Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving is a direct-to-video installment of VeggieTales. The story is a retelling of the story of Santa Claus, with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber narrating the story while occasionally interacting with events in it.
Synopsis[]
Everyone at the town center are very happy Christmas is coming, especially Junior Asparagus after getting two gold coins from his grandparents. Just then, Laura's dad shows up with his delivery truck breaking down, and he persuades Gus to repair it. However, because of his grouchy ways, Gus doesn't help out and closes his auto shop. Both Laura and her dad were sadden about this, because that means he'll lose his job and they won't get a Christmas tree. Junior suggests that Santa can help out, but Bob doesn't really think that will work. He then decides to tell everyone at the center about the story of Nicholas, the origins of Santa.
The story starts at ancient Greece (which is now part of Turkey) and focuses on a small boy who lives with happy and caring parents. However, he didn't understand why his parents love helping other people. Later that afternoon, he was fishing by the pier with his father when they spotted Gustav. The grouchy gourd fired one of his employees and the employee's daughters were worried about what happened. Nicholas' father gave the fired employee free fish, much to Gustav's appalled. Later that night, Nicholas' parents had a call from someone who was sick and needed help. He was worried that something might happened, which his predictions were right when he heard his parents died from the illness. He was left with wealth, but with no family with the exception of his servant Octavius.
Gustav came back and asks Nicholas on how he'll run the fishing business now his dad is gone. He decided to do the same thing by giving fish away, but one of Gustav's henchmen stole the basket of fish away from him and everyone was asking for some. With no other way, he runs away to a ship and sailed off to escape the calamity. He decided to head to Bethlehem, so he can find out about what his parents were talking about helping others. He eventually figured out when he spotted the church where Jesus was born, and a nun named Sister Claire told about the goodness about helping others.
Nicholas returned to his hometown afterward, only to find it's been run by Gustav. He later told Octavius about what happened, and the servant knows about it as well. They decided to only to help others is to sneak the fish inside their clothing. As they're doing so, Gustav's former employee's daughters were caught by giving toys away. As punishment, Gustav sentenced them that they'll have to pay three gold coins, or else they'll be thrown in jail.
Nicholas decides to help the daughters out, but he needs to be very stealthy as the Roman guards might spot him. Both he and Octavius decided to be in disguise, and it worked for the most part until Larry makes it worse by making the story have snow. Because of the snow, Gustav and his army were able to track down both Nicholas and Octavius. Things get worse as the pepper and gourd bumped into Bob and Larry, and they get stuck in a cart with sheep being dragged. Just as they're about to fall off the cliffs, the sheep decided to pull the cart with our heroes, and managed to safety cross. The old folk thanked Nicholas (who is still in disguise) for helping out the daughters, and the story ends with him and Octavius hopping giving themselves nicknames.
Back in the town square, Junior was thinking how he can help Laura. He then had an idea, and asked Jimmy, who then told Larry to see if they can help. The small asparagus went to Gus' shop, and gave him his gold coin to help pay the repairs for the truck to get fixed. He resisted as he needs more than just one coin, but soon the other town folks helped out thanks to Bob. Gus asked to Junior why he's doing, and his response is that we need to help others. Meanwhile, Larry and Jimmy decided to get a Christmas tree for the Carrot family, and had to do it in Santa's way. The Carrot family were surprised that they got the truck fixed, as well having a Christmas tree. The veggies felt happy to help out.
Songs[]
- "Hope It's Gonna Be a Happy Christmas"
- "Greece"
- "I Can Love"
- "Donuts for Benny"
- "Nicholas, Nicholas"
- "Helpful Good Saint Nicholas"
- "Up on the Housetop"
- I Can Love (Reprise)
- "Give This Christmas Away" (featuring Matthew West and Amy Grant)
Cast[]
| Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Phil Vischer | Bob the Tomato Jimmy Gourd Percy Pea Octavius (Mr. Lunt) Pastor (George) |
| Mike Nawrocki | Larry the Cucumber Dad Carrot Jean-Claude Pea |
| Lisa Vischer | Junior Asparagus |
| Gigi Abraham | Nicholas |
| Alan Lee | Gustav Epiphanus |
| Cydney Trent | Sister Claire (Petunia) |
| Megan Murphy | Laura Carrot |
| Keri Pisapia | Tona |
| Ally Nawrocki | Annie |
| Kurt Henry Heinecke | Little Drummer boy |
| J. Chris Wall | Poor father |
| Brian K. Roberts Joe Spadaford Sarah Vorhees |
Extras |
| Drake Bell | Gustav's Employee - Boy |
Trivia[]
- This was the hardest episode to work on due to there being hardly any information on the real St. Nicholas, as Bob points out at the end of the episode.
- The episode's original name was going to be "Saint Nicholas: A Veggie Christmas Story", but it was changed soon after.
- Originally, Nicholas running away was because everything town reminded him too much of his parents. This was rewritten later on.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- The Toy that Saved Christmas
- VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular!
- The Star of Christmas
- It's a Meaningful Life
- Christmas Sing-Along Songs!
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas
- Beauty and the Beet
- The Best Christmas Gift
- The Gift of Giving
External links[]
- Big Idea Wiki: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving
- Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving at the Internet Movie Database