Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie

Through the Bible in Five and a Half Years has got as far as Jonah now, so I thought it was time for a long overdue review of 2002's Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie. Incidentally, I'm still deciding whether or not to use a clip from this film, but I think I will probably show a different short film version which I'm linking to here so I can find it easily in future.

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For some reason Jonah has always been a popular children's story (despite being about a man-eating fish), and as a result there have been various cartoon versions over the years including an entry in the Testament: The Bible in Animation series.Yet, it's one that's been largely avoided by filmmakers. In the early days the technical challenges of the pivotal scene were far beyond the film's likely profitability. More recently, however, I suspect it's been the length of the story that has put off potential adapters. At just 4 short chapters there's not a huge amount to go on (although the majority of Hollywood blockbusters could have their plots scribed on the back of a postage stamp, so that's hardly critical).

Jonah circumnavigates this problem by telling Jonah's tale as a story within a story. The biblical tale is framed by a modern day story of a group en route to a gig, who get lost when their car breaks down. They stumble into a restaurant and meet three pirates who observing the animosity amongst the group, decide to tell them the story as a means to getting them to resolve their differences.

The story is presented as an account of events that actually happened to the pirates, but chronologically this wouldn't work at all, particularly when you consider that these pirates are not humans but harvested vegetables. So the link to the material is slightly detached: there's something vaguely reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz here in the way that the people in the framing device are inextricably linked to those in the story, but also somewhat detached.

All of which forms a rather interesting interpretative context in which to place the book of Jonah. Many scholars consider the book to be a kind of parable rather than an account of actual historical events, and so presenting the tale of Jonah as a story within a story fits this dynamic. Furthermore, since the book of Kings briefly mentions the prophet Jonah, there is that kind of link between him and the parable's anti-hero.

One of the things the film gets right is its portrayal of Jonah as an absurd figure. True to the biblical text Jonah is grumpy and proud, and his cartoonish characterisation fits the spirit of the original's portrayal rather well. It also includes the often overlooked final chapter of the book, and grasps that this is this, rather than the fishier elements of the story, that forms the book's interpretative key.

The film does tweak some of the other details however: Nineveh's primary sin is slapping each other with fish, which rather leaves the story run stranded in shallow waters; Jonah manages to get the king's attention when he is arrested because of his pirate friends; and his message grabs the attention of the fish-venerating Ninevites sole-ly because he happens to refer to his time inside the big fish. I'm curious to know whether that final point reflects an older tradition in any way, or some kind of historical knowledge. If so I've not yet encountered it in commentaries I've read.The biggest set piece in the story is obviously Jonah getting swallowed by the big fish. The book devotes a whole chapter to Jonah's prayer, which, from a dramatic point of view, works in the same way as a musical's biggest song and dance number. What's more the whole incident is shrouded in supernatural events (not only the fish but the storm, Jonah being highlighted by the casting of lots and the subsequent calming of the storm when his is ejected overboard).

The film, also gives plenty of attention to this incident, saving its most ambitious CGI for what is it's longest scene (the modern day equivalent of a miracle?). And once Jonah has been swallowed up, his prayer is indeed replaced with the film's biggest song and dance number - a black gospel number performed by a choir of singing vegetable angels. All of which is possible because Jonah has been swallowed by a whale rather than a big fish. I suspect that the Hebrew mind would have classified whales along with fish rather than with mammals, so this distinction is rather minor. What is interesting is that in the film's closing number - a summary of the story and its message - Jonah's story is illustrated using a fish. So the film backs both theories, deftly representing the ancient classifications.

The one character I've not yet discussed is Jonah's eternally optimistic sidekick, Khalil, a half worm, half caterpillar business man worm-pillar - the 'Donkey' to Jonah's Shrek, if you like. But his role gains far greater prominence in the books final act, for it is he who becomes the worm who eats the plant Jonah is using for shade. When Jonah confronts him Khalil then utters the words that God speaks at the end of the book.

What this highlights is the direct absence of God in the film. God speaks directly four times in the book, at the start, after the fish has spat Jonah out, when the Ninevites repent, and when the plant dies. Here we never hear him speak, though we witness Jonah hearing God when he prays at the beginning of the story, the middle too occurrences are skipped over, and at the end it is Khalil that speaks for God. This secularises the text somewhat. God is held at a distance so that even the miraculous elements of the story could be down to coincidence. It's not a major problem, but it is yet another example of VeggieTales sanitising the text.

Visually the film is rather poor. It always feels like an extended episode of a TV show rather than anything cinematic and the colour scheme often clashes. There are bright blue backgrounds, but dull yellow foregrounds, shiny green vegetables, but a lot of dirty yellow and grimy clothes. The whale sports a particularly repulsive olive green and yellow look and even Jonah looks off colour for much of the film.

