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Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables

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This is a story of dreaming big and working hard, of spectacular success and breathtaking failure, of shouted questions, and, at long last, whispered answers. With trademark wit and heart, Phil Vischer shares how God can use the death of a dream to point us toward true success. Larry. Bob. Archibald. These VeggieTales stars are the most famous vegetables you'll ever eat. Oops, meet. Their antics are known around the world. But so much of the VeggieTales story hasn't been told. In Me, Myself, and Bob, Phil Vischer, founder of Big Idea and creator of VeggieTales, gives a behind-the-scenes look at his not-so-funny journey with the loveable veggies. From famed creator to bankrupt dreamer, Vischer shares his story of trial and ultimate triumph as God inspired him with one big idea after another.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2007

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3741 people want to read

About the author

Phil Vischer

52 books57 followers
Phillip Robert Vischer is an American voice actor, puppeteer, writer, animator and songwriter known for creating the animated video series "VeggieTales" with partner and friend Mike Nawrocki.

From 1993 to 2002, Vischer led the company as lead director and writer. In 2003 (after the release of "Jonah") Big Idea went bankrupt, and Vischer sold the company to Classic Media and left the company.

In 2005 he started Jellyfish Labs a new creative workshop where he produces faith-based projects. Starting in 2010, Vischer produced "What's In The Bible," a direct-to-DVD video series using puppetry and animation to present biblical material.

A weekly podcast discussing life in a post-Christian America co-hosted by Phil Vischer, Skye Jethani and actress Christian Taylor, ranks in the top 100 podcasts regularly.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 597 reviews
Profile Image for Jill Williamson.
Author 73 books1,611 followers
October 5, 2018
This book rocked my heart. It spoke to me as a creator. As an overachiever. As a writer. As a business woman. As a Christian. I can’t even tell you how much. If you love VeggieTales, if you struggle with your art and making your dreams come true… if you strive. You should read this book. It’s beautiful.

Thank you, Phil, for your courage, your honesty, and for sharing your story, even though you didn’t write grown up books. I needed this one. I really did.
Profile Image for Sarah.
Author 46 books459 followers
July 5, 2016
A friend of mine told me about this book and loaned me a copy. Wow! I don't even like Veggie Tales and I was challenged and convicted by this book. I highly reccomend this book
Profile Image for Josiah DeGraaf.
Author 2 books416 followers
January 19, 2018
Can a desire to do great things for God ever lead you astray?

I first heard Phil Vischer speak in the Fall of 2010 and was enthralled by his speech. At the time, I hadn't known anything about the events that forced him out of Big Idea. His main points stuck with me at the time, and while 8 years later many of the specifics had faded out of my memory, I still remembered his speech being memorable.

And so of course, when I realized he'd written a book about the rise and fall of Big Idea, I knew I had to get it.

Me, Myself, and Bob is like few other memoirs I've read. It's certainly engaging, funny, and informative. But it's unlike other memoirs because it's a story of failure, and in literary terms, it's basically a tragedy. Vischer pretty much spells this out in the first chapter. This isn't a memoir of success. It's a memoir detailing how Vischer had a colossal fall, lost his dream, and had to learn to pick up the pieces and figure out where he went wrong.

The questions that Vischer asks in this book are not easy questions to answer: Why would God allow a company that seemed to be doing great things for Him to fail? Why wouldn't he reward acts of faith that were done for Him? Why would He allow injustice to take place within the court system? Vischer has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about this and probing different dimensions of this issue. As a result, the answers Vischer provides are deep, thought-provoking, but also splendidly simple in the way that Biblical truths tend to be.

As someone who wants to do great things for God, whether in writing fiction or in helping other Christian writers, this memoir challenged me in my perspective and gave me a lot to think about. I read this book over only two days, and once I'd finished it, I put the book down and spent a good half hour thinking about what Vischer had to say. It isn't stuff you'll hear many other places: secular or Christian spheres alike. But it's true. And it's convicting. And it makes me remember again the importance of humility.

Many people are happy to talk about their successes. Few people are willing to talk about their failures. Even fewer are able to pinpoint why they failed, where they went wrong, and how we can avoid falling into the same trap. Vischer lies squarely in this last camp. The last fifty pages or so of this book have a ton of underlines and are chapters I want to return to again and again. Scratch that. They are chapters I need to return to again and again because the lessons there are lessons I'm too prone to forget otherwise.

This is not a memoir I want to forget about.

