LarryBoy and the Bad Apple
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| LarryBoy and the Bad Apple | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Tim Hodge |
| Produced by | David Pitts |
| Written by | Richard Liebmann-Smith, Mike Nawrocki |
| Starring | Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Cynthia West, Cydney Trent, Megan Murphy, Tim Hodge |
| Music by | Kurt Heinecke, Mike Nawrocki, Michael Farren |
| Distributed by | Sony Wonder |
| Release date(s) | July 29, 2006 |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
LarryBoy and the Bad Apple is the 29th episode in the VeggieTales animated series, and the third installment of the LarryBoy adventures. It was released in 2006 on both DVD and VHS formats. Subtitled "A Lesson in Fighting Temptation", it emphasizes that we cannot fight temptation alone; instead we should draw on the support of others (family, friends, and God) to help us.
Unlike earlier LarryBoy videos that dealt with obvious evils (lying and rumors), this episode focuses on a more ambiguous problem: while the things that tempt us are not necessarily evil themselves, allowing them to dominate our lives can be problematic and disruptive.
While all the LarryBoy episodes have always drawn on elements of the Batman series, this one is a more overt parody than the others. Some elements, sound effects, and images have been borrowed from the source nearly intact.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Archibald Asparagus joins Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber on the countertop. He and Larry have received a text message concerning one viewer's struggles with the temptation to play video games all day. Pushing the "frail and helpless" tomato out of the way, they present the story.
As the story begins, Bumblyburg is preparing to celebrate its 300th anniversary. There is concern, however, about a mysterious web that has appeared around the statue of Obadiah Bumbly in the town square. While the townspeople fret and prepare for the celebration, LarryBoy is in the Larry-Mobile on his way back to the Larry-Cave. He is eating chocolate; Alfred, speaking through the vehicle's monitor, reminds him that eating too much chocolate will make him ill and compromise his abilities as a superhero.
Back at the cave LarryBoy becomes sick. He admits that he can't control his chocolate addiction and agrees to let Alfred help him. They begin an exercise regimen and aim to limit, rather than eliminate, the chocolate in his diet.
Meanwhile, the Bad Apple is formulating a plan to derail the city's celebration. Her strategy is to enslave everyone by their own personal temptations; once they are incapacitated, she will be free to take over the city of Bumblyburg. She tasks Curly the Worm with identifying the weaknesses of each of the city's most important citizens: Mayor Blueberry, Reporter Petunia, and LarryBoy. Eliminating these three will cripple the city's leadership, communication, and law enforcement, she believes.
She begins by paying a visit to Mayor Blueberry. Her weakness is vanity. Bad Apple preys on this weakness, convincing her that as a representative of Bumblyburg it is her duty to look her best. She spins a web, a trap, in which she claims there are countless beautiful things to improve the mayor's appearance. The mayor, hearing her vanity validated, steps into the trap.
Next she pays a visit to Petunia, whose weakness is video games. Petunia realizes her important role in keeping the city informed, but admits that she could use a break. Bad Apple spins another trap, this one containing a test version of the latest, unreleased video game system. The temptation is too much; unable to resist, Petunia steps into the trap to play.
Meanwhile, back at the Larry-Cave, Alfred has discovered that the mysterious webs have plagued Bumblyburg before. He goes to the Historical Society to do some research. On an old, scratchy film reel he discovers a scene from the distant past when an apple named Ephraim Apply tried to ensnare the settlers of the new town with diversions at an establishment called Apply's Fun House. The people succumbed and the town suffered, falling under the spell of Ephraim. Obadiah Bumbly arrived in time to liberate the people, and Ephraim Apply was banished from Bumblyburg forever.
The Bad Apple pays a visit to LarryBoy, and, having learned of his weakness for chocolate, uses it to gain entrance to the Larry-Cave. Little by little, she dampens his resolve until he too falls into a trap designed specifically for him. With Larry indisposed in the "Chocolate Room", she easily breaks Alfred upon his return, ensnaring him by the television in front of his favorite cartoon.
With Bumblyburg's leaders and heroes out of the way, the Bad Apple proceeds to the town square to fulfill her great-uncle Ephraim's destiny. She quickly sets up shop: the new Apply's Funhouse 2. She and her sidekick, Curly the Worm, begin to luring the helpless citizens into the funhouse, promising non-stop excitement.
