History Recap / VeggieTalesEpisode4RackShackAndBenny

* MeanBoss: Mr. Nezzer mistreats his child workers by having them work long hours with very little breaks and overexerting them to the point of tiredness, and goes as far as to try to '''burn them alive''' in the furnace after they refuse to sing the Bunny Song. Thankfully, he makes a HeelFaceTurn in the end.

* CompositeCharacter: Shack fills Daniel's role as the one who convinces the group not to eat the bad food, saving them from suffering from its side effects.

* ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws: Junior, Bob and Larry are shown as factory workers in this episode who get overworked even in situations where they are getting tired, barely being allowed any breaks and starting at 8AM but not getting lunch until 3PM. They obviously would never let anyone in RealLife under the age of 18 get a job this responsible, let alone work for that long under any circumstance.

* BigBad: Mr. Nezzer plays the role of a MeanBoss who carelessly overworks his child laborers and wants them killed for refusing to sing his song.

* BigEater: Mr. Nezzer allows his employees to eat as many bunnies as they want during their break. The children vastly indulge until they're sick of them, all of them on the floor with stomachaches except the three heroes, whom Junior talks out of eating the bunnies due to it going against parental obedience.

!Tropes

* DarkReprise: Mr. Nezzer's second verse of "The Bunny Song".

* HeelFaceTurn: Mr. Nezzer, at the end of the story.

* SuddenlyVoiced: Laura Carrot, who was previously TheVoiceless in "[[Recap/VeggieTalesEpisode3AreYouMyNeighbor The Story of Flibber-O-Loo]]".
* VillainSong: See DarkReprise and SuspiciouslySimilarSong.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original 1995 VHS release, "The Bunny Song" originally had lyrics about not loving your parents and refusing to go to church and school, which resulted in hundreds of letters from parents complaining about the song. Because of that, the 1998 VHS reissue had the lyrics changed to refusals to eat healthy food.

On the countertop, Bob is alone while greeting the kids, but when he notices that Larry is absent, Larry calls out that he's coming. From off-screen, Larry ends up crashing into some stuff, and when he finally arrives, it turns out that the reason for this is because he has an oversized oven mitt on his head, which he christens his "new hat". When Bob expresses concern that Larry cannot see anything from wearing the oven mitt, Larry retorts that according to "Veggie Beat" magazines, all the cool people wear oven mitts on their heads. Bob then remembers that they got a letter from Dexter Wilmington from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who explains that when he's visiting his friend, Billy, Billy wants to watch a show that Dexter is not supposed to watch, but Billy tells him that if he doesn't watch it, it means he's not cool, so he wants to know what he should do. Larry then decides to consult Qwerty about this problem, but unfortunately, because of the oven mitt that completely obscures his vision, he winds up falling into the kitchen sink. Bob then tells Dexter that while he's trying to get Larry out of the sink, he should watch a story about three boys named Rack, Shack and Benny who were faced with the exact same problem.

We are introduced to the narrator of the story, an old onion named George, who serves as the gatekeeper to the Nezzer Chocolate Factory. George then explains that the real names of Rack, Shack and Benny are Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego, but everyone else called them by their nicknames, since they couldn't remember the three boys' real names. George then explains that every morning at the Chocolate Factory, everyone works hard to make sure that everything is going smoothly, before noticing that it's almost 8 o'clock, which means that it's time for the morning milk delivery. Laura then approaches the front gate and, in her speaking debut, explains to George in song that she'd love to stay and talk, but she doesn't have the time because everyone works really hard at the chocolate factory. After Laura arrives at the factory, she meets up with Mr. Lunt, who tells her through song that she's in trouble because she's two minutes late for work, before he also orders the other employees (which are played by a multitude of peas) to get back to work.

We are then introduced to Rack, Shack and Benny (played, respectively, by Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, and Larry the Cucumber), who also explain through song that they don't have any time to play because they have a lot of work to do in the factory. The employees of the factory are hard at work, making sure that all of the chocolate bunnies are made, as well as disposing of any bunnies that have been made wrong. Soon, the song ends as Laura takes off in her delivery truck to deliver the chocolate bunnies. As a lone chocolate bunny falls out of the back of the truck and lands in front of George, George then explains that everyday, they make 14,638 chocolate bunnies (give or take a few), before explaining that Nebby K. Nezzer, the boss of the chocolate factory, isn't exactly a bad man, but he just gets confused real easily sometimes. George then demonstrates this by stating that it all happened when Mr. Nezzer made a big announcement.

