List of VeggieTales characters
 | This article possibly contains original research. (January 2008) |
This is a list of primary, secondary, and recurring characters that appear in the animated series VeggieTales.
Primary characters
Bob the Tomato
Voiced by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, Bob the Tomato is usually the "straight man" in his partnership with Larry (the "Costello" of the pair), as they introduce many of the stories at the beginning and wrap-up the Biblical lesson at the end of most of the cartoons. He is the voice of reason trying to maintain control over an absolutely chaotic show, very much reminiscent of Kermit the Frog's role on The Muppet Show. However, he plays many character roles in the story segments, some of which contrast his mature persona. In later episodes, Bob's role has become less central, getting less onscreen time compared to several other characters. He also tells the story of "A Snoodle's Tale".
In his very first appearance in a pitch reel for VeggieTales, Bob delivers a speech beginning with "I have a dream" designed to sell the show. Phil Vischer revealed this in his book Me, Myself and Bob. Bob first appeared to the public in the 1993 release, "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?", Big Idea's first video. In it, he and Larry set the precedent for the opening format which became a VeggieTales standard, where a letter is read from a viewer by the duo on the kitchen counter which served as a sort of studio. He also played himself in the first of the two 15-minute segment titled "Tales from the Crisper", comforting a frightened Junior Asparagus with a cheerful song, "God Is Bigger Than the Boogeyman."
Though a convincing and easily identifiable anthropomorphic tomato from the start, his animation evolved over time to make him first more tomato-like, and later more cartoony. While in the first episodes Bob was very elastic in his animation, distorting himself significantly, this tendency was toned down greatly, giving him a more fruit-like consistency. Artistic changes were made as well: Bob's body became smaller with proportion to his face and more round, his skin became less shiny and more brightly red, eventually developing a smooth glow, which was more stylistic and probably more kid-friendly. With improving technology at the disposal of Big Idea's artists, Bob's skin became gradually less angular, and the polygons that made his shell essentially disappeared. His leaves would also become more realistic-looking during the transition to Maya. Also, Phil Vischer's voice acting for Bob has taken a slightly higher pitch, though not nearly as significantly as Mike Nawrocki's voice acting for Larry the Cucumber.
Larry the Cucumber
Voiced by VeggieTales cofounder Mike Nawrocki and providing the voice for Granddad on the spin-off 3-2-1 Penguins!, he partners with his best friend, Bob the Tomato, as the wacky sidekick when hosting episodes, and plays numerous and varied roles throughout the series. Larry has also starred in a spinoff role as comical superhero Larry-Boy, in computer-animated and traditionally animated adventures. His most notable role, however, is the host of a short, recurring musical segment entitled "Silly Songs with Larry," in which Larry performs hilarious musical numbers of various style and content matter. Larry's onscreen debut was in Big Idea's first video, called Where's God When I'm S-Scared? He co-hosts the shows with Bob the Tomato, a tradition that has continued even today. In this first episode, he was the source of most of the jokes, including physical gags as well as silly dialogue. The video also introduced "Silly Songs with Larry," in which he wore an oversized cowboy hat and sang "The Water Buffalo Song." The Silly Song segment, placed between halves of the traditionally half-hour long story, became a very popular staple of VeggieTales entertainment. So far, Larry is the only character to have appeared in every single VeggieTales episode. One of the most notable differences between the Larry of When I'm S-Scared" and more recent videos is the range of his voice. While Mike Nawrocki has always performed Larry's voice, early scenes, including the first Silly Songs were voiced with a broad vocal range, from Nawrocki's natural tenor to well above. Later on, that range was limited in scope to the upper range, giving Larry a more youthful, and of course, sillier sound. Also, in the earlier years, Larry had an affected lisp. Gradually, Larry's speech became more normal, at about the time of the making of the film King George and the Ducky.
Larry is one of the only Veggies to have spoken about his family. They become but with Aunt Ruth in Gourds must be crazy. We become aware of Larry's Aunt Ruth in "Dave and the Giant Pickle," in the Silly Song "I love my lips." Larry describes that Aunt Ruth "had a beard." Larry's Aunt Ruth is also referenced in "Josh and the Big Wall" when Larry conducts a slide show during the Silly Song. In "Duke and the Great Pie War", he mentions that he has three brothers -- Bob, Mark, and Steve; Bob is the oldest. The brothers join Bob and Larry at the end of the show and perform the "What Have We Learned" song, Larry also mentions that his father is an astronaut. Larry again also mentioned his father in The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's. In the story, he is a floss farmhand and the Tin Man.
