Changes: Lyrick Studios

Revision as of 22:24, 25 July 2021

Lyrick Studios, Inc., established in 1988 as The Lyons Group, was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb. They were known for producing and distributing shows like Barney & Friends and Wishbone, as well as videos and albums from two music artists, Joe Scruggs and The Wiggles, They also had book rights to Humongous Entertainment characters like Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, and Pajama Sam. They paired with Big Idea for mass market distribution of prints and reprints of VeggieTales home videos, as well as rights to VeggieTales plush toys.

According to Phil Vischer, he chose the company to release the videos since Lyrick Studios' founder and former chairman Richard C. Leach was a committed Christian, and the company let the religious tones on the shows remain intact, unlike other distributors Big Idea had asked beforehand. The company was acquired by HiT Entertainment on February 9, 2001, shortly before Richard C. Leach died.

In 2002, Big Idea turned to Warner Home Video to serve as their new mass market distributor; HiT responded to this by filing a lawsuit against them for $11 million, which was one of the major causes of Big Idea's 2003 bankruptcy.

Releases

All re-releases were mass market reprints of videos previously released exclusively to Christian retailers

Where's God When I'm S-Scared? (March 31st, 1998/March 28th, 2000/March 16th, 2001)
God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?! (February 9th, 1999/March 28th, 2000/March 16th, 2001/August 6th, 2001)
Are You My Neighbor? (December 16th, 1997/March 31st, 1998/March 28th, 2000)
Rack, Shack and Benny (August 25th, 1998/March 28th, 2000)
Dave and the Giant Pickle (August 25th, 1998/March 28th, 2000/March 15th, 2002)
The Toy That Saved Christmas (October 6th, 1998/October 5th, 1999/October 3rd, 2000)
Very Silly Songs! (June 8th, 1999/January 11th, 2000)
Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space! (February 9th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/March 15th, 2002/March 16th, 2002 as part of Larry-Boy Power Pack)
Josh and the Big Wall! (June 8th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/March 15th, 2002)
Madame Blueberry (October 5th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/September 26th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)
The End of Silliness? (April 11th, 2000)
Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed (March 28th, 2000/March 15th, 2002/March 16th, 2002 as part of Larry-Boy Power Pack)
King George and the Ducky (August 8th, 2000)
Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen (January 9th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)
Lyle the Kindly Viking (March 27th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)

Albums

Compilations/Triple Features

Fun Facts

Trivia

The 1997 reprint of Are You My Neighbor?, using the original 1995 version of the episode and with only the Interpol FBI warning screens at the beginning of the tape, was presumably a test to see if the VeggieTales videos were "acceptable" for a mass market release.
- This is the only VeggieTales Lyrick Studios VHS not to have the Lyrick Studios logo anywhere on the VHS box cover nor at the beginning or end of the video, other than on the cassette ink label. However, there are some very scarce copies with the 1997 Lyrick Studios logo at the beginning and end of the tape.
The 1998 release of Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories! contains trailers for Where's God When I'm S-Scared? and Are You My Neighbor?
The 1999 reprints of Very Silly Songs! and Josh and the Big Wall! contains a trailer for the 1999 reprint of Madame Blueberry.
The 1999 reprints of The Toy That Saved Christmas and Madame Blueberry, the 1999 release of Junior's Favorite Stories, and the 2000 reprints of Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!, Are You My Neighbor?, Rack, Shack and Benny, Dave and the Giant Pickle, Very Silly Songs!, Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!, Josh and the Big Wall!, and Madame Blueberry all contain the trailer for Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed.
The 2000 reprint of The End of Silliness? contains a trailer for King George and the Ducky.
The 2000 VHS of King George and the Ducky and The Toy That Saved Christmas contains the teaser for Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen.
The 2001 reprint of Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen contains a teaser for Lyle the Kindly Viking and a message from Phil Vischer.
The 2001 VHS and DVD of Lyle the Kindly Viking contains one of the teasers for Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie.
The 1998 reprints of Where's God When I'm S-Scared? and Are You My Neighbor? and the 1998 release of Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories! have the 1997 "Distributed by" Lyrick Studios logo. Meanwhile, the 1998 reprints of Rack, Shack and Benny, Dave and the Giant Pickle, and The Toy That Saved Christmas, the 1999 reprints of God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?! and Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!, and the 1998 release of More of Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories! (as well as its 2000 reprint) have the text "Distributed by" in a white font on a black background before the Lyrick Studios logo.
- In 1999, these were both averted by using the 1998 Lyrick Studios logo with "Distributed by" above the logo and later a still version of said variant.
  - Despite this, the 2000 reprints of Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!, Are You My Neighbor?, Rack, Shack and Benny, and Dave and the Giant Pickle use a still version of the 1997 "Distributed by" Lyrick logo.
The Lyrick promos for Where's God When I'm S-Scared? and Are You My Neighbor? were narrated by Earl Fisher. A year later, Earl would begin to provide the voice for Pasqually from Chuck E. Cheese's which began their tie-ins with Big Idea on the very show where he debuted as Pasqually (Dance Party from April 1999). Starting with the Lyrick promos for Rack, Shack and Benny and Dave and the Giant Pickle, Gail Freeman takes over with the trailer narrations.
The Lyrick Studios release of Lyle the Kindly Viking was released three days after it's original Word Entertainment release.

