Animated kid’s TV and film has produced some of the most iconic Jewish representation to date. If Hey Alma’s Instagram prescence has proved anything, it’s that Jewish millennials and zillennials are still just as excited about “A Rugrats Chanukah,” “A Rugrats Passover,” “The Prince of Egypt” and “An American Tail” as we were when they first graced our screens in the ’90s and 2000s. And yet, one major Jewish holiday special is often forgotten.
That’s right, we’re talking about the VeggieTales Purim episode, “Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen.”
Look, we know VeggieTales is a Christian program. Half of our editorial staff didn’t even know that VeggieTales had a Purim episode until last week. (The other half watched “Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen” quite literally religiously. And one Hey Alma editor who shall remain nameless grew up thinking VeggieTales was actually a Jewish show because her parents only showed her the episodes which told stories from Tanakh.)
But we can confirm that “Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen” is magnificent. There’s Esther as an unidentifiable piece of produce, musical numbers from Haman, banishment to the Island of Perpetual Tickling and no proselytizing. We swear!
But don’t just take our word for it: You are all now cordially invited to join the Hey Alma staff and your fellow readers for a virtual screening and discussion of VeggieTales’ “Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen” on Thursday March 21 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. We’ll all gather on Discord, press play simultaneously (the Purim episode is available to stream on YouTube) and let the fun begin!
We’ve never done anything like this before, so it’s probably best to assume it will be slightly chaotic, but that seems in the spirit of Purim, no? We hope to see you there. Bring your own crudité.
Register here for Hey Alma’s screening of the VeggieTales Purim episode and Discord chat.
