Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures (also known as Larryboy) is an American direct-to-video animated children’s series developed by Tom Bancroft (a former animator for Disney) as a spin-off of the VeggieTales franchise created by Big Idea Entertainment. The first video titled "Larryboy and the Angry Eyebrows", was released on March 16, 2002.[1] The videos came to an end with "The Good, The Bad and the Eggly!", released on June 10, 2003, due to Big Idea's bankruptcy. Unlike its predecessor VeggieTales, which was animated in CGI using Softimage 3D and later Autodesk Maya, LarryBoy was animated in 2D animation using Adobe Flash.[2] From September 2006 to November 2009, NBC aired the content of all four videos on its Qubo block alongside airings of VeggieTales videos.[3] LarryBoy also currently streams on Yippee TV, a Christian-based American children’s subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service.[4] Each video contains two segments, a twenty-minute long segment and a seven-minute short segment (Larryboy Super Short).
| Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Crime Action Superhero Family Children's Christian Sci-fi comedy |
| Based on | Characters by Phil Vischer Mike Nawrocki |
| Developed by | Tom Bancroft |
| Directed by | Larry Whitaker |
| Starring | Mike Nawrocki Phil Vischer Lisa Vischer Larry Whitaker Shari Belgeau |
| Narrated by | Lee Marshall |
| Opening theme | He is That Hero |
| Ending theme | He is That Hero (Instrumental) |
| Composers | Jesse Tewson Christopher Davis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Phil Vischer |
| Producers | Jeff Holder Jason VanBorssum |
| Running time | 30–31 minutes |
| Production companies | Big Idea Entertainment Cornerstone Animation |
| Original release | |
| Network | Direct-to-video |
| Release | March 16, 2002 – June 10, 2003 |
| Related | |
| VeggieTales 3-2-1 Penguins | |
Premise
The video series revolves around the character Larry's superhero alter ego Larryboy as he tries to manage his life as a superhero while working as a janitor for the Daily Bumble newspaper in Bumblyburg.
Characters
Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures only carries over four characters from VeggieTales: Larry the Cucumber, Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, and Archibald Asparagus, with Mike Nawrocki, Phil Vischer and Lisa Vischer reprising their respective roles.
| Voice actor | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Nawrocki | Larry the Cucumber | The janitor Larry and his superhero alter ego, Larryboy. |
| Phil Vischer | Archibald Asparagus | Larryboy's butler. Unlike previous Larryboy videos, this character is named Archie instead of Alfred. |
| Bob the Tomato | Larry's boss, who works as the head of the Daily Bumble newspaper. | |
| Lisa Vischer | Junior Asparagus | A kid editor of the Daily Bumble. |
| Shari Belgeau | Vicky Cucumber | One of the members of the Daily Bumble. She is the love interest of Larry. |
| Mother Pearl | The Alchemist's evil sidekick and mother. | |
| Larry Whitaker | The Alchemist | A villain who appeared in the second video. |
| Officer Olaf | Bumblyburg's resident policemen. | |
| Chief Croswell | ||
| Awful Alvin | A villain who first appeared in "Larryboy and the Angry Eyebrows". | |
| Herbert and Wally | The eggplant brothers. | |
| Marc Graue | Bok Choy | The wise teacher of the superhero class that Larryboy attends. |
| Anita Protich | Greta Von Gruesome | A villainess with a German accent who appeared in the final two videos. |
Videos
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboards by | Original release date | Qubo air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Larryboy and the Angry Eyebrows" | Larry Whitaker Supervising director: Tom Bancroft | Kent Redeker | Jeff Holder and Jason VanBorssum | March 16, 2002[5][6] | September 30, 2006 | |
|
Larryboy fights a "cheese-breathing cow dragon", but discovers that it is Herbert and Wally in disguise and the duo are arrested. Soon after, Larryboy breaks an inventor's "KnitMaster 3000" (which recycles hair collected in bathtub drains). Despite Larryboy's apology and the promise to repair the device, the inventor, Ma Mushroom, holds a grudge against him. Awful Alvin, planning to take control of Bumblyburg, releases eyebrows that force everyone to hold onto their anger. Soon, the eyebrows are attached to everyone who is angry. Larryboy confronts Alvin and soon an eyebrow attaches to him, which he lets go after remembering that he should let go of his anger. Soon, the citizens also let go of their anger and the eyebrows leave them. Larryboy, using the now-fixed KnitMaster, turns the eyebrows into a night cap. Alvin rues the loss of his eyebrows and his anger causes the eyebrows, now in night cap form, to entrap him. Alvin is arrested, and Ma (seeing the KnitMaster) lets go of her anger and her eyebrow leaves her. Larryboy Super Short: "Fly By Might": Larryboy is enjoying a vacation when a fly begins bothering him. Frustrated, he tries to kill it in every way possible but ends up knocking himself out. The short ends as the fly is enjoying its own drink on the unconscious Larryboy. | |||||||
