Bob and Larry are on the Countertop once again, explaining that they've gotten a lot of letters asking questions regarding the subject of sharing. However, Archibald Asparagus shows up and asks Bob and Larry let him host the show for a chance, in an attempt to want to add culture and class to the show. Bob has no other choice now but to let Archibald take over the show, like the time he let Jimmy and Jerry put on a show. Archibald, now accompanied by Jean-Claude and Phillipe, attempt to retell the classic story of "Hamlet", but Jean-Claude explains to him that they couldn't find "Hamlet" anywhere, so they decided to substitute with a near-similar story entitled "Omelet". Despite his insistence that this is not the right story, Archibald has no other choice now but to present "the no-so classic story, Omelet".
Omelet
In the kingdom of Denmark, two servants (played by Jean-Claude and Phillipe, respectively) approach the baker Horatio (played by Scooter Carrot) and explain to him that Prince Omelet requests his daily eggs "cooked light and fluffy". Horatio tells them that he has the last eggs in the entire kingdom and is worried that the prince won't share his eggs with his starving people, but proceeds to cook the eggs anyway. Meanwhile, Omelet (played by Jimmy Gourd) laments about the trouble of his country running out of eggs and that his people are starving. Horatio then approaches Omelet, bringing him his eggs "cooked light and fluffy", before telling him that they're the last eggs in the kingdom. Omelet then says, "Alas, poor yolks, I'll chew them well, Horatio". After Horatio leaves, Omelet then makes note that Ophelia has come, but off-stage, Mr. Lunt, dressed in drag, does not want to do it because it's embarrassing. Archibald tells him that in Shakespeare's day, all the women's roles were played by men, before pushing Mr. Lunt on-stage.
Ophelia (played by Mr. Lunt) explains to Omelet that the people of Denmark are starving and that there aren't enough eggs to go around while he feasts on eggs everyday. When Ophelia suggests to Omelet that he share his eggs with the people, Omelet is outraged, saying that if he does, then he won't have any, before Ophelia tells him that God likes it when we share our blessings before leaving. After Ophelia leaves, Omelet then performs a spoof of the famous "To Be Or Not To Be" speech, asking whether or not he should share his eggs. A young lad (played by Percy Pea) then shows up while playing a game of battleship, and asks Omelet to play with him, which Omelet agrees to. The young lad then notices Omelet's plate of eggs and asks if he would try a bite. At first, Omelet is hesitant, but he finally permits the young lad to try his eggs. Once the young lad takes a bite, Omelet realizes that he just shared and that it feels pretty good, before the young lad tells him that the things we do for others usually make us feel good as well.
Because of this generous act that he just committed, Omelet gathers everyone in the town square and announces to everyone that he has decided to share his eggs with everyone. Horatio then tells Omelet that there aren't enough eggs to go around before Polonius (played by Jerry Gourd) asks Omelet where they could find these eggs. Omelet answers, "You know, they're the little white round things that come out of chickens", which shocks Polonius, saying that he thought that they were ping-pong balls, before cutting to a ping-pong table that is messy with eggs. Omelet then proclaims for everyone to have eggs cooked light and fluffy. This gives Horatio an idea, deciding to name these light and fluffy eggs after Omelet, calling it the "Omelet". Ophelia then asks Omelet where to get some toast, and Omelet answers, "Get thee to a bakery!" After the play ends, Larry the Cucumber and Junior Asparagus are in the audience, asking each other if they understood what any of the players said.
Lyle The Kindly Viking
Archibald then explains to the viewers that he has reason to believe that the famous composers Gilbert and Sullivan have composed one more musical before their deaths, before it could ever be staged. Jean-Claude and Phillipe then bring in the book, which is entitled "Lyle the Kindly Viking". Archibald then narrates, explaining that there once lived a band of vikings who lived by the sea. Two women named Mabel and Penelope show up, asking each other how the other is doing, before wondering where their husbands are. The two then sing about how they married vikings, "the terrors of the sea". Soon, the vikings, consisting of the leader Olaf (played by Mr. Nezzer), Ottar (played by Bob the Tomato), Sven (played by Larry the Cucumber), Harold (played by Jimmy Gourd), Erik (played by Jerry Gourd), and Bjorn (played by Mr. Lunt) return from their expedition of pillaging a bunch of stuff, before they also start singing about how as vikings, they enjoy plundering a bunch of stuff, such as "gold and jewels and a shiny suit and a giant screen TV to boot".
