Bob and Larry are on the countertop once again, explaining that they've gotten a lot of letters asking questions regarding the subject of sharing. However, Archibald Asparagus shows up and asks Bob and Larry let him host the show for a chance, in an attempt to want to add culture and class to the show. Bob has no other choice now but to let Archibald take over the show, like the time Jimmy and Jerry attempted to put on a show. Archibald, now accompanied by Jean Claude and Phillipe, attempt to retell the classic story of "Hamlet", but Jean Claude explains to him that they couldn't find "Hamlet" anywhere, so they decided to substitute with a near-similar story entitled "Omelet". Despite his insistence that this is not the right story, Archibald has no other choice now but to present "the no-so classic story, Omelet".
Archibald then explains to the viewers that he has reason to believe that the famous composers Gilbert and Sullivan composed one more musical before their deaths, before it could ever be staged. Jean Claude and Phillipe then bring in the book, which is entitled "Lyle the Kindly Viking". Archibald then narrates, explaining that there once lived a band of Vikings who lived by the sea. Two women named Mabel and Penelope show up, asking each other how the other is doing, before wondering where their husbands are. The two then sing about how they married vikings, "the terrors of the sea". Soon, the Vikings, consisting of the leader Olaf (played by Mr. Nezzer), Ottar (played by Bob the Tomato), Sven (played by Larry the Cucumber), Harold (played by Jimmy Gourd), Erik (played by Jerry Gourd), and Bjorn (played by Mr. Lunt) return from their expedition of pillaging a bunch of stuff, before they also start singing about how as Vikings, they enjoy plundering a bunch of stuff, such as "gold and jewels and a shiny suit and a giant screen TV to boot".
Archibald then narrates that what the Vikings are actually doing is taking stuff from others, also adding that their boats were so fast that no one could be able to catch them. Then, he also explains that not all of the Vikings were involved in this unfortunate practice, there was actually one, in particular, named Lyle. Lyle (played by Junior Asparagus) then goes out on his own expedition on the sea, which confuses the other Vikings. Olaf then starts singing about how Lyle does not fit the style of the Vikings, telling Harold and Erik that for a long time, the law of stealing stuff from others has been made clear. After Olaf finishes his song, he hops off, followed by Harold and Erik. However, Sven and Ottar decide to follow after Lyle, being careful not to get too close to him. Lyle then returns to the exact same monastery that the Vikings raided before, where Sven and Ottar witness Lyle sharing a bag of potholders and a bag of money that the other Vikings gave him with the lead monk (played by Pa Grape) and his group of pea monks. The pea monks then thank Lyle in song for sharing with them.
This confuses Sven and Ottar very much, before they return home to wait for Lyle. When Lyle returns home, Sven and Ottar confront him and tell him in a song that he should stop what he's doing and that Vikings rule the sea and never give things back. Lyle then explains to them in a song that when he shares, he gets his share of friends. After Lyle finishes singing, Sven and Ottar realize that Lyle's method may be a lot better than Olaf's method after all, before realizing that Lyle would be in big trouble if Olaf learned what he was really doing. Because of this, Sven and Ottar vow to keep Lyle's secret safe – which, according to Archibald, is easier said than done. The next day, as the Vikings are heading out to raid the monastery once again, Ottar discovers that Lyle is already at the monastery before they are, and that he and Sven have to distract Olaf before he discovers what's going on. Ottar then distracts Olaf by telling him through song that there is a fish with a bunch of pretty colors all over his scales. Sven then sings to Olaf that there is a turtle wearing pink pajamas while riding on a llama and chasing a herd of giant squid. Unfortunately, Olaf doesn't believe him, and he and the other Vikings soon discover Lyle leaving the monastery, as well as the potholders and the money that he gave to the monks. This angers Olaf, just as a storm starts up.
Lyle continues rowing until he is confronted by Olaf, who grumpily asks Lyle in song what he's doing, before he starts to tear up the sails on Lyle's boat and throws away the oars, which leaves Lyle drifting away in the sea as his punishment. However, a large tidal wave, which had been brought up by the storm, knocks over the Vikings' boat, which causes them to fall into the sea. Another wave knocks over Lyle's boat, knocking him into the sea as well. The monks then throw a life ring out into the sea to save Lyle, which the Vikings witness, as they begin to realize that Lyle's method is better than theirs. Lyle then has the monks help him to save the rest of the Vikings from the storm, bringing them to safety. The storm then clears away just as the Vikings have been brought back to shore. The Vikings then thank the monks in song for saving them from the storm, and apologized for being ruthless and stole their stuff. That from now on, they will share with others instead of stealing from others. After the Vikings finish singing, Sven asks if they can't be Vikings anymore, but the lead monk tells him that it won't be necessary, but they will have to change their song. As a result, all of the Vikings then sing a reprise of the "We're Vikings" song, but this time, singing about sharing with others and that they are known as "the sharers of the sea". Sven then sings that he needs to go to the bathroom before Ottar tells him that he can just talk before the story ends.
