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Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed

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Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed is the second VeggieTales special (as the twelfth episode of the show), and the second Larry-Boy episode. It is the sequel to Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space!.

Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed 1999 DVD and VHS

July 27, 1999

Plot[]

Prologue of the Story[]

Percy Pea and Lil' Pea are leaving a movie theater and are cornered by a shady Scallion (Scallion #3, the "Milk Money Bandit") who asks them for a nickel. Percy refuses, but the Scallion then demands the money he is carrying for milk money. After stealing the money and escaping to the rooftops with his loot, Larry-Boy (Larry the Cucumber) confronts him and shakes the stolen money off of him before throwing him into Officer Scooter's patrol car. Soon afterwards, he begins reviewing his capture technique with his butler, Alfred (Archibald Asparagus), but in the process, accidentally knocks an unfinished plant off the ledge. The plant gets caught on some telephone wires on the way down, where a woman is gossiping on the phone, then falls into the sewers, where the gossip brings the plant to life.

Story[]

The next morning, Alfred is telling a story at a school and tells the teacher and the kids that he needs to go home and "recharge his batteries" (meaning he needs to rest). Not knowing that it's a figure of speech, Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot take it literally and jump to the conclusion that Alfred is a robot. As they walk home, discussing what they had heard Alfred say, they encounter a small talking weed. Similar weeds begin to appear throughout town, spreading the rumor. Larry and Alfred are tending to a garden when Alfred heads inside to answer the phone. Another weed appears and tries to spread the rumor, but Larry doesn't listen. Alfred then calls Larry in. Mayor Blueberry (Madame Blueberry) informs him that strange weeds are growing all over the city and spreading false rumors about Alfred. Suiting up as Larry-Boy, he dives into action.

Larry-Boy manages to find a weed and attempts to shred it with a weed whacker, which malfunctions. Back at the Larry-Cave, Alfred discovers that all the weeds are connected to a "Mother Weed" underground. Upon arriving in the sewer, Larry-Boy meets the Mother Weed and is quickly overpowered.

Meanwhile, the butler arrived at the city to tell the mayor and the officer that Larry-Boy is in danger. But however, Alfred learns that the citizens are afraid of him, saying that he is a "killer robot with laser eyes." Suddenly, the ground starts to shake with cracks appearing beneath them. And then, The Mother Weed breaks free out from underground and snatches Alfred as she carried him all the way to the top of the building, but the citizens think that the dangerous robot with laser eyes is going to be destroyed and they refuse to help.

Dad Asparagus arrives and asks what is going on. The Mother Weed says she heard the story from "two very reliable sources." Junior and Laura confess that they took Alfred literally and started the rumor. Dad explains to them that what Alfred said was actually a figure of speech. Junior and Laura are confused. Dad then goes on to say that sometimes, grown ups say stuff that really means something else. In this case, when Alfred said he needed to recharge his batteries; he really meant that he was exhausted and needed to go home and rest. He also explains that "If you hear something about someone that sounds bad or even just weird, you should ask them about it or ask your mom or dad. But don't spread rumors. Even if it's true, God doesn't want us to tell stories that can hurt. He want us to spread nice words." Junior realizes that Alfred is not a robot. Dad then says that Alfred's a very nice man. And Dad's words cause flowers to grow on the Mother Weed. Junior and Laura decide that the best way to save Alfred is to spread good words about him. They convince the citizens that Alfred is not a robot and the citizens state all the nice stuff that Alfred has done for them (Mr. Nezzer saying that Alfred helped him with his dinner party, a scallion with a moustache saying that Alfred helped him change a tire, a cucumber lady saying that Alfred carried her groceries for her and Scooter saying that Alfred helped out with the police department's bake sale.) The Mother Weed continues sprouting flowers until she transforms into a giant flower. Alfred forgives the citizens of Bumblyburg for the misunderstanding just as a battered Larry-Boy drags himself out of the sewer.

Unaware of the preceding events, he almost accidentally starts the rumor again by saying someone told him Alfred was a robot (obviously the rumor weed), thus everyone gently shushes him, hoping the other Bumblyburg residents didn't hear what he just said. But he doesn't get it, so he just looked around instead. However there’s flowers everywhere in the city where the mother weed turned into after her defeat and death. and then, the story ends rather strangely with him asking if there was a flower show (having seen flowers on what was once the Rumor Weed), and everyone laughs, thinking it's a joke as the story ends with a choral reminder, and a flower landing on the screen.