Junior Asparagus
The five-year-old Junior Asparagus is one of the most active co-stars of the VeggieTales series. Junior is a typical playful child, but also is wise beyond his years, taking the lead role in several videos, including "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?", "Dave and the Giant Pickle", "King George and the Ducky" and "Lyle the Kindly Viking". He is also a member of the boy band "Boyz in the Sink", which also consists of Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt and Jimmy Gourd. Junior has a loving relationship with his parents, who also appear in several of the videos. He plays Benjamin in "The Ballad of Little Joe", who is framed by Little Joe to see if his brothers have changed. Junior also has one of the leading roles in the VeggieTales movie, "Jonah- a VeggieTales Movie." Junior is voiced by Lisa Vischer, wife of Phil Vischer, who co-owns Jellyfish Labs with him. In the initial episodes, Junior was as much a main character as Bob or Larry, having a starring role in at least one segment in every episode. He even appeared alongside Bob during Josh and the Big Wall, replacing Larry, and even interacted with the story's characters. However, as the series evolved, his role become more toned down, and then "Esther...The Girl Who Became Queen" would become the first episode Junior does not make an appearance in.
Secondary characters
Archibald Asparagus
Archibald Asparagus has a taste for "class" and wants more than anything to turn the usually wacky VeggieTales into a more highbrow production. Archibald was inspired by the Monty Python's Flying Circus character "The Colonel", a stuffy army officer played by Graham Chapman who occasionally appeared out of nowhere to order the end of a sketch. Archibald is voiced by VeggieTales Founder, Phil Vischer.
His 3D-animated depiction has remained generally the same over the years, except that the vectors have become less sharp with rising CG technology. He also had a side-mouth in earlier shows. Also in earlier shows, there was no glass in his monacle. The glass was added when they started using Maya. Archibald first appeared in Where's God When I'm Scared? as an interupter in the Water Buffalo Song and King Darius in Daniel and the Lion's Den. Some of the veggies call him Archie.
Mr. Lunt
Mr. Lunt is a decorative Spanish gourd who grew up in New Jersey and speaks with a Mexican-Spanish accent. He often appears as Mr. Nezzer's assistant, and they debuted together in Rack, Shack, and Benny. Mr. Lunt also frequently appears as part of "The Pirates who Don't Do Anything", and even once got his own Silly Song ("His Cheeseburger") and starred in two others ("Belly Button" and "A Mess Down In Egypt"). A notable feature is his lack of eyes. He often wears a hat and often uses the brim of the hat for expression. Mr. Lunt is voiced by Vischer. Lunt last appeared in Abe and the Amazing Promise as the colorful pet parrot in the main story.
Jimmy and Jerry Gourd
Jimmy and Jerry are a secondary comic duo, and are brothers. While Bob and Larry can be considered animated versions of Abbott and Costello, Jimmy (orange gourd) and Jerry (yellow gourd) might more closely resemble Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Both appeared together in "Are You My Neighbor?" (their debut). They later appear in "Dave and the Giant Pickle", "Josh and the Big Wall!" and "King George and the Ducky"; Jimmy is a member in end of silliness and of the boy band Boyz in the Sink ("The Ballad of Little Joe" and "Moe and the Big Exit"). Jerry's appearance notably changes over time, having lost his dark green stripes around the time of "The Star of Christmas." Jimmy and Jerry are played by Vischer and Nawrocki respectively.
Madame Blueberry
Madame Blueberry first appeared as the title character in Madame Blueberry. She later appeared as the mayor of Bumblyburg in the LarryBoy world in Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed and LarryBoy and the Bad Apple. She appeared as Nona, Princess Petunia's mother-in-law, in Duke and the Great Pie War. She was the Queen in Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler and McPotipher's wife in The Ballad of Little Joe. In The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, she is Splenda the sweet non-fattening fairy.
Petunia Rhubarb
Petunia Rhubarb is one of the show's newest major characters. She is a rhubarb who first appeared in "Duke and the Great Pie War." She later appeared in "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush," "LarryBoy and the Bad Apple," and "Moe and the Big Exit." She also has a role in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. She is often cast as the role of Larry's love interest. She is voiced by Cydney Trent. She is a red-headed vegetable usually seen wearing a braid.
Pa Grape
Pa Grape is, as his name suggests, a grape. He is voiced by Vischer, and he appeared in "God Wants Me to Forgive Them?" During the video "The Grapes of Wrath" Pa, Ma, Tom, and Rosie, describe various unpleasant things that they will do to others. Then at the end they become "The Grapes of Math." He appears in "King George and the Ducky" as the wise storyteller. He is also a member of the Pirates who don't do anything along with Larry the Cucumber and Mr. Lunt. He has appeared in several other secondary roles, Dave's father in "Dave and the Giant Pickle", Litte Joe's father in "The Ballad of Little Joe", and as the knight's trainer in "The Duke and the Great Pie War" also as cousin Mordecai in Esther...The Girl Who Became Queen and the Monk in Lyle the Kindly Viking, Larry's trainer in Sumo of the Opera, a floss farmhand/hungry Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, and as the angel sent to guide Gideon in Gideon: Tuba Warrior and as also the nurse in The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps, Please add more to this. He doesn't have eyes he wears glasses.
