Who knew 20 years ago that vegetables could be movie stars? Big Idea Production's Jonah — A Veggie Tales Movie marks the best selling home video's transition to the silver screen. All images Property of Artisan Entertainment.

Let's say twenty years ago, I went into a big pitch meeting at a major studio and told them I wanted to make a series of films starring talking vegetables that believe in God. After I was done, I'm sure they wouldn't have even validated my parking pass. So how did Big Idea Productions founder, CEO and CCO Phil Vischer sell over 25 million copies of Veggie Tales videos and get a multiple feature deal with Artisan Entertainment, with talking vegetables that believe in God?

I sat down with Vischer to discuss the quick rise of his company, and even over the phone, I gained a strong sense of his passion and love for what he does. At times when he was describing characters he'd naturally go into their voices. He's very humble about his success, saying, "Too many people get into film to either be hip or make money or become famous. I never wanted any of that…I just want to tell stories." By the end of speaking with him, I discovered how an artist with a clear vision who takes advantage of an untapped public demand can start a new animation corporation out of his spare bedroom.

Humble Beginnings
In 1986, at the age of 19, Vischer got a job at a post-production house in Chicago. As the most artistically inclined person at the company, he was chosen to take a two-week Bosh animation class in Salt Lake City. He worked on commercials with the Bosh system until the studio bought a copy of Softimage in 1989. In the early 1990s, Vischer took notice to what special effects powerhouse Rhythm & Hues was creating in 3D with their proprietary squash and stretch plug-ins. A few years later Softimage announced that in their next update they would include lattice deformation, which would allow animators the ability to create squash and stretch type action.

During the company's hungry years, Big Idea founder, CEO and COO Phil Vischer declined distribution offers from companies that requested all religious references be deleted.

Vischer was now convinced that he could create fun Warner Bros.-type animation in 3D with little effort. For years, he had the idea of creating a quality family film that expressed his Judeo-Christian beliefs, however, he didn't want a lack of quality to diminish the message. With the new version of Softimage, he started experimenting with a simple character with no arms and legs and figuring out how it would bounce and move. He knew that with no limps the main source of the character's acting would come from the eyes. He used the squash and stretch technique to create eyes that brought the character to life. However, Vischer's wife, Lisa, had only one complaint with Phil's first character -- it was a candy bar. She said that if he got kids to fall in love with a candy bar character, parents would hate him. So, Vischer decided to change his character to something that was good for kids and that's how the Veggie Tales came to life.

Vischer quit his job and teamed with partner Mike Nawrocki, who came up with the name Veggie Tales, to start working on a 10-second film starring Larry the Cucumber. It was the first time that Vischer had done any lip-synch work and Nawrocki had no animation experience at all. In 1991, they shopped the idea around to various Christian video companies, but got relatively the same answer -- "If you make it, we'll sell it." Disheartened, Vischer ended up having to return to the post-house job, so that his family could survive.