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PhilVischer

Phillip Roger Vischer better known as Phil Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, animator and songwriter. He is best known for creating the series VeggieTales and Big Idea with his partner Mike Nawrocki.

He is best known for voicing Bob.

In 2005, Phil created a company named Jellyfish Labs. In 2007, he started expanding the company with JellyTelly and produced a new series called, "What's In The Bible?"

He is currently living in Wheaton, Illinois with his wife Lisa and two daughters, Sydney and Shelby, and his son, Jeremy.

"Departure" from Big Idea

Since the production of their first feature film was complete, a lot of fans thought Phil left the company and wasn't interested working there. This got to the point where even some crew members believed the rumors, but Phil quickly debunked this rumor.

During the production of Jonah, the company was in financial trouble due to various events (e.g. HiT Entertainment trying to sue them after buying the rights from Lyrick Studios). Around that time, they hired a lot of people to help out with their productions before they went bankrupt. Just as the company was going bankrupt, one of the producers thought Phil was the problem for not letting the crew members do what they wanted. When Classic Media bought the company, the producer placed in their contract that Phil should stay away from being CEO. When Phil had a meeting with the owners, he suggested that he should remain as CEO, but this was overturned when John and Eric wanted the company to move to Nashville. They only wanted Phil as a consultant, and gave him an office allowance so he can stay in Chicago.

During the next few years, Phil wrote some books and created both "Jelly Telly" and "What's In the Bible?". In January 2007, Classic Media was bought by Entertainment Rights from London, and Phil saw this as an opportunity. However, the company was bought by two other guys, meaning a lot of cuts had to be made at Big Idea. Fortunately, John and Eric bought the company back in 2009. Phil saw this as an opportunity to possibly join both Jelly Telly and Big Idea together. However, the head of the company stated they weren't interested in Jelly Telly. They also said that if Phil wanted to return, he would have to cancel "What's in the Bible?", which he was halfway through with. Phil still wanted to continue his current show, so he rejected the offer.

In 2011, Phil heard in the trades that both John and Eric were selling the company to Dreamworks, so he waited for a phone call from them if they're interested in being involved in Big Idea again. However, he never received one from anyone there. Regardless, Phil stayed at the company doing voices and wrote some episodes after the bankruptcy.

In 2018, Phil officially left Big Idea, stating on Twitter that he was not returning to work on any more new episodes after VeggieTales in the City ended production.

In 2019, Phil was confirmed to be reprising his roles in The VeggieTales Show, as well as writing several episodes. This marked his official return to Big Idea after a year, and his first writing role at Big Idea in almost a decade.

In 2021, however, Phil made a tweet stating that he, as well as Mike Nawrocki, Lisa Vischer, and Kurt Heinecke, have been let go, and that all the characters are being recast. He also confirmed that this does not affect future episodes of The VeggieTales Show.

Written

VeggieTales

3-2-1 Penguins

Movies

The VeggieTales Show

Directed

Main article: Phil Vischer/Directing Filmography

Voices

Shots animated by Phil Vischer

Designer

Works at Big Idea

VeggieTales

VeggieTales in the House

VeggieTales in the City

3-2-1 Penguins!

LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures

The VeggieTales Show

Movies

Compilations

Live Shows

Fun Facts

  • Phil is a fan of the B-52's and Monty Python, which he often used jokes or references to them in his work.
  • While in the making of Where's God When I'm S-Scared?, he and his wife were in financial struggle.
  • According to the DVD commentary of Dave and the Giant Pickle, he stated that the desert environment, along with the space environment used in episode 3, were the easiest environments to create at the time.
  • He started Big Idea with nothing more than his Bible college friend Mike Nawrocki, two interns Chris Olsen and Robert Ellis, and one computer in his spare bedroom.
  • In episode 36 of his podcast, he was often known as "Flip" by his family. According to his mom, this was because when you say "Phillip" fast, it would sound like that. Phil had trouble dealing on his name for a while.
  • He started making short films with his family's Super 8 camera when he was eight years old.
  • He once met John Lasseter during a Siggraph convention sometime in the 1980s according to his autobiography.
  • He along with Mike Nawrocki flunked out of St. Paul's Bible college.
  • He did all the designs of the sets and characters for every show up until The Toy That Saved Christmas.
  • His favorite movies are The Hudsucker Proxy and Brazil.
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