VeggieTales: Lyle the Kindly Viking

[rate 4.5]

Background

Lyle the Kindly Viking is one of the first times that Phil Vischer tries to do something different in his music style in that he tries to copy Gilbert and Sullivan: The Pirates of Penzance.  It also includes Big Idea’s first attempt at making a good water texture in preparation for their theatrical release of Jonah

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This VeggieTales episode takes place after King George and the Ducky, and Archibald Asparagus wants to take advantage of the fact that Jimmy and Jerry’s first foray into running the show went belly up.  He proposes that he could run the show and inject some culture in class into VeggieTales.  Because the lesson is about sharing, Larry talks Bob into giving Archibald a shot.

Archibald enlists the help of the French peas to create a “Masterpiece Theater” type set, and introduces a take off on a Shakespearian play…

Omelet

Jimmy Gourd plays the part of Prince Omelet.  The country over which he rules is facing an egg shortage– and he demands to have his eggs cooked light and fluffy.

This whole segment is played for Shakespearean gags.  First, Mr. Lunt plays Prince Omelet’s love interest.  He protests a lot about the fact that he has to play a girl while Archibald tries to convince him that in Shakespeare’s day all the women’s parts were played by men.  Mr. Lunt responds with “I’m sure we’re going to get letters about this one!”  What makes it even more hilarious is that Mr. Lunt is wearing a mustache!

There’s a segment where Prince Omelet happens upon a pea playing battleship, and as you can imagine, this leads up to the whole “2-B”, “Not 2-B” pun.  It’s followed by Jimmy sharing with the pea, and then stating he will share with all of them.  It’s at this time that Jerry Gourd shows up and says that they have plenty of eggs, because they thought they were ping pong balls!

After that, Scooter says that he’ll call the eggs preferred that way the “Omelet” of course.  And the last gag is when Mr. Lunt asks if there’s any toast and Omelet says “Get thee to a bakery”– a play off of Romeo and Juliet’s, “Get thee to the apothecary.”  It cuts to Larry and Junior in the audience claiming that they have no idea what was just said because of all the old English.

My High Silk Hat

Archibald refuses to let Larry sing a “Silly Song” and substitutes a “Classy song”.  This song is in a classical style like an Italian opera, singing about Larry with a high hat and chocolate.  It’s here that a lot of references are made to past VeggieTales.  The chocolate that Larry is holding is identical to those made in Mr. Nezzar’s chocolate factory in Rack, Shack and Benny.  Mr. Nezzar shows up wearing his outfit from that show.  One of the women that shows up at the bus stop is the losing queen entry from Esther: The Girl Who Would be Queen.  Art Bigotti makes his first appearance– he was on the plate that was broken in Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space.

A big gourd eventually comes and sits on Larry’s hat and chocolate causing Larry tremendous heartache.  When most of the people at the bus stop leave, Larry turns to a man sweeping the streets and stops his song to ask the vegetable’s name.  His comment “I’ve been around since show one, and I still don’t have a name!”

Lyle, the Kindly Viking

Archibald then opens a pop-up book entitled Lyle, the Kindly Viking from Gilbert and Sullivan.  It starts out on an island as two women are singing about the fact that their husbands are vikings and are out to sea.  The come back with all kinds of booty, including a giant screen TV– a play on the Viking brand of television.

Lyle (Junior), however, doesn’t pillage and plunder (stealing), he takes money and pot holders (in an attractive Stuff-Mart bag).  Pot holders?  A running gag about the fact that veggies don’t have hands.  In any case, Sven (Larry) and Otar (Bob) spot that Lyle is giving things back, and after some goofy antics about when to sing and when not to sing in a musical, they decide not to tell on him.

This is all well and good until Sven and Otar spot Lyle giving thing back when they’re going to steal from the same monastery.  They break into song trying to distract Olaf (Mr. Nezzar).  This includes using a shield from the ship that looks awfully much like the symbol for Larry Boy.  In any case, this doesn’t work, and Olaf decides to teach Lyle a lesson by crippling his ship.

Except there’s a storm, and when both ships are capsized, Pa Grape (dressed a lot like the prophet from King George and the Ducky) saves Lyle (only after throwing one of the peas instead of the life ring).  Lyle reminds them that we’re supposed to love even our enemies– to which Pa Grape responds, “We’re monks– we should know this!”

All the vikings are saved and they decide to become the sharers of the seas instead of the terrors of the seas.  Sven ends this piece saying that he needs to go to the bathroom in key.

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Archibald finds out that it’s not the famous Gilbert and Sullivan that made this script, like he was lead to believe, and he and the peas war it out while Bob and Larry close the show.