 | |
| The Best Christmas Gift | |
|---|---|
| Director(s) |
Todd Waterman |
| Producer(s) |
Eric Newman |
| Writer(s) |
Phil Vischer |
| Released |
October 15, 2019 (iTunes) |
| Runtime |
58 minutes |
The Best Christmas Gift is the Christmas special of The VeggieTales Show and the second episode of the first season, and the first episode officially released of the entire series.
Plot
Bob and Larry are preparing for their first Christmas show in Mr. Nezzer’s theater and the show seems to be headed for disaster. Bob begins to wonder how to celebrate Christmas when everything is going wrong. It’s only when the Veggies go back to the very first Christmas, where times were tough and things didn’t seem to be working out, that they all learn the promise of Christmas – God is with us. It’s a timeless story of hope that every family will enjoy!
Characters
- Bob the Tomato
- Larry the Cucumber
- Junior Asparagus
- Archibald Asparagus
- Petunia Rhubarb
- Jimmy and Jerry Gourd
- Madame Blueberry
- Mr. Nezzer
- Mr. Lunt
- Pa Grape
- The French Peas
- Goliath
- Khalil
- Bruce Onion
- Sheep
Songs
- VeggieTales Theme Song
- Christmas Foods
- Junior Shepherd
- Wisemen
- Let There Be Joy
- The King is Here
- Kingdom of God
- O Goliath
- I Can Love (VeggieTales Christmas Songs & Stories Mash-Up)
- Oh, Santa! (VeggieTales Christmas Songs & Stories Mash-Up)
- Donuts for Benny (VeggieTales Christmas Songs & Stories Mash-Up)
- Wrapped Myself Up for Christmas (VeggieTales Christmas Songs & Stories Mash-Up)
- The Hairbrush Song (Silly Song Remix version)
- The Water Buffalo Song (Silly Song Remix version)
Production
Phil Vischer got the idea for the episode from the response to the Sandy Hook shooting that happened in 2012, two weeks before Christmas, and how multiple people took down their Christmas decorations in response because "how could they celebrate Christmas in tough times?", with Phil arguing 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 tackles kids having their own bad days around Christmas.
The first draft of the script was written on November 19th, 2018 with later revisions written on December 7th, December 10th, March 10th (2019) and August 8th (2019).
This episode was originally going to be the second episode of the first season of The VeggieTales Show, after the pilot episode, but then the order was switch to make the Christmas special the first episode released and make it a full TV special, similar to the VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular!
Fun Facts
Trivia
- The episode is often considered to be the first episode of the first season, but in reality it is actually the second episode of the season and it was just scheduled and released before the actual first episode. (This is confirmed by the episode's script and production number)
- 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 time Goliath physically appears in a work related to VeggieTales since Josh and the Big Wall! (not counting the compilation episodes)/Little Ones Can Do Big Things Too! (counting the compilation episodes).
- 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 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, 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 it's also the first time he gets recast to a different voice actor as a result of Phil no longer being comfortable using an African-American-like accent imitation on the character anymore (which was what got Nezzer replaced by Ichabeezer in the Netflix series).
- Phil's voice is still heard as Mr. Nezzer during the songs, and it is known an earlier cut had Phil voicing Nezzer throughout.
- The first time the 2012 Universal 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 Productions and Prana Studios are involved in.
- 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 the second episode for the following things:
- The second time the birth of Jesus is portrayed since The Star of Christmas (from the original series).
- The second time the true meaning of Christmas is taught since The Toy That Saved Christmas (also from the original series).
Remarks
- 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.
Inside References
- This isn't the first time that peas have been portrayed as angels.
- Junior, Jimmy, and Jerry can be seen wearing the shepherd outfits from Dave and the Giant Pickle.
- Larry wears the same costume as Gaspar from The Little Drummer Boy.
- Pa Grape wears the same costume as he wore in Abe and the Amazing Promise, with slightly different colors.
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