Rating: 4.5-5 Stars (Extremely Good).
Profile Image for Jen.
3,366 reviews27 followers
May 3, 2023
I am an impatient listener/reader of books. I don't know if that is something that I have developed because the world is now nothing but sound bites or if as I age, I realize I have less time then I would like to listen to and read books. My time is precious, I don't want to waste it on trash (to me, everyone has different tastes).

This book at about the halfway point, was flirting with DNF status. I am new to audio books, within the last year or so, and so have never experienced an audio book slump, and I think this book was one of the audio books that was falling prey to that possibility. It was also rather depressing, because the author, also the creator of Big Idea, was explaining the rise, and fall, of Big Idea. And it was sad and infuriating. Sad because I LOVE Veggie Tales and to hear about why it just disappeared one day depressed me. It infuriated me because, from me on the outside, it looked SO OBVIOUS why it had failed.

The ending redeemed this book however. The author eats humble pie and take ownership of how his ego, lack of ability in the business side of things and his lack of realization that God wasn't his focus with the business is what caused Big Idea to fall.

He explained what he learned from this incredibly sad lesson and how others can learn from it too. He talked about how he is implementing what he learned with his new business, so it ends in hope. This was going to be a three star book, but the ending jumped it up to four. It would have been two stars without the end, but the third star was because he read his own book and he is the voice of Bob the Tomato, so basically, the book was narrated by Bob the Tomato. That was pretty cool and took me back, hence the third star.

This was a good lesson in what to and what not to do re: running your own business. This book's central theme is God and if you don't know Veggie Tales, then a good bit of this book might not resonate with you. If you are a Christian and want to run a business/want to see how not to do it, then this might be a good read for you.

It took me a while, til the almost very end, but it did reach me. The ending made me tear up, which since I tend to listen to books while commuting to and from work, can be dangerous. But I was actually at work in a non-customer area, so was able to listen to it in peace; no one was in any danger.

4, the ending took me by pleasant surprise, stars,

My thanks to libro.fm and Thomas Nelson for an ALC copy of this book to listen to and review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Heather Wood.
Author 7 books252 followers
July 4, 2022
"The Christian life wasn’t about running like a maniac; it was about walking with God. It wasn’t about impact; it was about obedience. It wasn’t about making stuff up; it was about listening."

So good.
Christian creators need to read this. I know entire Christian publishing houses that need to read this book.

The story of Big Idea is personal to me, being from the Chicago suburbs and having watched this book play out, including the layoffs that deeply affected my family. I have a lot of respect for Phil Vischer and his trajectory in recent years. So I appreciated reading his story in his own words, and most of all, the powerful lessons he learned through the fall of Big Idea. They're worth the cost of the book.
Profile Image for Lydia.
67 reviews1 follower
February 18, 2018
i love 'behind-the-scenes' books This made me want to watch all the veggietales movies over again!
Profile Image for Star Shining Forever.
585 reviews28 followers
July 4, 2018
This was both beautiful and heartbreaking. The adventures and the trials, the wins and the losses, the ridicule and the influence, the winning ideas and the dead ends, the small beginnings and the great falls, the triumphs and the failings--the story of Big Idea was resonating, encouraging, devastating and hopeful.

Phil Vischer was a Midwestern guy who wanted to do big things. He was talented, and through hard work he developed and perfected his God-given skills in story telling and moviemaking. He just wanted to do big things for God. I guess that's really where I sympathize with him. Like him, I see the moral decline of society and especially entertainment, and am discouraged by it. And it's so brave and admirable that he threw the use of his talents into glorifying God in our world.

He started small. He worked out of basements and back rooms, rented and unheated. A few dedicated friends helped Phil pull together the computer animation necessities in order to turn his fun, encouraging stories into the beloved kids' cartoons called Veggietales. Slowly but surely, it started to take off. Word of mouth was its main vehicle, and surprisingly it was college kids--instead of the expected young moms--who appreciated the original ideas, wit and humor in these Biblical kids cartoons and did a fantastic job of getting the word out.

The company grew, and Phil was ecstatic that God was finally using him to do big things. Big Idea got noticed by bigger companies, partnerships were formed, talented people joined, the mission of producing quality, Christian children's entertainment was booming. Phil's dream to become the next Disney was happening!

