King George and the Ducky is a Veggie Tales production that imitates the biblical story of King David and Bathsheba in an animated cartoon format that is directed at children. It's not an exact reproduction, the names and situations are slightly changed from the Bible story and vegetables play the characters instead of people. It's a humorous cartooned rendition of the story of David of the Old Testament and it parodies the time when David was king and he committed adultery with a woman named Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah.
Adultery is not a theme for most young children to enjoy or understand, so instead of the more “adult” themes like sexual attraction, adultery and murder of the husband, the story is changed a bit. It's the story of King George, a cucumber who spends all his time taking baths and commits the sin of coveting the rubber duck of someone named Thomas. Just as David learned the gravity of his sin before God, King George learns that being selfish can't bring happiness and in the end, George has to admit he was wrong to do such a thing and learn to share with others.
Something more on the level that kids can relate to.
The Veggie Tales films were produced by a company named "Big Idea,"it's headed by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki. Some of the Veggie Tale stories, like King George and the Ducky, Jonah and Little Joe, are biblically inspired, others like Madame Blueberry, Lord of the Beans, and Sumo of the Opera are based on other, often more modern, works of literature and have nothing to do with the Bible. Thepoint of the Veggie Tales stories is to teach good morals to kids and that is something that makes them popular with Christians and non-Christians alike. While Veggie Tales is mostly marketed to Christians, even secular magazines give rave reviews of the programs.
The Detroit News said that Veggie Tales is “Well-crafted, entertaining animated stories that gently spread values such as loving others, thankfulness, forgiveness, and sharing." The Chicago Sun Times declared, “In an era when much of kids' programming is littered with sexual innuendo and bloody violence, Big Idea's success shows that producing high quality works." The Chicago Tribune wrote, “Smart writing, catchy tunes, characters with a Monty Python sensibility and a self-referential sense of humor that have won over as many adults as children.” The bottom line is that Veggie Tales programs have a wide appeal, sand they are not just for kids, adults tend to like them too.
It is a little shocking to equate the biblical “Christian” Veggie Tale kind of humor directed at kids with the irreverent comedy of Monty Python. Monty Python is a British acting troupe popular in the 70's, known specifically for their religious (and political) lampoonery, scatological humor, and sexual boldness; Veggie tales, on the other hand, is "good clean entertainment,"after all, look how they cleaned up the story of David and Bathsheba. It's now just good clean fun, learning about selfishness and how people should share their toys. Comparing Veggie Tales to Monty Python is... no comparison; it's like... comparing, apples and oranges... except that the co-director of Veggie Tales series, Mike Nawrocki compares them that way himself. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as describing Veggie Tales as “what might happen if Monty Python took over Hebrew or Sunday school.” (Los Angeles Times, 10-4-02 )
So, in a way, Veggie Tales is a lot like "Monty Python in Sunday school." There is one exception though... if Monty Python took over Sunday school we would probably hear the name of Jesus more, although irreverently.
Now, you may wonder, "Why is that?" Well, it's because lead director, Phil Vischer wants the stories to teach values and morals to kids, (a noble pursuit,) but he wants to do this without making Jesus a central issue.
In an interview with amazon.com Vischer commented, “There are strongly religious people who…will sometimes say, 'Boy, you could say 'Jesus' more,' or, 'Let's talk about all three members of the Godhead.' We just explain how we're trying to create stories that appeal really to a broad audience because we're trying to take our whole culture and say, 'Hey, we need to look at these values again. Because we're really moving away from thankfulness and kindness and the values that we think come from the Bible and that God wants all of us to live by.' So, Veggie Tales teaches good moral lessons, even lessons from the Bible, but it's void of Jesus, on purpose.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 tells us: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."
Christian stories, stories of the Bible are not simply fable and fairytale. The Biblical accounts, particularly those of David as King are about real people who lived long ago, people who had a heart for God, and people whose mistakes, words and actions of valor and integrity, we can learn from. There are no rubber duck stories in the Bible, and King David’s lesson wasn’t simply that he had to learn to share.
Christians must be careful not to turn away from truth; they must be willing to endure sound doctrine, such as Jesus Christ being the foundation of the Christian faith. Cute little stories about talking veggies that parody the truth... like Monty Python, are entertaining, but in essence they are not biblical truth. They are simply fable.
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