Easy-to-Swallow ‘Veggie’; Boy’s Best Friend

Video

VeggieTales: Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed. Big Idea Productions. $13. This is another well-made addition to the “VeggieTales” series, the colorful, computer-animated moral lessons for young children that are rooted in Bible teachings and star a cast of fruit and vegetable folk.

Here, Larry the Cucumber, whose alter ego is superhero Larry-Boy, must defend his stalwart butler, Alfred the Asparagus, when a runaway rumor begins convincing the whole town that prim and proper Alfred is really a dangerous robot.

Spreading the story is a nasty Rumor Weed, a mutant plant with blond hair, lipstick and pearls, but it all begins with some careless chat by little Junior Asparagus and his friend, Laura Carrot.

The charm of the series is in the comical 3-D characters, their fully realized musical world and the good-for-you messages that go down easy.

A Dog of Flanders. Warner Home Video. $20. Jon Voight, Jack Warden, Cheryl Ladd and child actors Jeremy James Kissner and Jesse James star in this earnest adaptation of the bittersweet 19th century tale by Marie Louise de la Ramee about Nello, a poor but noble-hearted orphan with artistic talent, and his faithful companion, a dog named Patrasche.

In the film, shot on location in Belgium, Voight nicely plays a successful artist who discovers Nello’s passion for art and encourages him to pursue it. Nello does as much as he can after his long day’s work: To help his beloved, enfeebled grandfather (a warm Warden), he delivers milk to town in a cart pulled by Patrasche.

Nello loves his dog, his grandfather and his rich little neighbor, Aloise; he worships the town’s patron saint, the great painter Rubens. He weathers poverty, cruelty, Aloise’s father’s scorn, a false accusation and his grandfather’s death, but remains true to himself and to what he loves. In the end--a much happier ending than De la Ramee gave the story--he is rewarded for his steadfastness.

The young actors’ contemporary looks and speech, unlike the adult cast’s more convincing period look and accented English, are an awkward element, and there’s undeniably bathos in the telling, but the tale is beautifully filmed, and the messages of caring, strength of character and following dreams are admirable and refreshing.