This is Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki talking about the third episode of VeggieTales.
Transcript
Both: Awwwwww, Ally!
Man 1: How old is she now? 35?
Man 2: (chuckles) She's six.
Man 1: Oh, she's six.
Man 2: She's not that much older, she was only two. But my son, who is now three, is now older than my daughter was when that was taken, which is really freaky.
Man 1: Wow! Does he know that?
Man 2: No, he doesn't know that. But he still says, "Awwwwww, Ally!"
Man 1: Really? He says that too?
Man 2: That's where that started!
Man 1: Really?
Man 2: With him, yeah. "Awwwwww, Ally!"
Man 1: He started the "Awwwwww, Ally!"?
Man 2: No, you know what? No, I'm sorry, he didn't. He learned it from me (Man 1 chuckles) and my wife.
Man 1: Why are you telling the fans lies?
Man 2: (chuckles)
(pause for 15-16 seconds)
Man 2: Well, anyway, I'm Mike Nawrocki.
Man 1: And I'm Phil Vischer.
Mike Nawrocki: (in weird accent) And we're here to pump...you up.
Phil Vischer: (After Mike said "pump") Aka Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: But not in that order.
Nawrocki: Now this, I think this animation is still original from the very beginning, although we re-rendered it, um, for.. for newer episodes.
Vischer: Yeah, it's the same animation. I don't think it was ever, yeah.
Nawrocki: Because Bob turns into a strawberry.
Vischer: Kinda funky. Bob turns into a strawberry.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: And his eyes are inflating.
Nawrocki: You know what we should do, we should have like a little "Pfsssss!", like a little air hose noise to, you know.
Vischer: Yeah, when he turns-
Nawrocki: -Blows into a tomato.
Vischer: -Turns into a strawberry?
Nawrocki: Yeah, or into a strawberry.
Vischer: And then goes back into a tomato?
NawrockI: (chuckles) That's right.
Vischer: That would be his default state.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: I think.
Nawrocki: And we're watching the, uh, new Steve Hullfish, uh, open.
Vischer: Yes, yes. It's not the- who made the middle open?
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: Was that- the middle, was that a John Wahba open? And the original one was the Phil Vischer open.
Nawrocki: No, there was a Phil Vischer open, and there was a Mike Nawrocki open.
Vischer: Oh, you recut an open at some point?
Nawrocki: Yeah, I recut an open. Yep, yep, and then the John Wahba open.
Vischer: Okay.
Both: And now the Steve Hullfish open.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: Man!
Nawrocki: But they keep getting better.
Vischer: Such a- it's kinda like The Cosby Show, when they kept redoing their opening?
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: You know, they had a bigger budget, though.
Nawrocki: Yeah. But, they- I like the sweaters.
Vischer: And they have like, Bobby McFerrin.
Nawrocki: We should have like, really colorful striped sweaters on the veggies of VeggieTales.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: Just like the Cosbys.
Vischer: Right.
Nawrocki: I still see Cosby sweaters around even when-
Vischer: (interrupts) Would you, would you refer to me as Dr. Huxtable throughout this commentary?
Nawrocki: (chuckles) If you call me, uh, I don't remember anybody.
Vischer: (laughs)
Nawrocki: I just remember Dr. Huxtable.
Vischer: 'Kay, oh, the animation, you noticed rather, uh, rapid sudden jerky movements.
Nawrocki: (chuckles a bit, Larry says "Why do I have a shoe on my head?") Now this is the whole 'Brazil' thing, right?
Vischer: Yeah, the shoe on the head was inspired by Terry Gilliam's movie 'Brazil', where, um, I forget the name of the actress. Uh, fairly well-known, uh, actress, but she wore a very fanciful hat that included a giant shoe for no particular reason.
Nawrocki: Mm-hmm.
Vischer: And, uh, that amused me, so I ripped it off.
Nawrocki: (laughs) You're so good at that!
Vischer: (laughing) Yes, thank you!
Nawrocki: (laughing)
Vischer: Hey, that amuses me!
Nawrocki: (laughing)
Vischer: I'd like to take it and claim it as my own!
Nawrocki: Just don't do that in the department store, kids.
('The Story of Flibber-o-loo' starts)
Vischer: (chuckles) So, where are we? Oh, 'Story of Flibber-o-loo', this was fun, now there were- when we did this, there were still only, I think, five or six people.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: In the company, the whole company. (pause for 4 seconds) So, and uh, Chris Olsen, I-I sketched out these little mountains, and, and Chris Olsen, uh, modeled them and colored them. I was not a great illustrator and I think this was near the end. I maybe did two shows after this, where I actually did the concept work.
Nawrocki: Mm-hmm.
Vischer: And then that was the end, but, it's obviously a Dr. Seuss... uh... what?
Nawrocki: Homage! Yes!
Vischer: Homage!
Nawrocki: Inspired by-
Vischer: -The kindest, the, uh...
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Yeah, inspired by.
Nawrocki: Inspired by.
Vischer: Ah! This is the first appearance of the Carrot family, which was designed, uh, the whole family was designed by, uh, Chris Olsen.
Nawrocki: By Chris, yeah. And actually, Chris did (imitating Lenny Carrot) "Mine's really more of a kettle!"
