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The Best Christmas Gift is the first Christmas special of The VeggieTales Show, the first episode of the first season, and the second episode produced of the entire series.

Plot[]

But there's nothing here! Not even a jellybean...

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Characters[]

Songs[]

Main Episode[]

DVD & Digital Release Version[]

Other Languages[]

Trailer Appearances[]

Production[]

Phil Vischer got the idea for the episode as a response to the Sandy Hook shootings that happened in 2012 two weeks before Christmas. Multiple people had taken down their Christmas decorations in response because "how could they celebrate Christmas in tough times?". It donned in Phil that the tough times are exactly why Christmas is worth celebrating. That idea of spreading joy and hope in the tough times became the main theme of the episode, but instead of dealing with something as dark as a shooting, it tackles kids having their own bad days around Christmas.

Phil wrote the first draft of the script on November 19th, 2018 with later revisions done on December 7th, December 10th, March 10th (2019) and August 8th (2019).

According to Phil, this episode was not originally intended to be the first episode of The VeggieTales Show’s first season. "God Wants Us to Make Peace" was intended to be the first episode released for the first season. It was decided by TBN to have the Christmas special come out first instead, just in time for the upcoming 2019 holiday season. (This is confirmed by the episode's script and production number as well)

Fun Facts[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the first episode for the following things:
    • The first new episode from a series created by Big Idea since Bye Bye Bacon Bill!, which was the final VeggieTales in the City episode.
    • The first speaking appearance of Petunia Rhubarb since Monster in the Closet.
    • The first speaking appearance of Junior Asparagus since Attack of the Marshmallow Laser.
    • The first time Goliath physically appears in a work related to VeggieTales since Josh and the Big Wall! (as well as the compilation Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too!).
    • The first time Khalil appears in a work related to VeggieTales since Celery Night Fever.
      • This also marks the first time Bruce Onion appears outside of said episode.
    • The first time the VeggieTales characters original designs were used since Beauty and the Beet, not counting promotional material released on the online store and official social media posts.
    • The first time Lisa Vischer has voiced Junior since Celery Night Fever, the first time Madame Blueberry is voiced by Stephanie Southerland, and the first time Petunia is voiced by Kira Buckland.
    • The first time Mr. Nezzer appears in a work related to VeggieTales since Beauty and the Beet and his first speaking role in one since Veggies in Space: The Fennel Frontier, as well as the introduction of David Mann as Nezzer’s new voice actor.
      • Phil Vischer’s voice can still be heard as Mr. Nezzer during O Goliath.
      • It is also known an earlier cut had Phil voicing Nezzer throughout.
    • The first time the 2012 Universal Pictures logo is featured in a work related to Big Idea, even though it is not a movie.
    • The first work from Big Idea that both Trilogy Animation Group and Prana Studios are involved in.
      • This is also the only time Prana Studios will be credited, as the studio shut down and animation production moved to 88 Pictures.
    • The first time a Big Idea DVD has the following things:
      • The first time French subtitles are offered as an option.
      • The first time that the options are split into two different menus.
      • The first time since "Abe and the Amazing Promise" that the buttons on the main menu are positioned in a vertical fashion.
      • The first time the "Piracy is not a victimless crime" warning is featured on a Big Idea DVD that is not a compilation.
    • The first time an audio commentary was featured since "The Little House That Stood".
    • This is so far the only episode of the revival series to be dubbed in Swedish.
    • The first time Mr. Lunt is seen with a full set of teeth but no gold tooth in his original design.
  • This is the only The VeggieTales Show episode to be aired on Smile.
  • This episode premiered on iTunes exactly 5 years and 1 day after Beauty and the Beet, the last VeggieTales tale to use the original character designs before The VeggieTales Show.
  • The font for the place names on the map during Christmas Foods is SpongeBoy Me Bob, that was used for SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.
  • The only episode to feature the new renders of the VeggieTales characters on the DVD art, as the series would use the renders from the original series for the shows marketing.

Remarks[]

  • The BarberBarians are bizarrely on the Scandinavia postcard when they're actually Scottish (though vikings are Scandinavian in real life).
  • The audio recordings of Jimmy saying "We love Christmas food!" and "Right, got it." are each used twice.
  • The following things could lead to viewers mistaking it for a movie:
    • The Universal and Trilogy Pictures logos playing at the beginning.
    • Opening credits at the very beginning.
    • The episode's overall runtime being labeled 58 minutes, due to the included bonus features being integrated into the episode for home video releases, much like other Universal home video releases.

Goofs[]

  • Larry's tooth appears to be missing in a few scenes.
  • When the wisemen arrive at the stable, they are seen in front of it facing the baby and the manger, but in the next shot, they are standing next to it. They go back to their original positions when Jimmy and Jerry arrive.
  • In the shot of Pa Grape singing "To the coming of the kingdom of God" during Kingdom of God, Junior's mouth does not move even though he is heard singing.
  • Jean-Claude's voice is not pitch-shifted when he says "Au revoir." Additionally, Goliath's mouth is moving when Jean-Claude says this, even though nothing comes out of his mouth.

Inside References[]

Fast Forward[]

Episode Transcript[]

Commentary[]

Credits[]

Gallery[]

External Link[]

The VeggieTales Show episodes
God Wants Us to Make Peace | The Best Christmas Gift | A Lifetime Supply of Joy | The Power of Love | It's Cool to Be Kind | A ShakeSparagus Play | When Being Good Means Giving Up | Little Things Matter | Patience Takes Practice | Being Gentle Makes You Great | LarryBoy and the Cape-Coat Caper | The Wonderfulness of Wisdom | Forgiveness Brings the Fixing | A Tale of True Courage | Samson's Bad Hair Day | The Giving-est Day | The Good Shepherd | The One and Only You! | LarryBoy and the Angry Eyebrows Trouble | Don't Give Up on Doing Good | Don't Stop Believing | LarryBoy and the Emperor of Envy | Naaman Takes a Bath | LarryBoy and the Menacing Mushroom | LarryBoy and Awful Alvin's Grudge | The Grumble Cure