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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Larry-Boy is my hero!, March 26, 2000
Our purple and yellow cucumber hero is back again, friends, battling evildoers in the (normally) quiet town of Bumblyburg. Only this time, the bad guys don't come from outer space, but from under the ground.While it is not necessary to be familiar with "Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space"-- where Larry's alter-ego, Larry-Boy, made his dramatic (if confused) appearance-- there are a number of inside jokes that make more sense if one if familiar with the first Larry-Boy tape and the general opus of Big Idea's (the producer) work. Our show opens when the peas come out of the Bumblyburg movie theatre and stop to gaze at the sky. Remembering how the LAST time they saw a movie here the town was soon set upon by Fib, they are suddenly set upon by one of the Scallions (ever notice how they always play one of the bad guys? Perhaps they're rapscallions...? ). He promptly steals Percy Pea's milk money and heads for the nearest roof. There, *a la* Tim Burton's "Batman" he meets up with-- gasp! -- Larry-Boy! (adults and older kids will get a chuckle from the direct reference to Batman when the scallion says, "Who ARE you?" "I'm *Larry-Boy*! ") Larry-Boy turns the robber upside down and shakes him vigorously until all the money falls to the ground and is returned to Percy (Alfred Asparagus, Larry-Boy's butler, later tells him that to release a criminal from his super-suction ears he needs to shake vigorously and tilt his head to the LEFT). Larry-B himself looks to the sky and challenges any fibs from outer space to just TRY to run amok in Bumblyburg while HE'S walking the beat! Well, nothing falls from the sky, but L.B. DOES accidentally knock over a potted plant, which falls on a telephone line. The line makes the plant jump and sizzle with electricity, and when it falls into the sewer, it suddenly stands up and grins a wicked grin, *a la* "Little Shop of Horrors". Archibald Asparagus pays a visit to the Bumblyburg school to tell the class some of his adventures. At the end, he says it's time for him to go home and 'charge his batteries', which Laura Carrot and Junior Asparagus interpret to mean, among other things, that Alfred must be some sort of ROBOT! You can imagine what happens next when the Rumor Weed-- now sporting granny glasses and heavy, bright, red lipstick and an everybody's-business sort of voice and manner-- grows up in yards, in sidewalk cracks and immediately asks to those standing 'round: "Have ya' hoid a-bout Alfred? He's a ROBOT! " Of course, everyone belives the weed, but (and this is the point) no one bothers to ask ALFRED. Every Veggie Tales tape I've seen (which is all but one) is excellently produced. There are many religious videos for children that are good but do not have the standard of animation, the quality of music and song and range of audience that every Veggie Tales video has. Each tape is creative, fun to watch and appeals to every age group on some level, and that is missing in a LOT of video, religious or not. For example, infants/toddlers will like the big, "round" characters. Preschool will enjoy the slapstick and silly situations the characters (most notably, Larry) get themselves into. Elementary school children will enjoy the wordplay, the slapstick and the message. Adults, who may otherwise find themselves not watching at all, will be similarly glued to the show for it's subtle little zings-- like the above reference to Batman (personally, it's been my opinion that perhaps the reason parents don't watch shows with their children is because there is nothing in it for THEM-the adults). L.B. and the Rumor Weed is slightly different from other V.T. tapes in that A) the cassette case is green and B) the familiar opening theme song and intro by Bob and Larry is missing. We also don't get an old fashioned intermission of "Silly Songs with Larry". But, near the end we get to glimpse some other residents of Bumblyburg, including some mushrooms, red peppers and what appeared to be a small pumpkin. Is the regular cast of V.T. to expand? Perhaps only Larry-Boy and Alfred know!
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