| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the character. |
 | |
| Madame Blueberry | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | |
| Produced by | |
| Written by |
Mike Nawrocki |
| Music by | |
| Distributed by | |
| Released |
July 21st, 1998 |
| Runtime |
37 minutes |
| Previous episode | |
| Next episode | |
Madame Blueberry is the tenth episode of VeggieTales. This story's protagonist is the character with the same name and is loosely based on the French novel "Madame Bovary."
Plot
The show opens up with Bob alone with Larry driving a vehicle in the background. When Larry drives up, he says that it's his new "Soo-Vee Action Jeep", a thing that Larry has been wanting for a long time. He also says that he also needs the "Soo-Vee Action Camper" next. Wondering how much stuff that Larry needs to be happy, Bob asks for a story based on Larry's desires for new stuff. Hearing Bob's request, the French Peas come by and tell the story of "Madame Blueberry."
In the story, Madame Blueberry is a very sad lady because she is ungrateful for all of the things that she owns. Every day, her two butlers (Bob and Larry) come to her tree house to help her around the house. One day, after she cries over things that she doesn't own, Madame Blueberry, Bob, and Larry look out her window and see a new store being built. Then, three crooked salesmen (The Scallions), come by and say that they represent a new store being built down the street, called the Stuff-Mart. They then begin to manipulate Madame Blueberry (through song) that she will be very happy if she buys a lot of items that she doesn't need. Madame Blueberry agrees to go shopping, much to Bob's dismay.
We then transition into what seems to be the usual "Silly Songs with Larry" segment, but then Archibald Asparagus interrupts and makes an announcement that because of what happened during The Song of the Cebu in the previous episode, Silly Songs with Larry will be cancelled until further notice. We then get "Love Songs with Mr. Lunt."
Leaving Love Songs with Mr. Lunt, we see that the gang are on the way to the Stuff-Mart. Madame Blueberry and the rest of the gang notices a poor little girl (Annie) celebrating her birthday with one piece of pie that her family could only afford. She then sings about being thankful for what she has. Madame Blueberry begins to wonder what makes her happy despite being dirt poor, but forgets upon entering the Stuff-Mart. Once inside the giant store, she begins to buy a lot of useless products and has them shipped to her house. At the food court, Madame Blueberry notices a little boy (Junior) excited about a train set that he's always wanted, but his dad says that he can't afford it and asks if he'd like a ball instead. The boy changes his mind by saying yes to the ball, and sings the same song the poor girl sang earlier. Wondering why the children who don't have a lot are happy and she is grumpy while she has a lot, Madame Blueberry realizes that they have happy hearts and that buying a lot of useless things isn't making her any happier. She dismisses the Scallions and heads on home.
As the trio head on out, they notice that Madame Blueberry's house is tipping over from the excessive amount of bought items. The gang get in shopping carts (except Larry, who is in a carrying basket) and head over to the house to stop the remaining deliveries from flooding the house. As they head there, the back door begins to open, so the items everywhere in the house begin to pour out and land in the lake behind the house. Bob thinks that her house is alright, but right on cue, the sudden loss of weight causes the house to be flung across the town and crash-land upon a dangerous impact.
Later that evening, after the destructive disaster, Madame Blueberry is comforted by her butlers, the poor girl's family, and the little boy with his dad at the picnic table. They begin to sing the same song that the poor girl and the little boy sang earlier and Madame Blueberry believes that everything will turn out alright in the end.
Back on the countertop, Bob and Larry are sobbing Emotionally about the story. The French Peas appear again and, now in an impatiently manner (despite being guests), remind them that they need to wrap up the show. Then, they head over to Qwerty for the bible verse of the day. The Bible verse is Proverbs 15:27a: "He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house." Larry decides that he will not get the camper for his jeep and will be happy for what he already owns as the show ends.
Characters
Major
- Bob the Tomato (as himself and Madame’s butler)
- Larry the Cucumber (as himself and Madame’s butler)
- Madame Blueberry
- The Scallions (as The Salesmen)
- Annie Onion
- Junior Asparagus
- Mike Asparagus
Minor
- The French Peas (as themselves and Stuff-Mart workers)
- Annie's Parents
- Qwerty
Pictured Cameos
- Goliath
- The Fib
- Jimmy Gourd
- Pa Grape
- Buzz-Saw Louie
- Phil Winklestien
- Art Bigotti
- Gladis Mushroom
- Lovey Asparagus
Featured in the Silly Song
Songs
- VeggieTales Theme Song
- I'm So Blue
- Stuff-Mart Suite
- Stuff Mart Rap
- Love Songs with Mr. Lunt: His Cheeseburger
- The Thankfulness Song
- What Have We Learned
- Stuff Stuff, Mart Mart
Production
Madame Blueberry was actually conceived during the early process of VeggieTales when Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki were thinking of spoofing classic literature, before Where's God When I'm S-Scared? even came up. Mike Nawrocki read a book on Madame Bovary for college, and after production on VeggieTales started, he wanted to adapt a happy version of the story after seeing how it reminds him about everyone in his life. He also took some basis from Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," where the main character has a change of heart and a big climax.
