You know, I go on and on, in this blog, about LarryBoy. And what a better way to express my love for the cucumber superhero by showing you the evolution of LarryBoy... the way I see it. (I'm not sure how everyone else sees this.)
First appearing in Veggietales back in the 90s, LarryBoy was an all-around hero and friend. Sure, he may not have been the actual hero in one or two videos, but his likability is still there. And, kinda like Don Bluth and his string of good and bad animated movies, LarryBoy too had his good movies and bad ones, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
So let's start off our evolution of this cucumber superhero with LarryBoy and the Fib from Outer Space.
For those of you who sadly didn't think that this movie existed, I'll give you the premise. A kid named Junior Asparagus accidentally breaks his father's antique plate. Junior then befriends a space alien simply known as Fib, who tells him to lie about who broke the plate. So for the first lie, Junior blames one of his friends for the incident, but then finds himself telling more and more lies later on.
Finally, everyone is pissed off at him for lying. And to make matters worse, the Fib grows into a giant monster and kidnaps Junior. So during the ruckus, LarryBoy is called in to take down the Fib; however, the trick of all this is to tell the truth.
-Seriously, all this over a plate? I mean, think about it.
This was all caused by a boy telling so many lies; he was influenced to lie by a space alien; and the alien just waltzed into that boy's life, just because... just because, seeing that he's from another world or something...
If you haven't figured this out yet, then somebody needs to take some logic classes.
This leads to one of the video's problems. Do you know what's seriously lacking in LarryBoy and the Fib from Outer Space? LarryBoy. I don't get it; he's on the friggin' VHS/DVD cover. Why isn't he in all of this movie? He just shows up, gives a heroic pose, and then we cut to the movie's victim and his problems.
-Then again, maybe the video wanted us to know that you don't need a superhero to tell you that you shouldn't tell so many lies. If that's the case, then I won't prolong this complaint any longer.
Another problem with this movie was that I kept expecting the Fib to be more sinister.
I kid you not: all he does is tell Junior to lie, praise him for lying, and then turn around and threaten to eat him. As for the destruction part, all he does is step on cars, damage buildings (apparently setting one on fire), and scaring the living shit out of people.
-Now I know what you're thinking: Oh, Whatsoever Critic, you don't appreciate the kid-friendliness for this movie. No, I do appreciate the kid-friendliness for this movie, but even G-rated-like movies can have stuff that makes one question this G-rated environment. Don't know what I mean? I'll give you a spin on it:
1. the Fib obviously making Junior uncomfortable when staring directly into the camera and saying the line:
"I'll always be your little fib."
-Creepy.
2. a worm's eyeview of... the Fib going somewhere
-Are we looking up his skirt or what? What was the purpose of that shot? Wasn't there anyone in Big Idea that saw this and believed that they should have did that take again?
3. LarryBoy being squeezed to death, that it's amazing that he doesn't spew out blood or, at least, get internal bleeding
-Yeah. Disturbing.
and last but not least...
4. the Fib threatening to eat people
-That's like the holy grail of the things-that-question-kid-friendliness factors.
So if you think that I'm being harsh with the Fib not being sinister enough, well then think about this: If the scenes that I just pointed out to you is your idea of a G-rating, then good for you.
Anyway, all kidding aside, I still enjoyed this movie. This movie was when Big Idea was just starting to formulate their own superhero mascot for the series. This movie was creative in taking a combination of Batman and cheesy Sci-Fi Channel movies and making it into a kids' video, which was pretty impressive, even in the mid-90s.
-Fun fact: I didn't see this movie in the 90s. I believe I first saw this movie when I was 11, which was in the 00s of the 21st century. (Yeah, it's been that long.)
Like I said before, this movie was only starting to formulate its own superhero, so that this could pave the way for... LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed.
Imagine taking the first LarryBoy installment and giving it a slightly darker feel, as well as replacing the Fib with a sillier yet creepy-as-hell villain. Well, that's this movie.
-Now, the villain starts out silly, but later...
...well, you'll see when we get there.
Released in 1999, LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed introduced Big Idea's first-ever movie feel, with the cinematography and the boldness it possesses. What's the story? I'll give it to you.
Junior Asparagus (up to no good again) and Laura Carrot start a rumor about LarryBoy's butler Alfred, because the butler said that he was going to "recharge his batteries" during storytime at their school.
The kids, at the time, didn't understand his figure of speech; so they just foolishly assume that he's a robot.