But then things started to go wrong. As the company grew, differing views were brought in, and the mission suffered. Worse, several company leaders had a very different idea of the direction the company should go than Phil did. And poor Phil. He was so busy churning out the stories and doing publicity for his life's mission, that he did not realize the extent of the damage. He'd never been great at the business side of things, preferring to leave that to the experts. A combination of money shortages, health problems, and traitorous friends led to a breakdown.

As they continued putting out beloved Veggietales videos, Big Idea was falling apart. They had expanded too fast, at the terrible advice of lousy friends whom Phil trusted. The internal conflict over the half-hearted stand on Biblical morals, caused by Phil's dislike of fighting and perpetuated so as not to offend the non-Christian talents who disagreed, only worsened things. Phil decided it was time for a return to the Bible, that it was time to stop chasing perfection while continuing to compromise. A lawsuit with their distribution company was looming, and things weren't going their way. Selfishness won out, and the lawsuit was not decided in Big Idea's favor. They lost a lot of money and Phil lost control of the company he birthed, nurtured, and poured his life into.

But he came away with the peace and rest of God, as well as some important lessons, which he goes over at the book's end. Some are practical business advice, like not over-expanding, and never putting all your trust in friends. Most importantly, he shares that it's not imperative to change the world for God. God loves us, and we love Him, and He helps us do whatever it is that He wants us to do. It's not something we can do on our own; anything we do is through Him, and sometimes that's some pretty amazing stuff.

The original Veggietales and Phil's legacy are cherished by kids and adults alike the world over, myself included. I pray God's blessings on Phil in the future. And "God made you special, and He loves you very much" now carries an extra layer of meaning through the reading of this story, and will continue to be a much-loved message in my life.
Profile Image for Melody Schwarting.
2,104 reviews83 followers
May 15, 2021
As a white, evangelical, 90s child, of course VeggieTales made up a huge portion of my childhood. I still listen to those songs regularly, without shame. They slap. Vischer still has a hold on the evangelical mind with his Holy Post podcast, and any millennial he interviews leads with "I can't believe I'm being interviewed by the VeggieTales guy." Growing up with VeggieTales meant I was blissfully unaware of the vagaries of Big Idea Productions and the legal crucible in which it broke. It's not the nastiest business story I've heard, but it's sad.

I really appreciated that Vischer didn't name names (except of good friends) or lay blame on anyone for the failures of Big Ideas. He took it all on himself, which was not entirely necessary, but honorable. There was also a lot of business and animation talk that went way over my head. It wasn't dry, just...stressful. The middle to the end of Me, Myself, & Bob raised my cortisol levels. I can't imagine having to go through something like that. Yet, if Vischer hadn't told the whole truth, this memoir would have been trite and deceptive.

In the final chapters, I had mixed feelings about his reflections on "What We Have Learned" from the rise and fall of his company. On one hand, it was lovely to read about his spiritual journey through the mess. On the other hand, he made it seem like the whole thing was about his personal relationship with God--not about the employees who suffered, the promises he couldn't keep, the pain in the wake of Bob and Larry. This is Vischer's memoir, however, so he gets to tell the story how he wants. Yet, saying things about laying down pride and then making the business's demise all about him was discordant. I don't think he really views the Big Ideas fiasco as God's personal lesson for him alone, but he said things along those lines. If he'd written this a few years later, I think he'd write about it differently. And there's something to say for only telling his story, not forcing words into the mouths of others.



Overall, I gained a lot of respect for Phil Vischer in this memoir. He displayed deep humility, which always strikes a chord with me. The stress level of this memoir, combined with the note above and a few jokes that didn't land well (such as one about institutionalization), is why I can only give Me, Myself, & Bob three stars. The first half, for sure, is good plain fun. It's the second half where stress spikes. This memoir was genuinely funny and I recommend it to any VeggieTales fan who's curious about the story behind Bob and Larry.
Profile Image for Tim.
74 reviews11 followers
October 7, 2013
I should scale back how surprised I am at how much I liked this book. Ever since I heard the lyric "We could use him as a footstool or a table to play Scrabble on./We'll beat him up and tie him up and throw him out of Babylon" used to describe Daniel (of Lion's Den fame), I've been hooked on Phil Vischer's Veggie Tales for their clever wit and sound Christian teachings. I wasn't expecting to find the things I loved about the a kids' animated video series in a combination memoir/self-help/how-to-succeed-in-business book.

