A Cucumber's Daughter

Several months ago I interviewed Mike Nawrocki--the voice of Larry the Cucumber--and his daughter, Ally. The experience was delightful. Here are the resulting articles in Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. An excerpt:

When Alijandra N. was a little girl, her dad had a special talent. He could sound just like Larry the Cucumber when he told her stories. It wasn't until Ally was older that she realized her dad was Larry, the loveable hero of VeggieTales.

“It's a really fun thing to have your dad as Larry the Cucumber,” the 9-year-old says.

Ally's dad, Mike, co-created VeggieTales with Phil Vischer (the voice of Bob the Tomato) five years before Ally was born. She's grown up with Larry, but she prefers just plain Dad. Mike and Ally's father-daughter bond goes beyond a love for M&M's and the same contagious laugh; the pair also shares a talent for voices.

Ally voices two parts in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, VeggieTales' second big-screen film: She plays George's daughter, Lucy, and the Rock Monster Girl. (Mike is the voice of the Rock Monster Dad.) The movie will be in theaters this month. Even though her dad directed the film, Ally had to earn her own way into the veggie-voice business.

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