Vischer: That's right, that was Chris talking.
Nawrocki: And I think this was the first appear- You know, that was a field render.
Vischer: I noticed that! I was gonna say what was that?
Nawrocki: Yeah, that was field rendering, 'cause this stuff, when it was frame rendered, it was too strobe-y because the shoes move too fast.
Vischer: Right.
(Henry the Potato appears)
Vischer: So we just threw in a little field rendering.
Nawrocki: This is the first appearance of the Potato. (imitating Henry) La-la-la! La-la-la!
Vischer: Uh, no, the first appearance of the Potato was as the miner in show 2.
Nawrocki: (gasps) Oh, yeah! In the... in the... Forgive-O-Matic!
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
(The Lobster appears)
Vischer: Oh, here's the first appearance of the lobster! No, you have to correct me.
Nawrocki: N-Yeah, no, that is not the first appearance of the lobster. First appearance of the cactus! (chuckles) The first appearance of the lobster... was in Take 38.
Vischer: Right.
Nawrocki: Which I don't know-
Vischer: (interrupts) And then in show 1.
Nawrocki: And then in show 1.
Vischer: Did he make it in show 2 anywhere?
Nawrocki: No, it wasn't in the Forgive-O-Matic.
Vischer: Anyone?
Nawrocki: No, could he bite somebody?
Vischer: Uh, I don't-
Nawrocki: He might have been in the Forgive-a-matic. I don't know.
Vischer: I don't remember.
Nawrocki: I like the faceting on the eyes in the old shows.
Vischer: (chuckles) Yeah.
Nawrocki: Nothing was so angular, maybe it is because we're so close to the 80's, that's why.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: Nothing was so angular.
Vischer: Right, curves were out in the 80's.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: And, and you notice that as the... as the li... lobster, I almost said lizard, as the lizard (Nawrocki chuckles) rolled over the camera, that he was not touching the ground.
Nawrocki: This is the first appearance of the bad guys here, the Scallions, isn't it?
Vischer: No, they were in show 1!
Nawrocki: Oh, that's right! (Vischer chuckles) They were in 'the Lion's Den'!
Vischer: Yeah, and the tall guy was the salesman in show 2 in the Forgive-O-Matic!
Nawrocki: You know what is so cool about that? You just mentioned in that.
Vischer: What?
Nawrocki: Last night, my kids, I asked what story they wanted to read, and Ally wanted to hear "Daniel in the Lion's Den" from the Bible.
Vischer: Ohhhhhhhh.
Nawrocki: So I went and I read that one, the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den.
Vischer: Wow.
Nawrocki: Right from the-
Vischer: (interrupts) Did she complain that it was different?
Nawrocki: (chuckles) No, no, it's actually very similar.
Vischer: Okay, well, that's good.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: See, now [Larry] wasn't even wearing a sock, so where'd the sock come from?
Nawrocki: It's another one of those abstract 'Brazil' things.
Vischer: (laughs) Maybe he just had it wadded up at the bottom of his shoe to keep it round and full-looking.
Nawrocki: Could be. Just be, like one of those little headbands you wear when you play basketball.
Vischer: Yeah. Boy, boy, we could animate a whole show in like a week, you know, doing it like this. These were the days.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: These were the days and nobody cared. Nobody wrote in and said "Hey, you're gonna be animating much better in four years. (Nawrocki chuckles) I want my money back."
Nawrocki: (laughs)
Vischer: Nobody cared.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: They didn't.
Nawrocki: Well, that was a little odd. This was all brand new.
Vischer: Yeah. It's not really a hole so much as just a little, a grouping of rocks.
Nawrocki: This was my first attempt at method acting. I remember I had to imagine myself upside-down in a hole.
Vischer: Yeah, that was... tricky. Although your acting in "Larry's Lagoon" was extremely heartfelt and emotional.
Nawrocki: Oh yeah, that's true. Prior to that, I had to make-believe everybody was-
Vischer: Yeah, it's hard to motivate your lighting when your head is stuck in a hole.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: But we managed to pull it off.
Nawrocki: Well, you know, I thought about that in "Finding Nemo". Remember when Nemo slid down the drain pipe?
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: You know, so...
Vischer: And when they're in the whale!
Nawrocki: Yeah, and when they're in the whale.
Vischer: And you can see everything.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: You can see all the little bubbles.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: Where is that light coming from, huh?
Nawrocki: Must be a phosphorescent whale.
Both: (chuckle)
Vischer: But kids wouldn't like it.
Nawrocki: But we did the same thing with our-
Vischer: Of course we did! No, we used the, uh... we used the blowhole as a motivation!
Nawrocki: Yeah, that's true.
Vischer: For the light. We attempted to, no.
(The Mayor starts dancing)
Nawrocki: That doesn't work out biologically.
Vischer: No, it does not work out at all biologically. But neither does "Finding Nemo", where he spits them out through his blowhole. (Nawrocki chuckles) He'd have to, I don't know what he'd have to do. You have to get them in his lungs.
Both: (chuckle)
Vischer: (Notices the mayor dancing) Oh, there's a show going on! We should comment about it!
