Larry the Cucumber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Larry the Cucumber is a green cucumber character in the animated series, VeggieTales, by Big Idea Productions. Larry and co-star, Bob the Tomato, are the frontveggies for the series. Since his first appearance in "Where is God when I'm S-Scared?", Larry has played a role in nearly every one of VeggieTales' episodes, and has more screentime than any other veggie in the series. As a running gag (most evident in "Are You my Neighbor?") Larry is frequently mistaken for a pickle, which annoys Larry very much.
Voiced by VeggieTales co-founder, Mike Nawrocki, Larry the Cucumber is arguably the silliest character in the VeggieTales world. He partners with 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. Every Christmas, on Big Idea's Website, he hosts a similar annual Christmas Program called Larry's Christmas Countdown. He counts down the days until Christmas, and then adds on a dumb little piece of wisdom (i.e. It's only 18 Days left before Christmas; Bowling Balls make very lousy tree ornaments (heavy thump) Very lousy!")
[edit] Origin and evolution
Named in honor of famed injury attorney Larry H. Parker, Larry's onscreen debut was in Big Idea's first video, called "Where is 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.
Limited technology available to Big Idea's artists was a primary factor for the decision to center the animation around relatively featureless vegetables. It also limited the number of details that could be put in a scene, including the texture of Larry's skin and the number of objects in the background. As a result, the first videos involved relatively simple virtual sets and Larry came across very shiny and polyhedral. Close shots revealed polygon intersections, which did not lend itself to the likeness of cucumber exterior. However, as technology became increasingly sophisticated and accessible, improvements to Larry's appearance were made. His flat green skin got smoother and less shiny, and eventually a cucumber-like texture map appeared. Still later, his once perfectly elliptical shape took a turn for the bumpy, and softer lighting gave him a more cartoony, stylized appearance.
One of the most notable differences between the Larry of "Where's God 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 Lyle the Kindly Viking.
[edit] Performances
- Where's God When I'm S-Scared? -- Co-hosts the episode, plays himself in the "Tales From the Crisper," performs "The Water Buffalo Song," and stars as biblical hero Daniel in "Daniel and the Lion's Den."
- God Wants Me to Forgive Them? -- Co-hosts the episode, narrates "The Grapes of Math." and plays Gilligan-esque First-Mate Larry in "Larry's Lagoon."
- Are You My Neighbor? -- Co-hosts the episode, stars as a "slightly odd" boy in "The Story of Flibber-o-Loo" (Cat in the Hat-esque), plays himself in "The Hairbrush Song," and plays as the Lieutenant Larry of the USS Applepies in "The Gourds Must Be Crazy." (Star Trek)
- Rack, Shack & Benny -- Co-hosts the episode, plays Benny (Abednego) in the story, and sings and dances in "The Dance of the Cucumber."
- Dave and the Giant Pickle -- Co-hosts the episode, introducing his role as Larry-Boy, and performs "Love My Lips."
- The Toy That Saved Christmas -- Plays himself in the story, and performs "Oh, Santa," presumably playing himself.
- Very Silly Songs! -- Co-hosts the sing-along, reprises his various performances of silly songs, and plays a pirate in "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything."
- Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space -- Co-hosts the episode, plays Larry-Boy, and performs in "Larry-Boy's Music Video"
- Josh and the Big Wall -- Stars as Josh (Joshua) in "Josh and the Big Wall!" and performs "The Song of the Cebu."
- Madame Blueberry -- Plays Butler Larry, and begins to perform a Silly Song, only to have the segment cancelled "until further notice."
- The End Of Silliness? More Really Silly Songs! -- Plays himself, reprises many Silly Song performances, and performs in "The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps."
- Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed -- Plays his second full role as Larry-Boy.
- King George and the Ducky -- Plays King George (King David) in the episode, and performs "Endangered Love."
- Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen -- Plays a scribe to the king.
- Lyle the Kindly Viking -- Plays a viking named Sven, and performs in a short-lived feature, "Classy Songs with Larry," entitled, "Larry's High Silk Hat."
- The Ultimate Silly Song Countdown -- Plays as one of the "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," reprises several Silly Songs, and performs a new Silly Song.
- The Star of Christmas -- Plays Millward Phelps, a character resembling Arthur Sullivan of playwriting team Gilbert and Sullivan.
- Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie -- Plays one of the "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," and does a producer's commentary on the DVD release.
- The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment! -- Plays himself and hosts the show.
- The Ballad of Little Joe -- Plays Little Joe (Joseph) and performs "BellyButton" as part of the boy band, 'Boyz in the Sink'.
- A Snoodle's Tale -- Plays Poole, the butler, in "Dr. Jiggle and Mister Sly (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)," and performs "Sport Utility Vehicle."
- An Easter Carol -- Reprises his role as Millward Phelps. (A take off on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.)
- Sumo of the Opera -- Plays as the Italian Scallion in "Sumo of the Opera," performs "School House Polka," and performs as a Stooge-like character in "Going Up."
- Duke and the Great Pie War - Plays Duke Duke and performs the silly song "The Blues with Larry".
- Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush - Plays Minnesota Cuke (museum curator by day, fearless explorer by night) and performs the silly song "Pizza Angel".
- Lord of the Beans - Plays Ear-A-Corn (a homage to Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings). Performs Silly Songs with Elves: "My Baby Elf", in the style of Elvis Presley (complete with 70's-style jumpsuit).
- Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler - Plays Sheerluck Holmes, a detective based on the character of Sherlock Holmes. Performs the silly song "Gated Community".
- Larryboy and the Bad Apple - Plays his third full-role as Larryboy.
- Gideon: Tuba Warrior - Plays the title character, Gideon, and co-hosts the episode.
- Moe and The Big Exit - Will most likely play the title character, Lone Stranger/Moses (Moe), as depicted in a concept art teaser.
