I thought I needed to practice putting links in my posts, so I am going to try a post with SEVERAL links--something never before attempted by me! A little over a year ago, while we were in Salt Lake visiting family, I read a little blurb in their paper about how Big Idea Productions (the creators of VeggieTales) had declared bankruptcy and been bought by some other company. We all wondered what it meant and promptly forgot all about it, since it seemed like they were still producing good videos. A few months ago we got the newest VeggieTale, Sumo of the Opera, and it didn't seem as strong as some of the others. My best friend Amy told me about a review that she had read on Amazon.com that said that VeggieTales was owned by a different company, and that Phil Vischer wasn't an employee of that new company. The review referred to Phil Vischer's new web site , which answered a lot of my questions. In particular, he links an excellent article in Christianity Today that discusses in detail what happened. Basically, the company expanded rapidly but profits didn't keep up, so they got furthur behind. They hoped for a miracle with the Jonah movie, but it did just okay, not spectacularily. Then they were sued by their first distributor, and the jury awarded them (the distributor) $11 million. That sunk Big Idea. The interesting thing about the article is how it talks about the personal spiritual transformation that happened to Phil Vischer during this very stressful time when basically his dream died. I think God is going to use him in even bigger ways, but this has made me sorry that I haven't prayed for people like him, who are trying to influence our children for Christ. They are certainly going to undergo spiritual attacks, since Satan really doesn't want to give up our kids. I know I always assumed he was fat, rich, and happy with all the profits from the videos we were buying. Read the article! It's very interesting. And one last link--there was a funny story about the break-up of VeggieTales in an issue of LarkNews.com (which is sort of like "The Onion" for Christians).
Wow, four links! I've come a long way!
Claire
2 comments:
Ahhh...I see that wanting/getting one's Christmas present early (and thereby knowing ahead of time what it is!) must surely be proof that it's "all in the name!" I, personally, see nothing wrong with that all. I would even go so far as to not use it, if needed, until Christmas day. Way to go, Claire! I happen to have family members who are always trying to surprise me! :) Love, AC
You know, the themes running through out that you aren't excited about may be because Phil actually worked with quite a few mormons. If they are still employed and he isn't then I am not surprised about the lack of Bible.
On another note....I am very impressed by 4 links!! I still haven't done one yet!!! I may need you to talk me through it on the phone one of these days! Love, AC
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