Bob and Larry on the wall despite that he met the 2 in this episode
  • The recipe for meatloaf is actually not a recipe for meatloaf. It's actually a list of ingredients, it doesn't have any instructions.

Gallery[]

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