Jonah: A Veggietales Movie (2002) and What it Means for a Movie to be Original

In the world, there exists only a finite number of stories to tell.  When people cry out that most stories that they hear of are unoriginal, they are right.  With the limited amount of stories, it is impossible to be original.  But these people are also wrong at the same time.  The originality of a story does not come from the core concept.  Originality in storytelling comes from how a tale is told.  The flourishes that a storyteller brings to the material can help to make it different from what came before.  Therefore, while a limited amount of stories exist, originality still exists through how stories are told.

Take Shakespeare for example.  He is one of the most well-known storytellers in recorded history.  He wrote numerous plays, one of the most famous being a simple tale of love conquering all.  That play was titled Romeo and Juliet, and is the most famous romantic story of all time.  That is for a reason.  Shakespeare knew how to craft the story into something exciting.  He knew where to use the love story, and where to add tragedy.  He knew the perfect mixture of the two to make an old idea seem new again.  He brought the originality through the way he relayed the story to an audience.  He put an original spin upon an unoriginal concept.  He also helped to inspire many generations of storytellers through the years following the release of Romeo and Juliet.

Where the idea of originality truly becomes interesting is looking at what Romeo and Juliet has spawned.  Many plays, movies, and novels use Romeo and Juliet as a basis for the story they are telling.  Does this make them less original?  Can West Side Story, which is heavily based upon Romeo and Juliet, be considered completely original or completely unoriginal?  In terms of unoriginality, West Side Story is really just a retelling of Romeo and Juliet in a different setting.  Instead of feuding families, you have gangs.  There are different names for the characters.  There are musical numbers.  The language is different.  But it still is Romeo and Juliet.  The story beats are still the same as in Shakespeare’s classic.  Some people will argue that the changes are enough to give it a fresh feeling and to add originality to an existing story.  I would agree with these people.  Though the story is essentially the same, the changes give it a new look and feel.  West Side Story brings something new to the table.  That counts as originality to me.

You’ve probably spent your entire time reading this post so far thinking something along the lines of “How does this relate to the blog series?”  How does it relate to the Sunday “Bad” Movie?  I’m about to explain it, though the title probably already does that much for me.  The movie for this week’s post is none other than Jonah: A Veggietales Movie, which is a movie depicting the biblical story of Jonah, through the use of the Veggietales universe.

As I stated earlier, my opinion of originality is based upon the context in which the story is told.  If a story is told in the same way as it has been told many times before, it is less original than a version of the same story told in an entirely different way.  I used Shakespeare as an example.  Let us now look upon the Bible to determine how original the Veggietales interpretation of the story of Jonah is.  The story of Jonah goes like this.  Jonah is told by God to go save Nineveh from destruction.  Jonah doesn’t want to and instead books a voyage on a ship going in the opposite direction.  When a storm attacks the ship, Jonah is dropped overboard.  The storm immediately ends and Jonah is eaten by a great fish (whale).  He survives for three days and nights before telling God that he will do as is wished.  The whale vomits him out, and Jonah goes to Nineveh to tell them they will be destroyed if they do not change their ways.  Jonah leaves Nineveh and waits outside to see it destroyed.  God does not destroy the city since the people changed their ways.  Jonah questions God and is taught a lesson in compassion.

In Jonah: A Veggietales Movie, the story of Jonah unfolds on screen.  It is almost exactly what I just told you the story of Jonah is.  The only differences are that the characters are vegetables instead of humans, some very small bits of childish humor are added, a few songs are thrown in, and a bookend with the usual Veggietales characters is added.  But the story is the same.  It still involved a character named Jonah in ancient times disobeying God when he is told to go help Nineveh.  It’s practically identical to the Biblical tale.  No originality is thrown in.  Okay, the minor amount is thrown in to give it the Veggietales brand.  Other than that, though, there is a massive lack of originality.

Jonah: A Veggietales Movie is the perfect example of a movie that does not show the originality that can help to make a tale feel new and fresh again.  The story is not told in an innovative and interesting way.  It is instead told in a derivative way that has been relayed to the population many times before.  The only changes made to the story were made so that it would be easily digestible for children.  There are no unique spins put upon the tale to give it some sort of new life.  Instead, it’s a plain old retelling made to get children interested in religion.

As you can see from my description of Jonah: A Veggietales Movie, there are poor ways to execute original storytelling.  That is how this topic fits into the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  There are some great, original ways to retell a story so that it seems like something new that shares similarities to a work that came before it.  There are also many bad ways to execute this kind of storytelling.  Many bad movies are bad thanks to this method of telling a story.

In the end, it still all depends on the specific person’s idea on what originality means.  Does it mean that the entire concept, structure, and story must be new without any hint of feeling like something that came before it?  Or can it mean a new way of telling an old story?  Personal interpretation of originality will dictate the way that you feel about it.  But you can’t deny that there are different levels of originality and some films are made more original than others.  The way that a story is told can help to differentiate between these levels.  That’s all I am trying to say with this post, and I’ll leave you with that.

There are a few notes to make before I leave you for another week:

• Other animated movies that I have covered include A Car’s Life and Tappy Toes.  There was also a large portion of Attack of the Super Monsters that was animated.
• I discussed movies with similar stories in my post for April Fools, way back at post 18 of the Sunday “Bad” Movies.
• A big thanks to @AaronsPs3 for this week’s movie.
• Like I said last week, following the 50^th post, I will be polling to see which movie I should rewatch for the 53^rd post, commemorating one year of the Sunday “Bad” Movie posts.  Any movie that I have watched for the Sunday “Bad” Movies in the first 50 posts is eligible.  Get your choice ready.
• If you have any suggestions for the Sunday “Bad” Movie, the comments are below, or you could go and find me on Twitter.  I will consider your choice, and it will be added to my list of potential future movies.