Publication Date: 03-10-2026

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (2002) review

Dir. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★½

Being an only child with two working parents meant that for at least a couple weeks out of the summer, I had to spend roughly eight hours a day at YMCA camp. For a kid who was perfectly content with sitting in front of the TV with his cat, playing with LEGOs, and who knew better than to screw around with the stove, by the time I was around nine or ten, I wasn’t too enthused about going. None of the kids who attended the camp went to my school, so I didn’t know anyone except the frequent flyers who had it worse than me (having to go day-after-day for the entire summer rather than selective weeks).

In between some swimming lessons, basketball, aerobics, and outdoor lunches in the blistering heat, we’d sometimes be shuffled into a room to watch a movie. Often, it was VeggieTales, and though the Bible-speak and incessant monologues about Christian values did absolutely nothing for me, watching some colorful vegetables bounce around while I got an air-conditioned reprieve was enough to entertain me. This camp was where I first saw Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie, circa 2005. I rewatched it to review the film in 2013, and again found myself giving it another chance to see if it was more amusing than I had remembered.

Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is a perfectly good-hearted, innocuous tool to help introduce your children to the Christian faith. For me, however, the film’s educational value outweighs its entertainment. Sure, its portrayal of its titular Jewish prophet is mostly accurate, as far as my surface-level understanding is concerned, but it’s simply not compelling to hold my interest, or that of those little ones who aren’t used to having to wake up early on Sundays.

Honestly, the VeggieTales shorts and specials are perfectly warm and inviting for children. However, if one can look past the colorful qualities for just a few moments, they will find nothing more than a surface-level, preachy, morality play that grows tiresome quickly and is thankfully punctuated by a fluffy song in between the dreary exposition of the Bible.

The film opens with Bob the Tomato driving Dad Asparagus and several young vegetable children to a concert. They wind up getting into a bit of a wreck and seek help at a seafood restaurant where they meet “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.” The Pirates decide to entertain the gang by telling them the story of Jonah, an ambitious prophet who makes a living preaching the word of God to different towns. One day, God himself implores Jonah to preach his word to the town of Nineveh, a dangerous, unholy village. Jonah refuses and decides to travel to Tarshish, the furthest you can get from Nineveh.

What unfolds is something of a road movie, with Jonah, who is an asparagus creature mind you, meeting random assortments of food, getting infamously swallowed by the whale, and learning such themes as compassion and mercy. Even the Veggie children learn of such themes as compassion, and the benefit of giving others second chances even if they don’t deserve them. Such morals are the foundation of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie‘s existence and, in seventy-eight minutes, it does more than get its point across. It beats the morals and themes into the head of the viewer until you feel like telling everyone within your vicinity what you learned just to make the knowledge you gained seem more useful in some way.

Thank the lord there are at least catchy songs that turn up every now and then to snap you back into reality. One song in particular I enjoyed, and wish was actually a complete tune, is “Billy Joe McGuffrey,” which the young Veggie children are singing in the car which winds up distracting Bob the Tomato as he drives in a rush to see the concert. The wittily memorable, fast-paced tune couple with Bob getting repeatedly wacked by Dad Asparagus’ guitar admittedly had me laughing. What followed were other catchy tunes, “Message From the Lord” and “Second Chances,” a riveting gospel ballad by a Cleveland group known as Anointed (portrayed as veggies, of course).

I think that’s value of watching something like Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie when you’re either too old or an outsider of the target audience is the nostalgia factor. My generation was one that probably got the most use out of this franchise, and seeing these characters come back for one harmless film was something that, at the very least, was cheerful and amusing. However, at a concise seventy-eight minutes and featuring a few catchy anthems, it’s not a real task by any means.

Voiced by: Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, Tim Hodge, Lisa Vischer, Dan Anderson, Shelby Vischer, Kristin Blegen, and Jim Poole. Directed by: Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki.