"MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle"

"MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle" is the 46th episode of VeggieTales.

Plot

Countertop Intro

On the Countertop, Scooter teaches Larry how to play the bagpipes. Bob comes to the two of them asking what’s going on, and that they need to start the show. Larry says that they’ve already received an email from a child named Scott Mitchell. His friends, Justin and Sam like to play soccer, while he likes to play the piano. He says that he’s not good at soccer and that his friends tease him about it, asking Bob and Larry for help. Scooter tells Scott that he thinks it’s great that he likes to play the piano, and that while everyone has different talents and abilities, that they can all get along. Bob appreciates Scooter’s message, and says he has a story to help with the situation. Scooter interrupts Bob, however, saying that he has a story, all about a Scottish cucumber.

"MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle"

A narrator starts the story by telling the tale of two friends, who live in a make-believe world where Scotland and Rome are placed right next to each other. The two friends, Chog Norrius and Pompous Maximus (Mr. Lunt), played together, but as they grew older, they went from playing with each other to pranking each other. Their pranking intensified until the day they played drastic pranks on each other, turning the two into enemies. Chog gave Pompous a bubble bath which turned his entire skin purple, and Pompous gave Chog shampoo that permanently removed his hair. Their kingdoms soon became divided, starting a prank feud and destroying the bridge connecting them.

Years later, outside of a Roman camp, Chog leads a group of barbarians called the Barber-Barians, intending to prank the Romans. Chog’s son, MacLarry (Larry), is brought along, to have him pass his pranking initiation test after eight failed attempts. MacLarry suggests bringing an invention he made to help prank the Romans, to which Chog refuses. The Barber-Barians launch an attack on the Roman camp, capturing the Romans and forcing them to receive bad haircuts. Chog encourages MacLarry to give one of the Romans a bad haircut, though when MacLarry walks towards the Roman with a razor, he trips and sends the razor flying, cutting through the hair of MacBob (Bob). This leads Chog to give the Roman a bad haircut, with MacBob failing MacLarry’s initiation test for the ninth time. As the Barber-Barians walk home to their village, MacLarry laments failing his test again, claiming to be the worst Barber-Barian ever. MacBob assures him that he’s only different, and that his differences don’t make him any less important.

Chog and the other Barber-Barians approach the gorge between Scotland and Rome, where he prepares them for the “Chog Toss”, tying them together and throwing them across the gorge. However, MacLarry was not tied with them, leaving him on the other side of the gorge. Two of the pranked Romans see this, and charge at MacLarry with water guns. Chog tosses MacLarry a rope, telling him to grab it and jump across the gorge. Chog pulls MacLarry to the other side, stating that the Barber-Barians will get the Romans back with a better prank. The Barber-Barians then return to their village, where a celebration is thrown for Chog.

Later in the day, the Barber-Barians find multiple pranks placed around the village, set up by the Romans while the Barber-Barians were away. Chog calls the other Barber-Barians to their lodge to come up with a prank as revenge to the Romans for pranking them. MacLarry heads towards the lodge, but Chog tells him to practice his pranking homework. MacLarry then meets up with the other children of the village, asking him if he could read any of the books he owns to them. MacLarry reads the children from “The Book of Archiemedes”, a book about MacLarry’s hero. He shows them many of the inventions in the book, confusing them, as the inventions are not intended for pranking. Chog finds MacLarry with the other children, disappointed that he’s not practicing pranking. He calls many of the inventions in MacLarry’s book useless, as they don’t help with their goals towards pranking. Chog then states that to get back at the Romans, the Barber-Barians will be going after the Cheese of Atilla, a piece of cheese known to be incredibly stinky, that it will help them win the prank feud against the Romans. After Chog leaves, MacLarry sings about not fitting in with the other Barber-Barians, being more interested in inventions and pulling unimpressive pranks.

The next day, Chog sets up a prank training camp for MacLarry, in an urge to improve his pranking skills and pass his initiation test. MacLarry tries to pull off the pranks Chog teaches him, but to no avail. Chog tries to get Larry to shave the wool off a sheep with a razor, however, when MacLarry is left alone, he uses a vacuum invention to change the hairstyle of the sheep. However, the invention goes haywire, sucking up the sheep and shooting it at Chog, knocking him into a tree which falls over onto the village’s lodge, destroying it. After the Barber-Barians scold MacLarry, Chog tells him that the village has no place for his inventions. After MacLarry is left alone, he looks through his book about Archiemedes, reading that he lives in Greece. After deciding he doesn’t fit in, MacLarry leaves the village to head to Greece.

