The players in the VeggieTales saga

The VeggieTales saga is a long and complicated story that meanders through a decade of phenominal succcess with groundbreaking computer generated technology and a commitment to Judeo-Christian values. That story took a drastic turn when growth outpaced cash flow and the company found itself at the mercy of creditors and involved in lawsuits over distribution rights. It was sold at public auction in 2003 and is now owned by a privately held company in New York City.

• Phil Vischer

Creator of the popular VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penguins characters who served as CEO for 10 years until bankruptcy in 2003. He has agreed to write one VeggieTales episode each year for the new owners (Classic Media), and give notes on up to two more that are written by their in-house creative team. He provided the voices for half of the characters and will continue in that role. He is maintaining a Web presence at www.philvischer.com.

• Big Idea Productions

The computer-generated animation company founded by Phil Vischer in 1993, now owned by Classic Media, to produce VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penguins. Vischer is a committed Christian; Classic Media is a secular entity whose owners do not profess to be Christians.

• Classic Media

A privately held company which owns and manages some of the world’s most recognizable family properties across all media, including names such as “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” “Lassie,” and “The Lone Ranger.” It purchased Big Idea Productions and the VeggieTales library and characters at auction in November 2003.

• NBC/Universal

One of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in 2004, it is 80 percent owned by General Electric and 20 percent owned by Vivendi Universal Entertainment. The conglomerate owns Universal Studios, significant television operations, major sports and Olympics programming, a leading television stations group, and theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando, and Japan.

• NBC/TV

The broadcast entity which started showing VeggieTales in early September as part of its Saturday morning children’s programming. The controversy arose when the network first denied, then recanted, that it is editing all Christian content out of the program.

• Universal Studios

The major motion picture company, part of the NBC Universal conglomerate, which is funding a new VeggieTales movie for release in 2008. Vischer told the Index that Universal “actually went out of its way to tell us to make the movie as Christian as we think it needs to be. They very much want to target the Christian community with a film every now and then. NBC, on the other hand, doesn’t want any of their kids programming to offend non-Christian parents. Very different business models.”