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| It's a Meaningful Life | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | |
| Produced by |
Leslie Ferrell |
| Written by |
Mark Steele |
| Music by | |
| Distributed by |
Vivendi Entertainment |
| Released |
October 5, 2010 |
| Previous episode | |
| Next episode | |
It's a Meaningful Life is the thirty-ninth episode of VeggieTales.
It is a parody of the 1946 film, "It's a Wonderful Life."
Plot
Opening Countertop
Bob and Larry start the countertop normally, until Bob decides not to proceed. Larry ask why he's not continuing, and replies that whenever he starts, something else happens that doesn't go to plan, such as Western Bible stories or reading another letter. Larry discovers Bob was talking about himself, and decides not to talk since he didn't want mess his friend's plans. Bob decides to answer the video mail from Maggie Greenman from Centennial, Texas. Maggie says that she tried out for cheerleading at school, but she didn't get picked and that her bud Samantha did.
Characters
- Bob the Tomato (Football Coach)
- Larry the Cucumber (Stewart Green)
- Petunia Rhubarb (Donna Green)
- Mr. Lunt (Morty Bumble)
- Junior Asparagus (Silly Song)
- Lisa Asparagus (Silly Song)
Songs
- VeggieTales Theme Song
- Cheers to Stewart
- Munchy Dream
- 110 Percent
- Precious Girl
- Bedtime Songs with Junior: Goodnight Junior
- Cheezy Dream Jingle
- Precious Child
- What Have We Learned
- Meant to Be
Fun Facts
Moral
- God has a plan for all of us.
Trivia
- When this episode aired on Smile of a Child, Meant To Be was replaced with background music from the episode.
- On some airings on Smile of a Child, the episode was divided in two parts. The first part would go from the actual beginning to when Stewart sees the train. The second part would start with a long recap from the first part.
- This is the second and last episode animated by Hawaii Animation Studios.
- This is the first Christmas related episode to start with the countertop.
- This is the last original episode to feature Lil' Pea.
- There were a few differences between pre-production and the final product:
- Originally, Gourdon's line was supposed to be said by Percy, but the animators accidentally animated Gourdon's mouth movements instead. So, they decided to redub Percy's voice with Gourdon's.
- In the scene of Emma in the orphanage, she was initially going to be kicked out and left shivering in the snow.
Remarks
- Even though it's set around Christmas, this episode can be watched anytime, whether it's close to the Holidays or not.
- This is the first Christmas episode not to have a holiday-related Silly Song.
- Although not a goof, there are some shots where Morty's seen without his teeth.
Goofs
- Throughout the episode, Art and Barney's voices often swap each other.
- Morty doesn't really seem to move when he's on the train.
- After the toy factory goes berserk, there is a small scene where Stewart's tooth was missing while he was screaming.
- Scooter is missing his mouth singing at the end.
- In some shots of the What-If Express, the wheels and siderods aren't moving.
- When Maggie tells Bob and Larry she isn't allowed to be a cheerleader, Bob and Larry show up in front of Qwerty, but when Larry says "Exactly Maggie," his mouth doesn't move, and Qwerty vanishes. Was Qwerty still offscreen next to the jars on the countertop? Because when he says "You know, I do," he comes back.
Inside References
- Some of the mentions Bob referred to at Larry about what happened before are:
- Western Bible stories (both The Ballad of Little Joe & its sequel)
- Having another letter (both the first Minnesota Cuke episode and the sequel to The Ballad of Little Joe)
- Broken aardvark behind Larry's back (The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's)
- The cow costume Stewart wears is from The Ballad of Little Joe.
- The toy factory is a re-decorated version of the egg factory from An Easter Carol.
Real-World References
- Superman is one of the most beloved characters in comic book history.
- While the episode is a parody of It's a Wonderful Life, it is also similar to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the Robert Zemeckis film "The Polar Express."
Fast Forward
- Larry would get his sports facts wrong again in Laura at Bat.
- There would be another Silly Song in a Christmas episode to not be holiday related.
Episode Transcript
Credits
Gallery