The next day, a group of turnips are travelling in a wagon through a forest, contemplating what they would want to do with their future. The driver, Ted, spots a sign listing that a reward is offered for the capture of a Barber-Barians. As MacLarry is travelling to Greece, he overhears the turnips talking about Barber-Barians. The turnips stop their wagon and walk over to MacLarry, kidnapping him and bringing him to Rome. Ted brings MacLarry directly to Rome’s emperor, Pompous Maximus, with hopes of getting a reward. Larry explains to Pompous saying that he’s an inventor, and was kidnapped while travelling to Greece to meet Archiemedes. Pompous is surprised when he hears MacLarry is an inventor, and asks MacLarry for his name. MacLarry tells him that his full name is MacLarry Norius, leading Pompous to remember Chog. He slyly welcomes MacLarry into Rome, and orders his guards to kick out the turnips.

Back in the Barber-Barian village, Chog gives the Barber-Barians the plan to obtain the Cheese of Atilla. MacBob asks Chog where MacLarry is, as he hadn’t seen him since the previous day. Chog tells MacBob not to worry about it, as he doesn’t plan to bring MacLarry on the journey to obtain the cheese. Back in Rome, Pompous tells MacLarry about unfinished plans for a contraption from Archiemedes he has, and asks if MacLarry is able to finish the plans and build it. MacLarry agrees, and builds the contraption with a team of Romans. After the contraption, a makeshift bridge is complete, Pompous is impressed with MacLarry’s skills, and tells him to come with him to test it out. Later, the Barber-Barians arrive at Mount Limburger, and find the Cheese of Atilla, containing it in a jelly jar to contain the smell.

At the gorge between Scotland and Rome, Pompous’ guards test the design of the bridge, which lays across the gorge successfully. MacLarry wonders how Archiemedes would think about the bridge, leading Pompous to state that Archiemedes is actually in Rome. However, he is in Pompous’ dungeon, as he refused to finish designing the bridge after learning that Pompous wanted to use it to cross the gorge and prank the Barber-Barians. Pompous then orders his guards to throw MacLarry in a cage, and leads his army across the bridge armed with pies. As the Barber-Barians arrive back at their village, MacBob continues searching for MacLarry, telling Chog that he can’t find him, or his belongings. This leads them to assume that he left the village to head to Greece, worrying Chog that he’d be pranked by Romans. Chog then blames himself for being hard on MacLarry, chastising him for caring about inventing instead of pranking. He sings about how different MacLarry’s differences from the rest of the Barber-Barians are great, and how much he loves him. He then leaves the village to go find MacLarry, handing MacBob the Cheese of Atilla to keep safe.

As the Roman army heads towards the Barber-Barian village, Pompous has them stop so he can go and use the bathroom. As Pompous leaves, MacLarry uses a screwdriver and a spring he packed away to modify the cage. Two guards take notice, and ask what he’s doing. MacLarry successfully shifts the bars of the cage, getting him out and trapping the guards inside. MacLarry runs away, going to warn the Barber-Barians. As MacLarry runs away from the Romans, he runs into Chog, who apologizes for being hard on him, saying he appreciates his interests in inventing. As the two are talking, the Roman guards chase after them, leading the two of them to run away. After they escape the Roman guards, Chog warns the village about the Romans coming to prank them, telling them to prepare with water balloons and the Cheese of Atilla. Chog tells MacLarry to stay put at the village, to be safe.

The Barber-Barians and Romans stand on two hills across from each other, and start a prank battle. The Barber-Barians throw water balloons at the Romans, while the Romans retort with pies. After a few Barber-Barians are hit with pies, Chog calls MacBob to give him the cheese of Atilla. Pompous throws a pie at Chog, leading MacBob to push him out of the way. This pushes the jar holding the cheese to escape Chog’s grasp, letting it fall and crack open, releasing the stinky odor. Chog and the Roman guards go after it, but faint due to the cheese’s stench. Both parties retreat, but MacLarry comes to help with an idea to get rid of the cheese. He asks the Barber-Barians and Romans to grab some supplies, including the bridge contraption. He turns the contraption into a catapult, placing the cheese on one end and using Chog and Pompous as a counterweight. MacLarry retrieves the jar containing the cheese, places it on the bridge, and launches it into the air with the contraption, landing the cheese in the ocean where it explodes into a large, stink cloud. The Barber-Barians and Romans celebrate, with Pompous thanking MacLarry for helping save him, and Chog saying how proud he is of his son. The Barber-Barians carry MacLarry back to the village, where the villagers and Romans throw him a celebration. Chog and Pompous call an end to the prank feud and restore their friendship, encouraging their kingdoms to be at peace once again and no pranking. As the Barber-Barians and Romans sing about MacLarry’s victory, Archiemedes (Archibald) comes to meet him, and a new bridge is built between the gorge separating Scotland and Rome.

