Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella

Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella

DVD cover art
Directed by Mike Nawrocki
Produced by Kevin Gamble
J. Chris Wall
Written by Mike Nawrocki
Phil Vischer
Tim Hodge
Starring Phil Vischer
Mike Nawrocki
Cydney Trent
Music by Kurt Heinecke
Edited by John Wahba
Neil Gowan
Production
company
Big Idea Productions
Distributed by Boomerang Media
Release dates
 August 1, 2009
Running time
 50 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella is the twenty-ninth episode in the VeggieTales animated series. The episode was produced by Big Idea Productions and was released through Boomerang Media. It was released in the U.S. and Canada on DVD on July 31, 2009 in Christian bookstores and August 1, 2009 in the general market. It is also a sequel to Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush which was released in 2005. Like its predecessor, the episode is a parody of the Indiana Jones film series, specifically of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Plot

When the show begins, we see Larry wearing a paper bag over his head, with eye holes cut out and a frowning face drawn on. When Bob asks Larry about this, Larry explains that before the show he stopped at Burger Bell for lunch. When he got his meal he sang a prayer over his food, thanking God for his food. Larry is now feeling embarrassed because the kids in the next booth laughed at him for singing over his nuggets. Bob decides to devote this show to Larry's problem.

The story opens with a child Minnesota Cuke chasing after the three Scallions who have stolen the Muskie of 47' Minn manages to retrieve the Muskie, albeit briefly, as the Scallions steal it back. The scene then shifts to show an adult Minnesota who is still trying to retrieve the Muskie but continues to fail before being taunted by citizens. Later, Mister Humphry Muffet sends Minn on a quest around the world in search for Noah’s Ark to keep in his backyard as a tourist attraction despite Minnesota being upset for public humiliation. Minnesota then learns of the mysterious and powerful relic "Noah's Umbrella". He then teams up with his girlfriend Julia (Petunia Rhubarb) who is now an ice cream franchise owner with stores in Mexico and Malta; and his former arch-enemy, Professor Rattan originally sent on the quest by Muffet, to find the ark before Rattan's twin brother, Wicker, uses Noah's umbrella for his own schemes. Wicker wants Noah's Umbrella to have to control weather and force people to pay him for heat, rain and cold weather and eventually rule the world believing falsely that the rain came from the umbrella than God; and is close to finding the ark with an army of potatoes.

The problem is, Minnesota is afraid that people will still laugh at him, and he fails to carry out some of the steps. Thankfully, Minn has the help of a few very good friends, but he will need to overcome his fear of what others think if he is going to unlock the mystery of the umbrella and save the day.

Minnesota when being mocked all this time by citizens for doing the right thing, rescues Rattan when he is revealed to have been kidnapped by Wicker and they escape Wicker and his men to a tavern on a large snowy mountain and perform a song "Arise and Shine" for a clue. After deciphering several clues to the ark they are once again captured by Wicker who locks them up in a cage set by time to be thrown off a steep mountain peak; they escape when Minnesota learns that God's love is like a shield when he does the right thing. They catch up with Wicker and his men in a tunnel from the tavern but are again caught when they reach a dead end inside the mountain. Wicker ties up Rattan and Julia to force Minnesota to choose between helping him get the umbrella or a deadly avalanche over Julia and Rattan. Minnesota reluctantly agrees to help Wicker for his friends' lives and passes 3 tests about doing the right thing as Wicker and his men follow but laugh at him for the methods only to have calamity come upon them; Minnesota's love for God helps him not hear them mock and soon he comes close to the umbrella.

In the silly song Larry goes to a bar he frequently attends. He asks for a glass of juice but the bartenders tell him that since he always spills his drinks at the bar he must use a sippy cup. Larry throughout the songs begs the bartenders, waiters, guards, and even the mayor of the city to not be given a sippy cup for his drink. Eventually this is noticed by the USA court and the USA court Judge (Mr. Nezzer) tells him that he must use a sippy cup for his meal by the law orders. However the Judge gets a call from the state governor who pardons Larry and grants him forever privileges for real cups. Larry tries to drink his grape juice in his new glass but spills and asks for the sippy cup.

Eventually after passing the tests Minnesota finds a series of umbrellas on a shelf inside the mountain. Minnesota recognizes upon a glance that a checkered colored umbrella is the artifact and Wicker tries to use it to control the weather but is furious and dismayed when he learns that the umbrella does not have the power but that God does to give rain; he got his false theory on the umbrella's power from a children's cartoon shown earlier about Noah; causing his own army to mock him for making an evil scheme off of the cartoon. Wicker's whining about not getting his way causes an avalanche forcing them to retreat with the umbrella, as Julia and Rattan barely escape being squashed by the falling ice and snow before the entire group flees back to the tavern where Mr. Muffet and 2 Mountie agents arrest Wicker and his army for their crimes. The umbrella then is made a protected artifact and when Muffet wonders where the ark is after further unseen studying they conclude that the ark has rotted away after thousands of years under cold weather and snow. Minnesota is thanked by Rattan and Julia for believing in God enough to accomplish the mission and Minnesota learns a lesson on confidence about God's promises. The camera then cuts back to the tavern and reveals that it is really Noah's Ark itself.

Back at the countertop scene, Larry's bag is now wearing a smiley face, saying that he loves the story. Bob immediately wants Larry to remove the bag but he would rather not. Bob is startled when the bag again changes expressions; he frantically removes it from Larry's head. At the end, Jimmy Gourd shows up with the bag with a smiley face on it and says, "I feel really happy and I don't know why!"

External links