Phil Vischer
| Phil Vischer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Phillip Roger Vischer June 16, 1966 Muscatine, Iowa, United States |
| Residence | Wheaton, Illinois |
| Occupation | Voice actor, puppeteer, writer, producer, director, songwriter, speaker |
| Known for |
VeggieTales JellyTelly The Phil Vischer Podcast |
| Spouse(s) | Lisa Vischer |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | philvischer |
Phillip Roger Vischer (born June 16, 1966) is an American animator, puppeteer, writer, voice actor and songwriter known for creating the computer-animated video series VeggieTales alongside Mike Nawrocki. He provides the voice of Bob the Tomato and about half of the other characters in the series.
Phil Vischer was born June 16, 1966 in Muscatine, Iowa, United States, and grew-up in Chicago, Illinois.
He attended St. Paul Bible College and was involved in the puppet club where he met Mike Nawrocki. Vischer originally aimed to go to film school after Bible college but instead wound up working for Amoco and Montgomery Ward doing ad work.
Vischer founded GRAFx Studios 1989 in order to produce animated commercials and logos. As he watched the brand new field of computer animation come to life in the late 1980s, it occurred to him that very simple characters, animated with this new technology, would be a popular method for telling stories. In his spare time he created Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, without arms, legs, hair, and clothes as in his mind those were considered "the tricky parts". In early 1993, he raised some money from friends and family members and enlisted the assistance of his wife Lisa, Nawrocki and two young art school animators. He started Big Idea Productions (now Big Idea Entertainment) and made the first "VeggieTales" episode.
Vischer and Nawrocki worked in a small storefront on the north side of Chicago creating VeggieTales. Kurt Heinecke, a friend of Phil's from Church, produced the music. Phil's wife Lisa helped with scripts and provided the voice for a young asparagus named Junior. Phil took out ads in Christian magazines, hoping to market directly to parents. Phil and his two animators worked around the clock on one computer in their office, and managed to sell 500 copies of "Where's God When I'm S-Scared?" to families who had seen the ads and called to place orders. Although 500 copies didn't cover the cost of the magazine ads or production of the film, Vischer was pleased. He considered making films for God more fulfilling than working for Montgomery Ward.
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