Countertop Outro

Back on the Countertop, Scooter congratulates Bob and Larry’s performances in the story, and calls on the French Peas to get a kilt and bagpipes for Bob. After the three play bagpipes together, they recap the story and the moral, and how we can all get along when we appreciate each other’s differences. Larry then calls on the “What Have We Learned” song to play, but Scooter interrupts it, saying that the three of them have the necessary instruments to play the song themselves. They then sing the song together, playing the bagpipes. After the verse, Qwerty displays a Bible verse:

"For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us."

— Romans 12:4-6a

They then encourage Scott that even though he has different abilities than his friends, that they can still get along. Larry and Scooter end the show by playing a variation of “Oh Danny Boy”, with Bob leaving before the two perform a bagpipe solo.

Characters

• Larry the Cucumber (MacLarry)
• Chog Norrius
• Mr. Lunt (Pompous Maximus)
• Bob the Tomato (MacBob)
• Scooter (MacScooter)
• Jimmy and Jerry Gourd (MacJimmy and Donald)
• Petunia Rhubarb (MacTunia)
• Mr. Nezzer (MacNezzer)
• The French Peas (Roman Guards)
• Archibald Asparagus (Archiemedes, silent)
• Silly Song Announcer (Narrator)
• Ted Turnip
• Tod Turnip
• Tom Turnip
• Tim Turnip
• Tad Turnip
• Garius Grape
• Stevus Grape

Songs

• VeggieTales Theme Song
• We're Barber-Barians
• Chog Norrius
• The Worst Barber-Barian
• Silly Songs with Larry/Scottish Larry: Kilts and Stilts
• Oh MacLarry
• We're Barber-Barians (Reprise)/MacLarry Norrius
• Brothers of the Highlands, We
• What Have We Learned (Bagpipe Version)
• Oh Scotty Boy

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Airmail is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of being airborne.
• Lactose intolerance is the inability of adults to digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and to lesser extent dairy products, causing side effects.
• Caber is a roughly trimmed tree trunk used in the Scottish Highland sport of tossing the caber. This involves holding the caber upright and running forward to toss it so that it lands on the opposite end.

Trivia

• This is the first episode for several things:
  • The first VeggieTales episode not to feature a studio audio commentary since Lord of the Beans.
  • The first instance the Silly Song Announcer voices for something else outside the Silly Songs.
  • The first episode Scooter appears in the countertop, although he did first appear in God Made You Special. This is also the first time he appears in all three segments (i.e. countertop, story, and Silly Song).
  • The first episode since It's a Meaningful Life to not have Laura Carrot.
• This is the final episode to be distributed by Vivendi Entertainment.
• This is also the final episode where the What Have We Learned song would be interrupted.
• There were a few differences between the pre-production and the final:
  • The episode's teaser trailer shows both Pa Grape and Madame Blueberry, who never appeared in the episode.
  • It was originally titled "MacLarry and the Barber-Barians," but the title was changed before its official release.

Remarks

• It is never explained what happened to the Roman after he fell into the gorge.

Goofs

• The DVD case is inaccurate:
  • The cover and Petunia's promotional model displays her with ponytails. Either this was going to be her hair in the episode, or it was just for marketing purposes.
  • On some versions of the DVD cover, the characters in the background image look unfinished.
  • The extras section states that there's a downloadable activity pack, but it's not included.
    • Though, it may be possible there wasn't enough room to contain the downloadable activity pack.

Inside References

• Pompous said "That's right!" when MacLarry learns that Archie-medes is in prison.

Real World References

• "Archiemedes" is a spoof of Archimedes (287-212 B.C.), an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer.
• "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears" is the first line of a speech by Mark Antony in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare.
• Febreze (spelt Fabreeze in the subtitles) a brand of household odour eliminators manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The cans the Barber-Barians use do not match the real product, as they have a special nozzle design contrast to regular air freshener cans.
• An exchange where Jerry's character calls himself "Donald" is a reference to McDonald's.