Remarks

Although the Lyrick reprints of Josh and the Big Wall! and Very Silly Songs! used a custom Stay Tuned bumper, certain other reprints instead used Lyrick's bumper. While this was technically alright, the latter bumper tells viewers to stay tuned for "previews of other Lyrick™ Studios Home Videos," despite the fact it was Big Idea's properties Lyrick was merely promoting and distributing.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Lyrick Studios.png|thumb]]
+[[File:Lyrick Studios.png|thumb|220px]]
-'''Lyrick Studios, Inc.''', established in 1988 as '''The Lyons Group''', was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb. They were known for producing and distributing shows like ''Barney & Friends'' and ''Wishbone''. They also had book rights to Humongous Entertainment characters like ''Putt-Putt'', ''Freddi Fish'', and ''Pajama Sam''. They paired with Big Idea for mass market distribution of prints and reprints of ''[[VeggieTales]]'' home videos.
+'''Lyrick Studios, Inc.''', established in 1988 as '''The Lyons Group''', was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb. They were known for producing and distributing shows like ''Barney & Friends'' and ''Wishbone,'' as well as videos and albums from two music artists, ''Joe Scruggs'' and ''The Wiggles,'' They also had book rights to Humongous Entertainment characters like ''Putt-Putt'', ''Freddi Fish'', and ''Pajama Sam''. They paired with Big Idea for mass market distribution of prints and reprints of ''[[VeggieTales]]'' home videos, as well as rights to ''VeggieTales ''plush toys.
 According to [[Phil Vischer]], he chose the company to release the videos since Lyrick Studios' founder and former chairman [[Richard C. Leach]] was a committed Christian, and the company let the religious tones on the shows remain intact, unlike other distributors Big Idea had asked beforehand. The company was acquired by [[HiT Entertainment]] on February 9, 2001, shortly before Richard C. Leach died.
-In 2002, Big Idea turned to [[Warner Home Video]] to serve as their new mass market distributor; HiT responded to this by filing a lawsuit against them for $11 million, which was one of the major causes of Big Idea's 2003 bankruptcy.
+In 2002, Big Idea turned to [[Warner Bros. Home Entertainment|Warner Home Video]] to serve as their new mass market distributor; HiT responded to this by filing a lawsuit against them for $11 million, which was one of the major causes of Big Idea's 2003 bankruptcy.
 ==Releases==
 ''All re-releases were mass market reprints of videos previously released exclusively to Christian retailers''
-*[[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] (March 1998; reprinted in 2000)
+*[[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] (March 31st, 1998/March 28th, 2000/March 16th, 2001)
-*[[God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!]] (February 1999; reprinted in 2000)
+*[[God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!]] (February 9th, 1999/March 28th, 2000/March 16th, 2001/August 6th, 2001)
-*[[Are You My Neighbor?]] (March 1998; "tested" in 1997 and reprinted in 2000)
+*[[Are You My Neighbor?]] (December 16th, 1997/March 31st, 1998/March 28th, 2000)
-*[[Rack, Shack and Benny (episode)|Rack, Shack and Benny]] (August 1998; reprinted in 2000)
+*[[Rack, Shack and Benny (episode)|Rack, Shack and Benny]] (August 25th, 1998/March 28th, 2000)
-*[[Dave and the Giant Pickle]] (August 1998; reprinted in 2000)
+*[[Dave and the Giant Pickle]] (August 25th, 1998/March 28th, 2000/March 15th, 2002)
-*[[The Toy That Saved Christmas]] (October 1998; reprinted in 1999 and 2000)
+*[[The Toy That Saved Christmas]] (October 6th, 1998/October 5th, 1999/October 3rd, 2000)
-*[[Very Silly Songs!]] (June 1999; reprinted in 2000)
+*[[Very Silly Songs!]] (June 8th, 1999/January 11th, 2000)
-*[[Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!]] (February 1999; reprinted in 2000 and 2002)
+*[[Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!]] (February 9th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/March 15th, 2002/March 16th, 2002 as part of ''[[Larry-Boy Power Pack]]'')
-*[[Josh and the Big Wall!]] (June 1999; reprinted in 2000 and 2002)
+*[[Josh and the Big Wall!]] (June 8th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/March 15th, 2002)