Archibald then narrates that what the vikings are actually doing is taking stuff from others, also adding that their boats were so fast that no one could be able to catch them. Then, he also explains that not all of the vikings were involved in this unfortunate practice, there was actually one in particular, named Lyle. Lyle (played by Junior Asparagus) then goes out on his own expedition on the sea, which confuses the other vikings. Olaf then starts singing about how Lyle does not fit the style of the vikings, telling Harold and Erik that for a long time, the law of stealing stuff from others has been made clear. After Olaf finishes his song, he then hops off while followed by Harold and Erik after that. However, Sven and Ottar decide to follow after Lyle, being careful not to get too close to him. Lyle then returns to the exact same monastery that the vikings raided before, to which Sven and Ottar witness Lyle sharing a bag of potholders and a bag of money that the other vikings gave him with the lead monk (played by Pa Grape) and his group of pea monks. The pea monks then thank Lyle in song for sharing with them.
This confuses Sven and Ottar very much, before they return home to wait for Lyle. When Lyle returns home, Sven and Ottar confront him and tell him in song that he should stop what he's doing and that vikings rule the sea and never give things back. Lyle then explains to them in song that when he shares, he gets his share of friends. After Lyle finishes singing, Sven and Ottar realize that Lyle's method may be a lot better than Olaf's method after all, before realizing that Lyle would be in big trouble if Olaf learned what he was really doing. Because of this, Sven and Ottar vow to keep Lyle's secret safe, which according to Archibald is easier said than done. The next day, when the vikings are heading out to raid the monastery once again, Ottar discovers that Lyle is already at the monastery before they are, and that he and Sven have to distract Olaf before he discovers what's going on. Ottar then distracts Olaf by telling him through song that there is a fish with a bunch of pretty colors all over his scales. Sven then sings to Olaf that there is a turtle wearing pink pajamas while riding on a llama and chasing a herd of giant squid. Unfortunately, Olaf doesn't believe him, before he and the other vikings discover Lyle leaving the monastery, as well as the potholders and the money that he gave to the monks. This angers Olaf, just a storm starts up.
Lyle continues rowing, until he is confronted by Olaf, who angrily asks Lyle in song what he's doing, before he starts to tear up the sails on Lyle's boat and throws away the oars, which leaves Lyle drifting away in the sea. However, a large tidal wave, which had been brought up by the storm, knocks over the vikings' boat, which causes them to fall into the sea. Another wave also knocks over Lyle's boat, knocking him into the sea as well. The monks then throw a life ring out into the sea to save Lyle, which the vikings witness, as they begin to realize that Lyle's method is better than theirs. Lyle then has the monks help him to save the rest of the vikings from the storm, bringing them to safety. The storm then clears away just as the vikings have been brought back to shore. The vikings then thank the monks in song for saving them from the storm, and that from now on, they will share with others instead of taking from others. After the vikings finish singing, Sven asks if they can't be vikings anymore, but the lead monk tells him that it won't be necessary, but they will have to change their song. As a result, all of the vikings then sing a reprise of the "We're Vikings" song, but this time, singing about sharing with others and that they are known as "the sharers of the sea". Sven then sings that he needs to go to the bathroom, before Ottar tells him that he can just talk, before the story ends.
