Customer Reviews

VeggieTales - Sumo Of The Opera [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The latest episode of everyone's favorite vegetables is packed full.

First up is "Going Up," a "silent" film starring the three Veggie Stooges working to deliver a very heavy piano up a very tall flight of stairs.

Next up is our silly song, the hilarious "School House Polka." Where do they get these great ideas?

Then comes a new segment. "Lufti's Fanciful Flanographs" features the story of St. Patrick. I found this retelling rather funny myself.

Finally comes the title feature. Larry takes the main role of The Italian Scallion, a sumo wrestler who never takes anything seriously. Will he follow through when he challenges Apollo Gourd to a championship match?

All this is held together by Bob trying to convince Larry, via phone, to go to the charity event he's supposed to be at.

While the last couple of episodes have been great, they've had fewer laugh out loud moments in them do to the nature of the stories they were telling. This episode is all out laughs. I loved every segment. The last one had plenty of references adults will appreciate as it spoofs underdog sports movies. Throughout the show, the theme is still clear - perseverance is rewarded by God.

As always, anyone looking for more won't be disappointed by the DVD. For adult fans, they've got behind the scenes documentaries and an audio commentary. Kids will enjoy the trivia game, maze, and craft ideas. And, as always, picture and sound are top notch.

It seems my love of VeggieTales grows with every episode I see. This is no exception. If you love these shows, be sure to add this one to your collection.

This VeggieTales release is another winner. With four excellent segments, this show has enough variety to win over lots of different tastes.

"Going Up" is a spoof of Laurel and Hardy mixed with The Three Stooges, and while this has some dialogue (not in the actual story, but in the special dialogue cards that go with it), the original "unrestored" version that was going to be part of the show before it was changed is included as a bonus DVD feature.

"Schoolhouse Polka" is a pretty good Silly Song, though not as good as some other recent greats like "Sport Utility Vehicle" and "Belly Button." It's also kind of short. A good segment, nonetheless.

"St. Patrick's Day" tells the story of Saint Patrick in a mix of 2-D and 3-D animation, within the context of a flannelgraph. It's a great story on church history and it's very funny to boot.

The main segment, "Sumo of the Opera," is wonderful with a great color palette, excellent animation, and a good story. This one also has a good score.

As usual there is a Bible verse at the end, but a surprise happens to QWERTY. Hopefully he'll be repaired by next show.

The DVD features are as to be expected from Big Idea top notch, including Easter Eggs and the standard behind-the-scenes interviews. There are previews for two upcoming shows, "The Princess and the Pie War" (January 2005) and "Minnesota Cuke" (May 2005), as well as a progression reel and art gallery. My favorite feature is always the audio commentary, and David Pitts and Mike Nawrocki (who also did the commentary on "A Snoodle's Tale") do a great job with the audio commentary on this DVD. For the St. Patrick's Day segment, Mr. Nawrocki is joined by Brian K. Roberts, who animated the entire segment. After the segment is done David Pitts come back and he and Mr. Nawrocki finish the rest of the commentary.

One minor concern -- Phil Vischer is almost nowhere to be found on this DVD. Aside from voicing Bob, Jerry Gourd, Pa Grape, and his other usuals, and singing in the Japanese vegetable choir, he seems to have had little to do with this episode, and he's not in any of the DVD features either. Hopefully he will be more involved in the upcoming episodes.

Overall a great episode and a great DVD -- surely another classic for everybody's VeggieTales library.

Despite the fact that Veggies Tales and Big Idea are now owned by a larger company, the creativity and Biblical messages haven't stopped coming. THE SUMO OF THE OPERA is the latest episode to be released in the Veggie Tales series.

The entire episode revolves around a message of perseverance. Larry isn't on the show because he's supposed to be delivering some toys to some kids. However, he's gotten lost and is about ready to give up when he calls Bob asking for help. What follows are several films aimed at trying to keep Larry from giving up with what he set out to do.

The first short in the episode is a "silent" film called "Going Up". The short film is kind of a tribute to the Three Stooges and involves a trio of vegetables (who look like the Stooges) trying to deliver a piano up a mountain of stairs. The film is introduced by a hand-puppet in the shape of a cucumber which is operated by Khalil.

