A Creator Creates Again
When Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki conceived of VeggieTales, it was a fairly radical departure for children’s animation. Talking and singing vegetables telling updated Bible stories? We all know kids don’t like to eat vegetables, but will they enjoy watching them singing silly songs (“Where is My Hairbrush?”) and answering viewer letters?
Kids loved it. Adults loved it. In fact, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t enjoy the silly humor and pop culture references strewn throughout the videos, which have sold millions of copies.
Despite financial and infrastructure problems of the original company Big Idea, VeggieTales remains as popular as ever, but without Vischer at the helm.
What’s so admirable is that he’s started over again creatively. He’s written more than 20 books (including Me, Myself and Bob) and started an online entertainment channel called JellyTelly, which he describes as “a way to bring the Bible to life for kids on a daily basis and show them the work of the church around the world and their role in it.”
The mission? To help the next generation of Christians know what they believe and how to live it, and to raise up the next generation of Christian storytellers by employing students coming out of film school.
Here’s a man who took his passion – ministering to kids – and married it with an amazing level of creativity to form the world’s most loved children’s videos. When he lost that business, he didn’t crawl into a hole and hide for the rest of his life.
He spent time seeking God, then found a new way to express his passion. What a great lesson. Your failure isn’t final. Maybe it’s a step to the next idea or production or book or song or painting or…