Closing Segment (Back at the Larry-Cave)[]

In the final scene, Larry-Boy and Alfred enact their own What Have We Learned segment with the computer pulling up the verse:Template:Quote

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameos[]

  • Lenny Carrot
  • Barth
  • Renee Blueberry
  • Jacob Lewis
  • Jack
  • Chilli the Chili pepper
  • Pepe the Bell Pepper
  • Dr. Glocken
  • The Mushroom Family
  • Unnamed scallion men
  • Unnamed carrot men
  • Baseball Carrot
  • Unnamed cucumber men

Pictured[]

Voice Cast[]

  • Mike Nawrocki as Larry the Cucumber/Larry-Boy
  • Phil Vischer as Archibald Asparagus, Mr. Nezzer, Percy Pea and Dad Pea
  • Gail Freeman-Bock as The Rumor Weed, Madame Blueberry and Woman in The Window
  • Lisa Vischer as Junior Asparagus
  • Kristen Blegen as Laura Carrot
  • Dan Anderson as Dad Asparagus
  • Lesly Benodin as Lil' Pea
  • Mike Sage as Scallion #3
  • Jim Poole as Scooter Carrot
  • John Wahba as Dad Carrot
  • Steve Leeper as Woman #1
  • Henry Caparoso as Man #1
  • School Children: Justin Eddy, Steven Eddy, Gretchen Heinecke, Ariel Mock, Hailey Mock and Shelby Vischer

Locations[]

  • Bumblyburg

Songs[]

  • Larry-Boy Theme Song (Short version)
  • The Rumor Weed Song
  • The Rumor Weed Song (Credits Version; performed by The W's)

Other Languages[]

  • سوبر تيخة يحارب الشائعات (Arabic) (Super Tikha Fights the Rumors)
  • 力仔與謠言 (Cantonese) (Lizai and Rumors)
  • SuperLeon i Korov Tračalica (Croatian) (SuperLeon and the Gossip Weed)
  • Ihmelari ja Juorukki (Finnish) (Wonder Larry and the Gossip)
  • Ο Λάρι και η Φήμη-Ζιζάνιο/Ο Ντέιβ και η Φήμη-Ζιζάνιο (Greek) (same translation not counting name changes)
  • Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed (Indonesian) (same title)
  • 래리보이와 속닥속닥풀 (Korean) (Larry Boy and Whisper Whisper)
  • 小報超人與謠言雜草 (Mandarin) (Taiwan) (same translation not counting Larry-Boy's name change)
  • Supersnurk og rykteugresset/Rykteugresset (Norwegian) (same translation not counting Larry-Boy's name change/Rumor Weed)
  • لری بوی و علف شایعه پراکن (Persian) (Larry-Boy and the Gossip Grass)
  • LarryBoy contra a Erva Daninha (Portuguese) (Brazil) (LarryBoy vs. the Weed)
  • Pepininho e a Erva Boato (Portuguese) (Portugal) (same translation not counting Larry-Boy's name change)
  • Čenčavi Pavel/Super L. in čenčavi pavel (Slovenian) (Rumor Weed/same translation not counting Larry-Boy's name change)
  • Larry-Boy y la Cizaña de los Rumores (Spanish) (Latin America) (same translation)
  • Larry Boy và cỏ dại đồn xa (Vietnamese) (Larry Boy and the Distant Weeds)

Production[]

The story concept was written by Doug Peterson, which at the time Phil Vischer was accepting ideas for future episodes when the studio was growing. Mike Nawrocki was a bit skeptical at the time, due to the fact the episode sounded similar to the first Larry-Boy episode (kids caused trouble from something that grew big). However, they eventually tweaked it to work it out. Phil at the time decided to push the limits on what they could do for the episode, since they were getting ready for their first feature film, and he originally considered this as the last half-hour episode they would work on.

Home media[]

Main article: Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed/Home Video

Features[]

Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed/Features

Trailer Appearances[]

Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed/Trailer Appearances

Fun Facts[]

Moral(s)[]

  • If you hear something strange about somebody, talk to them or a trusted adult about it.
  • Spreading gossip can lead to ruining someone’s credibility and ultimately bring harm to others. Instead, spread uplifting and positive messages about other people.
  • God doesn’t want us to tell stories that can hurt, He wants us to spread nice words.

Explanations[]

  • When the bandit tells LarryBoy he can't take him away, that'd mean only police officers have the right to take people away so even if you're someone else other than a Police officer like a superhero, that counts as kidnapping.
  • Grade School is what Elementary School is sometimes called in the United States.