Countertop Outro
After Archibald closes up the book, he discovers that the story was actually written by Gilbert Jones and Sullivan O'Kelly, instead of the real Gilbert and Sullivan. This angers Archibald very much before he starts chasing after Jean Claude and Phillipe in an attempt to catch them thinking that they tricked him, while running past Bob and Larry, who are now standing next to Qwerty. When Bob explains that they're with Qwerty to talk about what they've learned today, the "What Have We Learned" song starts up again, before Larry asks Bob if Archibald and the French Peas will be alright, to which Bob replies that they'll be just fine. The song then starts up again after that. After the song ends, Bob explains that Prince Omelet learned that when we share, it makes us and the people around us feel good, while Larry also explains that Lyle taught all the Vikings that even though sharing doesn't get you more stuff, it gets you even more friends, which is even better. Qwerty then brings up the verse, which is "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16". After Bob and Larry sign off, Archibald and the French Peas are still going nuts, and a crashing sound is heard as a plate with an omelette stuck on it rolls by. Larry tells Bob not to look at the madness (without explaining why), but Bob doesn't care, and tells him to roll the credits (which he doesn't do often in the series) before the episode ends.
It was first released to DVD and VHS on March 24th, 2001 by Word Entertainment for the Christian market and on March 27, 2001 by Lyrick Studios for the mass market. In 2002, Warner Home Video reprinted it. In 2003, Warner Home Video reprinted it again as part of the VeggieTales Classics line. In 2004, Sony Wonder reprinted it.
Fun Facts
Moral
Sharing is caring.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
Trivia
This episode was made after sharing became the most demanded topic for an episode in a BigIdea.com poll. This was referenced at the beginning of the episode.
The episode's original title was "Ivan the Benevolent Viking."
The original version was shown on Qubo around 2006, and they didn’t change a single thing. This marks the only episode to do such a thing.
This is the first episode to be in a different frame rate (although the content is always in the main North American NTSC region), and has been kept the way ever since (with the exception of compilation videos and personalized DVDs).
The first VeggieTales episode to be released on both VHS and DVD.
The first episode to use the VeggieTales intro from 2001-2003.
The last episode to feature the original Silly Song title card.
Excluding some rare 2002 VHS reprints, this is the last episode to be released by Lyrick Studios, and the only one to be released by them after their acquisition by HiT Entertainment on February 9, 2001.
The last regular episode to release before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
It's also the last episode where Archibald's monocle barely had any glass in it.
In the original alternative opening for the story of Lyle, Archibald talks about other musicals done by Gilbert and Sullivan along with poster recreations for said musicals. (See Real World References)
This episode uses both water and rain effects, as well as spotlight. Tim Hodge states that this was practice for the crew during production of Jonah, as stated above.
This also marks the episode that first use water waves animation.
Sven hopping on the oars was a gag by Marc Vulcano.
The pea in Olaf's helmet was done by Joe McFadden.
The kids at Big Idea Productions voiced the pea monks. This included:
In the progression reel, the kid pea who gets tossed over had Percy's voice rather than what he had in the final. It's suggested the kid voices weren't added until the final version.
Most of the Vikings have horns on their helmets. The only ones that don't are Ottar (Bob), Harold (Jimmy), and Lyle (Junior).
There’s a deleted scene where Lyle is falling over backwards.
There was a deleted outtake after Lyle sings his solo, he falls over backwards, but gets back up. This can be seen in the behind the scenes on the DVD (see image).
In the credits, the headings for each sections of the teams were translated to Norwegian. The only one they couldn't translate was for "editing," so they called it "Nadaavclubjen". Tim stated this name was to notify the producer that they're not an AV (handles videotapes and projectors) club.
This won the Best Animated Direct-to-Video Release award at the 2001 World Animation Celebration.
Remarks
When Archibald is behind the changing screen, you can see a bit of him and his clothes magically appear.
Archibald can read the names on the book sleeve, despite the fact that the names weren't visible when the Peas brought the book earlier.
In Take 38, Archibald objected the idea of VeggieTales. Here, he's eager to be a host. In the commentary for Princess and the Popstar, it is revealed that he changed from the character he started out as.
After Lyle places the gold in his bag, he leaves the scene almost at the end of the steps. However, in the next scene, he's on the middle step. Tim Hodge pointed out this error on the commentary.
The screenshots on the DVD have the skies blue. But in the actual video, they are purple.
Like with most prints of the 1997 Lyrick Studios VHS of Are You My Neighbor?, the Lyrick Studios logo is nowhere to be seen on the DVD, other than on the back cover and disc label.
The script on the DVD-Rom only has the opening countertop and Omelet.
Goofs
On some versions of the DVD cover, the background image is messed up.
Archibald's mouth doesn't move in the close-up when he starts talking about Lyle.
When Jerry sings the line "Wherever we go, sharing happily" in the "We're Vikings" reprise, it's Jimmy's voice that's heard.
One of the shields on the viking ship is Larry-Boy.
Real World References
Sonny and Cher were a popular couple during the mid to late 20th century. They broke up in 1977. A caricature of Sonny appeared in the original version of Love My Lips before his death in 1998.
The game Omelet and Percy were playing is Battleship.
In the teaser trailer from the last episode, the narrator mentions "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Sound of Music."
Fast Forward
This wasn't the last time Mr. Lunt would crossdress.
