God references quashed; “VeggieTales” creator steamed
http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/22/veggietales.controversy.ap/index.html
Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber always had a moral message in their long-running “VeggieTales” series, a collection of animated home videos for children that encourage moral behavior based on Christian principles. But now that the vegetable stars have hit network television, they cannot speak as freely as they once did, and that has got the Parents Television Council
steamed.
The conservative media-watchdog group issued a statement Wednesday blasting NBC, which airs “VeggieTales,” for editing out some references to God from the children’s animated show.
“What struck me and continues to strike me is the inanity of ripping the heart and soul out of a successful product and not thinking that there will be consequences to it,” said L. Brent Bozell, president of the Parents Television Council. “The series is successful because of its biblical world view, not in spite of it. That’s the signature to `VeggieTales.”‘
More than 50 million copies of the series have been sold since 1993, according to Big Idea Inc., which produces the series.
Two weeks ago, NBC began airing 30-minute episodes of “VeggieTales” on Saturday mornings. The show was edited to comply with the network’s broadcast standards, said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.
“Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as possible with these positive messages while being careful not to advocate any one religious point of view,” she said.
(More story at the above link)