Behind the scenes of idle pirates

Movies are by no means an industry that can be monopolized by a few companies. In Hollywood, in addition to the big brands that we usually hear about, such as New Line, Sony, Paramount, etc., there are countless independent filmmakers and independent labels that jointly support the entire American film industry. There may not be many theaters willing to show these independently produced films, but with the advent of computers and the Internet, independent films have finally found their own space to develop and survive, and their influence is no less than that of big-name productions. Although the power of a single work is still very small, tens of thousands of independent productions combined to form a huge long tail are enough to set off a huge wave.

The behind-the-scenes production of this film is such an independent film company - Big Idea Company. Since its establishment in 1993, Takami has established its main business orientation of focusing on home audio and video. At the same time, Takami Company also came up with a whimsical idea, which was to humanize vegetables and use these vegetable villains to make animated movies. This idea, which seemed absurd and unruly at the time, later became the company's flagship product, and this film is part of Takami's vegetable series.

Since their appearance in 1993, these clumsy and cute little vegetable men have been warmly welcomed by not only children, but also many adults. Those cartoon characters with short arms and legs, unable to run fast, unable to jump high, and with exaggerated expressions are really attractive to people. So far, this series of DVD products has sold 40 million copies. In addition to film and television products, other peripheral products related to the vegetable villain have also emerged one after another. So far, the vegetable villain has sold 26 image licenses. As an independent label film company, Takami initially only sold its DVDs through Christian retail channels. It was not until 1998 that they were able to enter a large market like Wal-Mart. In 2002, "The Adventures of Baby Vegetables" in the vegetable series was fortunate enough to be favored by the distribution company and released in theaters across the United States. The film grossed $25 million in total, and the box office in its first week reached $6.5 million, which is an incredible success for an independently produced film.

Subsequently, the company faced various operational problems despite its existing success. As the debt piled up, the company became increasingly difficult to move forward. Finally, in 2004, Takami Company declared bankruptcy and was acquired by Classic Media, another company focusing on home entertainment. In 2007, Classic Media was absorbed by the British company "Entertainment Rights". Therefore, the Takami company that produced the film no longer exists, and its development process has become a classic case in the history of the independent label industry.

The title of this film can easily make people think of the popular "Pirates of the Caribbean", but this film is definitely not a hyped film. As early as 2002, Phil Vesco, the founder of the Vegetables series and Takami Company, completed the script for the movie, before "Pirates of the Caribbean" had finished filming. But then the company encountered various problems and declared bankruptcy. Later, there was an acquisition turmoil. Therefore, the film was delayed until the end of 2005 before construction began. Later, the new owner changed ownership again, causing the film to be delayed again and again, until now.

However, this five-year delay is not a bad thing for the film itself. At least, the producers have more time to perfect every detail of the film. After taking advantage of the respective strengths of the three companies, the vegetable series has become more mature. Although the original producers of Takami Company have gone through many twists and turns, no matter who the owner is, they have never left the vegetable series. This also allows the animation to remain relatively consistent in style... In 1993, CG animation had not been so widely used, and the technology was slightly rough. A group of stories performed by various vegetables appeared on the animation screen at the same time. ’s stage, featuring Larry, a goofy cucumber, and Bob, Larry’s overly serious tomato friend.

Since then, this legendary story closely related to vegetables has always captured the attention of children, and also allowed parents to enjoy the fun that is rarely seen in children's works. Most importantly, its wisdom and unique sense of humor have also attracted a large number of college student fans.

There is no doubt that these vegetable characters have their own meanings and lessons, such as forgiveness, integrity, and gratitude--all good things for you. This animated series, which usually goes directly to home theaters, has released 27 sets so far. It has become the most trusted and valuable treasure in the world. It is not only loved by children, but also trusted by parents.

In 2002, these lovable vegetables finally appeared on the big screen. The film "The Adventures of Baby Vegetables" introduced more movie fans to these vegetable characters with distinctive personalities. While receiving great praise, it has also become the greatest vegetable-related movie in history... Now, the original team behind the scenes 6 years ago have once again dedicated their efforts, and "Pirates of Nothingness" came into being. It is an animated feature film entirely produced by CG, from the most popular "Vegetable World" produced by Big Idea Production Company. The protagonists are still Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lant and Grape Pa - Elliot in the film. T, Sedgwick and George, they become three hapless guys trying to prove their worth in the world. They want to be heroes... After all, it's not that difficult, is it? The film can be regarded as a fresh interpretation of the concept of heroism. Three vegetable babies will use their special abilities to prove it all.

All stories related to "Vegetable World" originate from Big Idea production company, one of its founders Phil Vischer (Phil Vischer) created two vegetable characters--Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, and with the assistance of his friend Mike Nawrocki, a complete story with beginning and end was developed with these two characters as the center. When it came to "The Idle Pirates," Vische conceived an original script for it as usual, which was then revised and polished by Narocci, who also took on the important role of director himself. Kurt Heinecke, the famous composer of Big Idea Production Company, is still the main force behind the scenes. He also composed the soundtrack for the first film in 2002. As for Starz Animation Company, which has focused on a group of talents in the same industry, it is responsible for all computer digital technologies. As the film's director and producer Narochi said: "We hope that the film will be related to 'Vegetable World'." The series of stories can become one of the important educational resources for parents. We try to let everyone who hears the stories gain some meaningful experiences and lessons. Sometimes, we may tell a story related to the Bible. , sometimes it is taken from a classic literary masterpiece, or even worse, we will make it into a parody story that satirizes modern pop culture. In 1989, in the spare bedroom of a Chicago apartment, the animator Fei. Er Vische is immersed in some mechanical work, starting to outline the image and characteristics of a group of candies. These characters have no arms, no legs, no hair, no clothes... Vische not only needs to give them vitality, but also Using them to create a story that lasted almost half an hour, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration - be higher, be more detailed... perfect!

