Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Encyclopedia
Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Easter
television special
made by Rankin-Bass, based on a 1957 novel by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich entitled The Easter Bunny That Overslept. The title of the special is from the Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail
", which is also heard in the special. The name "Peter Cottontail
" comes from a series of books by Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965), although the special is not based directly on his books.
It was originally broadcast on ABC
-TV, and in later years, appeared on CBS. In 2006, it was followed by a television film sequel
, Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie
. It is a story about the Chief Easter Bunny
's son and how he saved Easter.
yet friendly peddler
, inventor, host and narrator tells the tale of Peter Cottontail, a young Easter Bunny
. Peter lives in April Valley, where the Chief Easter Bunny supervises such Easter
items as colored eggs
and chocolate candy.
Colonel
Wellington B. Bunny, the retiring Chief Easter Bunny, names young Peter his successor despite Peter's propensity for boasting and telling fibs, which is exemplified when his left ear droops. Peter, who has dreamed of being the Chief Easter Bunny almost his entire life, gladly accepts. But not everyone in April Valley is happy with the Colonel's decision. January Q. Irontail, an evil, reclusive rabbit
villain
who lives in a craggy old tree
, alone except for his assistant, a bat
named Montresor, wants to be the Chief Easter Bunny... but only so he can ruin it for children everywhere, as revenge for the loss of his tail, which was run over by a small child who rollerskated over his fluffy tail (we are told), and replaced with an iron prosthesis
.
Because the constitution
of April Valley says only the rabbit who delivers the most eggs on Easter morning can be Chief Easter Bunny, Irontail proposes that Colonel Bunny hold a contest between himself and Peter to see who wins. Peter, eager to prove his worth, accepts Irontail's challenge even as Colonel Bunny is preparing to turn the evil rabbit down. Although Peter promises the Colonel that he won't fail, he stays up late partying with his friends. Though he sets his rooster to wake him up at 5:00, Irontail sabotages his friend by giving it magical bubble-gum. The magic gum causes the rooster's crows to float so far away that Peter can't hear them, resulting in Peter sleeping through and losing the contest.
Even though the unfriendly Irontail manages to deliver only one egg, it's still one more egg than Peter delivers and so Irontail is named the new Chief Easter Bunny, as per the constitution. Immediately, Irontail begins to wreck Easter by passing ridiculous new law
s that will doubtless make the entire holiday a complete disaster. Meanwhile, Peter, ashamed that his overconfidence and irresponsibility led to this tragedy, leaves April Valley in shame.
He happens upon Seymour S. Sassafrass, who in addition to being the narrator
in the present is also the friendly man who supplies April Valley with the dye
s it uses to color its Easter eggs. He gets them from his Garden
of Surprises, which includes striped tomatoes, orange string beans and blue cabbages. Proving to be a very compassionate and understanding man (if a somewhat offbeat one), Sassafrass offers to let Peter use his latest invention
, the Yestemorrowmobile, a time machine
. With the help of its pilot, a French
caterpillar
named Antoine, Peter will be able to go back to Easter and retake the contest.
Unfortunately, Irontail finds out about Peter's plan and sends a spider to sabotage the Yestemorrowmobile's controls, thereby making it so that Peter and Antoine can go to any holiday but Easter! The rules of the contest don't specifically say the eggs must be delivered on Easter, so Peter begins trying to give his eggs away at other holidays, without success. Along the way he rescues a talking bonnet
, and meets Donna, a lovely girl bunny (with whom he briefly celebrates Valentine's Day
). But Peter continues to attempt to persevere in his quest, even though no one seems to want eggs on any holiday except Easter. Antoine also disappears, (he is left behind accidentally in a town on Christmas Eve
). But Peter's biggest problem is still Irontail and Montresor the bat; who are always trying to steal the eggs, or otherwise sabotage Peter's efforts (at one point, with help from Madame Esmerelda, a Halloween
Witch), eventually succeeding in turning the eggs a mottled green color.
After many failed efforts, including a salesperson attempt to pitch the eggs as "explosive" torpedoes on Independence Day
, he finally manages to give the green eggs away on St. Patrick's Day, since they are the appropriate color for the occasion. As a result, Peter is crowned Chief Easter Bunny, and Antoine returns as a butterfly.
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
made by Rankin-Bass, based on a 1957 novel by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich entitled The Easter Bunny That Overslept. The title of the special is from the Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Peter Cottontail (song)
"Here Comes Peter Cottontail" is a popular Easter song composed in 1950 by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. Due to immense popularity of Gene Autry's Christmas songs Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that Nelson and Rollins had written, the duo asked Autry to record it...
", which is also heard in the special. The name "Peter Cottontail
Peter Cottontail
Peter Cottontail is a fictional rabbit in the works of Thornton Burgess, an author from Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1910, when Burgess began his Old Mother West Wind series, the cast of animals included Peter Rabbit...
" comes from a series of books by Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965), although the special is not based directly on his books.