-That's pretty bad.
Because the rumor was spoken, a talking weed (who's a mix between that chick from Overboard and the weed monster from Little Shop of Horrors) goes door to door repeating the rumor, while everyone else adds to it.
-Yeah, they actually add more fuel to the fire...
So, with the rumor spreading, LarryBoy must suit up and take on the Rumor Weed, who's lair is in the sewers.
But... (get a load of this) the kids end up saving the day when they right their wrong by saying nice things about Alfred, counteracting the rumor.
-And there's your first problem: Why doesn't LarryBoy get to save the day in this video? I mean, he looked pretty bad-ass in the opening scene where he takes down the Milk Money Bandit for stealing money from two kids who just finished seeing a movie... (Now why did this movie have to recycle the opening-scene storyline from LarryBoy and the Fib from Outer Space?)
Anyway, the problem with LarryBoy not technically saving the day this time around is that at first the movie portrays him as fearless and strong...
...but as time goes on, the movie suddenly makes him vulnerable to things like: Alfred telling the harsh truth about how to (I guess) kill the Rumor Weed, seeing that the monster has a root system, and that there's a (so-called) Mother Weed; and getting his ass handed to him by the damn Mother Weed herself.
Another problem I had with this movie, was that Alfred never explains his figure of speech to the kids.
-WTF? The kids in that classroom looked old enough to understand. I mean, this isn't teaching sex ed; this is about talking to them about figure of speech.
Another problem was that there are way too many over dramatic moments in this movie.
For example, when Alfred is talking to LarryBoy about the dangers of the Rumor Weed lurking in the city, he kinda sounds as if he's breathing helium.
-I don't know how to describe his voice going an octave higher, but let's just say that it's silly.
Plus, the cinematography can be great, but some of it is just awkward. Yeah, another example from the LarryCave scene is that when LarryBoy and Alfred discover that all the weeds are linked to a much bigger weed, there's this back-and-forth BS where the camera zooms into both of their faces.
-Even to this day, I still don't get why they had to do those dramatic-as-hell cut-takes when they could say their problem in just 9 words: There's a big weed in the sewers! Holy shit!
Well, despite the over-dramatizations, the video does give us all the action and all the suspense that's kid-friendly. Plus, the video throws out a good joke every once in a while. Yeah, this was the episode that officially made LarryBoy a household name for Veggietales fans. The video was so successful, that it was said to have been promoted nationwide, which was pretty awesome.
...LarryBoy and the Angry Eyebrows, on the other hand...
Seems to me that Big Idea wanted to continue giving LarryBoy more adventures, which is a great idea; but how they did it... Well, look at it. Instead of 3D-animation, they use 2D-animation, the hand-drawn animation. That was something new for Big Idea, and way out of their comfort zone.
Just look at the intro and tell me that it doesn't remind you of any other cartoon openings...
(LarryBoy driving his LarryMobile)
-Um... Darkwing Duck.
(LarryBoy bumping into a wall)
-Uh... Bonkers.
(LarryBoy taking down a group of bad guys)
-Obviously Batman: The Animated Series.
Anyway, it's a story about LarryBoy going up against a swarm of flying eyebrows (or "Angry Eyebrows," if you will) led by... another creepy demon of hell-
a villain named Awful Alvin.
Now, I know I've mentioned this on my LarryBoy and the Angry Eyebrows review, but I'm gonna bring it up again. One of the problems I had with this movie was that it felt like the movie made up the story as it went.
-Refer to my Mad Libs references in the review.
Another thing that drives me the wrong way is the villain. Sure, he may not have any political tie-ins to his character, but of all the LarryBoy villains, this one is the most insane. Don't think he's insane? I'll give you a run-through:
1. the creepy face
2. him having a floor lamp as a "henchman"
3. his obsession of defeating LarryBoy
4. his doing random stuff like:
Dancing...
Getting too comfortable with his lamp sidekick...
And... batting his eyelashes(?) (WTF)
I kid you not: he has no legit personality, outside of being creepy and disgusting.
Now, I'll admit: this was the first LarryBoy video that I ever saw in my life. When I was a kid, this video had me intrigued with LarryBoy. I only saw LarryBoy for who he was as a character. He was mild-mannered and humble; but when he suited up, he was amazing in likability and respect.
Although I was a little iffy on this video, it still had LarryBoy's same likability and charm.
...or at least until LarryBoy: Leggo My Ego.