Soon after, his wife Lisa Weiss. When Lisa Vischer glanced at the spare bedroom at home, she accidentally said: "You know what? If the children really fall in love with your cute candy characters, their mothers will definitely hate you and may burst into our house and accuse you of letting their children eat sweets and develop tooth decay. "So, Phil Vischer's thought took a sharp turn - why not replace the things that are harmful to the child with something that is beneficial? For example, vegetables, especially a cucumber, let him be followed by a Persimmon just sounds like two silly characters.

In this way, a series of computer-generated and very funny stories was born. Then, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber rushed from the kitchen to the animation world that Vische loved and the entertainment of lively and lovely children. zone.

In the chronology and distribution chart of animation history, "Toy Story", which represents a turning point in CG animation, seems to be 6 years later, so at that time, you were counting on computer-generated Can the characters have artistic appearance and beauty? That's almost like wishful thinking. However, Phil Vische still worked diligently to create thrilling and wonderful stories one after another. In the end, they all became members of the "Vegetable World" series. Then he collaborated with his wife and good friend Mike Narocchi***, and the three of them developed this cartoon series, and demonstrated a very distinctive lively storytelling method and cute characters. and silly songs, even self-deprecatingly G-rated "Monty Python" series, but specifically for a small audience.

Phil Vische voices Bob the Tomato, Mike Narocchi is the voice of Larry the Cucumber, and Lisa Vische is the cute little asparagus... At this time, Another person with extremely high talent but a very low salary joined their production team, and that was the church music master Kurt Heinak. The arrival of Heinak not only maintained the already low capital investment, but even had to pay for it himself. He, the Vischers and Mr. Naroch shared a somewhat cold office that did not see sunlight all year round. Working day and night - this was the prototype of Big Idea Production Company.

At that time, VCR became the main form of playback in home theaters, and the "Vegetable World" series of stories directly produced on video tapes became the most valuable way of home entertainment. By 1993, Big Idea Production Company produced the first completed version of "Vegetable World" VCR - "When I'm Afraid, Where's God?" "(VeggieTales: Where's God When I'm S-Scared?), sold 50,000 units in the first year; in the second year, this number tripled to 150,000 units; by the third year In 2016, an unprecedented 700,000 units were sold... Phil Vische recalled: "At that time, we thought, okay, we may have sold to the limit, but that number kept exceeding our imagination." Fourth. In 2006, Big Idea Productions ultimately sold 2 million units.

American retailers realize that no matter what their parents’ beliefs are, they seem to like to use these stories related to the “vegetable world” to educate their children, so they keep stocking their shelves. Put it as full as possible...Phil Vische said with pride: "These dogmas in the story are actually the basic components of Western civilization. The most important thing is that parents and children love the uniqueness of 'vegetables' Humorous way."

This cultural environment continued in an incremental manner, which led to the 1998 television debut of Bob and Larry. By 1999, the two characters also joined the Thanksgiving Day Parade... In April 2001, First Lady Laura Bush even invited them to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll.

In August 2001, the 15th episode of "Vegetable World", the story "Lyle, the Kindly Viking" (Lyle, the Kindly Viking) came out. It was the first animation in this series to enter home theaters at the same time. and market, 70,000 units were sold on the first day, making it the best-selling home theater product in history. Even the "World Animation Celebration" awarded the "Best Home Theater Product" to "Lyle, the Good Pirate".

October 2002 was Big Idea Production Company’s first experience on the big screen. The domestic box office revenue of "The Adventures of Baby Vegetables" reached 25 million US dollars, and was recognized by all audiences. , has also remained in the top 10 on the national box office list for three consecutive weeks, and was nominated for the prestigious Annie Award.

In December, the first broadcast version of Veggie World, "The Star of Christmas," premiered on PBS, while a game version of "The Mystery of Veggie" created by Big Idea Productions Island) also landed on the game platform.

Popular high-quality animation works like "Vegetable World" quickly attracted a large group of partners, and the creative team of Big Idea Production Company continued to grow. By September 2006, "Vegetable World" has developed into a regular television program broadcast on national television. Big Idea Production Company has authorized at least 40 partners around the world to sell related products related to "Vegetable World", with annual revenue in the tens of millions.

Counting on the fingers, it has been almost 19 years since Phil Vischer spent time in his spare bedroom because he wanted to create the image of fruit candies, and Big Idea Production Company has also changed from the very beginning. The three-person family workshop has turned into a large-scale animation studio with a whole new set of plans for the adventures of Bob and Larry. A new TV series and DVD are also ready to be released, plus this movie symbolizes a "good start" for 2008. "The stories of the films "The Idle Pirates" and "Vegetable World" are sure to be more exciting than the last.