CHICAGO - "Rack, Shack & Benny" and "Dave and the Giant Pickle," Big Idea Productions' fourth and fifth VeggieTales videos, will be released to mainstream stores on August 31.

The company will also make its first CD and cassette, "VeggieTunes," available outside Christian retail stores on the same date. "VeggieTunes 2," released in June to the Christian retailing industry, will find its way to the mainstream market in early 1999.

October will bring the video "The Toy that Saved Christmas" and the album "Bob and Larry's Christmas" (a remastered edition of "A Very Veggie Christmas") to the mainstream.

While the latest VeggieTales videos were released only to Christian retail stores, Big Idea will eventually reach a point where new videos will be released in both markets simultaneously.

Big Idea Productions made one giant leap toward accomplishing its goal of becoming a major US media company last March when it released two of its best-selling VeggieTales videos into the mainstream market. Distributed by Lyrick Studios, which also distributes Barney videos, "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?" and "Are You My Neighbor?" can be found at Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Costco and other stores.