VeggieTales Creators File for Bankruptcy

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/135/41.0.html ^

[fishtank]

ping

[RoughDobermann]

"My High Silk Hat!"

[AppyPappy]

Drat!!

[VermiciousKnid]

Oh, this is really too bad!

The Veggie Tales movies are terrific for kids. I wish them luck in their next endeavor, whatever that may be.

Regards,

[lugsoul]

If you like to talk to tomatos...

[kimmie7]

Noooooooooooooooo

We LOVE VeggieTales. Hope it doesn't get politically corrected to death.

[Erik Latranyi]

Maybe they forgot to eat their veggies!

[jbstrick]

Like the article states. I bet management decisions were the problems here. They have a great product.

[N. Theknow]

VeggieTales sold to the same company that owns The Lone Ranger.....Can Ranch dressing be far behind?

[cyborg]

Too many parents are oversophisticating their children. Many kids I know would laff at talking vegetables. I liked Veggie Tale's.. esp. the Jonah one.

[Snuffington]

Arrrgh!!! This does not bode well for my favorite kids entertainment series.

Sounds like Vischer should have hired a president to run the company with a little more business savy, while he concentrated on the creative stuff. Of course, this little gem didn't help matters:

Big Idea began looking for a buyer this past summer, after it lost a lawsuit brought by Lyrick Studios, its distributor until 2001. ...Vischer defended the decision to leave Lyrick, claiming that three years of negotiations with them had failed to result in a signed contract.

A good president would have let his lawyers make that decision, rather then going with his gut. I hope he learns from this mistake and is more successful in future ventures. In the meantime I hope the new owner doesn't screw up Veggie Tales.

[VRWCmember]

In April, a Texas jury awarded Lyrick $11 million in damages, deciding that Big Idea violated a verbal contract with Lyrick.

I think that's a big part of the problem. I thought verbal contracts over $1000 weren't enforceable, and a jury awards $11 million based on a violation of a verbal contract.

[68skylark]

I HOPE this means the former owners just aren't good at business, and that they will now be free to concentrate on the creative side of the business. If so, I guess this could be good news -- their product is really wonderful.

[frmrda]

My 5 year old absolutely loved the videos. He saw the stage show, movies, bought the T-Shirts, etc. I hope the new owners don't change a thing.

However, is anyone else mystified by the fact that the CEO thought that because things were going well "God wanted us to expand". Don't you think that with all the problems in the world God would have other things to worry about.

I think it's a bit arrogant to think that "God" is telling you to expand your business. Did he have a direct line to God?

I think that the lesson here is that when it comes to business decisions look to your accountant and financial advisors before thinking God is telling you something. He isn't.

[VRWCmember]

Since when is a verbal contract with a value of $11 million enforceable? Sounds to me like a jury of 12 idiots put the nail in the coffin for this company.

[68skylark]

I'm not a lawyer, but I've always thought that verbal contracts ARE generally enforcable, like other contracts, regardless of the amounts involved. (And there may be exceptions as well -- for example verbal contracts involving real estate aren't enforcble.)

Regardless of whether a verbal contract is legally enforcable, I think it does create a moral obligation -- hopefully that's something the VeggieTales folks should understand and honor.

[ZinGirl]

The Jonah film, which cost an estimated $10 million to $20 million to produce

well, that's a pretty big spread... "it was somewhere between $10 million and $20 million to produce....we're not sure"

no wonder they're having cash problems.

[ZinGirl]

The Jonah film, which cost an estimated $10 million to $20 million to produce

well, that's a pretty big spread... "it was somewhere between $10 million and $20 million to produce....we're not sure"

no wonder they're having cash problems.

[AppyPappy]

The contract was probably assumed since they were doing business for years.