The second short on the tape is the usual Silly Songs with Larry. This one is entitled "Schoolhouse Polka" and has Larry singing about homophones. The song is rather short, but it is original and reminiscent of the Silly Songs from the original Veggie Tales episodes.

A third feature on the tape is "St. Patrick's Day" which tells the history of St. Patrick. The story is illustrated with images that look like pictographs, but pictographs which move 3-Dimensionally. The story is quite informative and educational. However, I have no idea why it's on this episode since St. Patrick's Day isn't until March and the video was released at the end of August.

The final installment on the episode is "The Sumo of the Opera". "The Sumo of the Opera" can best be described as a tribute to Rocky, interspersed with Oriental dressed vegetables who sing songs to the tunes of Gilbert and Sullivan. Quirky, yes. But it works and provides enough vibrant colors and short tunes to keep even the youngest children involved.

Overall, SUMO OF THE OPERA is a great Veggie Tales. There's a lot crammed in one tape, but most people like their veggies plump.

I won't waste time repeating the praises of others here. The Rocky Balboa references in "Sumo of the Opera" are spot-on as usual as is the 3 Stooges bit. My 3-year old loved it even though he has yet to experience the ecstacy of the first 2 Rocky movies (and the utter agony of the others...)

I want to mainly focus on the seemingly controversial "St. Patrick" flannelgraph segment. I'm a Catholic and I see nothing at all irreverent about the piece. It's humorous, yes, but there are many parts of the story of St. Patrick which strike one as odd, possibly fanciful, possibly miraculous, and humor is not out of place in the telling of the story. It is certainly not inaccurate in the demonstration that many pagans of the Emerald Isle dropped their religion in favor of Christianity almost as immediately as the cartoon characters drop their tree branches. This is something which is especially necessary for children to learn since they will be pummeled with the nonsense in schools and universities that the Church relentlessly persecuted pagans as a regular principle and forced them to convert.

My wife and I eagerly anticipated getting this for our daughter, who does indeed love her Veggie Tales. Contrary to other certain reviews, this wasn't bad at all, but it will go over the heads of some kids. My wife and I were able to laugh most of the way throughout the whole thing.

This isn't the first episode where the message could have at one point gone over the head of a kid or 2. In "Lyle, the Kindly Viking" they put Archibald Asparagus and the French peas as host and co-hosts, yet it was easier to get the message.

But it starts out with Bob getting a phone call from Larry, who is to help with a toy rally, gets lost, gets upset and bent out of shape, and is frankly ready to throw in the towel because it is getting too tough. The whole show is all about persevering, or as Bob tells Larry, "To keep on keepin' on!" It has a silent version of the 3 Stooges, but then gets complicated to some kids. They go on to tell about St. Patrick, and that's when my daughter went on to doing something else for 1 reason. There was no Bob or Larry at all, and it did go way, WAY over her head. But then you get to the main event! It focused on the Italian Scallion vs. Apollo Gourd. I really loved the way that Pa Grape made a good Mickey-like character, yet without all the bad language. The Italian Scallion is known for not finishing what he starts, and he wants to quit when the pressure is on once his big fight with Apollo. So while over the heads of some, it is a message for all to see, yet it might appeal to an older kid crowd.

Now while other people may have their um, big ideas, so-to-speak, let's give some credit where credit is due. Because while some of us never finish what we start, this does go a long way to deliver a lesson worth far more than riches, and that's what counts. Very encouraging for everyone! Also a great silly song with "School House Polka"!

I've been watching Veggie Tales ever since my mom bought them for me when I was in kindergarten. I'm still loyal to them, even after what happened with Jonah.

Sumo, though, is one of those episodes (along with Snoodle) which I pretend never existed. When I saw the preview, I was excited. I thought that it would be some Japanese verison of Phantom of the Opera, which made me squeal with joy.

Then to find out that it was a half-episode (which was my first annoyance). Then to find out that it was a Rocky/Mikado crossover, and not Phantom (this was before I had even seen the 2004 movie). Then I tried watching the auto-commentary. Sometimes, you can appreciate a bad Veg with the auto-commentary. But even my mom, who has a better sense of humor than I do, didn't find the scenes as funny as the directors. The Silly Song was not silly. Since I was a kid, I've been familiar with "School House Rock", but "School House Polka" isn't as entertaining (and I understood the parts of speech, too). The only time I laughed during that scene was when Larry got on his back like he was at a rock concert. And c'mon! Flannelgraphs?!

