The episode begins with an interesting counter top sequence in which Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber both read letters that are about kids being troubled by bullies. It is unique in that Larry reads a letter and he gets Bob extra flustered making him almost seem like the clueless Larry, which occurs in many counter top scenes.

To teach about handling bullies the show includes two different VeggieTales stories. The first is about Junior the Asparagus standing up to the playground bully. He starts out scared and only had courage in his daydreams. He then gets the courage to return to the playground. He shows he is not afraid of the bully by confronting him and not by avoiding him. He also shows that retaliation is not the way to go in that he accepts the possibility of being beat up by continuing to show up at the playground and does not plan to ever retaliate.

After the first story there is the usual intermission with a Silly Song with Larry. The Silly Song in this episode is called “Pizza Angel.” In the song Larry is waiting a long time for his pizza to be delivered and in the end he does not get his pizza. This is a great silly song because it is so easy to relate to his situation.

After the silly song the main feature Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson’s Hairbrush film begins. In this parody of Indiana Jones Larry plays Minnesota Cuke, an adventurer that find artifacts for the Moose Lake Children’s Museum. In the beginning of the story Larry is getting the golden carrot from the abominable snowman and it ends up being stolen from him by Rattan, who is soon revealed as a bully that has been plaguing Minnesota Cuke since his school days. He vows to stop going after artifacts as long as there are bullies, but when he learns that the Canadians are supposedly after Samson’s Hairbrush to take over both sides of Niagara Falls. On his adventure he ends up wanting revenge on Rattan, but in the end he learns to love his enemy. The story also includes the telling of the Biblical story of Samson.

Overall this is a great episode of VeggieTales to teach kids about how to handle bullies. It is an episode that many kids can relate to in that they have dealt with bullies or are currently dealing with bullies. It is also one of the most adventurous and engaging of VeggieTales episodes with the Minnesota Cuke segment. Lastly it has lots of good special features.

The first section of Bonus Features on this DVD contain the Behind the Scenes kind of material that older fans of VeggieTales may like, but the young kids probably will not. This includes a Behind the Scenes making of style movie, Charlie Daniels Music Video of the Minnesota Cuke theme song, Interview with Charlie Daniels, Studio Commentary version of the movie, Audio Progression Reel that shows how the audio really makes the movie what it is, Veggie Commentary version of Minnesota Cuke, and Art Gallery with concept art in a slideshow format with commentary.

The second section of Special Features is called Family Fun. This is the great section of special features that will appeal to the young fans of VeggieTales. Here there is Video Trivia, a SingAlong of “Pizza Angel,” an Interactive Storybook called A Knight to Remember, a Catacomb Game in which you guide Minnesota Cuke through the Catacombs to get Samson’s Hairbrush and get back out safely, Worm Pit Family Activity about teamwork, Petunia’s Worm Recipe, How to Draw Gordon, and How to Draw Minnesota.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8