Cartoon series stirs up religious debate

Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber always had a moral message in their long-running “VeggieTales” video series. But now that the vegetable stars have hit network television, they can’t speak as freely as they once did, and that’s got the Parents Television Council steamed.

The conservative media-watchdog group is blasting NBC for editing some references to God out of the children’s animated show.

“What struck me and continues to strike me is the inanity of ripping the heart and soul out of a successful product and not thinking that there will be consequences to it,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council.

“The series is successful because of its biblical world view, not in spite of it. That’s the signature to ‘VeggieTales.’ “

“VeggieTales” is a collection of animated home videos for children that encourage moral behavior based on Christian and biblical principles. More than 50 million copies have been sold since 1993, according to Big Idea Inc., which produces the series.

NBC has begun airing 30-minute episodes of “VeggieTales” on Saturday mornings (10 a.m., KHQ-6 in Spokane). The show was edited to comply with the network’s broadcast standards, said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

“VeggieTales” creator Phil Vischer said that had he known in advance how much he’d have to change the show – including Bob and Larry’s tagline, “Remember kids, God made you special and he loves you very much,” that concludes each episode – he wouldn’t have signed on for the network deal.

“I would have declined partly because I knew a lot of fans would feel like it was a sellout or it was done for money,” he said, adding that “there weren’t enough shows that could work well without those (religious) references.”