If you've ever seen the well-aged TV show Davey and Goliath, then you know exactly what Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is all about: it's wholesome moral animated and wrapped up in a context easily digested by children. That context happens to be a family of personified vegetables (Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and crew) whose van breaks down, and when they run into the "Pirates who do nothing," they get the tale of "Jonah and the Whale" while they wait for a tow.

Some might call this totalitarian theology; others might see it as day-care Bible school. Whatever the case, the CGI animation is stylish and alluring, and the V-8 characters are comically distinctive -- some of their idiosyncrasies seem lifted right out of South Park or a Monty Python skit. What's perplexing is how the Big Idea Production team (this being their first theatrical venture after striking gold in the video market) chose to render Jonah (Archibald Asparagus): he's a dithering ninny. The message of the film is compassion and mercy, but by the umpteenth musical number extolling said virtues, you and any young ones will be screaming for some too. (90 minutes) At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Providence Place 16, and Showcase cinemas.