Big Idea Productions, LLC (formerly known as Big Idea Productions, Inc., Big Idea, Inc. and Big Idea Entertainment, LLC; also known simply as Big Idea) is an American

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

and is currently an in-name only unit, best known for its animated ''

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, Christian Computer animated, CGI-animated series and multimedia franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series stars Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumb ...

'' series of Christian-themed home videos. Founded in February 1989 as GRAFx Studios by Phil Vischer, the company was renamed as Big Idea Productions in August 1993 and it released its first direct-to-video ''VeggieTales'' program in December. In 2002, Big Idea adapted the Biblical story of

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

for its first theatrical feature film, '' Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie'', which was co-produced with FHE Pictures. Its second theatrical film, '' The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie'', was co-produced with Starz Animation for

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

and released in 2008. From 1999 to 2004, headquarters of Big Idea Entertainment was in Lombard, Illinois, a suburb outside of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. After Big Idea Entertainment declared bankruptcy in 2003 and the company was sold to Classic Media, headquarters was moved in 2004 to

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020 Uni ...

, a suburb outside of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. In 2012,

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

purchased Classic Media. In 2013, DreamWorks began to oversee productions of Big Idea Entertainment and launched the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' VeggieTales in the House''. After production of ''VeggieTales in the House's'' sequel series entitled '' VeggieTales in the City'' wrapped in 2017, DreamWorks sold the Franklin headquarters to Kingdom Story Company. Big Idea continues to operate as an in-name-only subsidiary of

, with

recently giving TBN a license to make '' The VeggieTales Show''. Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber, from ''VeggieTales'', served as the company's mascots.

History

Big Idea was founded in February 1989 under the name GRAFx Studios by Phil Vischer to create graphics in television commercials. In 1991, Vischer created a 12-second short film called ''Mr. Cuke's Screen Test''. This short inspired him and

Mike Nawrocki Michael Louis Nawrocki (born July 8, 1966) is an American animator, filmmaker, teacher, and voice actor best known as the co-creator of the Christianity, Christian video series, ''VeggieTales'' where he voiced Larry the Cucumber. He voiced many ...

to create ''

'', with Nawrocki coming up with the name. Vischer thought the name "GRAFx" no longer suited a company about to create children's videos, so he renamed it as Big Idea Productions, Inc. on August 6, 1993. The company released its first video, '' Where's God When I'm S-Scared?'' in December of the same year. Rapidly running out of office space, Big Idea relocated to the

suburbs in 1997 with the purchase of the DuPage Theater in Lombard, Illinois. However, renovation delays, unforeseen building conditions, and lengthy zoning battles resulted. In the interim, the company was guided by Lombard Village officials to rent space at the Yorktown Center, a local mall. In a co-production with FHE Pictures, Big Idea released its first theatrical feature film, '' Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie'' on October 4, 2002. On September 2, 2003, Big Idea declared bankruptcy after encountering management and financial issues and a lawsuit by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turn ...

in 2001. By the end of the year, it was auctioned off to Classic Media for $19.3 million. After its purchase, the company relocated to

in 2004. Big Idea partnered with Toronto-based Starz Animation to produce its second theatrical feature film, '' The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie'', which was released on January 11, 2008 by

. In April 2009,

Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formerly known as Sleepy Kids PLC and SKD Media PLC) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialised in television shows and cartoons, children's media, films, and distribution. ...

fell into voluntary

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

and sold its UK- and US-based

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

, including Big Idea and its parent company, Classic Media, to Boomerang Media. As of 2011 Big Idea, Inc. has been repackaged officially as Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. In July 2012, Big Idea's parent company, Classic Media, was acquired by

and began trading as

DreamWorks Classics DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenboge ...

. On April 28, 2016,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

announced that it would be acquiring DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. The sale was completed on August 22, 2016. On July 3, 2018, Vischer confirmed that Big Idea's offices in Franklin were shut down. While marketing employees continued to work for Big Idea during this time, DreamWorks sold the

studio in late 2017. In 2018, NBCUniversal licensed the properties of the studio to The Trinity Broadcasting Network. They launched the production of a new series entitled '' The VeggieTales Show'' in 2019 through a collaboration between NBCUniversal and Trilogy Animation Group. Vischer confirmed on Twitter that he and Nawrocki were both returning to work as head writers for the new series. On June 29, 2021, Phil Vischer announced that he and

were no longer working on VeggieTales due to pay disputes and creative differences.

''VeggieTales'' history

''VeggieTales'' is a series of children's animated films featuring

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s and conveying moral themes based on

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, spliced with joking references to

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

and current events. ''VeggieTales'' was created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, who also provide many of the voices. ''VeggieTales'' has also been released as books, games, and many other branded items such as toys and clothing. Additionally, the series has been adapted for television broadcast on

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

(where it aired from September 9, 2006, to September 5, 2009) and on

where DreamWorks Animation Television produced two series, '' VeggieTales in the House'' (which ran from November 26, 2014, to September 23, 2016) and '' VeggieTales in the City'' (which ran from February 24 to September 15, 2017).

Filmography

Feature films

Direct-to-video/television series

VeggieTales and spin-offs

Miscellaneous

Television specials

References

External links

Official siteWhat Happened To Big Idea?
article by Phil Vischer {{Comcast 2003 mergers and acquisitions American animation studios American companies established in 1989 Christian animation Christian film production companies Christian mass media companies Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee DreamWorks Classics Entertainment companies established in 1989 Lombard, Illinois Mass media companies established in 1989 NBCUniversal Tustin, California Universal Pictures subsidiaries Entertainment companies disestablished in 2022