Nawrocki: Yeah
Vischer: Look at that dancing! Now, is that, that's like a dancing with two key frames. That's incredibly efficient. NASA has studied this show as a model of efficiency in motion. So has UPS. (the Doctor appears) We tried to get the UPS drivers to move more like VeggieTales characters when they're unloading 'cause it's so efficient. And they have to feed them less. (regarding the Doctor) Now she had been in the previous show. She was created.
Nawrocki: But yeah, she was, well, the woman who did that, her voice was the narrator for "Daniel in the Lion's Den", right? That's Gayle.
Vischer: Yes.
Nawrocki: Gayle Freeman.
Vischer: Gayle, Gayle did her voice.
Nawrocki: Mmm-hmm.
Vischer: And look! She's got a shoe on her head too, and that one's actually a lot more similar to the 'Brazil' thing.
Nawrocki: Oh yeah.
Vischer: The 'Brazil' reference. But it was, don't you think, very progressive of us, you know, to go back in Bible times and then have a woman doctor. And that's pretty progressive.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) That is.
Vischer: You know, I don't think there were that many women doctors in Bible times. Is this in Bible times or is this in Dr. Seuss times?
Nawrocki: This is in Dr. Seuss times.
Vischer: Okay.
Nawrocki: This is taking place on the atom embedded in a snowflake somewhere.
Both: (laughing)
(The Mayor and Doctor start dancing)
Nawrocki: We didn't do that really cool flight into the, you know, speck of dust.
Vischer: Look! Now they're both dancing with equally elaborate dance moves.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Okay, you know what? Here comes some more field rendering. Hold on a second.
Vischer: When?
Nawrocki: Okay, here's a little video technical thing. What happens with frame rendering and film rendering, okay, this is all frame rendering, okay, look at the difference. This is field rendering.
Vischer: Oh my goodness! Oh it's so smooth! It's like 'butta'!
Nawrocki: Yep, if you're watching it on TV, it's a difference between watching a movie, an evening drama, and a daytime drama.
Vischer: Right.
Nawrocki: So, anyway.
Vischer: Right. Okay. You notice that their eyelids, at this point, were a separate piece from their actual eyes, so you often see a little white line sticking through, appearing between the lid, the green, I don't know what I'm saying.
Nawrocki: (laughs)
Vischer: If- I'll-I'll point it out when it happens again!
Nawrocki: Had to be there.
(Junior appears)
Vischer: Here's Junior in one of his cutest roles. And you notice we found a pot that mimicked the shape of his hat, perfectly, because that's his silhouette and if you bought the VeggieTales chicken nuggets from Tyson's...
Nawrocki: (laughs)
Vischer: ...You'll know that-
Nawrocki: I haven't seen those yet, are they out?
Vischer: Yeah! I was walking through the grocery store, and there they were!
Nawrocki: Wow, how did you feel about that?
Vischer: It was all very weird. I think the whole concept of... of... pressing chicken into the shape of a vegetable is a little bit odd.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: I guess, I would say.
Nawrocki: But don't tell our friends at Tyson about it.
Vischer: No, no! We appreciate the support.
Nawrocki: Yep, yep, yep.
Vischer: Thank you.
Nawrocki: Well, I wonder-
Vischer: Keep 'em coming!
(Pause for 10-11 seconds)
Nawrocki: Wait.
Vischer: See, look! I saw some white! There was white above his little green inner lid there. That's what I was talking about. It took us- Actually, we had to rebuild the eyes eventually when-
Nawrocki: This is our first use of an escalator, right there.
Vischer: (chuckles) (imitating the Doctor) "The little one there is from Jibber-de-lot!" (normal voice) I like that- It's a cute little doctor's office.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: Nicely outfitted.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: (imitating the Doctor) "Why did you do it?" (normal voice) But her eyes are doing some really weird things. They're all doing some kind of weird things there. And the Doc- She-He's all bandaged up and the Doctor hasn't even gotten there yet.
Nawrocki: Well, Junior is being a Good Samaritan.
Vischer: Oh. Junior did the bandaging?
Nawrocki: Yeah, he did.
Vischer: Okay.
Nawrocki: I think he's licensed for that.
Vischer: Heh-heh-heh-heh. Test tubes! Now what do they use the test tubes for? Will they do blood work? On vegetables?
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: In Dr. Seuss land?
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
(Junior is dancing while singing "Love Your Neighbor")
Vischer: There they go!
Nawrocki: Juice work I guess.
Vischer: Doing that dance again! You see, first they go that way, then they go that way-
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: -And then I repeat.
Nawrocki (chuckles)
Vischer: Ad nauseum.
Nawrocki: Good thing they're in the Doctor's office.
Vischer: Here we go.
Nawrocki: Where they're ad nauseous.
Vischer: My first attempt at a hymn.
Both: (chuckle)
Vischer: I was very proud of it.
Nawrocki: (singing) And to perform a good deed.
Vischer: Although Kurt worked out all the melodies.
Nawrocki: (singing) And when you've finished, you'll find out it's true, when you make them feel better, you'll feel better too.
(Larry falls over after singing)
Vischer: (laughs) See, when you've gone through a trauma like that, you shouldn't attempt to sing a hymn.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Standing up.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: It's too much stress for the poor fellow.