It was originally broadcast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-TV, and in later years, appeared on CBS. In 2006, it was followed by a television film sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie
Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie
Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie is a 2005 computer animated film, a sequel to the 1970 Rankin/Bass TV special, Here Comes Peter Cottontail. It was released by Classic Media. It made its television debut on 14 April, 2006 on Cartoon Network...
. It is a story about the Chief Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...
's son and how he saved Easter.
Characters and story
Seymour S. Sassafrass, an eccentricEccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
yet friendly peddler
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
, inventor, host and narrator tells the tale of Peter Cottontail, a young Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...
. Peter lives in April Valley, where the Chief Easter Bunny supervises such Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
items as colored eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
and chocolate candy.
Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Wellington B. Bunny, the retiring Chief Easter Bunny, names young Peter his successor despite Peter's propensity for boasting and telling fibs, which is exemplified when his left ear droops. Peter, who has dreamed of being the Chief Easter Bunny almost his entire life, gladly accepts. But not everyone in April Valley is happy with the Colonel's decision. January Q. Irontail, an evil, reclusive rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
who lives in a craggy old tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, alone except for his assistant, a bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
named Montresor, wants to be the Chief Easter Bunny... but only so he can ruin it for children everywhere, as revenge for the loss of his tail, which was run over by a small child who rollerskated over his fluffy tail (we are told), and replaced with an iron prosthesis
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
.
Because the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of April Valley says only the rabbit who delivers the most eggs on Easter morning can be Chief Easter Bunny, Irontail proposes that Colonel Bunny hold a contest between himself and Peter to see who wins. Peter, eager to prove his worth, accepts Irontail's challenge even as Colonel Bunny is preparing to turn the evil rabbit down. Although Peter promises the Colonel that he won't fail, he stays up late partying with his friends. Though he sets his rooster to wake him up at 5:00, Irontail sabotages his friend by giving it magical bubble-gum. The magic gum causes the rooster's crows to float so far away that Peter can't hear them, resulting in Peter sleeping through and losing the contest.
Even though the unfriendly Irontail manages to deliver only one egg, it's still one more egg than Peter delivers and so Irontail is named the new Chief Easter Bunny, as per the constitution. Immediately, Irontail begins to wreck Easter by passing ridiculous new law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s that will doubtless make the entire holiday a complete disaster. Meanwhile, Peter, ashamed that his overconfidence and irresponsibility led to this tragedy, leaves April Valley in shame.
He happens upon Seymour S. Sassafrass, who in addition to being the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
in the present is also the friendly man who supplies April Valley with the dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s it uses to color its Easter eggs. He gets them from his Garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
of Surprises, which includes striped tomatoes, orange string beans and blue cabbages. Proving to be a very compassionate and understanding man (if a somewhat offbeat one), Sassafrass offers to let Peter use his latest invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
, the Yestemorrowmobile, a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. With the help of its pilot, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
named Antoine, Peter will be able to go back to Easter and retake the contest.
Unfortunately, Irontail finds out about Peter's plan and sends a spider to sabotage the Yestemorrowmobile's controls, thereby making it so that Peter and Antoine can go to any holiday but Easter! The rules of the contest don't specifically say the eggs must be delivered on Easter, so Peter begins trying to give his eggs away at other holidays, without success. Along the way he rescues a talking bonnet
Bonnet (headgear)
Bonnets are a variety of headgear for both sexes, which have in common only the absence of a brim. Bonnet derives from the same word in French, where it originally indicated a type of material...
, and meets Donna, a lovely girl bunny (with whom he briefly celebrates Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
). But Peter continues to attempt to persevere in his quest, even though no one seems to want eggs on any holiday except Easter. Antoine also disappears, (he is left behind accidentally in a town on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
). But Peter's biggest problem is still Irontail and Montresor the bat; who are always trying to steal the eggs, or otherwise sabotage Peter's efforts (at one point, with help from Madame Esmerelda, a Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
Witch), eventually succeeding in turning the eggs a mottled green color.
After many failed efforts, including a salesperson attempt to pitch the eggs as "explosive" torpedoes on Independence Day
Independence Day
An Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state, and more rarely after the end of a military occupation...
, he finally manages to give the green eggs away on St. Patrick's Day, since they are the appropriate color for the occasion. As a result, Peter is crowned Chief Easter Bunny, and Antoine returns as a butterfly.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Casey Kasem Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and... |
Peter Cottontail |
| Danny Kaye Danny Kaye Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian... |
Seymour S. Sassafrass / Colonel Wellington B. Bunny / Antoine |
| Vincent Price Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St... |
January Q. Irontail |
| Joan Gardner Joan Gardner (voice specialist) Joan Gardner was an American voice specialist. Also a screenwriter, songwriter, actress, author and composer. Married Edward Janis, producer, and wrote under the name Joan Janis.Her works include:... |
Bonnie Bonnet / Madame Esmerelda / Bonnet store owner |
| Paul Frees Paul Frees Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago... |
Colonel Wellington's assistant / Man at Thanksgiving table / Santa Claus |
| Iris Rainer | Donna |