Now tell me if this set-up is worthy to become a movie on the Lifetime channel: a mother enabling her son who is a bad guy...
(YES)
And that's the gist of this story:
A bad guy called the Alchemist threatening to take over Bumblyburg with his enabling mother... who does most of the bad guy work for him. While that's going on, the bad guys spray LarryBoy with a chemical that would make him prideful and literally shrink down people that he satirizes so that he can build himself up...
-Since when did LarryBoy become this depressed? Did he forget that he was special, just like what was being said in Dave and the Giant Pickle? Did that memory just go out the window that time?
Just like I said before on my review for this movie, it didn't seem like a legit LarryBoy video, because one, it has a strange premise that isolates LarryBoy from what's really going out until the final 10-15 minutes of the video; and two, they had to throw in an enabling mother for the bad guy, which makes him a Momma's boy and a (fill in your own insult here).
But if you think that this set-up was awkward, then you haven't seen extreme awkwardness yet.
Yeah... we had LarryBoy and the Yodelnapper for that.
Just look at some of these characters and tell me that you're not getting the vibe...
(yodeler yodeling)
(a band of yodelers captured)
(LarryBoy disguised as a yodeler)
This video was supposed to teach kids about being content with what they have, but the story's over-emphasizing on yodeling just masks the story's message to where it can't be detected.
Another problem with this video is the awkwardness that it possesses. For example... (well, I've talked about this on my review for this video, but I'll bring it up again) there's this one scene where Archie reveals a plan to see who the yodelnapper is by having LarryBoy disguise himself as a yodeler, so that he can be captured and then rescue all the other yodeler from... whoever has them. But here's the thing: Archie does this weird shit where he's speaking, but in a millisecond turns towards the camera to finish his sentence.
-I call this the Awkward Face Moment.
I betcha by the time this video came out, Big Idea was starting to see LarryBoy's decline in popularity. Yeah, when you watch the first two LarryBoy installments with the Cartoon Adventures videos, you can see that the good stuff seemed to end with Rumor Weed, and all the bad stuff starting in Angry Eyebrows. So, what did they do? They wanted to get a last chance in wanting to cash in on the 2D-animated realm of cartoon-animating.
Enter LarryBoy in the Good, the Bad, and the Eggly.
(Let's face it. It's nothing like the Clint Eastwood movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.)
This video centers around LarryBoy having to team up with a superhero named Dark Crow.
The heroes have to stop Awful Alvin and Greta von Gruesome... because they too had teamed up (somehow) to steal an egg machine that would help them take over Bumblyburg...
So, what are the problems with this movie? I'll give you a run-through:
1. Nothing about this video is legit when it comes to LarryBoy, because one, he has to work with a random superhero (that nobody gives a crap about) so that he can stop the villains...
And two, he has to save the day in a pair of pajamas and a bag over his head (LAME!).
2. This random hero (that I mentioned in number #1) feels a bit like a racist stereotype, because whenever he does something or says something, you can hear Mexican music playing in the background. Yeah, after seeing this, Mexicans/Hispanics would be praying for more of Carlos Mencia as Beaner Man.
3. The video's message, like Yodelnapper, is foamed in and not detected until the last few minutes of the movie.
So yeah, we've been getting Diet-LarryBoy ever since the Cartoon Adventures came along. It made us question whether or not Big Idea would come up with anything better than this.
So after the four episodes of the Cartoon Adventures, Big Idea finally had the brains to give us LarryBoy and the Bad Apple.
This one was probably darker than the Fib from Outer Space and Rumor Weed combined, but it was effective.
This movie is about LarryBoy battling a sour villain simply known as the Bad Apple.
The Bad Apple wants to enslave Bumblyburg by entrapping people into their temptations. She starts by tempting the mayor, then the reporter Petunia, and then LarryBoy. What is LarryBoy's temptation, you may ask? Chocolate.
-Oh. I always thought it was video games, but that would be Petunia's temptation...
So, to take down this seductress of a forbidden fruit that she is, LarryBoy must rely on the help of his friends to overcome temptation.
Now, in my review for this movie, I only criticized its use of stereotypes and controversy. I remember pointing out the different stereotypes ranging from Superman/Spiderman-like stereotype to the evil bitch stereotypes. As for the controversy, it had some.