Nawrocki: Does [Larry] have more bandages that he did when he was laying down?
Vischer: I don't think so.
Nawrocki: Maybe it was just the, yeah, he was on his side.
Vischer: Yeah, he was on his side.
Nawrocki: We should do an episode where, with a mummy, 'cause Larry's... Larry looks good kinda wrapped.
Vischer: As a mummy?
Nawrocki: Yeah, kinda, the top of him.
Vischer: That pig was put together rather hastily.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: 'Cause it only had, you know, like ten frames of screen time, and there are only four or five of us working on this show.
Nawrocki: Well, you know, well if we were doing that, say, three years ago, you know, that would have been some pig.
Vischer: Oh, that would have been some pig.
Nawrocki: Probably taken six days to render that pig.
Vischer: Well, it would have taken a week and a half to do the concept-
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: -And another week for approvals and revisions-
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: -And then, uh, several weeks to model.
Nawrocki: This is nice, with the flowers and candy.
Vischer: Ah, yeah, that's nice. And it's drifting a little more nicely than the shoes and pots.
Nawrocki: Yes, it's slower.
Vischer: (humming) The clouds. I wasn't real thrilled with the clouds.
Nawrocki: They're like sausages.
Vischer: Yeah, like floating sausages or fingers.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: But you know, hey, it was 1994.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: It is the best we could do, with the resources at the end.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
(Pause for 6 seconds, 'The Hairbrush Song' starts)
Vischer: Now, of course, we had, the last one, we didn't do a Silly Song, 'cause we did a Silly Song on the first one, and then, I didn't think we would do Silly Songs every time, just every now and then, maybe. And so we did the Forgive-O-Matic on the second one, and then people wrote us letters and said, "Where's the Silly Song? Where's the Silly Song? You promised us a Silly Song!" And so I said, "Mike, you have a Silly Song?", and then, this is when Mike took over the Silly Songs.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Sounds like you've told this story before!
Vischer: A lot of times.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: And if you're a VeggieTales fan, you've heard it about a hundred times. So, uh, where'd you come up with the idea, Mike?
Nawrocki: Well, I came up with the idea-
Vischer: (chuckles) By the way, this is considered the all-time classic Silly Song, just so you know.
Nawrocki: I like, um, Boyz in the Sink.
Vischer: Yeah, even though its budget was about a hundredth.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Boyz in the Sink.
Both: (chuckling)
Nawrocki: This is the all-time classic, Boyz in the Sink is the all-time most expensive.
Vischer: Yes.
Nawrocki: But, um, now this, this came to me actually in the shower as I was looking for my razor, 'cause I shaved, and I still do in the shower, um.
Vischer: Really?
Nawrocki: Yep, yep. 'Cause shaving isn't that big of an ordeal for me.
Vischer: Would you ever- Did you ever cut your legs?
Nawrocki: No, not my legs.
Vischer: Oh, okay.
Nawrocki: (chuckling)
Vischer: Sorry. I'm shocked and slightly embarrassed. (chuckles)
Nawrocki: So, anyway-
Vischer: The little set was designed by Chris Olsen.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: And built by Chris Olsen.
Nawrocki: Yep, yep. Very, very nice, I actually like the little set, it's nice.
Vischer: Yeah, it's very cute, it kind of, really, this established the Silly Song visual style.
Nawrocki: Well, no, the Water Buffalo kind of did, 'cause Water Buffalo is just a-
Vischer: Go look at that set. There's hardly nothing there.
Nawrocki: It's only one shot, two actually.
Vischer: Yeah, I know, it's a flat. It's just- This was more...
Nawrocki: You know-
Vischer: What? No.
Nawrocki: I don't know, uh, the Silly Song coming up, uh, which is, uh, uh, "Schoolhouse Polka".
Vischer: Yeah? And which video will that be on?
Nawrocki: That will be on, um, uh, "Sumo of the Opera". So, anyway, that's- that's basically just one shot too, we just have one shot and we cut in, you know, on a wide and medium and a-
Vischer: We come full-circle.
Nawrocki: That's right.
Vischer: Will Chris Olsen be doing the set?
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Well, it's a very easy set. It's very, it's actually very reminiscent of this set, 'cause it, you know-
Vischer: Little lip quiver, I believe this was also the first time Ron Smith animated.
Nawrocki: No, no, no, no, I don't think so, 'cause Ron did, "Dance of the Cucumber" was his first animation, wasn't it?
Vischer: No, no, no, no, n-no, no.
Nawrocki: Really?
Vischer: He was on this video, he started on this video, and I think he started, he did some of the stuff with Larry hopping back and forth or spinning around or something.
Nawrocki: Okay, okay.
Vischer: 'Cause then he did the, the Gourds doing their crazy dance.
Nawrocki: Oh, yeah, yeah, that's when we- We have hired brilliance. That's right, we have found a genius. Yep.
Vischer: Let's not let him go.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Work on "Scooby-Doo 2" or anything like that.
Vischer: (chuckles)
(Song ends)
Vischer: Oh, that was beautiful, and of course-
Nawrocki: I don't like these concrete roses.
Vischer: Clonk!
Both: Donk! Clonk! Clonk!