Other Languages
- مدام توتة الزعلانة (Arabic)
- 藍草莓夫人 (Cantonese)
- Madame Mustikka (Finnish)
- Madame Blaubeere (German)
- Η Κυρία Βατόμουρο (Greek)
- Madame Blueberry (Indonesian)
- マダムブルーベリー (Japanese)
- 우울한 징징 부인 (Korean)
- Unknown (Mandarin) (Taiwan)
- Madam Blåbærhulk (Norwegian)
- خانم شاتوت (Persian)
- Madame Blueberry (Portuguese) (Brazil)
- Madame Baga (Portuguese) (Portugal)
- Madam Borovnička (Slovenian)
- Madame Blueberry (Spanish)
- Quý Cô Việt Quất (Vietnamese)
Home media
- Main article: Madame Blueberry (episode)/Home Video
Fun Facts
Moral
- If all you want in life is more stuff, you'll become consumed by greed. You'll always want more and more. And that alone make you both very miserable and very unsatisfied.
Explanations
- The kitchen sink being the last item is a visual gag on the term "Everything but the kitchen sink."
- Toaster ovens are miniature ovens that work the same way as a regular stove-top one.
Trivia
- This is the first episode for several things:
- The first appearance of Madame Blueberry, as well as the first episode revolving around her.
- It is also the first episode to focus on a female character.
- The first episode Mike Nawrocki wrote and directed aside from the first sing-along video, Very Silly Songs!
- The first episode John Wahba, Daniel Patrick O'Brien, Steve Leeper, Scott Nelson, Chuck Ramsey and Jeremy Vickery worked on.
- The first episode to introduce the trope where a Silly Song is interrupted and replaced by a different one.
- The first episode to be released after the show’s rebranding in 1998, featuring restyled box art for the series’ video covers, a new show logo, and an updated opening theme.
- The first appearance of Madame Blueberry, as well as the first episode revolving around her.
The original 1998 prototype VHS cover from a 2D sketch with the original VeggieTales logo, which never made it into the final VHS cover, due to the logo and theme song change.
- Additionally, a prototype VHS cover for the episode from a 2D sketch shows the original 1993 logo.
- Bob and Larry are behind Madame Blueberry, and Larry is shown in front of the original 1993 logo.
- This is the first time What Have We Learned started without Bob saying "It's time to talk about what we learned today" or "We're over here by Qwerty to talk about what we learned today". Instead, Jean Claude says "Hit it, boys!" to start the song.
- This is the first time Qwerty is seen positioned at the very far right corner of the countertop.
- This is the last episode for several things:
- The last episode Chris Olsen worked on.
- The last episode where Mike Nawrocki was given an editor's credit. (His Cheeseburger)
- The last episode where the Bible verse is only half of a verse.
- This is the second episode where Bob and Larry don't receive a letter from a child who needs help.
- The "Allow Us To Introduce Ourselves" line was eventually turned into a popular internet meme.
- The script for this episode was finalized in 1997, one year before this episode was released.
- This episode was scheduled to be released on January 6, 1998, but then was pushed back to July 21, 1998.
- The "Nezzer's Clock" Pattern seen on the box art for the Rack, Shack and Benny video can be spotted on the pajama display during the shopping sequence.
- Some international releases replace His Cheeseburger with The Water Buffalo Song.
Remarks
- The poster in the snack bar depicts the Fib with electric powers, which he never displayed in the episode he was in.
- Still waters are shown.
- This episode continues the "End of Silliness" story arc started in the previous episode, in which the disastrous results of "The Song of the Cebú" saw Silly Songs with Larry cancelled until further notice, while management fielded other ideas for mid-show songs.
- This is one of the few times to see Madame Blueberry crying in the series.
- Towards the end of the episode, Bob and Larry are seen crying without any tears in their eyes.
- The previews option has a preview for the episode itself.
- In the Closing Countertop, when Larry and Bob are so emotional from the story, Larry's Jeep disappears, although he parked next to Bob at the beginning of the episode.
Goofs
- There is very loose continuity on the appearances of the blonde wig Madame Blueberry wears throughout the episode.
- When Larry first drives past Bob on the countertop, his mouth is missing.
