Josh and the Big Wall!

Josh and the Big Wall

2002 VeggieTales Classics DVD cover
Directed by Phil Vischer,
Chris Olsen
Produced by Chris Olsen
Written by Phil Vischer
Starring Phil Vischer,
Mike Nawrocki,
Lisa Vischer,
Jim Poole
Music by Phil Vischer,
Kurt Heinecke,
Mike Nawrocki
Distributed by Word Entertainment
Lyrick Studios (re-release)
Warner Home Video
Sony Wonder
Release dates
 December 5, 1997
Running time
 31 minutes
Language English

Josh and the Big Wall is the ninth episode of the VeggieTales animated series. It was released in December 5, 1997 by Word Entertainment, and January 7, 2000 by Lyrick Studios on VHS. It is subtitled "A Lesson in Obedience". The story follows the plight of the Israelites and the Battle of Jericho.

Synopsis

The opening countertop finds Junior Asparagus filling in for Larry the Cucumber, (he is tired from Larry-Boy! And the Fib from Outer Space!, the previous episode). Junior and Bob the Tomato field a question for Victor of Sausalito, California about obedience and, using their imaginations, are transported to the Holy Land.

Bob acts as narrator and provides Junior with some background information. The Israelites, having been held as slaves in Egypt, are liberated by Moses and led to the Promised Land. However, they question God's methods and are banished from Israel for forty years. Upon the completion of their exile, Moses has died, and Joshua (played here by Larry) has become leader of the Israelites. Joshua leads them back to the Promised Land, but one thing stands in their way... Jericho.

The story is interrupted here by Larry's Silly Songs with Larry. "Song of the Cebu," introduced as a "sequential image, stereophonic, multimedia event," finds Larry on the countertop with a slide projector and a captive audience comprising Jimmy and Jerry Gourd and Junior Asparagus. The song, about a boy and three cebu (and a hippo) frequently goes off track and is interrupted several times by Archibald Asparagus.

When the story resumes, the Israelites are met by the defenders of Jericho (the French Peas) who taunt them from atop the city's great wall. Joshua explains that God has given this land to the Israelites and that therefore the defenders will have to step aside. They are met by more insults and jeering. When a slushy falls and hits Jimmy, they fall back and regroup.

That night Joshua meets the Commander of the Army of the Lord who tells him how the Israelites are to take Jericho: they must march around the city once a day for six days; on the seventh day they are to march around it seven times, blow their horns, and all yell at the same time. At this point, the messenger states, the walls of Jericho will fall. Naturally this plan leads to some skepticism. Joshua must deal with dissent among his people, some of whom want to return to Egypt and some of whom want to attack the wall with might.

But they agree to try it God's way and proceed to Jericho the next day. The city's defenders insult them all the more, turning their taunts into a choreographed musical number while bombing them constantly with slushies. The end of the day finds the drenched and humiliated Israelites on the verge of rebellion. At this point, Junior, the co-narrator, intervenes and convinces them to continue with the plan God laid out. He explains that God's way doesn't always make sense, but provides examples of how it always works out in the end.

The Israelites agree to stick with the plan and, in spite of renewed counter-attacks, march around the city for seven days as specified. On the seventh day they blow their horns and the Israelites scream. At first, nothing happens. The Jericho peas laugh at the Israelites for not being so clever, but before they knew it, a crack on the wall causes the end of Jericho's world to be destroyed, just like God said it would be.

Bob and Junior wrap up on the closing countertop, reiterating the lesson in the film, a slushie falls. Larry appears in his pajamas (as seen in the Silly Song "Oh Santa" from "The Toy That Saved Christmas") at the end, but seconds later the lights go out as the computer screen turns off and Larry says "Aw nuts!".

Voice cast

Segments

Songs

In addition to the ubiquitous "VeggieTales Theme" and "What We Have Learned," this episode contains the following songs:

References

    1. http://christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/pre2000/rvu-vegjosh.html

    External links