19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Crisp Bible Storytelling From Big Idea's VeggieTales, April 27, 2000
Fans of "Toy Story," The Bible, or fresh salads (guess that covers everybody) will enjoy VeggieTales, half-hour videos telling faithful (ungarnished?), fun Bible story adaptations starring a tomato (Bob), cucumber (Larry), carrot (Laura) and asparagas (Junior) aimed to kids'(and adults')pressures and problems.
"Rack, Shack, and Benny," (aka Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) is one of the series' best. It retells the story of the Fiery Furnace as a parable about peer pressure with catchy songs ("The Bunny Song" is a favorite despite its intentionally inappropriate message, "Dance of the Cucumber" is a hilarious "silly song" and tension breaker), cute one-liners ("What does being a junior executive mean?" "It means you have to wear a tie.") and kid-friendly suspense leading to God's climactic rescue where the three ("Now there's four, and one looks real shiny") are saved. The lesson is summed at the end with a pinch of good humor.
Kudos (Bacos?) to Phil Vischer and his merry band at Big Idea for creating a series which, like its stars, are good and good for you. It's a series to relish, and HIGHLY recommended.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In with the old out with the new., February 19, 2005
Rack Shack and Benny brings many fine moments to the Veggie Tale franchise. It boasts the first appearance of Mr. Lundt, Mr. Nezzer, Laura the Carrot and George,the security guard narrator who also narrates the Toy that Saved Christmas. With Dave and the Giant Pickle, which came out the same year, Rack Shack and Benny departed from the previous and current Veggie format of two stories regarding the episodes theme by telling a longer story interspersed with a silly song at intermission. And what a silly song at that: An Argentinean cucumber folk ballad sung in Spanish by Larry, translated in to English by Bob; often at the interpreters expense.
The story itself adapted from the book of Daniel takes Shadrach (Bob) Meeshach (Junior Asparagus) and Abednego (Larry) from captivity to cavity prone by making them workers at a chocolate factory. It capably tells the story of standing up to persecution for doing what you know is right. The boys are commanded to bow down to a chocolate bunny and sing the bunny song. They know that many of the words in the song are wrong and refuse to bow or sing. As a result they are sentenced to be thrown in the incinerator with the rest of the "bad" bunnies. I hate to leave you hanging on the plot line but you'll have to watch the video or read the bible to see how it comes out.
The only problem I have with my copy of Rack Shack and Benny is that Big Idea broke one of my favorite credos. That credo being is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
You see there are two versions of Rack Shack & Benny: the original and a re-release, with the only difference being lines of dialogue in the Bunny song. You would not think that switching lines in a song would make much of a difference but in this case it's like watching a video without actually putting in the VCR, it alters the entire presentation.
One of the lines I am referring to sung by Nebby K. Nezzer is:
I won't go to church and I won't go to school that stuff is for sissies but Bunnies are cool. In the re-release they change the first part of the line to: "I won't eat beans and I won't eat tofu". Another change is I don't love my Mom or my Dad just the bunny to something much more benign.
The problem with the line changes is that it undermines and all but obliterates the entire conflict of the plot. It makes Rack Shack and Benny seem to be willing to give their life over gastronomical differences.
Now I understand that the line change may well be in order not to have children singing such bad lines. But the point is that the kids in the story would not sing it. I thought the matter was resolved in the first sing a-long video when a reformed Nebby performs a new improved version of the song advising not to make the bunny an idol.
In all, I would still highly recommend Rack Shack and Benny to veggiephiles everywhere. And if at all possible try to get your hands on the original version and if you can, please send one to me!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great video for parents and kids alike!!, October 25, 1999
Another wonderful video from the Veggietales gang! They are all here in this video based on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the book of Daniel. What a great lesson. With God you always win, but you do have to stand up for what you believe in. Bob, Jr. and Larry are right on target with not bowing down to Mr. Nezzer's big chocolate bunny. My children had no problem figuring out that God was with them in the firey furnace and they got the concept of the video right away. I highly recommed it!
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