The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This was one of those movies that I watched literally countless times when I was a kid and just about remember every line from it. After finding it on DVD about a year ago and revisiting it for the first time in years, I have since rewatched it a number of times because I can safely say that it still holds up tremendously. This movie has everything you could want out of a "Veggietales" adventure and more.The retelling of the Jonah story is really well done here. It's messages about compassion, mercy, and not running away from God when He has called you to do something really shine through. Like most "Veggietales" productions, it manages to sell its message in a fun way that doesn't feel overly preachy.The characters are fun to go along with and play off each other really well. Archibald playing Jonah was a great choice, and seeing the pirates who don't do anything is always a treat. I also loved Khalil in his first appearance ever.16 years after its release, the animation still holds up really well and is pretty to look at. The music numbers are expertly handled as well. Every single song is memorable and fits well with the theme and flow of the movie.There are certain things you never grow out of, and for me, "Jonah: A Veggietales Movie" is one of those. It might possibly be my favorite adventure to come out of this series. Check it out if you haven't already, as kids and adults alike can find a lot to enjoy out of it.RATING: A+

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a perfectly good-hearted, innocuous tool to help indoctrinate your children into the Christian faith. Of course, that's a little too brash, but it's an accurate summation of the animated film that features bright colors, grandscale animated settings, themes relevant to real life, and talking vegetables that simplify stories to make them accessible to your little ones.This film seems to defy film criticism in the way that it already has its own route to its target audience. In addition, the audience who wants nothing to do with the film will find no challenge in trying to ignore it. Its target audience will find the film recommend to their young children at certain church events and religious gatherings and children will likely be fascinated by the franchise's aforementioned traits. Honestly, the VeggieTales shorts aren't the worst type of videos to show your children. However, if one can look past the colorful qualities for just a few moments, they will find nothing more than a surface-level, preachy, morality play that grows tiresome quickly and is thankfully punctuated by a fluffy song in between the dreary exposition of the Bible.The film opens with Bob the Tomato driving Dad Asparagus and several young vegetable children to a concert. They wind up getting into a bit of a wreck and seek help at a seafood restaurant where they meet "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." "The Pirates" decide to entertain the gang by telling them the story of Jonah, an ambitious prophet who makes a living preaching the word of God to different towns. One day, God himself implores Jonah to preach his word to the town of Nineveh, a dangerous, unholy village, to which Jonah refuses and decides to travel to Tarshish, the furthest you can get from Nineveh.What unfolds is something of a road movie, with Jonah, who is an asparagus creature mind you, meeting random assortments of food, getting infamously swallowed by the whale, and learning such themes as compassion and mercy. Even the Veggie children learn of such themes, one meaning to respect your companions, the other meaning to give others second chances even if they don't deserve them. Such morals are the foundation of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie's existence and, in seventy-eight minutes, it does more than get its point across. It beats the morals and themes into the head of the viewer until you feel like telling everyone within your vicinity what you learned just to make the knowledge you gained seem more useful in some way.Thank the lord there are at least catchy songs that turn up every now and then to snap you back into reality. One song in particular I enjoyed, and wish was actually a complete tune, is "Billy Joe McGuffrey," which the young Veggie children are singing in the car which winds up distracting Bob the Tomato as he drives in a rush to see the concert. The fast-paced tune, the frantic animation, and the excitement of everything happening at once made me feel like a young kid watching the VeggieTales on a Saturday morning. What followed were other catchy tunes that, thankfully, were complete songs, like "Message From the Lord" and "Jonah Was a Prophet," two songs I'll be damned if I could get out of my head.I think that's value of watching something like Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie when you're either too old or an outsider of the target audience is the nostalgia factor. My generation was one that probably got the most use out of this franchise, and seeing these characters come back for one harmless film was something that, at the very least, was cheerful and amusing. On another note, not completely necessary. However, at a concise seventy-eight minutes and featuring a few catchy anthems, it's not a real task by any means.Voiced by: Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Lisa Vischer, Dan Anderson, Shelby Vischer, Kristin Blegen, and Jim Poole. Directed by: Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki.

All in all a good movie for those who like to lie to their kids. The fact that "veggies" like to watch god destroy people for these sins is complete bunk. God destroys without discrimination. Very hard to watch if you find the hole god thing very tiresome. I only wish the "God" people would make something that shows how much god loves us and not bore us to death with mindless dribble and silly cartoons that even kids think is stupid. Only when they understand that fact can they begin to make entertaining movies for the youth of America and the world. Yes they look cute but what does talking vegetables teach them other than adults lie to them

I bought this movie before I ever even bothered watching it because I figured, hey, it's Veggie Tales. How can you go wrong, right? Well, I don't regret buying it, but it's not quite as good as most of the regular Veggie stuff.Most of us have a pretty good grasp on the Jonah story right? Well, just as always with Veggie Tales, the heart of the story is there with the most important details, and then everything else gets mixed up and screwed around with. It starts off with Dad Asparagus and Bob the Tomato driving a bunch of the little veggies to a Twippo concert. Then they encounter some difficulties on the road and find themselves with two flat tires and crashed into a tree stump.They get out and head for the nearest building, a seafood restaurant. When Junior Asparagus sits down at the table, he hears some people talking on the other side of the glass. It's the pirates who don't do anything! I don't remember what they ask Junior, but they eventually strike up a conversation, and the pirates tell Junior the story of that one time when they met Jonah and had a little adventure… Jonah was a prophet who traveled across Israel delivering God's messages to His people. Then Jonah gets a call from God to deliver a "turn and repent" message to Ninevah. But why Ninevah? The Israelites and the Ninevites don't get along, and Jonah would rather die than go there. So he decides to go against God's orders and sail as far as possible in the opposite direction, to Tarshish. He hires the pirates who don't do anything to take him out there, and so the four of them set sail for Tarshish.Just like in the Bible story, there's a big storm because of Jonah, and after they cast lots to determine who is responsible (done quite ingeniously in the movie I think), they throw Jonah into the ocean. The storm goes away when they throw him in, and a whale (not a big fish like the story) comes along and swallows Jonah up. There Jonah has a little encounter with a choir of asparagus angels, and then the whale barfs him up on the shore, and he heads out for Ninevah.I think the hilarious thing is how the pirates end the story. Just like in the Bible story, at the end, Jonah is wailing and mourning and whining and crying and there's no real conclusion, and that's how it ends in the movie. The pirates just say "the end" and that's pretty much it. Of course, there's still some other stuff that happens outside of the story segment of the movie.Overall it's done pretty cleverly, but it doesn't quite have the same Veggie Tales zip that it should. The special features on the DVD and certainly worth the cost though.Bottom Line: 3 out of 4 (worth watching)