As time passes, the other employees are still eating chocolate bunnies, but after a while they begin to feel rather sick from doing so. At the end of the 30 minutes free-for-all, Mr. Nezzer and Mr. Lunt then head into the workroom before noticing that everyone has become sick as dogs as a result of eating too many chocolate bunnies. Mr. Nezzer is angered by this, before Mr. Lunt notices that Rack, Shack and Benny are the only ones who are still standing up. When Mr. Nezzer and Mr. Lunt approach the three boys, he is impressed by their resilience before telling them that he's going to promote them to Junior Executives (which, according to Mr. Lunt, means that you have to wear a tie when Benny asks what it means). After Mr. Nezzer tells Rack, Shack and Benny to meet him in his office first thing in the morning, George then shows up, stating that Rack, Shack and Benny are able to get on Mr. Nezzer's good side, before adding that the three boys are in for a big surprise when they come into Mr. Nezzer's office.

The next morning, Rack, Shack and Benny are greeted by Mr. Nezzer, who then explains that he will have everyone of his faithful employees bow down to a chocolate bunny statue, before showing them a model of the statue, to which he says that the real thing is 90 feet tall. Mr. Nezzer then explains further that it will be a beautiful day when everyone bows down to the statue and sings a song known as "[[VillainSong The Bunny Song]]", which Benny says that he's not familiar with and asks Mr. Nezzer to hum a few bars. Mr. Nezzer then obliges as he starts singing "The Bunny Song", talking about how much he loves the bunny and not anything else. After the song ends, Rack, Shack and Benny are a little bit troubled by the lyrics, with Rack asking what will happen if anyone doesn't sing the song. Mr. Nezzer answers that question by showing the three boys the furnace where the "bad bunnies" (bunnies that get messed up during the production cycle) are sent to be destroyed, before he says in a rather intimidating matter, "Let's just say in my mind, if you don't bow down and sing the song, you're a bad bunny". Mr. Nezzer then hops off before telling Rack, Shack and Benny to get plenty of sleep because tomorrow is the big day. George then shows up and states that the boys were in a real pickle with this: "The Bunny Song" was full of all kinds of stuff that the three boys knew was wrong, but refusing to sing it would result in Mr. Nezzer throwing them into the furnace! He then asks the viewers what they would do if they were them, but decides to hold that thought as the ceremony is about to begin.

The next morning, when everyone is gathered outside, Mr. Nezzer then announces that it is now time to bow to the bunny and sing "The Bunny Song". While everyone else bows down, Rack, Shack and Benny are the only ones who do not bow, before Mr. Nezzer and Mr. Lunt approach them, with Mr. Nezzer telling them to sing. In response, Shack instead starts singing the lullaby that his mother used to sing to him, before Rack and Benny also join in as well. After the trio finish singing, Mr. Nezzer is touched from hearing this song and says that he'll be singing that song... as he throws them into the furnace, before calling out to the guards to take them to the fiery furnace. Three carrot guards then approach the trio, while Laura states that she has to help them, before noticing Mr. Nezzer's delivery truck.

Larry, who is dressed up in Argentinian garb, starts singing the Argentinian ballad "The Dance of the Cucumber" in its original Spanish, with Bob the Tomato translating every word of the song. Larry sings in Spanish about how the cucumber dances so nice and smoothly, before he starts taunting Bob in Spanish about how he cannot dance, which infuriates Bob. Junior and Dad Asparagus show up, with Junior wanting to get his picture taken next to Larry. Dad then takes a picture of Junior and Larry after that. Larry then resumes singing the rest of the song, singing in Spanish about how nice and sweet the cucumber sings, before taunting Bob once again, this time, about how Bob cannot sing. Unfortunately, this angers Bob very much that he starts chasing after Larry, who then sings in English about how Bob is angry with him and that he hopes he doesn't get caught, as well as the fact that it's run for him to run with a sombrero on his head.

Mr. Nezzer has now tied up Rack, Shack and Benny, before he explains that he tried being patient and kind with the three boys and that he's infuriated by their stubbornness. When Mr. Nezzer asks the three boys if they will sing the song, they then explain to him that God wants us to stand up for they believe is right, and that they cannot sing the song. At first, it seems that Mr. Nezzer understands, before saying that their bad bunnies before they end up getting pushed down towards the fiery furnace, but Laura saves them in time in the delivery truck. Mr. Nezzer then has two carrot guards chase after the quartet into a vent, but one of the guards runs into the wall and falls into a vat of chocolate.