-*[[Madame Blueberry]] (October 1999)
+*[[Madame Blueberry]] (October 5th, 1999/January 11th, 2000/September 26th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)
-*[[The End of Silliness?]] (May 2000)
+*[[The End of Silliness?]] (April 11th, 2000)
-*[[Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed]] (March 2000; reprinted in 2002)
+*[[Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed]] (March 28th, 2000/March 15th, 2002/March 16th, 2002 as part of ''[[Larry-Boy Power Pack]]'')
-*[[King George and the Ducky]] (August 2000)
+*[[King George and the Ducky]] (August 8th, 2000)
-*[[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]] (January 2001; reprinted in 2002)
+*[[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]] (January 9th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)
-*[[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] (March 2001)
+*[[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] (March 27th, 2001/March 15th, 2002)
+===Albums===
-==Albums==
 *[[VeggieTunes]] (1998 reissue)
 *[[A Very Veggie Christmas]] (1998 reissue)
@@ Line 31: / Line 30: @@
 *[[Larry-Boy: The Soundtrack]]
 *[[A Queen, a King, and a Very Blue Berry]]
+===Compilations/Triple Features===
-==Compilations/Triple Features==
 *[[Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories!]]
 *[[More of Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories!]]
@@ Line 38: / Line 36: @@
 *[[Larry's Favorite Stories!]]
-==Trivia==
+==Fun Facts==
+===Trivia===
 *The 1997 reprint of [[Are You My Neighbor?]], using the original 1995 version of the episode and with only the Interpol FBI warning screens at the beginning of the tape, was presumably a test to see if the ''VeggieTales'' videos were "acceptable" for a mass market release.
 **This is the only ''VeggieTales'' Lyrick Studios VHS not to have the Lyrick Studios logo anywhere on the VHS box cover nor at the beginning or end of the video, other than on the cassette ink label. However, there are some very scarce copies with the 1997 Lyrick Studios logo at the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BjdxbOHNBo beginning] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTquz5z1ygw end] of the tape.
 *The 1998 release of [[Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories!]] contains trailers for [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] and [[Are You My Neighbor?]]
 *The 1999 reprints of [[Very Silly Songs!]] and [[Josh and the Big Wall!]] contains a trailer for the 1999 reprint of [[Madame Blueberry (episode)|Madame Blueberry]].
-*The 1999 reprints of [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]], [[The Toy That Saved Christmas]], and [[Madame Blueberry (episode)|Madame Blueberry]] contains the trailer for [[Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed]].
+*The 1999 reprints of [[The Toy That Saved Christmas]] and [[Madame Blueberry (episode)|Madame Blueberry]], the 1999 release of [[Junior's Favorite Stories]], and the 2000 reprints of [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]], [[God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!]], [[Are You My Neighbor?]], [[Rack, Shack and Benny (episode)|Rack, Shack and Benny]], [[Dave and the Giant Pickle]], [[Very Silly Songs!]], [[Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!]], [[Josh and the Big Wall!]], and Madame Blueberry all contain the trailer for [[Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed]].
-*The 2000 reprint of [[The End of Silliness?]] contains a trailer for [[King George and the Ducky]].
+*The 2000 reprint of [[The End of Silliness?]] contains a trailer for [[King George and the Ducky]].
 *The 2000 VHS of [[King George and the Ducky]] and [[The Toy That Saved Christmas]] contains the teaser for [[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]].
-*The 2001 reprint of [[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]] contains a teaser for [[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] and a message from [[Phil Vischer]].
+*The 2001 reprint of [[Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen]] contains a teaser for [[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] and a message from [[Phil Vischer]].