Vischer: I think there was just a lot of static electricity (Nawrocki chuckles) on the countertop, and they just kind of stuck.
Nawrocki: Yeah, ceramic.
("The Gourds Must Be Crazy" starts)
Vischer: And if you put in a little sound effect, "Zzzt!"
Nawrocki: Yeah, yeah.
Vischer: You know...
Nawrocki: That is.
Vischer: What's this? Oh, this is, reminiscent of, uh, the first video, when that picture comes to life and jumps out at him.
Nawrocki: Mmm-hmm. Now, I remember this because going up in "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?", that's the same staircase, isn't it?
Vischer: Yeah, same staircase as "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?"
Nawrocki: And this is the same room he comes in.
Vischer: Same room, in fact, I built this room before Big Idea was started.
Nawrocki: And there is the toy box.
Vischer: Yep, I built this room while I was working at a post house.
Nawrocki: 'Cause I remember it's actually the same room, uh, this whole house is designed after the house you were living in at the time.
Vischer: And this, this whole room has fewer polygons than Khalil's eyeballs!
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Wow.
Vischer: This whole room is so light, you can now model it in real time on your cell phone, I think.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: And look at Dad's tie, it turns into a- I don't know what, when he sits down.
Nawrocki: It's like it's for his TV dinners.
Vischer: (chuckles)
Nawrocki: Just puts it on there.
Vischer: Bib.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Because his laptop gets hot.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Like mine, if you have a... uh... um... Mac. Laptop, little powerbook, that you got a little bit more, on the old lap.
Nawrocki: Seated pillow for that.
Vischer: You gotta slide your tie down or-
Nawrocki: (chuckles) It's gotta be a lead-lined tie too, although lead is pretty conductive, so, that wouldn't help.
Vischer: No, lead would not- that would not help.
(Spaceship enters Junior's room)
Nawrocki: So, uh...
Vischer: Oh, now this was pretty ambitious. Here, this was, and also, I wanted to kinda echo Bob and Larry's first appearance in the bedroom.
Nawrocki: Oh yeah.
Vischer: Hence the cry of "Deja vu", coming up shortly. (Bob and Larry enlarge in Junior's room) This was our first attempt at a special effect there.
Nawrocki: Yeah, and that's why we did the little popping sound, because that's a good special effect. (imitates popping)
Vischer: Yeah. (chuckles)
(Junior says "Whoa, deja vu")
Vischer: See? He said, "Whoa, deja vu". I have no idea where the gag came from to have a candy bar stuck to his, I don't know. It seems silly.
Nawrocki: I still had the dopey Larry voice here too. (imitates Larry's low voice) Oh, sorry. (normal voice) That's kinda funny.
(Larry throws the candy bar off his helmet)
Both: (chuckling)
Vischer: Big comedy there. Big comedy. Oh, look, see? Another special effect.
Nawrocki: I can find the loop point on that. Look at that. Chink! Chink! Chink!
Vischer: Yeah, alright. This one was full of special effects, we never done any special effects before. Oops! Where'd the meteor go? It was in there! It was in the shot, and then it was gone!
Nawrocki: You know I sent this show to Oprah? (imitates Larry) "She's stuck!"
Vischer: You did?
Nawrocki: Did I tell you I sent this show to Oprah?
Vischer: Maybe.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: I might remember that.
Nawrocki: I knew some people over at Oprah.
Vischer: Did she send it back?
Nawrocki: No.
Vischer: Did she watch it?
Nawrocki: I don't think so.
Vischer: Did she do anything?
Nawrocki: No.
Vischer: She didn't happen?
Nawrocki: No, I decided to Oprah-
Vischer: Her book club?
Nawrocki: (laughs)
Vischer: Maybe if you gone on and cried.
Nawrocki: (laughs)
Vischer: Maybe that would have helped. (Bob says "Junior, only you can save the Applepies!") Look at that look! He's going crazy! This is the first time Bob kinda went, you know, kinda crazy ballistic on "We've got a mission, everybody!"
Nawrocki: Uh-huh.
Vischer: Look, more special effects! And this, now our score is getting more elaborate, Kurt's kicking it up a notch. (Junior says "I think my helmet's on backwards") His helmet's on backwards. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. There are only six stars.
Nawrocki: Like how ten disappeared there.
Vischer: We didn't have the budget for more stars. Than that. There were six. No, we got twenty in this one.
Nawrocki: Twenty stars.
Vischer: This was fun. Spoofing 'Star Trek' seemed kinda obvious, but so obvious that you had to do it.
Nawrocki: Yeah, yeah. If you didn't do it, that would've been even more obvious.
Vischer: It would've been more obvious in its lacking. Yes. I like that elevator.
Nawrocki: Now, that-that- the music elevator, I think, is from 'Forgive-O-Matic', actually.
Vischer: Yeah, it is! It is!
(Scooter says "Captain! You've returned!")
Vischer: And that's the first appearance of Scooter the Carrot, which is why his name is Scooter, because-
Nawrocki: Scotty.
Vischer: Riffing on Scotty.
Nawrocki: Mmm-hmm.
Vischer: First appearance of a digital clock (Nawrocki chuckles) in VeggieTales.