Trivia[]

  • This episode is notable for having a ton of promotion throughout 1999 and 2000.
  • This episode was originally going to be released in November 1998, but the release date was switched with The End of Silliness?'s when Big Idea determined that having more production time would make the episode better.
  • This is the first episode for several things:
    • The first episode not to use the Book Antiqua font for the end credits, and the only one of the 1990s episodes not to utilize such a thing.
    • The first Larry-Boy episode in which Madame Blueberry appears as Mayor of Bumblyburg.
    • The first episode where Marc Vulcano worked on.
    • The first episode to have Gail Freeman-Bock as part of the voice cast since Are You My Neighbor?
    • The first episode to be rendered in high quality during its original release.
    • The first episode to not feature Bob.
  • This is the last episode for several things:
    • The last episode to be rendered entirely in Softimage.
    • The last episode Bryan Moll worked on.
    • The last CGI Larry-Boy episode to be released on VHS, due to the general death of the VHS format in early 2006. However, the next LarryBoy episode in CGI did get a VHS screener release, but wasn't given a general release.
    • The last Larry-Boy episode to be animated by Big Idea.
    • The last Larry-Boy episode to be dubbed in Cantonese, European Portuguese, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Korean, Slovenian, Taiwanese Mandarin, and Vietnamese.
    • The last Larry-Boy episode Jon Gadsby, Joseph Sapulich, Aaron Hartline, Daniel López Muñoz, Luis Contreras, Mike Laubach, Adam Holmes, and Ken Greene worked on.
    • The last speaking appearance of Dad Carrot to be done at Big Idea.
    • The last VeggieTales episode of the 1990s.
    • The last appearance of Lenny Carrot and Wally P. Nezzer to date.
    • The last episode known to be rendered in low footage quality on its original release.
    • The last episode to be made at Clinton Street.

Remarks[]

Goofs[]

  • Larry-Boy's suit clips into his body between shots.
  • In the shot where Laura tells the Weed her secret, the lens of the Weed's glasses flicker.
  • Two animation goofs appear after the Mother Weed emerges from the sewers. She is missing her lipstick and there's a black hole behind her head. This is noticeable once she grabs Alfred. (see image)
  • One shot shows some weeds missing their shadows.
  • When LarryBoy pulls himself in the middle of the crowd, his tooth is gone, this also happens on the back cover in the scene where he looks down at the plant he knocked over.

Inside References[]

  • The Milk Money Bandit is a reference to the bandits from Flibber-o-Loo who stole Larry's milk money.
  • On the streets there are street signs that say Vischer Street and Nawrocki Road. These are references to VeggieTales co-creators Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer.
  • A few references from the previous Larry-Boy episode are made here:
    • Percy and Lil' Pea walking home after seeing a movie, as well as acknowledging the time they saw The Fib falling from the sky.
    • Scooter saying "it's another space alien" and listening to "I Can Be Your Friend" in the car.
    • Larry-Boy acknowledges that if another space alien falls into Bumblyburg, he'll be ready for it
    • One of Alfred’s computer monitors has the image of Junior that was used during the climax of the last episode.
    • A "Say No" promotional poster with Fib on it is seen at the back of the classroom.
    • Larry-Boy yelling "Goodbye, Bumblyburg!"
  • When the Milk Money Bandit is spying on Percy and Lil' Pea, you can see the surround sound stereo from Madame Blueberry and a slushy cup from Josh and the Big Wall! in the dumpster.
  • When the camera is panning down towards the sewer, the kitchen from Larry-Boy! and the Fib from outer space! can be seen through one of the apartment windows.
  • Pepe is seen wearing the Gourd's Gym sweater from Very Silly Songs!.
  • The veterinary certificate from "The Yodeling Veterinarian of the Alps" can be seen amongst the pictures in LarryBoy's mansion as well as the background of the mountains.

Real-World References[]

  • The weed's smile after her creation is somewhat similar to Jim Carrey's smile from the 1994 film "The Mask."
  • Dad Carrot's line about Alfred having teenagers inside him that know karate is a reference to the Power Rangers series.
  • Larry-Boy's line, "hasta la vista, weedy" is a reference to one of the lines from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
  • On the DVD Trivia, the first question asks which school Alfred visits. One of the answer choices, Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School, is a reference to Sesame Street.
  • One of the background vehicles is a Volkswagen Beetle.

Fast Forward[]

  • The phrase "Sweet, Sweet Petunia" inspired the name for a future character.
  • "The Pecking" would be used as a background image in the next episode's Silly Song
  • The Power of Words would later be taught many years later.

Transcript[]

Follow-up episode:[]

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