I tend to find memoirs a bit self-aggrandizing, whether I like them (Franklin, James McBride) or not (Barbara Ehrenreich). Ehrenreich ends up on the "don't like" list primarily because she lets the conclusion she wants the reader to draw taint every sentence she writes. Vischer manages to avoid this trap,narrating key scenes from his youth and the rise and fall of Big Idea productions in such a way that the events are compelling on their own. But unlike his videos, wherein adults and most children already have a pretty firm gasp on what the big lessons were before Bob the Tomato gets piqued at the "What We Have Learned" song, the insights on life and success that Vischer shares here come out of the blue.

I really enjoyed this book both its ability to fill me in on what happened, in a business sense, with the Veggies between the '90s and 2005. I know little or nothing about businesses and their success or failure, but Vischer makes tech stuff about animation, selections of Presidents and the role of the CEO, the financing of movie projects, and the intricacies of corporate and licensing law compelling when he needs to. That's a feat that simply takes someone who knows his way around storytelling, which Vischer absolutely does.

Bookstores, and Christian Bookstores in particular, will never have a shortage on books that tell the tale of how God found people in the gutter and turned their lives around. This one is worth reading for Christians and non-Christians alike, if for no other reason that he never dips into the flagellation that typically goes hand-in-hand with such stories. There's no doubt that Vischer sees the work as an evangelical tool, but I don't THINK that his method of doing so will rub people the wrong way. His approach to God is an inclusive one, and he tells a tale of God's love that leaves no one out.
Profile Image for Laura.
925 reviews130 followers
August 19, 2019
This memoir could have been a success story, if only he’d ended it a few chapters earlier. Instead, he told an incredibly humbling story of what it is like to make your dream come true, watch it succeed beyond your wildest dreams, and then, just as quickly, watch it implode spectacularly. It’s really a tremendous story of big dreams and big failures and how to rebuild a life afterwards. The writing is a little silly & scattered (he wrote Veggie Tales, so that’s no surprise), but he is so willing to be honest about the mistakes he made that the story is worth reading. He doesn’t try to lay the blame on anyone else but does a post-mortem to acknowledge all the missteps he made through hubris and ignorance and optimism. It’s an American story, like Death of a Salesman with a hopeful ending.
Profile Image for Kristina.
431 reviews35 followers
November 2, 2019
While usually marketed as a cross between biography & tv studies & business, in reality this book was a very well-written personal journey of humility. Mr. Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales and the Big Idea production company chronicled his journey from childhood through 2005 with a commendable degree of self-awareness and responsibility. He presented his dreams and successes with honesty and ventured through his failures with dignity and remorse. There was no “sugar-coating” here, just the simple acknowledgement of his belief that if we “let go and let God” our lives will follow the correct path. I loved his humility and I loved his honesty. And I always continue to love his creativity.
Profile Image for ~*Ellie*~ (Taylor's Version).
121 reviews5 followers
October 26, 2023
*Disclaimer: this review will be different than my others simply because it was nonfiction*
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So I went into this book thinking 2 main things. 1.) I would be able to write a review as soon as I finished the book. 2.) This would give me insight on Phil Vischer's life, but I probably wouldn't learn too much faith wise.
For the record, both of those assumptions were wrong. This book taught me so much. More than I thought I would learn from a book about how a guy started a Christian show about talking vegetables. I realized a lot about how God loves me even if I'm not actively doing something big and miraculous for him. He loves me. Just that. Plain and Simple. He loves me.
I go to a conservative Christian school and I enjoy being there I really do, but I have been taught a lot that I am wasting my life if I am not going over seas to be a missionary in Africa or making some sort of huge Christian impact on the world. I want to have a good impact on the world and I want to be able to serve God, but this book reminded me a lot of the fact that God will use me when he is ready. He has a plan for my life and I don't get to come up with all the details that go into the plan.
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I have to say that this book changed my thinking on things that I didn't even realize needed to be changed. I didn't see the fact that I wanted to be loved by God but I was being fed the fact that the only way I would be truly living for him would be through going to Africa. I loved this book. I learned a lot. I think that everyone will be able to learn different things from this book.
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Overall the writing style was amazing and funny and easy to read. Easy to get through and something that I WANTED to keep reading. I would recommend this to anyone. Not anyone that has the need of such and such, just anyone.
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Well if you have made it this far you are a true fan of reading review :)
Happy reading luvs <3
(and thanks so much for 75 friends)
ilysm
Profile Image for Samson.
211 reviews10 followers
April 15, 2021
the best part of this whole thing was when Phil saw the billionaire mediacom executive and thought: "I could take him. Not for the fun of it, of course, but for the sake of America's kids. The world's kids."

