IN THE BACKGROUND
Dave and the Giant Pickle

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At the story's beginning, Jimmy and Jerry Gourd (playing the roles of two of Dave's brothers) talk about how hungry they are. Jerry's line, "Sometimes, I think I could eat a whole spaceship" and the dialog that follows is a reference to the duo's first appearance in the "Are You My Neighbor?" story, "The Gourds Must Be Crazy." The exchange is very similar. Bob tells Larry the story of the Israelite's battle with the Philistines, prompting Larry to ask, "Uh Bob ... what are the Philippines?" Bob responds, "The Philippines are a group of islands off the coast of south east Asia. But that's not important right now! The Philistines were people who hated Israel!" The joke is a take off of many similar jokes in the movie "Airplane!" When the French Peas first appear, they are taunting the Israelites. The "translation" which appears at the bottom of the screen, the fact that they speak with French accents, and the fact that they are taunting so humorously points to the fact that the producers of VeggieTales are drawing an allusion to the film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," in which King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table are taunted by French soldiers who have taken over an English castle. As Goliath first approaches the scene, King Saul (Archibald Asparagus) glances down at his shaking cup of water, seeing the movement caused by the "impact tremors" of the giant pickle's steps. This is a clear reference to the hit film "Jurrasic Park," in which the impact tremors from an approaching dinosaur are seen in a shaking water glass. The pizza box which Dave (Junior Asparagus) brings to his brothers on the battle field has on it a picture of a lion carrying a pizza. This is a clear allusion to "Daniel and the Lion's Den" ("Where's God When I'm S-Scared?"). In this story, as Daniel (Larry the Cucumber) is leaving the lion's den he says to the lions, "See ya guys later! Thanks for the pizza!" Dave sure is going to sing a song, and King Saul knows it when he hears the music begin to play. "You're not going to sing, are you?" he asks. "Couldn't you just play your harp and I'll throw things at you?" The line is a reference to the biblical account of David and Saul, which tells of David playing the harp for Saul (see 1 Samuel 16:23) and Saul trying to kill David by throwing things at him (see 1 Samuel 18:10-11, 19:9-10). As Dave sings the song "Little Guys Can Do Big Things," he leaps up onto King Saul's throne as he says, "With His [God's] help I know I can do big things!" This alludes to the biblical account of the fact that David would later succeed Saul as king over all Israel. The Israelites celebrate wildly after Dave defeats Goliath. As they throw things into the air in celebration, watch for the graduation cap (mortarboard)! Love My Lips! There are two pictures hanging on the wall behind Dr. Archibald. One is the Mountains of Fibble from "Are You My Neighbor?" ("The Story of Flibber-o-Loo"), on which sits the towns of Flibber-o-Loo and Jibberty-lot. The other picture is of Archibald Asparagus wearing his bow tie. Larry's line, "On the day I got my tooth, I had to kiss my great aunt Ruth - she had a beard, and it felt weird" is a reference to "The Gourds Must Be Crazy" on the video "Are You My Neighbor?" In the song "I Can Be Your Friend," Jerry Gourd asks, "Is it my imagination, or does Aunt Ruth have a beard?" A glimpse of Aunt Ruth can finally be seen in Phil Vischer's Veggiecational book, "Bob and Larry's ABCs." Larry is seeing lips everywhere! Watch the flashcards go by as Dr. Archibald administers an ink blot test. You'll see the familiar mug of Sonny Bono ("Sonny and Cher" musician-turned-U.S. Congressman), as well as the number 6.023 x 10^23. This is an approximation of Avagadro's Number, a chemistry unit measuring the number of molecules in one mole of a substance.