“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” With nothing to lose but a morning in which I had no plans, I decided to give it the ol’ college try. This time we went to the right theater and saw yesterday’s intended film- The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.
Before I get to the movie, I have a few considerations. This theater did not have stadium seating. This made it a bit difficult for CavGirl to see over the seat in front of her. I later noticed some people had booster seats. I suppose that also would have helped the seat to stay down. When you are only 30 lbs, and all of that is at the back of the seat … you will have issues. This go around, there were far more younger children and babies. This meant it was noisier, and there were more distractions as well since CavGirl loves to watch babies. I had to answer the same 2 questions about pacifiers about a dozen times.
From CavGirl’s perspective, this movie was too scary. She really didn’t like the villain, seen here. That did prompt a few moments of “Dad-time” as she sat in my lap and hid her face in my chest, blanket covering her face.
It was not a fun as most Veggie Tale shows, and even Jonah. She asked if we could leave about 3-4 times. We didn’t.
The story was like the biblical story of Esther in that God was not explicitly mentioned, but worked behind the scenes to accomplish the deliverance of the prince and princess (unless the father, the good King with the evil usurper-wanna-be brother, is the metaphor for God). I explained to her that life has moments when we are very afraid, but that is when we need to be brave until God saves us. God will always save us, but sometimes life gets scary. In the movie they also talked about tests, which reveal what is most important to us.
So, this wasn’t Big Idea’s best effort. It was, as usual, mostly moralistic. It was mildly enjoyable for me, and too scary for her. At least there were no farting & pooping chipmunks, or barely clad dancers. So, it had that going for it. In terms of influences:
There was a tip o’ the hat to O, Brother, Where Art Thou? with the blind prophet speaking to 3 friends about to embark on a voyage in which one of them will regain his family’s respect. This, of course, is one of my favorite movies.- The song and dance at the pirate tavern was quite reminiscent of the Camelot scene in Holy Grail. Yes, another of my favorite movies, and an old standby for Veggie Tales.
- The evil pirate was a pea who had a mechanical body, reminding me of Darth Vader.
- The scene when the King gives them medals was a tip to Star Wars: A New Hope. They just lacked a howling Wookie. Yes, another one of my favorite movies.
- The B-52s, whose cult-fav Rock Lobster was redone as Rock Monster.
- Steve Taylor who appeared with the Newsboys for a song (I think that was the song). I recognized his lyrical style and thought the voice sounded familiar. He’s listed as a composer and performer on the soundtrack CD, but I’m not 100% certain of the song.
Cavman Considers 