{ "id": "epy76t5pwc", "slug": "jonah-a-veggietales-movie", "title": "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject", "label": "Animated films by source material and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject.films-based-on-folklore-and-religion", "label": "Films based on folklore and religion", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject.films-based-on-folklore-and-religion" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Animated films by source material and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject", "label": "Animated films by source material and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2002 American computer-animated musical comedy retelling the biblical story of Jonah with the VeggieTales vegetable characters, Big Idea Productions' first theatrical feature.", "snippet": "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2002 American computer-animated musical comedy retelling the biblical story of Jonah with the VeggieTales vegetable characters, Big Idea Productions' first theatrical feature.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-films-by-source-subject.films-based-on-folklore-and-religion", "markdown": "# Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie\n\n**Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie** is a 2002 American computer-animated musical comedy that retells the biblical story of Jonah and the whale with the vegetable characters of the [VeggieTales](https://www.edgepedia.org/veggietales) video series. Produced by Big Idea Productions and released on October 4, 2002 through [Artisan Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/artisan-entertainment)'s FHE Pictures banner, it was the studio's first theatrical feature and one of the earliest wide releases from an evangelical media company.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html) • [2](https://www.awn.com/news/big-idea-hooks-licensees-jonah-announces-second-feature-film)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | October 4, 2002, wide, distributed by Artisan Entertainment (FHE Pictures)[2](https://www.awn.com/news/big-idea-hooks-licensees-jonah-announces-second-feature-film) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jonah_a_veggietales_movie) |\n| Directors and writers | Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, co-writers, co-directors, and much of the voice cast[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html) |\n| Budget and marketing | $14 million production budget; promotional budget exceeding $12 million[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0298388/) • [5](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/10/veggietales-top-tomato/) |\n| Box office | $25,581,229 domestic, $25,621,297 worldwide; $6,201,345 opening weekend[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0298388/) |\n| Format | G-rated, 83 minutes, CGI animation[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jonah-a-veggietales-movie) |\n| Reception | 64% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (53 reviews), 75% audience score; Metascore 58[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jonah_a_veggietales_movie) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie/critic-reviews/) |\n| Home video | DVD released March 4, 2003 by Artisan Entertainment[8](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Jonah-A-VeggieTales-Movie) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and approach\n\nThe film is a story-within-a-story. Bob the Tomato and the Veggie kids, stranded at a seafood restaurant while waiting for a tow truck, hear the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything tell the tale of Jonah, a messenger of God who flees when ordered to preach to Nineveh, is swallowed by a whale, and receives a second chance.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jonah-a-veggietales-movie) • [10](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie) Jonah is played by Archibald Asparagus, voiced with a British accent by Vischer, alongside the regular cast of Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Pa Grape, and Mr. Lunt.[11](https://www.caymancompass.com/2002/10/07/veggietales-studio-takes-big-gamble) • [1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html)\n\n**Tone.** The film keeps the series' combination of moral instruction and satire, which Vischer has described as \"Monty Python taking over your Sunday school class.\"[12](https://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies_tv/article/vegetables-seek-to-provide-healthier-hollywood-2117688.php) Vischer explained the adaptation method as finding what is sacred in the biblical account and leaving everything else open to comedy, with nothing added contrary to the Bible.[13](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/jonahaveggietalesmovie/) The retelling follows the [Old Testament](https://www.edgepedia.org/old-testament) book closely, with comic additions such as a game of \"Go Fish\" replacing the casting of lots aboard the ship.[13](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/jonahaveggietalesmovie/) • [14](https://covchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/0212VeggieTales.pdf) Nawrocki said the hope was that families would go home and read the biblical account, coming away with a better understanding of its themes of compassion and mercy.[15](https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/first-person-jonah-a-whale-of-a-good-time/)\n\n## Origin\n\nBig Idea Productions, the Chicago-based studio founded by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, had produced the direct-to-video VeggieTales series since 1993 and had sold more than 30 million videos by the time of the film's release.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html) The path to a feature film began with an unlikely episode: two Christian bookstores, the series' primary retail outlet, rented a movie theater and charged admission to screen a new VeggieTales video. Vischer asked them to donate the profits to charity, which they did, and the studio then began sanctioning such theatrical premieres itself. When one event in Florida drew an audience of 16,000 for two screenings on a single Saturday morning, Vischer concluded that a full-length feature was viable.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html)\n\nProduction on the film was announced in March 2001, with a 2002 theatrical release planned and a distribution partner still being sought; a sneak peek appeared on the March 27, 2001 video release *Lyle, the Kindly Viking*.[9](https://www.awn.com/news/veggietales-theatrical-feature-starts-production) The project had begun in 1998 as one of the half-hour videos, but Vischer and Nawrocki found the story could not be contained in a 30- or 45-minute format.[1](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html)\n\n## Release and box office\n\nThe film opened wide on October 4, 2002 as the first release under Artisan's FHE (Family Home Entertainment) Pictures banner.