Our animated introduction to the Veggie Bros concept premiered in April, 2020.

Veggie Bros is an animated feature film, written by Arise filmmaker, Cabe Lindsay. Our studio plans to begin production in the summer of 2021. This is a comic strip brought to life through animation, featuring Larry and Leon—two eggplants with much to say. Imagine: If veggies woke up and flipped the script, we human beans would be in trouble!

Backstory and Bigger Picture

This comic strip originated in 2004, when Cabe began illustrating these funny eggplants for advertising purposes—he was the marketing manager for an organic produce farm at the time. The comic was originally called “An Eggplant Named Sue,” which is a spin-off from the Johnny Cash song.

Veggie Bros is the story of two talkative eggplants, enjoying each other’s company in scenic countrysides. Curiously, they journey from the ocean shore to the mountain top, and places in between. Their abilities to move and groove is a natural result of their spiritual awakenings on a cutting board, facing the possibility of being chopped and served as eggplant parmesan.

In the bigger picture, this is a story about willpower. It is designed to deliver positive messages about making strong choices, looking on the bright side of life, generating gratitude, and taking positive action. These are rewarding virtues for today’s youths to discover and develop. Subjects explored in the film will appeal to kids, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor for grown-ups too.

The animated scene shared above is the first of its kind. It’s the result of our studio’s long-held passion for cartoon animation, and a newly-found spaciousness in our video production schedule, and an eagerness to bring more joy into our lives. For these freedoms, we must admit that the COVID pandemic made some positive impacts on us.

Video Animation Production Process

Cabe’s background in cartoon animation includes various forms of marketing videos, ranging in styles from photo-realistic graphics to hand-illustrated art. This is his first endeavor that is made purely for entertainment and education, rather than promotion. Thankfully, the same creative skillsets hold value outside of the business world.

For this project, Cabe’s workflow is as follows. First, he sketches in pencil, and then draw the illustrations with a fine-tipped Micron 05 pen. He scans the art, vectorizes the lines, and colorizes shapes in Adobe Illustrator. Next, he creates puppets with support from the Adobe Character Animator software, which allows him to capture the dialogue and fine-tune the mouth movements. He enhances the audio in Adobe Audition. Finally, he animates scenes in Adobe After Effects.

In the words of the artist: "I’m a fan of simplicity. I think a cartoon like this one works well in its minimalism, emphasizing the dialogue. It’s similar to Gary Larson’s Far Side comics—a big influence. I find myself laughing out loud during the production process, and I think this is a sign I’m onto something special. I enjoy every part of the production: writing, illustrating, animating, and editing. For me, it’s an exercise in generating joy." —Cabe Lindsay