Nawrocki: Ever- Oh, look! In the back, you can see that lamp is unplugged!
Vischer: Ah!
Nawrocki: See? That kinda comes around at the end!
Vischer: The lamp's a set-up! It's a set-up!
Nawrocki: I'm looking at that floor, trying to figure that floor out.
Vischer: It was a... a pattern? Metal?
Nawrocki: It works in some places, and in other places, it kinda-
Vischer: Yeah, well, you know, like everything.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Back there. In some places, it works. (imitating Scooter) "Popcor-r-r-rn!"
Nawrocki: See, I think, 'cause the lighting in here, it's very dim.
Vischer: And yellow.
Nawrocki: And yellow.
Vischer: Because the power is, was disabled.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: That's why.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: That's why, and I remember there's a shot coming up-
(Scooter says "It makes precious little difference when it hits you at 5,000 miles an hour!")
Vischer: I think that's the line that kinda framed Scooter's personality-
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: -Forever.
Nawrocki: I remember a bunch of us were surprised that you didn't do Scooter because you got a re- you have a really decent Scottish accent.
Vischer: Yeah. Yeah, I wanted to- I can't do everything, Mike.
Nawrocki: Oh yeah, I know, but see, but you do do a lot of voices, so I was thinking, boy, if there's one voice you could've done, it would've been a Scottish, but Jim does a great job-
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: -As Scooter.
Vischer: That's 'cause Jim Poole and I, Jim Poole is the voice of Scooter, and, uh, he was from our church where we all met when we started. And he and I would do dramas together and we did one drama in church where, uh, we both played the whole thing with Scottish accents.
Nawrocki: Oh, really? Okay.
Vischer: Yeah, and I never attempted to do a Scottish accent, but we practiced it so much that we both got it down and then we were stuck in it, and like all Sunday morning-
Nawrocki: Oh, okay.
Vischer: -We both just stuck (both laugh) in our (Scottish accent) brogue.
Nawrocki: You had it stuck up North?
Vischer: Yeah, and I don't remember the drama being particularly funny.
Nawrocki: Okay.
Vischer: But we had so much fun with our Scottish accents-
Nawrocki: You were amused with yourself?
Vischer: Yeah, we found it highly amusing.
Nawrocki: Yeah, it's kinda like, uh, Andy... uh... what's the name? Guy's name? Andy Kaufman? Sort of humor?
Vischer: (laughs)
Nawrocki: Like Dennis Miller. I think. (imitates Dennis Miller) I got it! (laughs)
Vischer: So, anyway, when we needed this, I thought, "Oh! I want Jim to do this!"
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: 'Cause then it'll sound not like me doing it.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: But here's Jimmy and Jerry, which is, uh...
Nawrocki: -Their first appearance.
Vischer: Me and Mike.
Nawrocki: Their very first appearance.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: Right there.
Vischer: Yep, you're right on that one.
Nawrocki: And it's our impersonation of our old boss. His name was Jim.
Vischer: We were both impersonating an old employer, we will not mention his last name. So you cannot track him down, 'cause he was a somewhat ill-tempered fellow.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: And we fear repercussion.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) Even now.
Vischer: Even now!
Nawrocki: Even fifteen year later.
Vischer: He could get us.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
(Junior says "Grab the Gourds!")
Vischer: "Grab the Gourds!" This was the single-hardest piece of animation that we had attempted at that point, and the animators were really upset with me for having characters carry other characters.
Nawrocki: Well, they did it in "Daniel and the Lion's Den", don't you remember when the Scallions were-
Vischer: No, hardly! Hardly!
Nawrocki: I like the double feel of those doors there. Did you see those?
Vischer: Yeah, yeah, Chris Olsen did most of this design work, although I designed those little pods.
Nawrocki: Mmm-hmm.
Vischer: And the little ship. Chris built everything and filled in a lot of the design work.
Nawrocki: Mmm-hmm.
Vischer: I just like this show. It's very cartoon-y and doesn't try to be too elaborate or-
Nawrocki: No
Vischer: 'Cause of course we couldn't-
Nawrocki: (singing) Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man. Do you know the Muffin Man?
Vischer: That's kinda-
Nawrocki: I like singing that, yep. This is a good one.
(Pause for 6 seconds)
Vischer: You know, this got made into a Christmas ornament.
Nawrocki: The day they develop like anti-gravity generators, that would be a really cool kid's toy.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: You know, like, like they do-
Vischer: Right, right. Well, did you see the ones we did for the theme park show?
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: Yeah, they were on big fishing poles, and they have little fans blowing with little lights in the back to make a little flame.
Nawrocki: Very cute!
Vischer: Very cool.
Nawrocki: Very cute.
Vischer: And then they had a giant inflatable popcorn ball meteor that we threw out at the audience.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: Is that at Silver Dollar City or is it-
Nawrocki: I think it was Dollywood.
Vischer: Was that Dollywood?
Nawrocki: I-
Vischer: No, that was the first one that was at Silver Dollar City.
Nawrocki: Oh, you're right. In Silver Dollar City.
Vischer: In Branson, Missouri, if you get a chance to go there. Hurry up.
Nawrocki: Yep, and at Dollywood.
Vischer: Yeah, we have a different one at Dollywood.
