I have come across a few curious takes on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I very much doubt, however, that the man who spun this yarn of farmgirls swept into magical lands by tornadoes ever imagined that his story would be adapted by Christian vegetables. The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's is an adaptation of the New Testament story of the Prodigal Son geared towards toddlers. With pleasant songs and cutesy animation, The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's works for its target audience.
For those not versed in VeggieTales lore, this is a franchise centered around Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato. Bob tends to be the more sensible of the two, with Larry being the more oddball one. It is a bit like Abbott & Costello, with Bob being a much nicer and more patient Bud and Larry being a less dimwitted Lou. In this story, Bob comments that "Felix Rosenwinkel of Grinnell, Iowa" has written to them about how he is concerned that his father won't love him anymore because he stole something. With that, Bob and Larry recount a variation of the Prodigal Son parable, which is found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 15 verses 11 to 32.
Young Darby (Junior Asparagus) wants to go to an amusement park, the Land of Ha's, overseen by a wizard. Darby's father Farmer O'Gill, a farmer raising dental floss, tells him that they cannot afford such a trip now.
Before I go any further, it should be understood that VeggieTales operates on its own eccentric logic, so a dental floss farm where the crops are original or mint flavored dental floss should be seen as perfectly logical in this world.
Darby knows he has money in his piggy bank, but Father insists that the money is for Darby's future. Finding it too much to endure, and with a desire to go Somewhere Beyond the Barn, Darby takes the piggy bank and goes off to Ha's with his pet pig, Tutu. Wouldn't you know it: a tornado sweeps them to a land populated by peas known as Munchies. The fairy queen Splenda (Madame Blueberry) tells Darby that he has crushed the Munchie Muncher of the East. Now, Darby sets off to the Land of Ha's, led not by the Yellow Brick Road but by Yellow McToad, who is an old Scottish yellow toad.
On his way, he encounters a scarecrow, a tin woodsman and a lion, who all go with him. The Wizard of Ha's welcomes them, especially when Darby has enough to pay for a day's outing. There are more wonders in the magical land of Ha's, but Darby is out of money. No prospects, no real friends, no help from the Wizard who is just a guy running an amusement park. How will Darby get back home? Moreover, will his Father welcome him back if he is able to escape the land of Ha's?
As The Wizard of Oz is so engrained into American culture, I wonder if The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's target audience will get the references, such as Darby's three traveling companions and the parody versions of Follow the Yellow Brick Road or The Merry Old Land of Oz. I think that younger children do not have to have seen The Wizard of Oz to get the story. I do not know if they will follow the refrain of "Ohioans and fifers and mares! Oh my!" though.
What children might not understand is His Name is Darby, the song that the Munchies sing in tribute to Darby's work in getting rid of the Munchie Muncher. The lyrics, which to be fair are meant to be nonsensical, make reference to Dana Carvey and Robert DeNiro. Leaving aside that the pictures of Carvey and DeNiro look nothing like them, at least to me, these references would clearly go over the heads of children. They might even go over the heads of some adults unfamiliar with Carvey, who is not as prevalent as he was when he was on Saturday Night Live.
There is another song that does not fit anywhere in the narrative. Again, my understanding is that every VeggieTales episode is supposed to have a "Silly Song with Larry" which is superfluous to whatever plot there is. This episode's Silly Song, Monkey, is again meant to be as the intermission says, a silly song with Larry (the cucumber for anyone who forgot). To the constant refrain of "If it doesn't have a tail, it's not a monkey it's an ape", Larry confers the title of "monkey" or "ape" to every imaginable object or being. Therefore, a kite and a comet are monkeys because they have tails. When Larry and Bob finally spot a creature, Larry proudly calls it a monkey because it has a tail.
Never mind that it is actually a cow. Monkey has an amusing wit and melody to it, not just the song but the presentation. We can "hear" the set being wheeled out and the text "Not a Monkey" flash when we see the cow. Yes, it is silly. Yes, it has no reason for being there. Yes, very young kids will be amused.
Most of the songs are quite catchy and amusing. Somewhere Beyond the Barn, an obvious nod to Over the Rainbow, is surprisingly moving. The closing song, You Can Always Come Home, is equally moving even if it is underplayed in the closing montage. Other songs, such as Follow Old Yellow McToad, are less silly and more eye-rolling. This is especially true as Yellow McToad plays no real role apart from a sight gag.
The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's does a very good job of putting both the Parable of the Prodigal Son and The Wizard of Oz into a more toddler-friendly mode. For example, Darby does not kill anyone, let alone witches. He merely crushes a Munchie Muncher. We do not see the wastrel life of the Prodigal Son in wild living. It is put in context that kids will understand without having to go into detail about the young man's wasted life.
Sadly, it does what many retellings of the Prodigal Son do: leave out the dutiful older brother. I cannot fault it too much for that in that The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's is meant to be a primer, not a sermon.
It is also a bit unclear if the Wizard was meant to be villainous or not. From what I saw, he was not a bad man but a businessman trying to drum up business for his amusement park. However, he does cause Darby to become trapped in a dungeon.
The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's succeeds in what VeggieTales bills itself as "Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun!". It presents its moral on the Prodigal Son in a cute, amusing way. It even closes with 1 John: 3:1 to reinforce the lesson of God's unbounded love for His children. It is a pleasant parody of The Wizard of Oz, not meanspirited but sweet, if a bit eccentric.
7/10
The Wizard of Oz Retrospective: An Introduction
The Wizard of Oz Retrospective: The Conclusions
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