Laura then angrily proclaims that no one bakes her buddies, before Mr. Nezzer tells her if she doesn't plug it back in, she'll be in big trouble. At the same time this happens, the latch bolt for the gate of the truck then comes loose, which causes Rack, Shack and Benny to fall into the fiery furnace. Mr. Nezzer then laughs at his victory, stating that no one will ever stand up to him again. However, the room suddenly turns dark before a multitude of bright lights shoot out from the windows of the furnace. Mr. Lunt peers into one of the windows as he asks how many guys they threw into the furnace. Mr. Nezzer incredulously answers that there are three, before Mr. Lunt states that there are four guys in there now, making note that one of them is real shiny, as well as the fact that they aren't burning up. Mr. Nezzer then calls out to the three boys to get out of there, before the fiery furnace gate then opens up, as Rack, Shack and Benny come out alive and well.

* BigDamnHeroes: Laura is able to save Rack, Shack and Benny before they are about to get thrown into the furnace the first time.

* DarkerAndEdgier: By ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' standards, the theme of this episode includes child slavery, and Mr. Nezzer trying to actually kill Rack, Shack and Benny.

* EvilLaugh: Mr. Nezzer gives off a pretty good one when he thinks that he has done away with Rack, Shack and Benny for good.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Mr. Nezzer first brings up the Bunny Song, Benny informs him that he's unfamiliar with it and wants him to "hum a few bars", to which Mr. Nezzer replies with "Y'know, I was hoping you'd ask!" At the end of the episode, Shack brings up "Stand Up" as a song he knows, and uses the exact same response when Mr. Nezzer asks how it goes.

--> '''Larry:''' I put an oven mitt on my head just because Veggiebeat Magazine said it would make me look cool. Even though, I couldn't see anything. It didn't make me cool, it made me...it made me bump into a toaster. And then fall into the sink. And now I can't get out of here! I'm going to be stuck here forever! And people are going to set plates on my head and I'm never going to get to go to the circus or run through the fresh cut grass or feel the ocean breeze in my hair as I pilot my nimble schooner Felix off the coast of our family home in Kennybunkport! [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home! There's no place like home!]] ''(Beat)'' Click, click, click...

'''Larry (As Abenego)''': I'm a bumblebee... a bennyboo... I'm Benny.

The next morning, Rack, Shack and Benny are greeted by Mr. Nezzer, who then explains that he will have everyone of his faithful employees bow down to a chocolate bunny statue, before showing them a model of the statue, to which he says that the real thing is 90 feet tall. Mr. Nezzer then explains further that it will be a beautiful day when everyone bows down to the statue and sings a song known as "[[VillainSong The Bunny Song]]", which Benny says that he's not familiar with and asks Mr. Nezzer to hum a few bars. Mr. Nezzer then obliges as he starts singing "The Bunny Song", talking about how much he loves the bunny and not anything else. After the song ends, Rack, Shack and Benny are a little bit troubled by the lyrics, with Rack asking what will happen when anyone doesn't sing the song. Mr. Nezzer answers that question by showing the three boys the furnace where bunnies, before he says in a rather intimidating matter, "Let's just say in my mind, if you don't bow down and sing the song, you're a bad bunny". Mr. Nezzer then hops off before telling Rack, Shack and Benny to get plenty of sleep because tomorrow is the big day. George then shows up and states that "The Bunny Song" was full of stuff that the three boys knew was wrong, then asks the viewers what they would do if they were them, but decides to hold that thought as the ceremony is about to begin.

* MeaningfulEcho: When Mr. Nezzer first brings up the Bunny Song, Larry informs him that he's unfamiliar with it and wants him to "hum a few bars", to which Mr. Nezzer replies with "Y'know, I was hoping you'd ask!" At the end of the episode, Shack brings up "Stand Up" as a song he knows, and uses the exact same response when Mr. Nezzer asks how it goes.