i'm crying,,,, this soft-spoken christian veggie animator saw how small this evil billionaire was and wanted to kill the guy in a public restroom,,, we fully stan,,, redistribute that wealth, phil.

but anyways yes! what a good memoir!
the final thoughts on "killing the dream" and his ideas about suffering and pain for God are incredible. The only thing I want now is a sequel because veggietales has been rebooted several times and i want to know what he THINKS.
Profile Image for Jessie Sharp.
63 reviews2 followers
March 13, 2025
“What do you do when God gives you a dream and then kills it?”

Truly had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, but Vischer's natural storytelling hooked me in from Chapter 1. The first several chapters read like a memoir, expounding on his Christian childhood and the influences that led to his dream of Christian filmmaking. But not just Christian filmmaking; Vischer had a dream to become the next Walt Disney (his words, not mine). His vision for VeggieTales included books, movies, theme parks, and to be one of the "top four media companies in the world." As he describes the near-overnight success of VeggieTales, I was fascinated to learn that he was on the ground floor of CGI animation development, right alongside giants like Steve Jobs and John Lassater. He describes the desperate all-nighters, countless favors, and miraculous funding that made the first VeggieTales movie possible, then the alarmingly rapid growth of his company, Big Idea, from 10 employees to over 400.

After its initial booming success, Vischer's story quickly becomes a cautionary business tale. By 2003 (this book was written in 2007), Big Idea was forced to declare bankruptcy, layoff more than half of their employees, auctioning off their animation studio, and selling the rights to all characters including Bob and Larry. Vischer humbly, honestly, and humorously lays out the choices, mistakes, people, and events that all led to the eventual loss of his dream. I have so much respect for the way that he firmly bears the full weight of responsibility for the sad demise of Big Idea, and the impacts this loss had on so many people.

If I had any doubts about the book, Vischer uses the last two chapters of the book to "land the plane" and turn our focus back to the original question: What do you do when God gives you a dream and then kills it? I was blown away by his answer: "You may have wanted to do something outstanding for God and forgotten that God does not want that. He wants you to be available to Him, and more importantly, obedient to Him."

Finally, an extra star had to be given for Vischer's magnificent use of a Voyage of the Dawn Treader reference near the end. This book will likely become one of my top recommendations for people in business, ministry, or leadership.

Last note: Given this book was written nearly 20 years ago, I'd be very interested in a second installment from Vischer documenting his journey to creating his new media company and what God has shown him through that journey.
Profile Image for Allyson Jamison.
330 reviews6 followers
August 11, 2024
How do I sum it up in words?? This book was simply... Amazing.

For starters, I highly recommend the audiobook because then it sounds like Bob is reading it to you. 😂 In a way, I guess he is.

I highly recommend this to everyone. Seriously. I can't recommend it enough. This book was inspirational, encouraging, spectacular, and a whole bunch of other adjectives.

I loved the sneak peek into the author's life and what it was like starting Veggie Tales and the lessons learned from that venture. He does an amazing job of turning it around and making it applicable to day to day life. 💙

I'm seriously at a loss for how to express my feelings on this book. Just read it! It's incredible!!
Profile Image for Abbey Meyerholz.
9 reviews4 followers
June 11, 2025
Flew through this book in 2 days… what a thought provoking read. It was so interesting to follow along the life journey of another Christian who had such similar interests as mine (movie special effects, Walt Disney, Christian philosophy, Midwest upbringing). I just resonated with it all and appreciate Phil’s perspective. Especially interesting to read so far after it was written to see where he has come since Big Idea fell.
Profile Image for Melissa.
Author 22 books878 followers
November 17, 2019
I found this book quite enthralling to begin with, growing up just a bit later than him, I still recall all the archaic technology, and remembering how slow dial up was and how slow our Commodore 64 responded, imagining the dedication it took him as a child to play with the tech was a bit of a nostalgia trip even when the tech became unfamiliar. Plus I "saw" myself mentioned in the book, as the college kid working at a Independent Christian bookstore doing exactly what he said that made Veggie Tales big, I put those tapes in the kids TV/VCR combo because it wasn't a lame kid show that I had to listen to while working (the other TV up front was playing the Gaither Homecoming videos) and held Veggie Tales parties on my dorm floor. :)

But the end, the reviews I read before reading said that the end was worth it if you weren't interested in the front (which as I said I was) and I was thinking at the beginning, that I would read it to see if it would be something I'd recommend to my husband because he's in the struggling startup business phase...but the end. The end was for me. Crying at the end of a business memoir isn't what I'd expected, but I did. I'm struggling through dealing with something similar as he had, a dream's death, that "didn't have to happen because God could have saved it" and I felt as if someone understood. And what he said he learned through it resonated with answers I needed. Answers everyone needs really, whether you're just beginning to dream about what to do with your life, in the middle of chasing a dream, living your dream, or mourning it.

