Two years before Pixar released Toy Story, Big Idea Inc. released the first fully computer animated series.
Big Idea was a new company. Where's God When I'm Scared was its first project. It was founded in 1989 by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki in Phil's spare bedroom. This was only three years after the founding of Pixar and two years before work on Toy Story began.
Phil had a model for eyes that could blink and look around. The next question was what to put them on. For the sake of simplicity, the object needed to have no hair or limbs. His first idea was a candy bar. After he generated a model of Mr. Candy Bar, his wife suggested he come up with a protagonist that promoted a healthy lifestyle. Thus, Mr. Cucumber was born. Mr. Cuke's Screen Test was the trial animation for both Larry and the countertop set.
Phil soon found that the short clip of a singular vegetable wouldn't be enough to get investors, he decided to give Mr. Cucumber a friend. He and Mike decided to make a longer demo, with Bob the Tomato trying to sell the show while Larry the Cucumber looked for his wind up lobster.
The promo was unsuccessful. Phil had run out of money. On the brink of giving up, he found a letter in the mail containing a cashier's check for $400 with an unsigned note that said "God laid it on my heart that you might need this". Inspired to keep going, Phil got a job at a production company as a CGI artist with the condition that he could use its equipment for his personal endeavors during downtime.
He created the main story for Where's God When I'm Scared. Junior Asparagus was afraid of the dark because he'd watched Frankencelery on TV. The story included a cute song about how God is bigger than the boogieman. But the real heart of the episode came when Phil was walking across the plaza of the Dirksen Federal Building and he found himself singing a song about everybody having a water buffalo. This inspired the 'Silly Song' segment that is the staple of every VeggieTales episode. Everything was coming together. The only problem was that he got busy. The production company had used his demo reel to show potential customers what their employees could do. As work started on commercials for Pop Tarts and Miller beer, Where's God When I'm Scared had to take a backseat. Luckily, one of Phil's best friends was able to support the project with $80,000 out of his retirement savings, allowing Phil to leave his job and devote all of his attention to VeggieTales.
In August of 1993, with the goal of completing the 30 minute movie by Christmas, he hired two more animators, a part time accountant, and a music director. With the first story made, the team decided that the last half would tell the biblical story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. Through twists and turns, battles with both software and software companies, and several all-nighters in a row, on December 21st, 1993, Where's God When I'm Scared was finally completed.
VeggieTales was sold initially by mail, eventually spreading by word of mouth. In a surprising series of events, college students became Big Idea's most important factor in marketing. Where's God When I'm Scared would play in the back of Christian bookstores and part-time employees would watch when work was slow. The realization of its popularity among young adults was made when Phil received a letter from a young woman planning a VeggieTales themed party which said "By the way, this is a party for young adults. No kids were invited." VeggieTales exploded once employees started recommending the movies to young parents. By the end of 1995, 150,000 copies of the first four episodes had been shipped out to bookstores. Phil Vischer wrote his autobiography Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables in 2006, detailing the rise and fall of Big Idea.
Though Pixar will always be remembered for making the first full length CGI movie, Phil Vischer and Big Idea were able to make VeggieTales (which I, personally, find more entertaining) years before, with fewer employees and fewer resources.
Resources:
Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer
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