| 2 | "Leggo My Ego!" | Larry Whitaker Supervising director: Tom Bancroft | Brian Roberts, Sean Gaffney and Tod Carter | Dan Haskett, Bob McKnight, Bob Miller, and Trevor Wall | August 27, 2002[7][8] | October 7, 2006 | |
|
Larryboy is at the local carnival when the cotton candy machine malfunctions. Following its violent explosion, Archie discovers a bottled substance known as Ultra Sucrose Enhancement Catalyzer, which Officer Olaf suspects was used for "chemical sabotage" of the machine. Larryboy runs into the Alchemist and is about to smell his flower; however, Olaf warns against it just in time and Larryboy supposedly sniffs no trace of the spray from the flower. However, after the Alchemist is thrown in Olaf's van and driven off, Larryboy begins to feel superior to the entire town and puts down the citizens, causing them to be shrunk, captured, and taken to the Alchemist's lab. Larryboy soon realizes what he's done and arrives at the lab, only to be confronted by a much deadlier and more dangerous version of himself - the Alter Ego. After fighting it, Larryboy then remembers he needs help from Archie and his friends, which causes the Alter Ego to shrink and eventually disappear and returning the town residents to normal size. In retaliation, the Alchemist takes Bob hostage. After dropping him at Herbert and Wally's firing of jelly donut juice at him, he inadvertently releases the spray on his mother (Mother Pearl), who flings it back at him and shrinks him. Soon after, Mother Pearl and the Alchemist are apprehended by the cops. Larryboy Super Short: "Cuke of All Trades!": It is Larryboy's birthday, so he decides to go into the city. For a Tuesday, it is unusually quiet, and Larryboy hopes that no one has forgotten about his birthday. He goes into Mahoney's Bakery and decides to watch it while Mahoney himself goes out. Things turn chaotic quickly, resulting in the bakery and a candle shop across from it exploding on their interiors and Larryboy finding himself inside his own birthday cake. Mahoney returns and wishes him a happy birthday along with all of the other residents. | |||||||
| 3 | "The Yodelnapper!" | Larry Whitaker Supervising director: Tom Bancroft | Kent Redeker, Bob Miller and Larry Whitaker | Dan Haskett, Bob McKnight, Bob Miller, and Trevor Wall | November 26, 2002[9][10] | October 14, 2006 | |
|
At Mr. Snappy's Extremely Gigantic Toy Emporium, Larryboy accidentally knocks down a chemistry set which falls on clay sets creating the monstrous Crazy Clay Monster. The monster attacks Larryboy, but he puts it asleep by playing a toy saxophone. Larryboy then goes to a concert of his favorite yodeler, Einger Warblethroat. However, the performance goes wrong when Greta Von Gruesome kidnaps Einger and takes him to her castle to join other yodelers that she is holding captive. Archie disguises Larryboy, who poses as a yodeler and gets "yodelnapped" and taken to the castle. Larry releases the trapped performers, but the group falls into a pit and is attacked by an army of Greta-controlled Hula Heidi dolls. After defeating the dolls with the help of Einger, Larryboy apprehends Greta. The five rescued yodelers then put on a "Tribute to Larryboy" concert. The Crazy Clay Monster returns to fight Larryboy, but is interrupted and begins dancing to polka music as the performers yodel Larryboy's theme song. Larryboy Super Short: "A Polar Pickle!": At the zoo, Archie and Larry are taking pictures of the polar bears in the exhibit. The little boy visits the penguin exhibit where he loses his toy fish into the exhibit. Two of the penguins think that it's a real fish and begin fighting over it while the boy cries over his lost toy. Larryboy pursues the penguins until one of them unintentionally helps him get the toy back. The boy proceeds to lose his toy again in the polar bear exhibit. Archie tries to summon Larryboy once again, but Larryboy is too exhausted. | |||||||
| 4 | "The Good, The Bad and the Eggly" | Larry Whitaker | Sean Roche and Larry Whitaker | Dave Bennett, Chris Hamilton, and Dan Haskett | June 10, 2003[11][12] | November 4, 2006 | |
|