Nawrocki: Actually in Tennessee. Pigeon Forge.
Vischer: Pigeon Forge.
Nawrocki: Pigeon Forge.
Vischer: Pigeon Forge.
Nawrocki: Bless your heart.
(Bob says "Only ten seconds left")
Vischer: Only ten secon- This is our first ticking clock element ever in a VeggieTales video, I think.
Nawrocki: Uh-huh.
Vischer: No, no.
Nawrocki: Yeah, yeah.
Vischer: I don't think we had a ticking-
Nawrocki: Yeah.
Vischer: This was- Oh, see? Very literal.
(Bob says "Incoming!")
Vischer: A little sound effect on the clock would have been nice.
(Jimmy and Jerry slam into the windshield.)
Nawrocki: I remember the big, uh-
Vischer: We didn't have much for sound effects back then.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
(Jimmy says "No more for me, thanks. I'm full. *burp* Excuse me.")
Nawrocki: That was the big, that was the big, uh, question back then.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: Should we have him burp?
Vischer: Can we burp in VeggieTales?
Nawrocki: And we thought- I think we decided that we could if we said "Excuse me".
Vischer: Yes! Right.
Nawrocki: But Larry, uh, Larry actually jumps on a whoopee cushion in "Sumo of the Opera".
Vischer: He does?
Nawrocki: He does. You're right, I think I remember that.
Vischer: Yeah, sure, I remember that.
Nawrocki: But it's a whoopee cushion.
(Pause for 18-19 seconds)
Vischer: (imitating Jerry's original voice) Oh, look, this table's made out of Oreo cookie!
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: (still imitating) I'm gonna eat it! But now it's darker Oreo cookie (Nawrocki chuckles) No, apparently-
Nawrocki: It's mocha! It's mocha-filled!
(Jerry plugs in the plug, restoring power)
Vischer: Oh, there we go!
Nawrocki: Oh, that's refreshing.
Vischer: It would've been- Oops!
Nawrocki: Oh, back to dim!
Vischer: It went away!
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: What happened?
Nawrocki: Back to bright!
Vischer: Oh!
Nawrocki: There we go!
Vischer: Yay! Those intermittent light bulbs!
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: What can you do? ("I Can Be Your Friend" starts to play) Alright, here we go.
Nawrocki: I like the stage lighting.
Vischer: Now this was Ron Smith, uh, animating, I think both. And see, we were still trying to figure out what can you do with these little vegetables? 'Cause, you know, we were trying to do as little as possible for the most part.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: (sees Jerry moving his body up and down) And then he starts doing that, he starts doing that with Jerry, and see, look, Bob's amazed! "I didn't know we could move like that!"
Nawrocki: (laughing)
Vischer: This changes everything!
Nawrocki: I don't even know if I react to this-
Vischer: We're gonna have to hire more animators so that we can keep up this great level of animation (Nawrocki laughs) that suddenly turned on in one shot!
Nawrocki: See, look at that little lag in [Jerry's] belly. That's great.
Vischer: Yeah! Even the mike is dancing!
Nawrocki: Yep
Vischer: On this, that changed everything, and then it was every show had to be more elaborate and bigger. Oh boy.
(Pause for 15 seconds)
Vischer: Oh, that was the first time-
Nawrocki: Now, look at that, his dancing. Scooter dancing.
Vischer: Yeah, I know. It's great.
Nawrocki: Now we're back to the old dancing right here.
Vischer: Oh, that was intentional. That wasn't cheap. They had to have a different, you know, dance move.
Nawrocki: Yeah.
(Exterior of the Applepies)
Vischer: Big ca- I remember working out the kinks in this shot, 'cause it is such a big camera move.
Nawrocki: I remember you doing this, actually, because you actually animated this, right? And you were up for days doing this.
Vischer: Well, I- It wouldn't render. It wouldn't render right, it was all messed up.
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: See, there was actually a little glitch, and I had to match through to that, what a nightmare! Oh, and the shadow was frozen on the wall, did you see that there?
Nawrocki: Yeah, I did.
Vischer: Yeah, oh well.
Nawrocki: It's alright. It's okay.
Vischer: Yeah, we didn't have a continuity department back.
Both: (laughing)
Nawrocki: I don't think we even knew about continuity back then.
Vischer: (laughs)
Nawrocki: Sort of homage up-training, homage up-training. Oh, look, [Junior] learned a valuable lesson, and no parent was involved. (chuckles)
Vischer: How did it happen? "Strangers come through my window, Dad! And took me away, and taught me the moral you've been trying to teach me all along and I believe them because they're strangers!"
Nawrocki: (chuckling)
Vischer: Whoops! Some of your lessons are inadvertent lessons, or not what you would intend.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) I think you need a nap.
Vischer: (laughs) Look at Chronicles of Narnia! These kids, they wander in through the house, they climb into a closet they're not supposed to be in, and they have a wild adventure that changes their lives forever.
Nawrocki: Yep, yep.
Vischer: See, some of the things, they sound weird!
Nawrocki: (chuckles) But it works.
Vischer: You know, but it works! Like this one.
Nawrocki: (imitating Junior) "I love you, Big Mister!" (normal voice) That was the first kiss in a VeggieTales video.