And I'd recommend reading the whole thing, even if you don't have the nostalgia connection to VeggieTales, just to feel how slow and hard things came together and how hard and fast things fell apart to really get the punch of the business and life lessons at the end. I'm very glad I read this book.
139 reviews1 follower
December 18, 2021
I think everyone wonders what happened to VeggieTales (okay, at least I did 😂), but most people don’t have any idea. In this book Phil Vischer explains the rise and fall of Big Idea with humor, grace, and humility.

I don’t think I was expecting how relevant and relatable this book would be. Phil made a lot of mistakes in his career and faith, and he is very candid about that. At the same time, he is able to explain how God redeemed that and how much he learned from the experience.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who feels like their dreams are being crushed or stolen (or otherwise disturbed). I was very encouraged by what Phil had to say.

Very engaging from start to finish, easy to understand, and beautifully done.
Profile Image for Luke Harrington.
Author 2 books43 followers
February 6, 2017
I'm not exaggerating when I say I couldn't put this book down. I don't know if such a spectacular rise and fall has ever been recounted with so much energy and pathos, or with such profound lessons wrung from it.

I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob.
Profile Image for Porter Sprigg.
329 reviews35 followers
January 18, 2021
Way funnier and way more inspiring than I expected it to be. A great story of entertainment, failure, and God’s humbling love.
Profile Image for Leslie ☆︎.
154 reviews79 followers
May 4, 2025
I was four years old when I developed my very first crush.

The recipient of my feelings was an animated anthropomorphic Christian cucumber named Larry. Since then, my head has been turned exclusively by confident goofballs with hearts of gold who aren’t afraid to make a fool of themselves in exchange for a chuckle.

But this review isn’t about my love life. It’s about the man responsible for my love life: Phil Vischer.

The story of the rise and fall of Big Idea (and its baby, Veggietales) is a parable about hubris, executive discord, and what happens when God doesn’t answer our prayers. It was a slow start — I don’t particularly care about the genesis of CGI, but fans of that tech will find the first half of this book a hoot and a holler. Those more technical chapters are kept buoyant by Visher’s wonderful diction. His DNA explodes through every inch of this thing.

But the chapters about Big Idea’s heyday and decline really held my interest. Overhiring based on too-aggressive sales forecasts, lack of agreement among executives over internal values, and a distribution deal built on a handshake meant Bob and Larry never had a snowball’s chance in you-know-where, and Phil Visher takes the blame for all of it. I listened to his audiobook narration, and hearing him apologize to his former stakeholders brought tears to my eyes.

While reflecting on the collapse of Big Idea, the company Phil founded in order to do something great in God’s name, he learned a tough lesson I was introduced to in the daily devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.

That devotional reads:

“The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him. It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him. The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him… Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ himself?”

In other words, the greatest distraction from total unity with God is the work we claim to be doing in His name — work we rushed into, hopped up on coffee and the American dream, without patiently waiting for His instruction.

“Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which I was created and born again,” Chambers writes. “Not from successfully doing something of my own choosing.”

God doesn’t need us to move mountains for Him. God doesn’t need us to found multi-million-dollar companies and convert families all over the world. God loves us not because we do “great things” for Him, but because we’re His children. We alone are enough, and He alone needs to be enough for us. Not Him PLUS a Christian media company. Not Him PLUS a spouse and kids. Not Him PLUS our dream come true. Just Him.

Thank you, Mr. Visher, for the touching lesson. I just wish you didn’t have to lose your life’s work in order to learn it, but God works in funny ways.