[2](https://www.awn.com/news/big-idea-hooks-licensees-jonah-announces-second-feature-film) Its opening weekend gross of $6,201,345 placed it sixth for the weekend despite playing in roughly half the venues of the five films ahead of it.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0298388/) • [16](https://dai.mun.ca/pdfs/muse/TheMusevol53no0717October2002.pdf) Against a $14 million budget it earned $25,581,229 domestically and $25,621,297 worldwide, with nearly all revenue from North America.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0298388/) Distributor FHE Pictures president Glenn Ross said there had been \"absolutely no problem\" finding theaters willing to book the film despite its Christian reputation.[12](https://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies_tv/article/vegetables-seek-to-provide-healthier-hollywood-2117688.php) Big Idea closed a long-term partnership with Odyssey Entertainment to represent the franchise outside North America.[17](https://www.screendaily.com/veggie-empire-goes-on-global-odyssey/4011080.article)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics received the film as solid family entertainment. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 64% Tomatometer from 53 reviews, with the critics consensus reading \"Jonah teaches wholesome messages to children in a funny, bouncy package,\" and a 75% audience score.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jonah_a_veggietales_movie) Its Metascore of 58 reflects mixed or average reviews, with 12 of 20 counted reviews positive.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie/critic-reviews/) Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called it playful, high-spirited, and unmistakably amusing, writing that a sense of humor and a sense of values need not cancel each other out.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie/critic-reviews/) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) noted that Vischer and Nawrocki soft-pedal the proselytizing in favor of gags and gentle lessons, and reviewers singled out pop-culture references to *Jaws*, *Saturday Night Fever*, and a Raffi-style children's singer as material for the adults in the audience.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie/critic-reviews/) • [18](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/10/jonah-veggietales-movie/) Common Sense Media rates it appropriate for ages 5 and up, noting that the references to God are explicit but nondenominational.[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jonah-a-veggietales-movie)\n\n## Aftermath for Big Idea\n\nThe film's release coincided with financial strain at Big Idea. A scholarly account of the company reports that by late 2002, with multiple licensing agreements, promotional tie-ins, several spin-off series in development, and the release of the movie, cash flow became a problem, and the company found itself overextended.[19](https://www.democracy.uci.edu/files/docs/conferences/read2.pdf) [Christianity Today](https://www.edgepedia.org/christianity-today) reported in September 2002, before the premiere, that sources said Big Idea's future rested on the film's success.[20](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/09/big-trouble-at-big-idea/) Big Idea's two theatrical films, *Jonah* and *The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie* (2008), earned more than $39 million combined.[21](https://mycharisma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CMO-APRIL-2024-FINAL-OPTIMIZED.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Michael Mallory, \"VeggieTales Take Plunge With Big-Screen 'Jonah'\", Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2002](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-02-et-mallory2-story.html)\n2. [\"Big Idea Hooks Licensees For Jonah; Announces Second Feature Film\", Animation World Network](https://www.awn.com/news/big-idea-hooks-licensees-jonah-announces-second-feature-film)\n3. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jonah_a_veggietales_movie)\n4. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0298388/)\n5. [\"VeggieTales' Top Tomato\", Christianity Today, October 2002](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/10/veggietales-top-tomato/)\n6. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jonah-a-veggietales-movie)\n7. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie/critic-reviews/)\n8. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Jonah-A-VeggieTales-Movie)\n9. [\"VeggieTales Theatrical Feature Starts Production\", Animation World Network, March 12, 2001](https://www.awn.com/news/veggietales-theatrical-feature-starts-production)\n10. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/jonah-a-veggietales-movie)\n11. [\"'VeggieTales' studio takes big gamble\", Cayman Compass, October 7, 2002](https://www.caymancompass.com/2002/10/07/veggietales-studio-takes-big-gamble)\n12. [Nigel Hunt, \"Vegetables seek to provide healthier Hollywood diet\", Reuters via Houston Chronicle, October 5, 2002](https://www.chron.com/entertainment/movies_tv/article/vegetables-seek-to-provide-healthier-hollywood-2117688.php)\n13. [Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, Plugged In review](https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/jonahaveggietalesmovie/)\n14. [Bob Smietana, \"A Whale of a Tale\", Covenant Companion, 2002](https://covchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/0212VeggieTales.pdf)\n15. [\"FIRST-PERSON: 'Jonah,' a whale of a good time\", Baptist Press, October 2, 2002](https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/first-person-jonah-a-whale-of-a-good-time/)\n16. [The Muse, vol. 53 no. 7, October 17, 2002, Memorial University](https://dai.mun.ca/pdfs/muse/TheMusevol53no0717October2002.pdf)\n17. [Adam Minns, \"Veggie empire goes on global Odyssey\", Screen Daily, November 4, 2002](https://www.screendaily.com/veggie-empire-goes-on-global-odyssey/4011080.article)\n18. [Douglas LeBlanc, \"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie\", Christianity Today, October 7, 2002](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/10/jonah-veggietales-movie/)\n19. [Scholarly account of Big Idea Productions, University of California, Irvine conference paper](https://www.democracy.uci.edu/files/docs/conferences/read2.pdf)\n20. [\"Big Trouble at Big Idea\", Christianity Today, September 1, 2002](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2002/09/big-trouble-at-big-idea/)\n21. [Charisma Media, \"New VeggieTales Feature Film Set to Premier in 2026\", April 2024](https://mycharisma.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CMO-APRIL-2024-FINAL-OPTIMIZED.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Animated films by source material and subject › Films based on folklore and religion*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jonah-a-veggietales-movie. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a 2002 American computer-animated musical comedy retelling the biblical story of Jonah with the VeggieTales vegetable characters, Big Idea Productions' first theatrical feature." }