1. First of all, just look at the Bad Apple and what she stands for.
It's obvious that the movie wanted to make her symbolic, seeing that the apple was the Forbidden Fruit that was mentioned in the Book of Genesis; it was the fruit that had Adam and Eve tempted, which spawned the first original sin.
2. Second, the chocolate room scene: Who could forget that scene?
One, this is definitely spitting in the face of the tunnel scene from Willy Wonka. Two, this scene seems to parody Willy Wonka. Three, just look at how this scene is brought up:
It's like LarryBoy got high, and we're seeing what it's like for him to get high... off of chocolate(?)
3. Lastly, like I said before, this one is slightly darker than the first two LarryBoy 3D-animated installments, mainly because this all has to do with the topic of temptation, and that temptation is represented through a seductive character.
As you can tell, Big Idea took risks on this movie with the cinematography, the colorful animation, and the storyline. I believe that this movie gave LarryBoy some redeeming value, and rescued him from the horrors of Diet-LarryBoy.
Now, for this last movie that I'm going to talk about today, let me give you a little background:
Once upon a time in March of 2012, Marvels Studios gave us The Avengers, which featured superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, the works taking on a diabolical villain with an alien force. When it was released in theaters, America was totally on board. Ever since the movie's release, many kids' shows wanted to spoof it. So the race was on between Disney and non-Disney shows to create a spoof of the hit Marvels movie, and Disney was...
...PWNED, because Veggietales gave us The League of Incredible Vegetables in October 2012.
(Disney's Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel didn't come out until August 2013!)
Yeah, the superhero genre was really popular at the time, which was very fitting for this new installment of the LarryBoy evolution.
So how did this movie turn out? Well, I had good news and bad news in my review, but I'll say them again. The bad news was about the payoffs. We had a villain that was nothing more than an insecure pansy...
A set-up that was supposed to be Bumblyburg but turned out to be the obvious set of the old Crisper town (from movies like It's a Meaningful Life, An Easter Carol, 'Twas The Night Before Easter, etc.)...
And... (GASP) LarryBoy getting kidnapped during one fight scene
(SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen the movie).
And to make matters worse, who did they rope in to be the main character that gets the most character development? Junior Asparagus!
The liar and gossip kid himself! Geez! What redeeming value does this kid have, outside of righting his wrongs at the last minute? He's nothing but a walking-talking example of the 5-year-old stereotypes. Don't know what I mean? Let's find out:
1. the naive conduct
2. the naive voice
3. the naive mischief, followed by the naive morality in the end, and...
4. most importantly... the naive imaginations that this kid has
Junior:
(lying) "It was these space aliens. They came down and grabbed these cows. And they switched brains with the cows. And then the cows with the brains of the space aliens broke the plate!"
(gossiping) "...he's a dangerous robot with laser eyes!"
-I mean, is this the person that you would choose to fight an epic battle (well... we saw how that turned out in King George and the Ducky)?
Is this the person that you would want to overshadow LarryBoy?
And speaking of LarryBoy, it was sad to see him be deprived of his epic superhero-ness, but only until the climax (I'm not saying anymore about the climax; just watch the movie).
Now, the good news about the movie was that it was action-packed. Plus, the animation was just as great as The Bad Apple. Also, it was a perfect spoof of The Avengers; that, I think, would give Disney a run for its money if they ever attempted an Avengers parody. In addition, the message was crystal clear the entire movie, which was definitely a good sign.
So now that we've journeyed through the evolution of LarryBoy, what is my consensus?
Well, LarryBoy had his ups and downs, when it came to his adventures. Some of his adventures were worth recognizing; others... not so much.
But the thing is, this evolution was to see how LarryBoy is still an all-around great guy to be around and look up to, because he isn't violent and/or anti-hero-like like all the other superheroes we've grew up with. He was different in a good way; and that's what's special about him- his nonviolent nature. Sure, we may have been thrown diet-versions of him in the past, but he was redeemed at some point, right?
So, LarryBoy would always be there for anyone who is interested. His recent adventure may have been kinda unexpected for a let-down, but that doesn't mean that we've seen the last of our beloved cucumber superhero.
And now, before I go, it's time for me to reveal what movie will be reviewed on Mystery Review #1.
Clue 1: an egg
Clue 2: an adventure
The movie is...
Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Veggietales
LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures
Darkwing Duck
Bonkers
Spongebob Squarepants
Batman: The Animated Series
Mind of Mencia
The Avengers
Courtesy: Big Idea Entertainment, Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., Comedy Central, and Marvels Studios.
