| Madame Blueberry | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Mike Nawrocki |
| Produced by | Chris Olsen |
| Written by | Mike Nawrocki Original story Gustave Flaubert |
| Starring | Phil Vischer Mike Nawrocki Lisa Vischer Megan Moore Burns Dan Anderson Mike Sage Shelby Vischer |
| Music by | Kurt Heinecke Phil Vischer Mike Nawrocki |
| Editing by | John Wahba Mike Nawrocki (Silly song) |
| Studio | Big Idea Productions |
| Distributed by | Sony Wonder Everland Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | July 21, 1998 |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Language | English |
Madame Blueberry is the tenth episode in the VeggieTales animated series. It was released in July 1998 and issued on DVD May 20, 2003. Subtitled "A Lesson in Thankfulness", it conveys the message that material possessions will never truly make us happy, and that we must instead be thankful for what we have.
Contents |
The show opens with Larry driving onto the countertop in a brand-new "Soo-Vee Action Jeep", which Larry has been wanting for a long time. Though Bob thinks that Larry's now happy, the cucumber admits that he won't be happy until he has all the additional vehicles in the Soo-Vee line. Bob sees Larry's problem as a good theme for the episode. The French Peas Jean-Claude and Philippe then appear and segue the theme into their own story.
The story introduces Madame Blueberry, a rich but perpetually "blue" woman who lives in a sparsely-decorated treehouse. Though her butlers (portrayed by Bob and Larry) attend to her every whim, they find themselves unable to lift Blueberry out of her doldrums. The only happiness she seems to get is from looking at photographs of all the amazing possessions her neighbors own, which she keeps in various photo frames.
One day, a trio of salesmen (the Scallions) arrive at Blueberry's treehouse to promote their new "Stuff-Mart" department store, under the claim that they've got anything and everything she needs to be happy. Though Bob has his doubts, Blueberry goes along with the sales pitch and follows them to Stuff-Mart.
Silly Songs with Larry begins at this point, but before Larry can begin his song, Archibald Asparagus announces that "due to the disastrous outcome of the previous Silly Song" (as seen in the last episode), Silly Songs with Larry has been cancelled until further notice. Replacing the segment is Love Songs with Mr. Lunt, in which Mr. Lunt bellows out a rock-and-roll love ballad describing the relationship between one gourd (Jerry) and "His Cheeseburger".
The story resumes as Madame Blueberry and her butlers follw the salesmen to the Stuff-Mart. Along the way, Blueberry sees a little girl (Annie) celebrating her birthday with her parents. Though all she has is a single slice of apple pie and no presents, Annie happily sings of how thankful she is for what she already has. Confused as to why one would be so happy for having so little, Blueberry turns her attention to the Stuff-Mart.
As soon as Blueberry steps into the gigantic department store, she immediately goes on a shopping bender, buying everything she's ever dreamed of and more. While she buys, the Stuff-Mart staff of peas home-deliver everything to her treehouse. It would seem that Blueberry is finally going to be happy, but she tells herself that she'll never be happy until she has everything.
While taking a break at the snack bar, Blueberry sees a young boy (Junior Asparagus) begging his dad for a toy train. Dad sadly tells Junior that he can't afford it, but tries to cheer his son up by buying him a ball instead. Though at first disappointed, Junior happily accepts the ball out of gratitude. As Blueberry thinks about both this and the earlier scene with Annie, she comes to a revelation: that happiness doesn't come from getting what one wants, but from being thankful for what one already has. Seeing that she already had a wonderful home and two loyal friends in her butlers, Blueberry realizes her folly and tells the salesmen that she is done giving in to their materialistic temptations.
When she looks outside the Stuff-Mart, however, Blueberry sees her tree tipping over due to all the stuff inside her house weighing it down. Grabbing a shopping cart, Blueberry tries to catch up to the delivery peas, but is unable to stop the final delivery, a giant air compressor, from arriving at her house. The final heavy object proves to be too much for the poor treehouse to handle: the back door forces itself open and dumps every one of Blueberry's purchases into the lake below. In turn, the sudden loss of weight causes the tree to fling Blueberry's house out of its branches, over the forest, and onto the ground, where it immediately collapses into a wreck.
As the story draws to a close, Blueberry is with her butlers, Annie, Junior, and their respective parents. Though homeless at the moment, Blueberry nonetheless is finally happy for having such caring people be with her. At last, the blue berry has understood that "a thankful heart is a happy heart".
Back on the countertop, Bob and Larry are moved to tears by the story, but the French Peas manage to get them to focus long enough to announce the requisite Qwerty verse and end the show as usual. Larry admits that even if he can't have everything he wants, he's thankful for what he already has.
The episode is a loose parody of the novel Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.[1] Emma Bovary, the protagonist of that novel, also lives beyond her means to assuage a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction with her life.
This episode was aired on qubo around the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2006. The titular character was voiced by Chicago native Megan Moore Burns. This was the last episode produced by Chris Olsen. The next episode (Silly Sing-Along 2: The End of Silliness?) had Jon Gadsby take over.
In addition to the ubiquitous "VeggieTales Theme" and "What We Have Learned," this episode contains the following songs:
1.What's The Big Idea? Commercial
2.FBI Warning Screen
3.Big Idea Presents Logo
4.Opening Title
5.Closing Credits
6. Big Idea Logo
7. Interview with Dad