We are then introduced to Rack, Shack and Benny (played, respectively, by Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, and Larry the Cucumber), who also explain through song that they don't have any time to play because they have a lot of work to do in the factory. The employees of the factory are hard at work, making sure that all of the chocolate bunnies are made, as well as disposing of any bunnies that have been made wrong. Soon, the song ends as Laura takes off in her delivery truck to deliver the chocolate bunnies. As a lone chocolate bunny falls out of the back of the truck and lands in front of George, George then explains that everyday, they make over 14,000 chocolate bunnies, before explaining that Nebby K. Nezzer, the boss of the chocolate factory, isn't exactly a bad man, but he just gets confused real easily sometimes. George then demonstrates this by stating that it all happened when Mr. Nezzer made a big announcement.

* DarkerAndEdgier: By VeggieTales standards, the theme of this episode includes child slavery, and Mr. Nezzer trying to actually kill Rack, Shack and Benny.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: In the original 1995 VHS release, "The Bunny Song" originally had lyrics about not loving your parents, which resulted in hundreds of letters from parents complaining about the song. Because of that, the 1998 VHS reissue had the lyrics changed to refusals to eat healthy food.

We are introduced to the narrator of the story, an old onion named George, who serves as the gatekeeper to the Nezzer Chocolate Factory. George then explains that the real names of Rack, Shack and Benny are Shadrach, Meshach and Abenego, but everyone else called them by their nicknames, since they couldn't remember the three boys' real names. George then explains that every morning at the Chocolate Factory, everyone works hard to make sure that everything is going smoothly, before noticing that it's almost 8 o'clock, which means that it's time for the morning milk delivery. Laura then approaches the front gate and, in her speaking debut, explains to George in song that she'd love to stay and talk, but she doesn't have the time because everyone works really hard at the chocolate factory. After Laura arrives at the factory, she meets up with Mr. Lunt, who tells her through song that she's in trouble because she's way behind schedule, before he also orders the other employees (which are played by a multitude of peas) to get back to work.

Back inside the factory, the employees are still hard at work, when a video screen appears, before Mr. Nezzer appears on the screen, announcing that this morning, they have shipped their 2,000,000th chocolate bunny and decides to reward everyone by allowing them to eat as many chocolate bunnies as they like for the next 30 minutes. After this announcement is made, Mr. Lunt compliments Mr. Nezzer for allowing everyone to eat the bunnies, while Mr. Nezzer is confident that everyone will give their praise to him for this announcement. While the rest of the employees ravenously eat as many of the bunnies as they like, Shack is a little bit uncertain about this decision, telling his two comrades that they shouldn't eat any more bunnies, because it isn't good to eat too much candy in one sitting. When Rack and Benny argue about this, stating that everyone else is doing it, Shack retorts back that they should remember what their parents taught them, as well as remembering a song that his mother used to sing to him back when he was really little. After Shack sings a little bit of the song, he then tells Rack and Benny that even though their parents aren't with them, they can still remember everything that they've learned from this. This finally convinces Rack and Benny not to eat any more bunnies.

As time passes, the other employees are still eating chocolate bunnies, but after a while they begin to feel rather sick from doing so. After 30 minutes are up, Mr. Nezzer and Mr. Lunt then head into the workroom before noticing that everyone has become sick as dogs as a result of eating too many chocolate bunnies. Mr. Nezzer is angered by this, before Mr. Lunt notices that Rack, Shack and Benny are the only ones who aren't sick. When Mr. Nezzer and Mr. Lunt approach the three boys, he is impressed by their resilience before telling them that he's going to promote them to Junior Executives (which, according to Mr. Lunt, means that you have to wear a tie when Benny asks what it means). After Mr. Nezzer tells Rack, Shack and Benny to meet him in his office first thing in the morning, George then shows up, stating that Rack, Shack and Benny were able to get on Mr. Nezzer's good side, before adding that the three boys were in for a big surprise when they came into Mr. Nezzer's office.

The next morning, Rack, Shack and Benny are greeted by Mr. Nezzer, who then explains that he will have everyone of his faithful employees bow done to a chocolate bunny statue, before showing them a model of the statue, to which he says that the real thing is 90 feet high. Mr. Nezzer then explains further that it will be a beautiful day when everyone bows down to the statue and sings a song known as "The Bunny Song", which Benny says that he's not familiar with and asks Mr. Nezzer to hum a few bars. Mr. Nezzer then obliges as he starts singing "The Bunny Song", talking about how much he loves the bunny and not anything else. After the song ends, Rack, Shack and Benny are a little bit troubled by the lyrics, with Rack asking what will happen when anyone doesn't sing the song. Mr. Nezzer answers that question by showing the three boys the furnace where the bad bunnies go, before he says in a rather intimidating matter, "Let's just say in my mind, if you don't bow down and sing the song, you're a bad bunny". Mr. Nezzer then hops off before telling Rack, Shack and Benny to get plenty of sleep because tomorrow is the big day. George then shows up and states that "The Bunny Song" was full of stuff that the three boys knew was wrong, then asks the viewers what they would do if they were them, but decides to hold that thought as the ceremony is about to begin.