The songs are fairly good though, echoing various musicals from down the ages, and the soundtrack includes a nice nod to Jaws as the whale closes in on the barely floating prophet. And so what I'm left with is "Jonah was a prophet" going round and round in my head. I'm told that the Germans call this an 'ear worm', which in the context a film which uses a worm not only to act for, but also to speak for God is certainly an intriguing metaphor.

Testament: Jonah (1996)

I first came across the Testament: Bible in Animation series back in 1999 when The Miracle Maker was in cinemas. The Miracle Maker, of course, was the climax of the "Bible in Animation" series - expanding the screen time from 30 minutes to 90 minutes and, of course, covering the life of Christ. I caught seven of the nine films years ago, but had never had the opportunity to watch the Jonah episode until recently.

Previously, 9 stories from the Hebrew Bible had been filmed using a variety of styles of animation from stop-motion puppetry (claymation) utilised for the majority of The Miracle Maker through to a range of two dimensional techniques. The nine stories covered were Creation and the Flood, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David and Saul, Elijah, Daniel and Jonah.

Jonah then is the last story in the series, and, as far as I am aware the only its only feature film treatment was Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie in 2002. Production also began on Jonah and the Whale in 1960, but, sadly, was never completed. There have, however, been a number of other animated shorts, including 1992's "Rabbit Ears" series which featured the voices of Dennis Hopper and Jason Robbards. Given that the story is narrated in just 40 verses (Jonah's prayer aside), it is perhaps not surprising that it has been more readily adapted into shorter films. It could also be argued that with its vivid and dramatic plot elements most producers have imagined it is more suitable for children than for more sceptical adult audiences. This would also explain why the similarly short story of Ruth has faired slightly better on the large screen. Such a reaction fails to understand the nature of story telling of course, but it's a possible explanation nevertheless.

As shown below, the film follows the biblical text fairly closely, although the prayer of Jonah is severely abbreviated. It opens showing the Ninevehites worshipping their false God's whilst Jonah moans under a tree about his people's lack of faithfulness.

[extra-biblical episode]
Call of Jonah - (Jonah 1:1-3)
Jonah at Sea - (Jonah 1:4-17)
Jonah's Prayer - (Jonah 2)
Jonah goes to Nineveh - (Jonah 3:1-4)
Nineveh repents - (Jonah 3:5-10)
Jonah's complaint - (Jonah 4:1-4)
Jonah and the Vine - (Jonah 4:5-11)

For some excellent commentary, discussion and resources on Jonah, I suggest you check out the Jonah section of Tyler William's Codex Blog. In looking afresh at the story last night I was particularly struck by the oddness of the Prayer of Jonah in chapter 2. It's been standard academic opinion for a long time now that this prayer is a later addition to the story. What struck me last night however is that other than the cursory use of drowning metaphors in verses 3 and 5, the prayer really has very little to do with Jonah, the big fish, Nineveh, or getting chucked out of a boat for disobeying God. Taken out of it's context it's classic psalm material, and the link with the Jonah story is as tenuous as it would be if Psalm 40 had been inserted into the story of Jeremiah getting thrown into a pit in Jer. 38.

Jonah is also notable for being a book where God appears to change his mind (or alternatively gets Jonah to say something God knows is not the truth). It's interesting that the film actually notes this supplementing Jonah's complaints in 4:2 with the words "I know you are the kind of god that would change his mind". It also made me wonder about the Ninevehites reaction when the predicted destruction failed to come about. Did they rejoice in their salvation, or look back with embarrassment at their reaction in a similar fashion to how our society looks back the millennium bug?

Three other quick points about the film's treatment of the bible: Firstly, it is good to see that Jonah is swallowed by a "big fish" rather than a whale. Secondly, it's interesting how the film-makers depict Jonah/God getting an entire city to repent to a god they do not know. Jonah is arrested and brought before the king, but as he is dragged through the streets his eyes flash with fire and his words (presumably carried by God's spirit) convict all those who hear him. Sadly the effect is a little too bizarre (more Dr. Who than the Bible), and feels out of step with the rest of the film.

Finally, the film, like the book, ends on a question, but the need to end the film within the boundaries of established filmic convention means that the images continue for a short while afterwards. Sadly this robs the film in general, and that question in particular, of the ability to challenge the audience on a personal level. Many commentators consider the story to have been included in scripture as a voice against the racism prevalent at the time. By distancing the question from the end of the film, the immediacy of its most poignant question is lost.

Otherwise the film is a fairly strong portrayal of the story, unafraid to pose a few awkward questions. It allows the text to speak for itself rather than hampering it with extraneous commentary. Visually the animation is a bit mixed, one or two scenes are poorly thought out and look cheap and cheesy. That said, in other places it includes some impressive and striking images notably the shot of Jonah sinking serenely down from the boat, content, for the moment, that his life is in God's hands.