Awful Alvin and Greta Von Gruesome are out of jail. After three flying pigs with bacon-and-egg guns shoot down the Larry-Plane, Larryboy is saved by the Dark Crow, who is the hero of a neighboring town. The two team up to fight the pair, but Larryboy makes a mistake and the two steal a machine called the Overeasy Egg Ray which turns anything not alive into eggs. Using it, they steal various antiques from a museum and kidnap Vicky. Larryboy and the Dark Crow are stripped of their supersuits and are captured. After getting free, Larryboy destroys the Overeasy Egg Ray but is knocked out. Larryboy is freed by the Dark Crow and the duo capture Alvin and Greta and send them back to jail. Larryboy Super Short: "Merry-Go-Wreck": Electro-Melon and Lemon Twist accidentally destroy The Bumblyburg Amusement Park over disagreements between each other. Larryboy arrives and questions the pair who look around with shame at what they've done. Working together, they repair the damages. The three then walk through the now-repaired amusement park while eating cotton candy and popcorn. | |||||||
Reception
In a mixed review, Scott Blakey of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate wrote that the series has "sly nods to comic book characters of the 1930s and the so-called golden age of animation" while referring to the series as a "breakthrough in reverse" for its use of 2D animation instead of 3D animation.[13] In a more positive review, Richard LeCornte of the Reno Gazette-Journal writes that the series "succeeds at making its message pleasing to children and adults" and gave the series a B+.[14]
The series was nominated for a Golden Reel Award in 2003 for Best Sound Editing in Direct to Video, but lost to The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina.[15] Vischer stated that fans of the original VeggieTales series criticized the series for its cheap-looking animation.[16] Mixed with Big Idea's bankruptcy at the time, the series was cancelled after the release of only four videos.[16]
Home media
All of the videos were released in both VHS and DVD formats. They were also released as a set or included with the other Larryboy videos in: VeggieTales: Bumblyburg Super-Hero Value Pack (2004),[17] VeggieTales: Larryboy Super Hero Power Pack (2012),[18] and VeggieTales: Larryboy Ultimate Super Hero Collection (2019).[19]
References
- ^ Bloom, David (13 August 2002). "Cornerstone Animation Takes Hit". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ Vischer, Phil (9 January 2007). Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables. Thomas Nelson. p. 182. ISBN 9781418537630. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ DeMott, Rick (24 August 2006). "Qubo To Launch On NBC, Telemundo & The i Network This September". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ "LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures (VeggieTales)". Yippee TV. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Larryboy and the Angry Eyebrows". Big Idea. 5 March 2002. Archived from the original on 5 March 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Larryboy (2002): Episode #01 – The Angry Eyebrows". Amazon.com. Big Idea. March 16, 2002. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
- ^ "Leggo My Ego!". 8 August 2002. Archived from the original on 8 August 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Larryboy (2002): Episode #02 – Leggo My Ego". Amazon.com. Big Idea. August 27, 2002. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
- ^ "Larryboy - The Yodelnapper". Amazon.com. Big Idea. 26 November 2002. Archived from the original on 8 November 2002. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Larryboy (2002): Episode #03 – The Yodelnapper!". Amazon.com. Big Idea. November 26, 2002. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
- ^ "Welcome to BigIdea.com!". Amazon.com. Big Idea. 4 June 2003. Archived from the original on 4 June 2003. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Larryboy (2002): Episode #04 – The Good, The Bad and the Eggly! (Finale)". Amazon.com. Big Idea. June 10, 2003. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
- ^ Blakey, Scott (May 10, 2002). "VeggieTales' hero cuke off on new adventures". South Florida Sun Sentinel. p. 97. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ LeCornte, Richard (December 13, 2002). "Larry-Boy: The Yodel Napper". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 52. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- ^ Martin, Denise (8 February 2003). "'Gangs,' 'Perdition' top Golden Reel nods". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ a b Vischer, Phil (9 January 2007). Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables. Thomas Nelson. p. 184. ISBN 9781418537630. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "VeggieTales: The Bumblyburg Superhero Value Pack DVD". Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
- ^ "Christian Cinema". Archived from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
- ^ "VeggieTales: LarryBoy Ultimate Super Hero Collection". Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2022-10-05.