Here Comes Peter Cottontail

For the song of the same name, see Peter Cottontail (song).

Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Distributed by	Classic Media
Directed by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr.
Written by	Priscilla and Otto Friedrich (book) Thornton Burgess (story)[citation needed] Romeo Muller (story)
Narrated by	Danny Kaye
Starring	(Voicework) Danny Kaye Casey Kasem Vincent Price Joan Gardner Paul Frees
Music by	Steve Nelson Jack Rollins Maury Laws
Production company	Rankin/Bass
Country	USA
Language	English
Release date	April 4, 1971
Running time	55 minutes
Followed by	Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie

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.

Plot

Seymour S. Sassafrass, an eccentric 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 5:30 AM, 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 laws 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 dyes 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.

Cast

Actor/Actress	Role
Casey Kasem	Peter Cottontail
Danny Kaye	Seymour S. Sassafrass / Colonel Wellington B. Bunny / Antoine
Vincent Price	January Q. Irontail
Joan Gardner	Bonnie Bonnet / Madame Esmerelda / Bonnet store owner
Paul Frees	Colonel Wellington's assistant / Man at Thanksgiving table / Santa Claus
Iris Rainer	Donna

See also

• List of animated feature films
• List of stop-motion films

External links

• Here Comes Peter Cottontail at the Internet Movie Database