The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Mike Nawrocki

Writer:

Phil Vischer (writer)

Release Date:

11 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Plot:

Three lazy misfits - very timid Elliot (Larry the Cucumber), lazy Sedgewick (Mr. Lunt) and no self-confident George (Pa Grape)...

Plot Keywords:

Veggietales

Cast

Phil Vischer	...	George / Sedgewick / Willory / Sir Frederick / Mr. Hibbing / Bob the Tomato / Pirate Spy / Pirate Philippe Pea (voice)
Mike Nawrocki	...	Elliot / Pirate Jean Claude Pea / Theater Foe / Pirate Spy Sidekick / Pirate with Dummy / Rock Monster Father (voice)
Cam Clarke	...	Robert the Terrible / The King (voice)
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Alexander (voice)
Alan Lee	...	Blind Man / One-Eyed Louie (voice)
Cydney Trent	...	Bernadette (voice)
Megan Murphy	...	Madame Blueberry (voice)
Jim Poole	...	Pirate Scooter Carrot (voice)
Tim Hodge	...	Jolly Joe / King's Ship Officer (voice)
Ally Nawrocki	...	Lucy / Rock Monster Girl (voice)
Joe Spadaford	...	Jacob Lewis / Stubb Pirate Overboard / Stubb Pirate Coward (voice)
John Wahba	...	Dungeon Guard / Pirate with Dummy Sidekick (voice)
Colleen Curtis	...	Theater Customer Woman (voice)
Brian Roberts	...	Steadfast Soldier / Theater Customer Man / Pirate Pilot (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sondra Morton Chaffin	...	Caroline (voice)
Laura Gerow	...	Eloise (voice)
Patrick Kramer	...	Collin (voice)
Drake Lyle	...	George Jr. / Rock Monster Boy (voice)
Keri Pisapia	...	Ellen (voice)
Sloan Yarborough	...	Photographer (voice)

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G

Company:

Big Idea Productions

Trivia:

Phil Vischer completed the script for this film in 2002 -- before Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) was released. But because of the bankruptcy and buyout of Big Idea Productions, the film wasn't able to start production until late 2005.

Quotes:

Collin: What matter of magic is this?
Sedgewick: It's not magic, it's Radio Shack!

Movie Connections:

References "Days of Our Lives" (1965)

Great movie for kids!

In this day of incredible computer-aided animation and scripts written to keep audiences laughing, it is easy to get caught up in the quality of the production and the non-stop barrage of jokes while losing sight of another objective that a good movie for kids might—or even should—attempt to achieve: communicating the value of virtues. It is rare that a movie can pull off all three, and I have to believe that effectively communicating values (without preaching) is the most difficult of the three.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything comes close on all three counts. The animation is good, but it does not amaze. The story has moments of laughter and emotion, but you don't end up caring about many of the characters. And it makes it clear that doing the right thing and being willing to make sacrifices for others is important and worth the effort. In the end, I was glad that my kids had been entertained while having important principles reinforced. This is truly a movie for kids from start to finish, rather than a cute story with mature humor thrown in from time to time to keep things interesting for parents who might not be able set their prurient interests aside for a couple of hours.

Now if I could just get those freaky cheese curls off my mind…