Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
WSR Detailed DVD Review
Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Genre: Family

Reviewed In Issue 72 (May 2003) Of Widescreen Review®

Stars:
The Voice Talents Of Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Lisa Vischer, Shelby Vischer, Dan Anderson, Kristin Blegen, Jim Poole & Ron Smith

WSR Review Scores
WSR Picture Rating: 4.5
DD Sound Rating: 4
DTS Sound Rating: NA
Download WSR Review
Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score: 3.5
Internet Links
http://www.bigidea.com
http://www.artisanent.com
Special Features
Disc One of this two disc set includes three audio commentary tracks: one with directors Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, another with producer Ameake Owens and director of animation Marc Vulcano, and the third with Larry (Nawrocki) and Mr. Lunt (Vischer). Disc Two is a whale of a good time. Starting with the Behind The Scenes menu, you will find an 11-minute making-of featurette (with pop-up prompts for even more features), a seven-minute exploration of The Studio Process, a 12-minute tour of Big Idea


 DVD General Information

(Studio/Distributor): Artisan Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number): 13456
(MPAA Rating): G
(Rating Reason):

(Retail Price): $24.98
(DVD Type): Two Disc Set: DVD-9 & DVD-5
(Widescreen Edition): Yes
(Full Screen Edition): Yes
(Anamorphic Widescreen): Yes
(Running Time In Minutes): 83
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Regional Coding): 1
(Theatrical Year): 2002
(Theatrical Release): Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release): No
(DVD Release Date): 03/04/03
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

 Credits Information

(Director): Phil Vischer & Mike Nawrocki
(Screenplay/Written By): Subscribe Now!
(Story): Subscribe Now!
(Music): Subscribe Now!
(Director Of Photography): Subscribe Now!
(Production Designer): Subscribe Now!
(Visual Effects): Subscribe Now!
(Costume Designer): Subscribe Now!
(Editor): Subscribe Now!
(Supervising Sound Editors): Subscribe Now!
(Re-Recording Mixers): Subscribe Now!
(Executive Producers): Subscribe Now!
(Co-Producers): Subscribe Now!
(Producers): Subscribe Now!
(Academy Awards): Subscribe Now!

  DVD Picture Information

(Principal Photography): Subscribe Now!
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio): Subscribe Now!
(Measured DVD Anamorphic Aspect Ratio): Subscribe Now!
(Measured DVD Letterbox Aspect Ratio): Subscribe Now!

  DVD Sound Information

(DVD Soundtrack): Subscribe Now!
(Theatrical Sound): Subscribe Now!
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): Subscribe Now!
(DTS Bit Rate): Subscribe Now!
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate): Subscribe Now!
(Additional Languages): Subscribe Now!
(Subtitles): Subscribe Now!
(WSR Superb Sound Qualities): Subscribe Now!

  WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
Archibald Asparagus (Vischer) is Jonah, one of God's prophets who was chosen to spread his message to the world. With the help of Larry the Cucumber (Nawrocki) and Bob the Tomato (Vischer), the healthy heroes set sail and prepare to deliver the word of God. While traveling aboard a pirate ship they have one adventure after another, and things really turn into a whale of a good time along the way. "Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie" is a delightful fun filled film that the whole family is sure to enjoy. (Tricia Littrell)

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD offers a somewhat simple, yet colorful computer animated picture that will surely delight its very young audience. Colors are rich and vibrant, with bold blues, rich reds, and bright greens. Contrast and

Soundtrack:
The Dolby


  WSR DVD-ROM Review
DVD-ROM Enhancements Rating:
Awesome

DVD-ROM Review:
Even with InterActual's dominance in the DVD-ROM market, a few titles are still released with surprisingly fun features without using the Player 2 software, as is the case with Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie. After inserting the disc into your DVD-ROM drive, run the file "start.exe" to load the games menu. From the Flash program, you are given links labeled Games, Jonah CD-ROM Game, Movie Script, and Web Links. In the Games section, you will find five mini-games called Thrills 'n Quills, Cargo Bounce, Fish Dodge, Pea Dash, and Moby Blaster. Trills 'n Quills is a Flash enhanced game where you must drive the Veggie's van through a windy road at night dodging the pesky porcupines as they try to flatten your tires. You can get hit with the porcupines' quills three times before you must start over. You must also dodge barriers in the road that can slow up your progress, and prevent you from dodging the quills. The faster you complete the level, the more points you get, but I could not find any prize for recording high scores. This game is fun while it lasts, but is fairly easy to finish without a time limit. In the Cargo Bounce game, you must maneuver a dinghy from the dock bouncing the cargo on the dinghy's roof to load the ship. The cargo bounces at five different length intervals increasing the complexity of the game, and there are modifiers that are thrown in which can increase or decrease the speed of the cargo, as well as increase or decrease the size of the dinghy. There are two difficulty levels, and the only difference between them is the speed at which the cargo bounces. Cargo Bounce is one of the more entertaining of the games on this disc, but after passing all five levels of the game you do not receive any award. The goal of Fish Dodge is to move the Asparagus through a village and get him to the Town Square. While doing this, you must dodge fish that are being thrown by evildoers throughout the town, and also collect special icons giving you bonus points and lives. Of all the games, this is the least fun, but it can still give a few minutes of enjoyment. There are three levels to pass. For Pea Dash, you must get flying peas into the Veggie Bus before it runs out of gas. To get the peas to the bus, you must build little roadblocks that change the direction the peas travel. You can have the peas enter the bus through the top or the bottom. There are also road signs that the peas can hit giving you additional points. This game can be fun for a while, but only has five levels that are all easy to complete. Again, you do not receive a prize for completing the game. The final game, Moby Blaster, really has nothing to do with the movie, but can be very addicting and time consuming all the same. To play, you move a paddle on the bottom of the screen to hit balls towards blocks on the top of the screen. To pass the level you must hit all the blocks. There are also modifier icons that can do a number of things to help you, including increasing the paddle size and adding more balls to hit. There are two difficulty settings, with 50 levels available on each. There is no way of saving or skipping ahead to a new level, so you must sit and play each level straight through to beat the game. After beating the game, the only prize you get is the satisfaction of wasting two hours playing a single DVD-ROM game that has nothing to do with the DVD you are playing. The Jonah CD-ROM game demo available on the disc is a small portion of the full version game available in retail stores. The demo lets you play a game where you must feed the pirates "Mr. Twisty's Cheese Curls" so they get the urge to load the boat and sail off. There are 20 levels available, and after completing the levels you are asked to purchase the game to play more. The game is not too exciting to play, but may be fun for small children to play. Clicking the Movie Script button will bring you to a window with instructions on how to find the script on the DVD. First, you open the folder associated with the DVD, and then open the folder "script." From there, open the file