Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella

The Search for Noah's Umbrella
Directed by	Mike Nawrocki; John Wahba
Produced by	Chris Wall; Kevin Gamble
Written by	Tim Hodge
Music by	Kurt Heinecke
Released	August 4, 2009
Runtime	50 minutes
Previous episode	Abe and the; Amazing Promise
Next episode	Saint Nicholas:; A Story of; Joyful Giving

"When Noah did what was right, he felt God smiling at him and he could ignore all the laughing. God's favor covered him like a shield.
So if I think about God smiling at me, I can ignore the laughing.
When you're doing what's right, God's smile covers you up!"

— Julia comforting Minnesota

Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella is the 35th episode of VeggieTales and the second Minnesota Cuke.

Plot

Bob was about to show today's letter until he sees Larry with a paper bag with a sad face. He tells Bob that he had an embarrassing day that someone at Burger Bell teased him for praying over food. The tomato decides to hold off today's letter and decides to help out with Larry's problem.

Years ago, Young Minnesota and Marten was playing hide and seek. Cuke founded a good hiding spot on the treehouse and was about to eat his favorite snack until he discovered some scallions had a fish on a board. This is the famous Muskie of '47, which Minn discovered it was the same one Farmer Brown had been missing for a week. He decides to do the right thing, and get it back. Unfortunately, Minn failed the first time, and did it again years later. Like last time. he didn't got it back and gets himself humiliated by being in a dress with a clown wig.

Feeling ashamed, Minnesota arrives back at the Children's Museum and states he'll probally quit his job. Just as he's about to, Marten tells him that Mr. Humpery Muffet, writer of his famous poem of his daughter, is planning to build a Bible-theme goldfish pond park and needs Mr. Cuke's help to get it. Minn refuses to at first because he feels it needs to belong to a museum, but decides to help out when he discovered his buddy Professor Rattan was missing while finding it. He also received a package from him; a film reel that says "KEEP AWAY FROM WICKER". Mr. Muffet gave Minn a copy of the instruction book Rattan had in order to find the Ark. The first clue Mr. Cuke has to go is head to the ancient city of El Pez, located in Mexico. He thinks he'll get help from Julia since she's working there as well.

Minnesota met Julia when he stumbled upon a pinata that gives out sprinkles. She asks the cucumber to dance with her, but he didn't want to embarrass himself. He felt silly after singing badly, and tells his friend that they need to follow the clues and find their friend Rattan. Julia thinks its odd since she took the professor to the pyramids a while ago. The two headed to the ancient pyramid of El Pez, where they need to find the clue. The book states they need to hop backwards, which Minn didn't want to make himself foolish again. Just as Julia found out what the clue was, she gets kidnapped by a potato with a tourist shirt. Minn chases after the jeep with the potato, only to zoom away and he only got his friend's purse. Minn phones on Marten about and tells him that Rattan's postcard states he's heading to Turkey, which is where the Ark was last seen.

Characters

Bob/Marten
Larry/Minnesota Cuke
Mr. Lunt/Professor Rattan
Mr. Nezzer/Mr. Muffet
Petunia Rhubarb/Julia
The Scallions
Junior Asparagus (Picture Cameo)
Frankencelery (Picture Cameo)

Locations

The Countertop

Songs

Home media

DVD

Big Idea (original release)

Blu-ray

Big Idea (2012)

Fun Facts

Explanations

Helado (the "h" is silent") is Spanish for ice cream.
Wicker telling Minn no cellphones is a rule every theater has because talking on phones disturbs the audiences' attention to the film and/or play they're watching.
Beans and franks are hot dogs and cooked beans. This could be either baked or chilli.
Wicker Furniture is a type of furniture made of woven fibers formed into a rigid material.
A cliffhanger is a plot device used in media to give the audience a feel of suspense of what's going to happen next.
Minn saying "Between Iraq and a hard place" is a pun on "A rock and a hard place", which means a dilemma.