(Thanks for my love life, too.)
Profile Image for Mikayla.
1,180 reviews
September 1, 2022
Okay, I'll be honest, I don't really like VeggieTales. I don't like the whole talking veggitable thing, or how they do Bible stories. But this book? It was awesome. Phil Vischer is both honest and super funny. His testimony was really encouraging to read. Also, this is the first time I've ever read a book about someone running a business who wasn't a type A or felt like they had great leadership skills. This was really encouraging to me, since I am also not a type A, and don't possess any great leadership skills.
Definitely worth a read. The last few chapters were my favorite. <3
Profile Image for Jocelyn Green.
Author 34 books1,620 followers
July 22, 2016
I don't read a lot of autobiographies/memoirs, but since Phil Vischer is frequently a guest in our home (via his What's in the Bible? DVD series) and I've heard him speak at a conference, I snatched this one up as soon as I heard about it. (I know, it's been out for a while. I've been a little disconnected...)

I enjoyed this book immensely. If you've seen any of Phil's work, you can guess that his wit and humor are laced throughout his tale, even though there were some very painful episodes during the rise and fall of Big Idea Productions. I skimmed several paragraphs in the early chapters describing the technical aspects of computer animation, but the book still read smoothly for that. The lessons he shares at the end of the book are so powerful for anyone, but I found them especially relevant as an author.

One of my favorite quotes: "God has taught me to focus not on results, but on obedience. Not on the destination, but on the journey."

Another one: "Beware of your dreams, for dreams make dangerous friends. . . Dreams are, I believe, misplaced longings. False lovers. Why? Because God is enough."
Profile Image for Brian Pate.
419 reviews29 followers
March 25, 2020
I read this book because I thought it would make me laugh. And it did. It is a fun memoir by Phil Vischer detailing the rise and fall of his company, Big Idea. Which was a surprise for me because I didn't know Big Idea went bankrupt in 2003.

To be honest, I thought VeggieTales was the creation of Focus on the Family or LifeWay or some other large distributor. I didn't realize it was the dream of one man who wanted to be the next Walt Disney. But it seemed to me Phil was the next Steve Jobs, both in creative talents and leadership failures. One big difference is that Phil is a Christian, and he allowed God to use the failure of his dream to drive him into the arms of his heavenly Father. The conclusion of the book was beautifully profound and surprisingly convicting.

Phil is a great writer, which makes this a fast and fun read. Whether through his books or movies, Phil helps us keep laughing and learning.
Profile Image for Rachel.
232 reviews4 followers
February 9, 2017
I wish GoodReads had half stars, I really give this one 3.5 instead of 3.

I loved Veggie Tales so I enjoyed hearing the back story how Bob, Larry, and the whole crew were created.

I enjoyed the author's humor, which he used throughout the book. I felt the middle part of the book dragged a little too much for me, but the author finished the book strong and with some great advice.

My favorite part was when Mr. Vischer talked about how college students were responsible for making Veggie Tales popular in the mid-90s. I first heard about Veggie Tales my freshman year of college (1996) so I take that as a shout out. Lol.

This was written in 2006 so I look forward to Mr. Vischer perhaps writing a follow up to his latest adventures.
Profile Image for Kris.
1,614 reviews234 followers
May 8, 2023
I will always see VeggieTales through the lens of childhood nostalgia. That said, Vischer is a good writer and storyteller, and this book hits the right highs and lows. I enjoyed reading about Vischer's encounters with early 1990s technology and the company history -- I never knew Big Idea went downhill so quickly. I particularly liked a chapter toward the end where Vischer contrasts the Protestant work ethic in modern American churches vs. seeking God's will for one's life by digging into the Word.
Profile Image for Milly.
173 reviews19 followers
March 12, 2024
I loved that Phil Vischer narrated the audiobook, it was like listening to an adult veggies tales podcast
Profile Image for Corbin White.
6 reviews2 followers
March 8, 2025
Why did this book make me cry?
Honestly I think for the same reason that when Steve from Blues Clues released that video in 2021. This is someone who had such a strong place in my childhood talking about one of the biggest influences on my life as a kid. I’m grateful to still have Phil as a voice of influence in the Kingdom through things like The Holy Post.

But also how he spoke about where is God when dreams die, especially when we feel like those dreams are from GOD Himself, was great. Profound in such a Vischer way.

What a fun read!
Profile Image for Jacob Padgett.
57 reviews2 followers
February 7, 2025
“The world learns about God not by watching Christian movies but by watching Christians.” Oh how this statement rings true. How it inspires us and haunts both past and sadly present. I’ve asked myself this question throughout this book and I now leave it for you: has a dream of impact replaced my pursuit of Christ?

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