Mr. Nezzer has now tied up Rack, Shack and Benny, before he starts singing about how he tried being patient and kind with the three boys and that he's infuriated by their stubbornness. When Mr. Nezzer asks the three boys if they will sing the song, they then explain to him that God wants us to stand up for they believe is right, and that they cannot sing the song. At first, it seems that Mr. Nezzer understands, before saying that their bad bunnies before they end up getting pushed down towards the fiery furnace, but Laura saves them in time in the delivery truck. Mr. Nezzer then has two carrot guards chase after the quartet into a vent, but one of the guards runs into the wall and falls into a vat of chocolate.

Back on the countertop, Bob states that he still hasn't been able to get Larry out of the sink, before saying that it's time to talk about what they've learned. Larry then starts singing the "'''What Have We Learned'''" song, while Bob tells him to stop singing. Larry still sings, but Bob is able to cut him off by turning on the faucet for the sink and turning it off again. When Bob reviews the lesson that they learned from the story, Larry then admits that he made a mistake for putting an oven mitt on his head before lamenting that he'll never get out of the sink and that he'll be stuck in it for the rest of his life. Fortunately, Bob comes up with an idea by having Larry stand on one end of a spoon, while Bob jumps onto the other end. Bob then jumps onto the spoon, which causes Larry to get flung out of the sink, before checking to see what verse Qwerty has. Qwerty then brings up the verse, which is "'''Stand firm, and hold to the teachings passed on to you. 2nd Thessalonians 2:15'''". After that, Larry then explains that it means that if someone wants you to do something you know is wrong, you should stand firm and do what's right, before telling Dexter that the next time he goes to Billy's house, he should bring one of his favorite videos to watch instead. Bob then agrees with Larry before saying that he would like to get out of the sink, but Larry cuts him off before signing off, ending the episode.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Mr. Nezzer's DarkReprise of "The Bunny Song" sounds a little bit similar to that of "Oogie Boogie's Song" from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''.

We are then introduced to Rack, Shack and Benny (played, respectively, by Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, and Larry the Cucumber), who also explain through song that they don't have any time to play because they have a lot of work to do in the factory. The employees of the factory are hard at work, making sure that all of the chocolate bunnies are made, as well as disposing of any bunnies that have been made wrong. Soon, the song ends as Laura takes off in her delivery truck to deliver the chocolate bunnies. As a lone chocolate bunny falls out of the back of the truck and lands in front of George, George then explains that everyday, they make over 14,000 chocolate bunnies, before explaining that Nebby K. Nezzer, the boss of the chocolate factory, isn't exactly a bad man, but he just confused real easily sometimes. George then demonstrates this by stating that it all happened when Mr. Nezzer made a big announcement.

We are then introduced to Rack, Shack and Benny (played, respectively, by Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, and Larry the Cucumber), who also explain through song that they don't have any time to play because they have a lot of work to do in the factory. The employees of the factory are hard at work, making sure that all of the chocolate bunnies are made, as well as disposing of any bunnies that have been made wrong. Soon, the song ends as Laura takes off in her delivery truck to deliver the chocolate bunnies. As a lone chocolate bunny falls out of the back of the truck and lands in front of George, George then explains that everyday, they make over 2,000 chocolate bunnies, before explaining that Nebby K. Nezzer, the boss of the chocolate factory, isn't exactly a bad man, but he just confused real easily sometimes. George then demonstrates this by stating that it all happened when Mr. Nezzer made a big announcement.

* TheStinger: The original 1995 VHS release ends with Bob saying "I like to get out now", while he is still trapped in the sink. Strangely enough, on the 1998 reissue, this bit was taken out and replaced with the familiar Big Idea logo.

* BaitAndSwitch: Happens twice in the episode. The first time, after Rack, Shack and Benny sing the lullaby to Mr. Nezzer, Mr. Nezzer then says that he will be singing that song... as he throws them into the furnace. The second time, when after the three boys firmly state that they cannot sing "The Bunny Song", Mr. Nezzer then says that he understands... that they're bad bunnies.