Lord of the Beans

Lord of the Beans is the twenty-seventh episode in the VeggieTales series, it teaches the lesson of how to use your gifts. It parodies J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of The Rings. This episode stars Junior Asparagus as Toto Baggypants who receives a special gift of a bean that could give him anything. Toto goes on a journey with a group of people that call themselves The Fellowship of The Bean to ask why he was given the bean to the Elders of The Raspberry Forest who are trees who talk by making "rasberries" with their tongues. However to get to the Raspberry Forest they much cross The Mountains of Much Snowier. And once they get to the elders they are directed to The Land of Woe.

Story

The story used to illustrate the lesson is a parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The parody is overt, taking character names and places directly from the source and changing them to fit the VeggieTales context. In spite of this, the plot takes many unexpected turns, and recognizable scenes are freely reinterpretted to create humor or underscore the video's message.

On the opening countertop, Larry the Cucumber comes wheeling in on this new unicycle ("ukelele", according to Larry) and announces that he will use this talent to make himself famous, to get on the cover of "Veggie Beat" magazine. Bob the Tomato gets a letter from a kid named Dylan, who is from Altoona, Wisconsin about what is a gift and what we should do with it.

"Lord of the Beans" begins with Randolf (Mr. Nezzer)'s arrival in the Shire for Billboy Baggypants (Archibald Asparagus)' 122nd (He calls his "Twelfety-twoth", referencing Billboy Baggypants' "eleventy-first") birthday party. Uncle Billboy, who has experienced many adventures, talks about retiring and leaving, and uses a strange bean to produce a birthday cake. He returns to his home to find Randalf waiting in his living room. Randolf (Mr. Nezzer) remarks on Uncle Billboy (Archie Asparagus) as himself impressive height, his fine clothing, and his luxuriously appointed home. He knows these gifts have come from the bean and warns his friend of using such things lightly. Uncle Billboy concedes that it has given him everything except for one special thing, which he intends to leave and find. He announces that he is leaving everything he owns, including the bean, to his nephew Toto and leaves.

Toto soon returns, and Randalf informs him that Uncle Billboy has already departed, leaving him everything, and draws his attention to the bean. Toto is curious as to why he would want a bean. Randalf sings about the origin of a magical bean that could produce clothing, consumables, and small kitchen appliances, and also change your appearance. They verify the bean's authenticity from an inscription left by the fire. Toto is anxious about accepting such a gift and tries to pass it off to Randalf, but Randalf explains that we cannot choose our gifts and must determine for ourselves how they should best be used.

He suggests that Toto travel to the Elders of The Raspberry Forest for insight, and has already gathered some friends to assist with the journey: the ranger Ear-a-Corn (Larry the Cucumber); the elf Leg-O-Lamb (Jimmy Gourd); the dwarf Grumpy (Pa Grape); and "The Other Elf" (Jerry Gourd), Leg-O-Lamb's brother who had nothing better to do. The fellowship is born.

They trek through the Mountains of Much Snowier and eventually reach The Raspberry Forest. There, Randalf warns the others not to laugh as the Elders have long ago lost their sense of humor. The Elders welcome them and inform Randolf that they must travel to the Land of Woe. But the others burst into laughter upon hearing the native tongue of the Elders, which is blowing raspberries. This gets them sentenced to detention on a high platform forever. However, a Cockney Eagle "saves" them and they narrowly escape The Raspberry Forest.

They emerge upon the Blue Gate, entrance to the Land of Woe. Randalf observes that they must solve a riddle to gain entrance. Toto provides the answer (an elephant), and the Blue Gate opens, but Toto is the only one small enough to fit through. His desire to learn the purpose of his gift, the bean, compels him to proceed alone.

Randalf learns from the passing Umbrella Boy (Charlie Pincher) (likely inspired by Tom Bombadil, a character who was not in the Peter Jackson films) that the Sporks are after Toto, and have taken a shortcut through the Red Gate. The Sporks, minions of the evil Scaryman Scallion, seek to seize the bean for their master to fulfill his evil deeds. The fellowship pursues them to the Red Gate.

In the Land of Woe, Toto encounters a strange creature named Ahem (Mr. Lunt), who seeks the bean for himself. He reveals that he was once a normal Flobbit and the former owner of the bean. The bean had given him the life of ease that he still covets. Ahem accompanies Toto into Woe as a guide.

Meanwhile, the others charge through the Red Gate, only to be trapped by the Sporks. The Other Elf bakes cookies which redeem the Sporks, who haven't eaten anything but maggoty bread for three days (taking a line from The Two Towers, in which the Uruk-hai complain about having had "nothin' but maggoty bread for three stinkin' days"), and the fellowship journeys on.

Toto and Ahem arrive in Woe to find a desperate people lacking the most basic necessities, such as food and water. Ahem wants Toto to leave them, to use the bean for his own creature comforts, but Toto recognizes that he can use it to help the people of Woe. The fellowship arrives just ahead of Scaryman Scallion, who steals the bean. However, Uncle Billboy suddenly reappears, recovering the bean and returning it to Toto. Toto throws the bean into the well, bringing water back to the Land of Woe and restoring it to its fertile and beautiful state.

Back on the countertop, the Sporks steal the "What We Have Learned" song, which upsets Bob and he admits he actually likes the song a bit, but Bob and Larry wrap it up anyway in usual fashion. The verse from Qwerty is Ephesians 2:10; "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Characters

• Bob the Tomato as himself
• Larry the Cucumber as himself and Ear-a-Corn
• Junior Asparagus as Toto Baggypants
• Archibald Asparagus as Billboy Baggypants
• Mr. Nezzer as Randalf
• Jimmy Gourd as Leg-O-Lamb
• Pa Grape as Grumpy
• Jerry Gourd as The Other Elf
• Miss Achmetha as Elf Girl
• Charlie Pincher as Umbrella Boy
• Mr. Lunt as Ahem
• Scallion #1 as Lord Scaryman
• Uncle Billboy Archie Asparagus as Himself
• Unnamed Nineveh Daughter
• Cockney Eagle
• Wow Villager Unnamed
• Sporks

Silly Song with Larry

• My Baby Elf

Trivia

• Due to having such a strong resemblance to its source material, this episode is not available to purchase domestically in Australia or New Zealand.