Trivia

This was the first episode for several things:
- The first appearances for kid versions of Bob and the Scallions, and the first time a new model of a younger version of Larry since Moe.
- The first Minnesota Cuke episode to have songs, since the previous episode couldn't have any.
- The first time Qwerty has a face.
This was also the last episode for several things:
- The last episode to feature the original VeggieTales opening.
- The last appearance for the original countertop and the original design for Qwerty.
- This was the last episode to use the VeggieTales intro from 2007 to 2009.
According to Mike and Tim, there were major differences between pre-production and the final.
- The original bad guys were Norwegians who wanted a cruise ship that was indestructible from any storms and they were in the hunt for the original Noah's Ark.
- There was an explanation why Cuke is afraid of worms.
- Cuke was supposed to be in a barrel instead of a tire.
- Cuke had a conversation with Marten after the potato minion took Julia's purse.
- The license plate on the bus says "Turkey Welcomes You"
- Originally, the license plate had the modern flag of Turkey. However, this was changed for two reasons. 1 was because they didn't want to offend the Islamic religion, and second was that they want it to make more of a clue than to just give it away.
Some of the planned attractions for the goldfish pond were:
- A board with the Roman numbers 1-10 over water (The Story of Moses)
- A Roman building with two broken supports (Samson)
- A yellow whale with a opening mouth (Jonah)
- A mountain with a olive on a stick (Noah)
- A large tower that resembles a cake (The Tower of Babel)
- A small cave with a flock of sheep with a star over (The Nativity Scene)
The sound of the characters hopping on the ice is Adam Frick tapping his finger on a mirror.
This is the only episode where the new yellow logo appears in the original VeggieTales opening.

Remarks

When Cuke tells Wicker that you can't trust everything that's on a cartoon, the minions look at the audience.
As of the present time, Bob never get to answer Joey's letter after this episode.
The DVD cover depicts Minn and Julia driving a jeep. This technically didn't happen as Julia was kidnapped and was on the jeep, while Minn had to rescue her.
Scallion Three's color as a kid is different from when he's an adult, as it's bright green instead of green-teal.
As stated in Bad Apple, the episodes after that Sheerluck Holmes are in 16:9. But like Big River Rescue and Saint Nicholas, it's in 4:3 and the frame rate is different. This is noticeable as the quality on the screenshots shown on the back DVD cover is brighter than what's shown in the actual episode.
The "I" in the Outdoorsman Clown Wigs sign is lowercase than the other letters.
Despite Humfrey's plans to place the animals in the ark, there's no entrance for them to get in. Although it might be in the back.
As you'll notice in the beginning of the story, Humfrey got the hairbrush out, even though it didn't showed up before. Mike stated it was originally meant to be in the glass case, but there were technical issues with the lighting.
Minn pulled the can of film and the rope from behind without a bag. Tim joked about this in the commentary.
It was never explained what happened to the potato minion with the tourist shirt.
A few fourth wall breaks happened:
- Mr. Cuke first glances at the audience when he states Rattan is somewhere between Iraq and a hard place.
- He and the potato minions looked at the screen.
The log cabins Minn went through are the same exact models.
Julia locks the Theater door with her hairpin, even though there's no lock.
The continuity on Gourdon is off. When he first starts entering the pyramid, he was wearing his Larry-Boy shirt. But when he's on the stairs, he's wearing his regular motif. He also appears in Turkey, which would be impossible for him to appear there, unless he took the same plane as Minn.
- Also, some of Gated Community folks appear both in Mexico and Turkey.
The paper bag mask has shrunk when Jimmy wore it.

Goofs

The tire swing Minn got stuck in vanishes in one shot.
Professor Rattan was missing his top teeth in the photograph.
As you'll notice on Jimmy, his mouth doesn't move if you look closely.
Minnesota was missing his tooth in one shot after Julia winked.
When Minn says "Four steps up", Mike briefly breaks character by laughing slightly.
Wicker suddenly vanished after his guards were arrested, even though his voice was heard.

Inside References

Larry mentioned Burger Bell, which was first heard in Mr. Lunt's first Silly Song.
One of the children requested Cuke and Julia to sing Dance of the Cucumber.
The lumberjacks from Dooley's Lumber Camp appear.
Wicker's lop-sided mustache hearkens back to how Mr. Lunt had his mustache like in his debut episode.
Because it's a sequel to Samson's Hairbrush, some references and nods were in the episode:
- Minn stating both he and Rattan became friends, as well as Rattan mentioning he's reformed.
- Jimmy and Jerry as the Mounties.
- Some of the music recycled from that episode.
- The treehouse from Bully Trouble was reused, as well as the pictures were kept.
Humfrey calling Minnesota "Kook" might be a production reference on one of the names Phil suggested for Larry.
Minnesota's line “Nobody makes me look silly” is a reference to The End of Silliness?

Real World References

Like it's precursor episode, various references from the Indiana Jones were used here.
- The episode starts and ends on a mountain, similar how the films did.
- The story parallels to the third film, such as Young Indiana's outfit, him trying to get an artifact back from robbers, learning tricks that he'll use in later life, and the hidden cave collapses.
- Minn swinging on vines is similar what happened in the fourth film.
Pier 1 is a retailer store, known for selling furniture.
The poem Mr. Muffet is referring to Minn is Little Miss Muffet.
Craig'slist is a online site for classified advertisements with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, items or houses for sale, and community service.
The phrase "I scream, you scream" is a reference to the 1920's song Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, and Robert King. This phrase was also used for the first television episode of 3-2-1 Penguins!.