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Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed is the twelfth episode in the VeggieTales animated series, and the second installment of the Larry-Boy adventures. It was released in July 1999 on both DVD and VHS formats. Subtitled "A Lesson in the Power of Words", it illustrates how destructive false rumors or negative words can be, and conversely, how positive words can do good. It is a mild parody of Little Shop Of Horrors.

Marc Vulcano the animation supervisor for the film had just joined Big Idea Productions from Sierra On-Line, Inc..

Plot

The episode begins immediately with the story, where Percy Pea and Li'l Pea are leaving a movie theater. They are met by the Milk-Money Bandit who demands $1.28, which was the exact amount of their milk money, but after he robs them he runs into Larry-Boy on a neighboring rooftop, who brings him quickly to justice.

Following this, Larry-Boy stands on a rooftop reviewing his technique with Alfred, when he accidentally knocks a plant off the ledge. It falls into the sewer getting caught on some electrical telephone wires on the way down. The electrical charge and a gossiping woman on the phone, brings the plant to life, and the Rumor Weed is born.

The next morning Alfred is speaking before Junior Asparagus and Laura Carrot's class at Veggie Valley Elementary. He makes the comment that he must go home and "recharge his batteries". The children don't understand the expression (the phrase in American English means to rest and relax), and come to the false conclusion that Alfred must be a robot. As they are walking home, they run into a small Rumor Weed who extracts their secret and promptly passes it along. She quickly moves from yard to yard spreading the rumor. Percy Pea, Mr. Nezzer, and Dad Carrot unintentionally contribute to the rumor, but Larry-Boy proves impervious to it.

He gets a call from Mayor Blueberry who informs him that weeds are taking over the city. He springs into action, trying to destroy the weeds by conventional means, but weed-whackers and shears have no effect. He returns to the Larry-Cave where Alfred has been doing research on the Weed. They study a map of Bumblyburg and discover that all the weeds are connected by a vast root system to a huge Mother Weed deep underground. Realizing that the Weed has the ability to smash sidewalks and crumble walls, they decide they must attack it underground, at its root.

Fortunately Alfred has made some modifications to the Larry-Mobile that enable it to bore holes in the ground. Larry-Boy is oblivious as Alfred guides him into the underground sewer, and once inside the sewer they lose contact with each other. The Mother Rumor Weed finds him by his crashed vehicle, and Larry-Boy, unaware of how to stop her, spoils his water gun and gets battered and bruised.

Meanwhile, Alfred has gone into Bumblyburg to try to get help. There he is astonished to find that the usually kind citizens are afraid of him and saying strange things about him. They ignore his desperate assertions that he is not a robot; the rumor has grown out of control. When the giant Rumor Weed crashes up out of the sewer and grabs Alfred, they believe he is getting what he deserves.

Dad Asparagus arrives on the scene and recognizes the absurdity of the rumor. He figures out that Junior and Laura accidentally started the rumor and explains to them that even if its true God doesn't want us to tell stories that can hurt he want us to spread nice words. Given a second chance they decide to spread good words and are able to convince the citizens of Bumblyburg that Alfred is not a robot at all, but a very nice man. As the word spreads, the Rumor Weed turns into a flower and Alfred is saved. Larry-Boy then emerges from the sewer beaten to a black and blue pulp and is quickly hushed by everyone else before accidentally starting the rumor again by saying, "Oh hey Alfred...somebody told me you were a...robot?"

The episode is wrapped up in the Larry-Cave with Alfred and Larry-Boy. They reiterate that God wants us to say nice words about people rather than telling stories that can hurt. The verse is on the Larry-Computer "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" (Proverbs 12:18).

Cast

• Mike Nawrocki voices Larry the Cucumber / Larry-Boy
• Phil Vischer voices multiple roles:
  • Archibald as Alfred
  • Percy Pea
  • Mr. Nezzer
  • Dad Pea
• G. Bock voices The Rumor Weed, Gossiping Woman in the Window and Madame Blueberry
• Lisa Vischer voices Junior Asparagus
• Kristin Blegen voices Laura Carrot
• Dan Anderson voices Dad Asparagus
• Lesley Benodin voices Li'l Pea
• Mike Sage voices Scallion #3 as the Milk Money Bandit
• Jim Poole voices Scooter
• John Wahba voices Dad Carrot

Songs

This episode has a unique format and does not include the usual "VeggieTales Theme" and "What We Have Learned" songs. It does contain the following songs:

• "Larry Boy Theme Song" - Nicole C. Mullen
• "Rumor Weed" - Bock, Phil Vischer and Wahba
• "Rumor Weed (cover)" - The W's

Notes

• Aaron Hartline's first art directiing show. His next one was King George and the Ducky
• Everett Downing's last episode on storyboarding
• Ryan Williams' first episode on layout
• Marc Vulcano's first episode. Credited here as Mark Vulcano.
• Andy Arnett's first episode
• Bryan Moll's last episode as an animator
• Adam Holmes' last episode.
• Nicole Allen's first episode on lighting
• Richard Gouge's first episode on lighting
• Henry Vera's first episode
• Patty O'Kelly's first episode
• First episode where the audio is mastered at The Chicago Recording Company
• Last episode produced in Softimage
• Last episode where Mark Buczek is the executive in charge of production

External links

• Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed at the Internet Movie Database
• Review from Epinions
• Review from Christian Answers