Countertop Outro
After Archibald closes up the book, he discovers that the story was actually written by Gilbert Jones and Sullivan O'Kelly, instead of the real Gilbert and Sullivan. This angers Archibald very much before he starts chasing after Jean-Claude and Phillipe in an attempt to catch them, while running past Bob and Larry, who are now standing next to Qwerty. When Bob explains that they're with Qwerty to talk about what they've learned today, the "What Have We Learned" song starts up again, before Larry asks Bob if Archibald and the French Peas will be alright, to which Bob replies that they'll be just fine. The song then starts up again after that. After the song ends, Bob explains that Prince Omelette learned that when we share, it makes us and the people around us feel good, while Larry also explains that Lyle taught all the vikings that even though sharing doesn't get you more stuff, it gets you even more friends, which is even better. Qwerty then brings up the verse, which is "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16". After Bob and Larry sign off, Archibald and the French Peas are still going nuts, so a crashing sound is heard, as a plate with an omelette stuck on it rolls by. Larry tells Bob not to look at the madness, but Bob doesn't care, and tells him to roll the credits (which he doesn't do often in the series) before the episode ends.
It was first released to DVD and VHS on March 24th, 2001 by Lyrick Studios and Word Entertainment. In 2002, Warner Home Video reprinted it. In 2003, Warner Home Video reprinted it again as part of the VeggieTales Classics line. In 2004, Warner Home Video and Sony Wonder reprinted it.
Fun Facts
Moral
Sharing is caring.
Trivia
The episode's original title was Ivan the Benevolent Viking.
This was the first episode for several things:
This is the first episode Tim Hodge directed.
This is the first episode to be in a different frame rate (although the content is always in the North American NTSC region), and has been kept the way ever since.
The first VeggieTales episode to be released on both VHS and DVD.
This was the last episode for several things:
The last time Larry had a lisp. He would later get it again in The Lost Tooth, though it's because of his tooth being missing.
In the original alternative opening for the story of Lyle, Archibald talks about other musicals done by Gilbert and Sullivan along with poster recreations for said musicals. (See Real World References)
This episode uses both water and rain effects, as well as spotlight. Tim Hodge states this was a practice for the crew since this was during production of Jonah.
Sven hopping on the oars was a gag by Marc Vulcano.
The pea in Olaf's helmet was done by Joe McFadden.
The kids at Big Idea Productions voice the pea monks. This included:
In the progression reel, the kid pea who gets tossed over had Percy's voice than what he had in the final. It's suggested the kid voices weren't added until the final version.
Most of the vikings have horns on their helmets. The only ones that don't have are Ottar (Bob), Harold (Jimmy), and Lyle (Junior).
There was a deleted outtake after Lyle sings his solo, he falls over backwards, but gets back up. This can be seen in the behind the scenes on the DVD (see image).
In the credits, the headings for each sections of the teams were translated to Norwegian. The only one they couldn't translate was for "editing", so they called it "Nadaavclubjen". Tim stated this name was to notify the producer that they're not a AV (handles videotapes and projectors) club.
The scene of Sven tripping over Ottar was animated by Robert Ellis.
This won the Best Animated Direct-to-Video Release award at the 2001 World Animation Celebration.
Remarks
During when Archibald is behind the changing screen, you can see a bit of him and his clothes magically appeared.
Archibald can read the names on the book sleeve, despite their names weren't visible when the Peas brought the book earlier.
In Take 38, Archibald objected the idea of VeggieTales. Here, he's eager to be a host. In the commentary for Princess and the Popstar, he changed from the character he started out as.
After Lyle places the gold in his bag, he leaves the scene almost at the end of the steps. However in the next scene, he's on the middle step. Tim Hodge pointed this error on the commentary.
The screenshots on the DVD have the skies blue. But in the actual video, they are purple.
One of the shields on the viking ship is Larry-Boy.
Real World References
Sonny and Cher were a popular couple during the mid to late 20th century. They broke up in 1977. Sony appeared in the original version of Love My Lips before his death in 1998.
The game Omelet and the Percy were playing is Battleship.
In the teaser trailer from the last episode, the narrator mentions "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Sound of Music".
Fast Forward
This won't be the last time Mr. Lunt would crossdress.