Recurring characters
Qwerty
Qwerty is the countertop computer which Bob and Larry use to read Bible verses at the end of each show. Though Qwerty is not alive per se, he does have certain anthropomorphic characteristics, including responsory noises and voice activation. Qwerty's name comes from the first six letters on a standard English keyboard. According to Phil Vischer, Qwerty is an Intel 80386 model.
The Rapscallions
The rapscallions are a trio of often devious scallions led by the tallest, who has appeared alone in several episodes, including Larry's High Silk Hat (as a custodian) and King George and the Ducky (as the king's general). The shortest Scallion is known as the "milk money bandit" in one of the Larry Boy stories, and sings high tenor.
Cedric
Voiced by Phil Vischer, Cedric is the leader of the rapscallions. Cedric often appears apart from the other scallions, first as a devious salesman in The Forgive-o-Matic. He has subsequently appeared as a bank robber in Oh, Santa!, a Stuff-Mart salesman in Madame Blueberry, a selfish Englishman in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down With All the Bananas, King George's general in King George and the Ducky, the host of the Miss Persia Pageant in Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen, a custodian in Larry's High Silk Hat (where he laments having not been given a name), the abbot of Costello in Duke and the Great Pie War, an ice cream man in Bob's vacation, a park-man in Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush and Scaryman (a spoof of Saruman) in Lord of the Beans. Along with Mr. Nezzer, Mr. Lunt, and the French peas, Cedric is one of the most consistent villains in VeggieTales. His name was not revealed for quite some time. In "Larry's High Silk Hat" from "Lyle the Kindly Viking" Cedric complained that he had never been given a name despite being a character from the very first episode.
The French Peas
Headed by Phillipe and Jean-Claude, who are voiced by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, the French peas are a group of Monty-Pythonesque green peas. They, too, are often portrayed as villains, albeit agitating ones as opposed to menacing.
Like the French taunters in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the French peas often taunt passersby with strange, nonsensical threats, such as pouring grape slushies from vats and cement trucks atop a castle wall when guarding it.
The French peas have played Philistines (in Dave and the Giant Pickle, which was their first appearance), narrators (in Madame Blueberry and Going Up!), wall guards and priests (in Josh and the Big Wall!), palace guards (in Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler),the Peaoni brothers in Esther...The Girl Who Became Queen, and, at least once, good guys (as a group in The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, as Munchies in Munchieland).
Numerous voice actors have played the French peas, including animator Brian K. Roberts. Only one pea other than Phillipe and Jean-Claude has been named — Cristoffe, voiced by Chris Olsen, a former animator.
Other peas without French accents have appeared in "Lyle, the kindly Viking" although Jean Claude and Phillipe "help" Archibald try to make the Veggie Tales episode more classy.
Scooter
A Scottish carrot, voiced by Jim Poole and occasionally Tim Hodge, Scooter's first appearance was as the engineer of the USS Applepies in The Gourds Must Be Crazy, as a spoof of Scotty from Star Trek. Scooter also appeared as a police officer in the first three LarryBoy stories (Larry-Boy! & the Fib from Outer Space!, Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed, and LarryBoy and the Bad Apple), as an Israelite in Josh and the Big Wall!, as chef Horatio in Omelet, as a singing performer in The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment! as Mr. McPotipher in The Ballad of Little Joe, as Moyer "The Destroyer" LaGumtree in The Star of Christmas and An Easter Carol, as Angus in Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, as Detective Butterbun in The Strange Case of Dr. Jiggle and Mr. Sly, as an ice cream man in Going Up! and Sumo wrestler in The Sumo of the Opera, as the Announcer in Bully Trouble, as a citizen of London in Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler, as himself in Bob's Vacation, and as a pirate at Jolly Joe's in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, He has a Scottish accent.
