GOD ROCKS!

As if out of nowhere comes a fresh new Saturday-morning style Christian children’s animated series called “God Rocks!”. Expecting it to be just a spinoff of the wildly popular “Veggie Tales” series, I was happily surprised to see fun animation with an excellent biblical message about the importance of following rules, most importantly the Ten Commandments God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai. Wow—all this in a children’s show?

Packed with pun after pun of rock-related quips, God Rocks: Ten Rockin’ Rules (the first episode) introduces us to the gang in Rocky Ridge: Chip Livingstone (and his family); plus his friends Carb, Gem, and Splinter. This first series release (with plans to be followed by more in 2003) introduces us into the life of Chip as he gets ready for school. At home, and then at school, Chip becomes increasingly annoyed by the fact that everywhere he turns there are rules that must be followed. At a school fieldtrip to a museum filled with Biblical-era stones that have stories to tell (like the TC twins—the Ten Commandments stones), Chip breaks some rules and finds himself in a mess because of it. Knocked unconscious he experiences a world where rules no longer apply, chaos reigning. Needless to say, he learns the importance of rules rather quickly.

Series creator Bruce Stacey is known for the “Kingdom Adventure” children’s TV series in Canada, as well as an animated film release “The Prodigal Son”—a $2.8 million production shown at the 2000 World Exhibition in Hanover, Germany. It received over 1,000,000 viewers during its six-month run.

The premise behind “God Rocks!” is an interesting one for sure: Imagine what rocks throughout history—including Biblical history—could tell us if they could “cry out!” After all, they were the rocks on the scene, and they tell their stories to a cast of contemporary rock characters. The telling of a complete Bible story within the story is one integral component of the “God Rocks!” property; another is music. Talented youthful actor-musicians Felsman, Stacey, Tanner, and Sewitt (the voices of the main characters) really do have professional real life singing experience, and it shows! The songs are original and composed specifically for each episode.

“God Rocks!” will not disappoint and, if your kids are fans of the genre that includes “Veggie Tales” and “Kingdom Under the Sea”, you’ll want to be sure to pick this up in DVD from your local Christian retailer.

Year of Release—2002