- Closed Captions spell "Soo-Vee" as "Susie."
- In I'm So Blue, while Madame Blueberry sings the line "Just look at this sofa of Edward and Tammy's, and lovely armoire where they keep all their jammies", an animation error featuring a question mark over Madame Blueberry's mouth can be spotted for one frame before the shot shifts to Bob and Larry.
- When Larry trips over the ceramic fish while carrying the tray of tea to Madame Blueberry, the teapot and cup do not shatter like they would in real life.
- There is a shot where the inside of Madame Blueberry's mouth is missing while she is shopping through the store aisles.
- The shadows on the "Casey Jr. Deluxe" toy train set do not follow the movement of the train itself in various shots of it.
- During the shot where the camera zooms out on Junior and his dad singing the end of " The Thankfulness Song", the various banners and shopping carts in the background appear to "buzz" due to a rendering error.
- Various shadows can be spotted flickering as well.
- Madame Blueberry often clips through the cushions of her sofa while she is sitting.
- When Madame Blueberry and the cart zoom out of the Stuff-Mart store, there's a very obscure glimpse of Madame's glasses that she wore it during the break scene can be spotted on her face if you look very closely.
- The pizza coupon that Bob pressed the red button on the front of the shopping cart suddenly disappears after Bob gets off the shopping cart.
- After Madame Blueberry gets off her shopping cart, the pea driver appears to glitch out a bit.
- Annie in one shot is shown with no mouth.
- After most of the stuff falls out of Madame's house, both Bob and Madame Blueberry appear smaller than how they appeared in the previous shot.
- The air compressor clips through the wall when it flies out the door.
- Also, in the same shot, one of the wood supports for the house glitches a bit.
- While the overhead shot of Madame's house flying, there's a black hole in the middle of the bottom of the house.
- When Junior and Annie are shown singing at the end, the plate of pie is missing from the picnic table and then it reappears. They also change positions between shots.
- In the Brazilian Portuguese Audio News dub of the episode, after the second half of the What Have We Learned song plays and after Bob takes a deep breath, Jean-Claude doesn't say "Well?", although his mouth moves as he did.
- In the VHS release, during the Stuff Mart scene, before it fades to the food court, the closed captioning shows Jean Claude’s "After awhile, Madame started to feel a little tired from shopping so hard. So, she decided to take a short break," but was muted out.
Inside References
- The Scallions as salesmen is a reference to what Scallion #1 was in the Forgive-o-matic segment in God Wants Me to Forgive Them?!?.
Real-World References
- Jerry Lewis, born in Newark, NJ, was a comedian and actor, known for his works such as 1963's "The Nutty Professor". He was known currently for hosting telethons supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He passed away on August 20th, 2017.
- The way Jean Claude narrates some parts in rhyme is a similar manner towards the Madeline series (a children's series about a little girl in France, and the narrator would rhyme in a dime).
- Jeep is a car brand owned by car manufacturer Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
- Junior mentions the train he wanted was a Casey Junior Deluxe working lights and real live stock smell. It sounds similar to the circus train from Dumbo.
- The design of Annie's parents was based on that of Phil Vischer and Lisa Vischer. Annie is voiced by their real-life daughter, Shelby Vischer.
- Jerry's car seen in the Silly Song segment is modeled after a Ford Festiva.
Fast Forward
- The Thankfulness Song would later be used in the original version of the Why We Do What We Do promo.
- The instrumental rendition of His Cheeseburger that plays when the camera pans back from the rotating hot dogs would be used in The Ballad of Little Joe during the beginning countertop scene.
Quotes
- [Bob and Larry are sobbing]
- Bob the Tomato: Oh, that was beautiful!
- Larry the Cucumber: Hold me Bob!
- Bob the Tomato: I would if I could, man!
- Jean Claude: Pull yourselves together!
- Phillipe: Yes, you have a show to wrap up!
- Bob the Tomato: Oh, you're right. I'm sorry, where were we?
- Larry the Cucumber: [sobs] Madame Blueberry!
- [Bob and Larry sobbing]
- Jean Claude: All right! That does it! Cue the music!
- Phillipe: Unless, of course, you have any objections?
- Bob: No, I don't care, go ahead.
- Jean-Claude: Hit it boys!
- [after the What Have We Learned song, Bob sighs]
- Jean-Claude: Well?
- Bob: (finally calm) Okay, I can do this.
- Larry: Me too.
- Phillipe: All right, but make it snappy! (they leave)
- Larry: (sniffs for a bit but proceeds) Madame Blueberry learned that being greedy makes you grumpy, but a thankful heart is a happy heart.
Episode Transcript
Credits
Gallery