Mr. Nezzer
Mr. Nebby K. Nezzer made his debut in Rack, Shack, and Benny, in which he owns the chocolate bunny factory with Mr. Lunt as his unpleasant foreman. In The Toy That Saved Christmas Mr Nezzer plays his brother Wally P. Nezzer who owns the toy factory and makes Buzz-Saw Louie dolls, advertising them in a TV commercial. In Very Silly Songs!, he sings the new and improved lyrics to "The Bunny Song". In Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space!, he has three cameo appearances as one of the background citizens of Bumblyburg. In Josh and the Big Wall!, he has another non-speaking role as Moses. In Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed, he appears as a background citizen of Bumblyburg, and remembers the time when Alfred (played by Archibald Asparagus) helped him out for a good dinner party. In Esther... The Girl Who Became Queen, he appears as King Xerxes of Persia. In Lyle the Kindly Viking, he appears as Viking Olaf and in the Classy Song with Larry "Larry's High Silk Hat". In Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, he makes an appearance as an Israeli merchant. In The Star of Christmas and An Easter Carol, he is Ebenezer Nezzer, owning a theatre in the Christmas video and an Easter egg factory employing Cavis and Millward (based on Gilbert and Sullivan) in the Easter video. In The Ballad of Little Joe and Moe and the Big Exit, he appears as the Mayor of Dodgeball City. In The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie, he appears as Mr. Hibbing. In Duke and the Great Pie War, he appears as Novak. In Bully Trouble, he appears as "Da Coach". In Lord of the Beans, he is a wizard named Randalf. In Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler, he appears as the manager of the Food Factory in Don Quixote's story and as Detective Trout in the Sheerluck Holmes story. In Gideon: Tuba Warrior, he is one of the hairy Midianites. "Nebby K. Nezzer" is a pun on biblical leader Nebbuchadnezzer.
The Carrots
The Carrots are a family of orange carrots. Laura, the oldest child, is Junior's best friend and the only recurring member of the family, while the other Carrots never appear in shows without Laura. Laura's older brother is named Lenny. Her younger brother, named Baby Lou, has appeared in The Toy That Saved Christmas, and in Duke and the Great Pie War (as Baby Moses). Laura has appeared in the VeggieTales movie Jonah as one of the main characters.
Gourdon
Voiced by Brian K. Roberts, Gourdon (also called Bobby and Chester) is one of the schoolyard bullies around Junior Asparagus's age. He first appeared in Bully Trouble,a cameo in Larryboy and the Bad Apple, and later appeared in The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's.
Mabel and Penelope
Mabel (voiced by Pamela Thomas) and Penelope (voiced by Gail Bock) are a pear and an asparagus, respectively. Like Archibald, they have British accents, though unlike Archibald, theirs are cockney. Their first appearance was in Daniel and the Lion's Den as King Darius's maidservants. However, in Lyle the Kindly Viking, Mabel is Jimmy's wife and Penelope is Mr. Nezzer's wife. Although Lyle is not supposed to represent fact in the VeggieTales universe, since precedent has shown that facts in Bob and Larry's stories often transpose into reality, Mabel and Penelope may actually be Jimmy and Mr. Nezzer's wives, which would make Penelope's name Penelope Nezzer and Mabel's name Mabel Gourd.
Frankencelery
Phil Winklestein, voiced by Phil Vischer, first appears in Where's God When I'm S-Scared? as the star of the veggie horror film Frankencelery. Hailing from Toledo, Ohio, Frankencelery (as he is generally referred to) is a mild-mannered, high-voiced celery stalk (although in The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps Frankencelery sings the low bass part in a quartet with the rapscallions). Apparently he actually does sport purple eyelids, cervical electrodes, black hair and a unibrow outside of his acting career, since in all of his appearances he is bedecked to resemble the classic Frankenstein's monster but behaves more like Herman Munster. He appeared as a background citizen of Bumblyburg in Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space!.
Archibald's wife
Voiced by G. Bock, Archibald's wife (only ever referred to as "Lovey") first appeared in Larry's Lagoon. Her only other appearances were in The Story of Flibber-o-Loo as a doctor and in Silly-Sing-Along 2 where she is seen with Archibald in Jimmy's ice cream parlor.
The Peach
Referred to as the "peach" by all characters, the peach first appears in The Hairbrush Song. In Oh, Santa! he claims to be an IRS agent, but since Scallion #1 claims to be a crafty bankrobber, Pa Grape claims to be a Viking and Bob claims to be Santa Claus in the same story, the validity of this occupation is in serious question. The running joke of the peach is that he, unlike all the other characters, has hair. He played Samson in Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush, but only in various pictures shown throughout the show.
Henry
Henry, a potato, only appeared in The Forgive-O-Matic as a miner from West Virginia.
Art Bigotti
Art Bigotti is an African-American broccoli bowling champion.
The Green Onions
First appearing in The Toy That Saved Christmas, Annie (voiced by Shelby Vischer and later by Allie Nawrocki, Mike Nawrocki's daughter, in 2005) has two parents represented by Shelby Vischer's parents, Phil (father) and Lisa (mother) who first appeared in Madame Blueberry and are poor French green onions (another word for scallions). In The Toy That Saved Christmas, Grandpa George is shown to be Annie's grandfather. He made his debut in Rack, Shack, and Benny a year earlier. This character returned to the series in Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry's Big River Rescue.