At the Larry-Cave, Alfred and LarryBoy realize that they need each other's help to fight temptation. Working together they dissolve the webs of their traps, which prove to be susceptible to the sports drink "Umph!" Freed at last, they quickly set about rescuing Mayor Blueberry and Petunia; then they all rush to the town square, joining forces to fight temptation together. LarryBoy goes to battle against the Bad Apple. The funhouse topples and nearly crushes a mother and her baby, but LarryBoy saves them, flinging the funhouse, along with the Bad Apple and Curly, out of the square and out of Bumblyburg. After the whole ordeal, everyone celebrates. The celebration is shown being played on a video screen, and a metal spider-like leg reaches up to turn the video screen off.
As usual, the lessons learned are reviewed on the countertop: that giving in to temptation prevents us from being the people God wants us to be; and that we can't always fight temptation alone. And Bob, feeling left out, makes an unexpected appearance as "The Red Wonder". More to come?
[edit] Cast of Characters
- Larry the Cucumber as LarryBoy
- Archibald Asparagus as Alfred
- Madame Blueberry as the Mayor of Bumblyburg
- Jean-Claude as the Mayor's Assistant
- Petunia Rhubarb as the Reporter
- Jimmy Gourd as Jim Gourdly
- Jerry Gourd as the Cameraman
- Scooter Carrot as a Policeman
- The Bad Apple as herself
- Curly the Worm as himself
- Larry the Cucumber as Obadiah Bumbly
- Ephraim Apply as himself
[edit] Segments
- Opening Countertop
- LarryBoy and the Bad Apple
- Closing Countertop
- Music Video: Rock On, LarryBoy
[edit] Songs
In addition to the ubiquitous "VeggieTales Theme" and "What We Have Learned," this episode contains the following two songs:
- The Temptation Song, sung by the Bad Apple
- Rock On, LarryBoy, sung by Shux
[edit] DVD Content
Big Idea has consistently packed the VeggieTales DVDs with a variety of additional features intended to appeal to both children and adults alike. This section itemizes the content of the DVD.
[edit] Chapters
- 1. Countertop
- 2. LarryBoy Returns
- 3. The Bad Apple
- 4. Mayor's Temptation
- 5. Petunia's Pitfall
- 6. Historical Society
- 7. The Chocolate Room
- 8. To the Rescue
- 9. Apple Pickin' Time
- 10. What We Have Learned
- 11. Shux Music Video
- 12. Credits
[edit] Bonus Features
The Story - Rebuilding Bumblyburg - LarryBoy's Chocolate - Bob and Larry's Playhouse (Video Trivia - Interactive Storybook - Puzzle Challenge - Family Activity - How to Draw - Computer DVD Features) - Studio Commentary - Studio Store
[edit] Notes and Trivia
- Note that the hyphen has been dropped from the name "LarryBoy" in this episode.
- Jimmy and Jerry Gourd reprise their roles as Jim Gourdly and his cameraman from Sumo of the Opera.
- In creating a heavy metal hair band for the new LarryBoy theme, the show's creators quickly settled on corn because of its silk "hair"; it's the first time corn has been used in the series.
- The band Shux is actually Michael Farren, who wrote and performed the song for the video.
- The broken Art Bigotti bowling plate from Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space! scrolls past during the closing credits.
- LarryBoy and the Bad Apple has also been released as a video game on the PS2 and Game Boy Advance platforms.
- If you look closely at one of the sceens at the Larry Cave, you can see a sceen shot of Super Mario Bros.
- Whenever this airs on Qubo, this aired on the show, "3-2-1 Penguins and Larryboy Stories" as a two-parter and has everything but the main feature cut out.
- On the DVD version, this is the first time in many years that they showed the old version of the "What We've Learned" song; on DVDs since "The Ballad of Little Joe", different versions were used to fit the format.
- Bob and Larry seemed to recover the "What We've Learned" song, because it was stolen during "Lord of the Beans", thus not making it onto "Sheerluck Holmes".
- This is one of those rare times when the "What We've Learned Song" isn't started by the line, "And now, it's time to talk about what we've learned today."
- Bob the Tomato's superhero alias "The Red Wonder" is a direct parody to Robin the Boy Wonder from the Batman series.
- There are many Spiderman allusions like - LarryBoy getting tangled upside down next to Petunia Rhubarb, the line "Remember kids, with great chocolate comes great responsibility."