For pros, though, Lutfi was pretty cute, and it was funny to watch the "What Have We Learned" part. The costumes were interesting, and Larry's yelps were funny to listen to. Scallion's training was interesting to watch, and the anime drawings of Bob and Larry were adorable. The St. Patrick's Day was funny, despite the 2-D human stuff (and it was a simile, not metaphor. Still funny line though).

I'm still loyal to Veggie Tales, and I'm looking forward to the Sheerluck Holmes movie coming out. However, Sumo remains in the basement, and it will probably stay there for a long time.

I don't know what the other people are talking about! Sumo of the Opera is the best Veggie Tales video I have seen in a long time. I enjoyed it way better than a Snoodles tale, Wonderful World of Autotainment, or Duke and the Pie War. OK, so maybe the St. Patrick segment wasn't completely theologically or historically accurate...come on! Honestly, can preschoolers understand all the facets of paganism? Druids did focus their worship on nature, so it wasn't completely off base. I thought it did a great job of introducing kids to an historical figure who WAS a Christian. In light of the fact that hardly anyone today understands March 17 more than wearing green and drinking beer, this is a good thing. Let's get off the Catholic bashing and dismissing this video as corporate junk. And...the St. Patrick segment looked South Park-esque? IT'S A FLANNELGRAPH!!! Of course it's going to look different. Anyone who grew up going to Sunday School and learning from flannelgraphs would have a blast watching this. All in all, there is still truth to be learned here, and it's done in a very entertaining way. While I have yet to see The Ballad of Little Joe, (which I hear is great) I haven't enjoyed a Veggie Tales this much since oldies like Rack, Shack & Benny, Josh & the Big Wall and Madame Blueberry.

My 8 month old loves this DVD. He especially likes the short film " Going up" as well as the "School House Polka." As others have mentioned, I too have no idea why the " St. Patrick" flannogram is on this DVD, however, I found it very funny and entertaining. The feature film, "Sumo of the Opera," is an excellent story to tie in the message that God wants us to perservere. I can't think of a better way to teach this big word and lesson to little children. I especially like the music in this one, and it keeps the attention of my son as well. I highly reccomend buying this DVD for your little ones!

Wonderful movie! My 2 year old girl cannot get enough of it. I just love these movies, they instill great values and morals.

Sumo of the Opera is terrible. It's not up to the standard of Veggie Tales and should be marketed under another name. My 4-year-old is the world's expert on VeggieTales and we own them all, so we were eagerly anticipating the release of this latest show.

Everything about it is disappointing. It seems to be a hastily cobbled-together collection of random, not-very-good ideas. First of all, professional wrestling is not my idea of a good subject for a children's Christian video. Of course, there are virtually no Christian references, so maybe that doesn't matter. As for opera, I don't get the connection at all. Except for the music, which was the biggest letdown of all. I'm a huge fan of Kurt Heinicke's brilliant scores, with their wide-ranging musical styles and myriad of clever musical references, so I was shocked by how bad the music is in this show. The whole wrestling segment is a rip-off of Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado, with bad replacement lyrics that sound like a summer camp skit. This is especially surprising since there have been excellent takeoffs on G&S in several previous VeggieTales movies, with original material and orchestration. The other music in the show is anonymous rock-and-roll for the "Rocky" spoof, and a clumsy Schoolhouse Rock-type Silly Song. Even the recording levels are spotty. I agree with the previous reviewer who said the St. Patrick flannelgraph section didn't fit the rest of the show. It was stupid from start to finish. Although at least the music, a misty celtic-sounding arrangement of Be Thou My Vision, was OK. And the silent movie segment was kind of cute - I guess because it was someone else's good idea.

Phil Vischer's influence, taste and creativity were obviously missing from this show, even though he was used for voice talent. Having read that it's a new company, I'm slightly less puzzled, but no less disgusted. Their priorities are obviously completely opposite from the old team's. If you love VeggieTales, do yourself a favor and pass this one up.