Bob the Tomato, what a guy. Larry the Cucumber, what a goof. If you know what I’m talking about, then you know the greatness that is Veggie Tales. And I don’t want to hear about how a tomato isn’t a veggie, because there is no way that Bob is a fruit, and let us make it clear from the beginning; I’m not talking about Lord of the Beans or Little Drummer Boy. I’m talking ‘bout Dave and the Giant Pickle. I’m talking ‘bout Josh and the Big Wall. Heck! I’m talking ‘bout the OG, Where’s God When I’m S-Scared. These thirty minute movies made me who I am. I can’t think of water buffalos, my lips, or even a hairbrush without thinking of good ole Silly Songs With Larry. Because this is the way it is: the classic stories, animation, and songs in Veggie Tales are such that they stick with one for a lifetime. It doesn’t matter whether or not one believes that King David slew a giant as a kid or whether the mighty city of Jericho fell because Israelites walked around its walls in circles. What matter are the morals and happy memories a child gains from these great products from Big Idea. “Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun,” Veggie Tales’s long time motto, could just as easily have been, “Years of fun, a lifetime of values.” Veggie Tales teaches sharing, caring, loving, hoping, and laughing. The last, I enjoy to this day. Even after my moral code has developed beyond the point of what can be taught in animated cartoons, I still enjoy the funny episodes re-created from the Bible and yes, of course, silly songs from my boy, Larry. The old episodes of Veggie Tales (I don’t even want to discuss the cruddy new ones) offer an endearing thirty minutes of fun to my life, to this day. Silly song allusions will never get old and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will always be Rack, Shack and Benny to me. With the holiday season coming around, I’m sure to break out The Toy that Saved Christmas any day now. If any of you should get tired of black and white Christmas movies, I highly recommend checking it out. Jacob Steimer is the sports editor and a senior columnist for The Bark. Follow The Bark on Twitter @BeardenBARK, and like The Bark (Bearden High School) on Facebook.