Vischer: First kiss.
Nawrocki: And actually, I think the last kiss, I don't think we've ever done a kiss-
Vischer: And you notice those headlights that were flashing on the wall did not light up Junior. It lit up the wall, but they did not light up Junior, what's that all about?
(Bob says "Lieutenant Larry here dropped our map right out of the spaceship.")
Vischer: And this was the first mention of... Mr. Slushy. Oooh.
Nawrocki: Oh yeah, 'cause then he showed up again in "Josh and the Big Wall".
Vischer: Yeah.
(Junior says "Left at Mr. Slushy")
Vischer: (surprised gasp) There he is.
Nawrocki: I like those blue flames, those are cool.
Vischer: Yeah.
Nawrocki: That spaceship moves pretty nice-
Vischer: Yeah, not bad.
Nawrocki: -For 1994.
Vischer: Yeah. (laughs)
Nawrocki: Spaceships in 1994 were kinda clunky.
Vischer: And that wasn't an easy shot either, did you see that shot?
Nawrocki: Yeah, that was not an easy shot.
(Pause for 5 seconds.)
Both: (humming)
Nawrocki: It's a Midwest joke. (chuckles)
Vischer: Tolls elsewhere.
Nawrocki: Well, maybe in the East. But I think- I don't even think back there in Colorado, there were tolls, there's tolls now, but there weren't back then.
(The "What Have We Learned" Song plays)
Vischer: Here we are, back with Qwerty. What happens this time? What happens this time? [Bob] sees something. He's going for it! He's going for it! (crash) Oh, he killed the song! Oh my goodness! (the song plays still) Oh, you can't kill the song.
Nawrocki: Bad Bob.
Vischer: You can't kill the song because it's biblical proof.
Nawrocki: (chuckling) The song goes on.
Vischer: You can't stop it. You can't-
Nawrocki: It's like "The Song That Never Ends".
Vischer: It's like the communists, they tried to stop the Book of Truth, they tried to burn all the Bibles, but they couldn't, just like Bob trying to stop that song.
Nawrocki: (chuckles) See? What you need is your own TV network.
Vischer: (laughs) My wife doesn't have the hair for it.
Both: (laughing)
(Qwerty brings up "...Love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19:18")
Vischer: Well, that's not even a verse! That's a part of a verse!
Nawrocki: You like to ask for donations now?
Vischer: (laughs) That's a part of a verse!
Both: (laughing)
Vischer: Bob and Larry are like Bible smugglers.
Nawrocki: (laughing)
Vischer: Working behind the iron curtain. They can't be stopped.
Nawrocki: (imitating Larry) Bye!
Vischer: Goodbye! Oh, is that the end? (credits rolling) Oh man! It's all over! Hey, look, I made that one!
Nawrocki: Yep, look at that!
Vischer: We designed. Animation direction, Chris. He did a good job, 'cause there's only- Oh, that's pretty much the whole company-
Nawrocki: There I am.
Vischer: -Right there.
Nawrocki: I was Mr. Mouth. I did all the mouths.
Vischer: Oh, Lesly. Lesly was running around, making everything render.
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: He got a little stressed out and left and went off to be a fireman.
Nawrocki: Dialogue breakdown, audio and video editing.
Vischer: Yep, yay, Mike. "Busy Busy", yeah. Oh, Lisa helped me with that, I remember.
Nawrocki: (humming to beat of music)
Vischer: Lisa helped me with that one too, wow. We need to read the credits more often. Oh, Lisa helped you with that one!
Nawrocki: Yeah!
Vischer: Well, Lisa's really the key to the whole show.
Nawrocki: (laughing)
Vischer: I'd say. "Gourds Must Be Crazy", yeah, uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Same guys! The same guys!
Nawrocki: Yep, yep! (chuckles)
Vischer: You don't need to-
Nawrocki: Do I run it twice?
Vischer: You don't need 400 people to make a movie!
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: Just, like, five or six people.
Nawrocki: Yeah, why did we run the credits so long? See, there I am again, doing the same thing!
Vischer: Yeah! Well, 'cause the song wasn't over yet!
Nawrocki: (chuckles)
Vischer: So, you gotta run 'em again!
Nawrocki: Gotta run the whole song.
Vischer: Oh, Lisa didn't help me with that one! That's my mom! She helped too!
Nawrocki: Yep.
Vischer: (end of credits) 1995. '95, is that when it came out?
Nawrocki: Yeah, must have, yeah.
Vischer: Okay. Well, we're all done!
Nawrocki: Thanks, everybody!
Vischer: See ya next time!
Nawrocki: (imitating Larry) Bye!
Fun Facts
Trivia
- "The Cosby Show" was an American sitcom series starring Bill Cosby that aired in 1984 and ended in 1992. Phil Vischer is referring to how each season would change their opening intro sequence.
- Tyson's is a multinational corporation in Springdale, Arkansas that operates in the food industry. They are most famous for manufacturing chicken products.
- "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" is a 2004 live-action film, and the sequel to the 2002 "Scooby-Doo" live-action film. Mike Nawrocki mentions it when talking about Ron Smith due to the fact that Ron did animation for the film after leaving Big Idea in 2003.