-*The 2001 VHS and DVD of [[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] contains one of the teasers for [[Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie]].
+* The 2001 VHS and DVD of [[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] contains one of the teasers for [[Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie]].
+*The 1998 reprints of [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] and [[Are You My Neighbor?]] and the 1998 release of [[Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories!]] have the 1997 "Distributed by" Lyrick Studios logo. Meanwhile, the 1998 reprints of [[Rack, Shack and Benny (episode)|Rack, Shack and Benny]], [[Dave and the Giant Pickle]], and [[The Toy That Saved Christmas]], the 1999 reprints of [[God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!]] and [[Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!]], and the 1998 release of [[More of Bob and Larry's Favorite Stories!]] (as well as its 2000 reprint) have the text "Distributed by" in a white font on a black background before the Lyrick Studios logo.
-*Five VeggieTales tapes have the text "Distributed by" in white font on a black background before the Lyrick Studios logo. The first two have the 1997 "Distributed by" Lyrick logo, and in 1999, these were both averted by using the 1998 Lyrick Studios logo with "Distributed by" above the logo and later a still version of said variant.
+**In 1999, these were both averted by using the 1998 Lyrick Studios logo with "Distributed by" above the logo and later a still version of said variant.
-*The Lyrick promos for [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] and [[Are You My Neighbor?]] were narrated by Earl Fisher. A year later, Earl would begin to provide the voice for Pasqually from [[Chuck E. Cheese's]] which began their tie-ins with Big Idea on the very show where he debuted as Pasqually (Dance Party from April 1999).
+***Despite this, the 2000 reprints of [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]], [[God Wants Me to Forgive Them!?!]], [[Are You My Neighbor?]], [[Rack, Shack and Benny (episode)|Rack, Shack and Benny]], and [[Dave and the Giant Pickle]] use a still version of the 1997 "Distributed by" Lyrick logo.
+* The Lyrick promos for [[Where's God When I'm S-Scared?]] and [[Are You My Neighbor?]] were narrated by Earl Fisher. A year later, Earl would begin to provide the voice for Pasqually from [[Chuck E. Cheese's]] which began their tie-ins with Big Idea on the very show where he debuted as Pasqually (Dance Party from April 1999). Starting with the Lyrick promos for Rack, Shack and Benny and Dave and the Giant Pickle, Gail Freeman takes over with the trailer narrations.
+*The Lyrick Studios release of [[Lyle the Kindly Viking]] was released three days after it's original Word Entertainment release.
-== Gallery ==
+===Remarks ===
-<gallery position="center" spacing="small">
+*Although the Lyrick reprints of [[Josh and the Big Wall!]] and [[Very Silly Songs!]] used a custom Stay Tuned bumper, certain other reprints instead used Lyrick's bumper. While this was technically alright, the latter bumper tells viewers to stay tuned for "previews of other Lyrick™ Studios Home Videos," despite the fact it was Big Idea's properties Lyrick was merely promoting and distributing.
-lyrick studios 1997.PNG
-distributed by lyrick studios 1997.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from March 1998 and March 2000
+==Gallery==
-lyrick studios 1998.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from 1998 to 1999
+<gallery position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center" bordersize="none">
-distributed by lyrick studios 1998.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from 1999 to 2001
+Lyrick studios 1997.PNG
+Distributed by lyrick studios 1997.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from March 31, 1998 and March 28, 2000
+Lyrick studios 1998.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from 1998 to 1999
+Distributed by lyrick studios 1998.PNG|Appears on VeggieTales VHS releases from 1999 to 2001
 File:LyrickStudiosAreYouMyNeighborPromoVHS.jpeg|Lyrick Studios screener/promo VHS tape for [[Are You My Neighbor?]]
 </gallery>
 [[Category:Organizations]]
 [[Category:Mass distributors]]