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Rabbids

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This article is about the multimedia franchise. For the video game, see Rayman Raving Rabbids.
Raving Rabbids
The logo for the franchise since Rabbids Go Home
Genre(s)Party
Developer(s)Ubisoft Montpellier
Ubisoft Sofia
Ubisoft Paris
Ubisoft Milan
Ubisoft Casablanca
Headstrong Games
Ubisoft Barcelona
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Creator(s)Michel Ancel
Platform(s)Wii, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Kinect, Wii U, iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
First releaseRayman Raving Rabbids
November 14, 2006
Latest releaseVirtual Rabbids: The Big Plan
2017

Raving Rabbids, known in France as Lapins crétins (Idiotic Rabbits) and in Italy simply as Rabbids, is a video game franchise spin-off from the Rayman series, which consists mainly of party video games, though also includes some platform games and a fighting game. The series focuses on wild rabbit-like creatures known as Rabbids, who like to cause havoc and mischief, speak gibberish and yell "BWAH!" whenever they experience adrenaline rushes.

Though they were initially shown as part of the Rayman series of games, the popularity of the characters, aided by various viral videos and media appearances, led Raving Rabbids to become its own separate franchise, dropping the Rayman name as of 2009's Rabbids Go Home.[1][2] The Rabbids have made several appearances in non-Rayman games as well, such as Red Steel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Watch Dogs, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.[3] The song "Here Comes the Hotstepper" in Just Dance 2 includes a Rabbid who attempts to dance with the choreographer. There has also been a Raving Rabbids themed version of the card game Jungle Speed, which was released in France, a TV show and a feature film, that is under development. The alternate version of the song "Naughty Girl" by Beyoncé, which featured in the Nintendo Switch version of Just Dance 2018 via Just Dance Unlimited subscription service also includes Rabbid Peach, a Rabbid character from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle as the main choreographer.

As of April 2014, the series had sold over 14 million units worldwide.[4]

Concept and creation

The earliest Rayman 4 trailers depicted menacing and zombie-like rabbits, simply appearing from underground with a blank stare in various shapes and forms, smaller eyes and furry. At this point, trailers showed the game as an adventure game with fight stages, where Rayman would need to punch and kick himself kung fu style through a horde of zombie-bunnies. As the game concept evolved, from one of a central objective to minigames, and viral videos were created, the rabbits slowly evolved into the Rabbid figures, which were much more conscious and amusing, changing from merely being enemies to fight through into more memorable characters with various traits and quirks. Rayman creator Michel Ancel described the bunnies as "vicious, but at the same time [...] totally stupid".[5] In a video interview, project lead Loïc Gounon confirmed the possibility of splitting the Rayman and Rabbid series apart, mentioning that the Rabbids "managed to hit a bit more adult and a bit more older audience than the previous Raymans".[6]

Characters

Rabbids – Rabbids are large, wild rabbit-like creatures who like to cause havoc and mischief and are gibberish speaking and yell "BWAH!" whenever they experience adrenaline rushes. They were originally the antagonists; however, due to increase in popularity, they became the protagonists in Rabbids Go Home.

Rayman – the main protagonist of the first three games. He always foils the Rabbids' evil plans. When the Rabbids became the protagonists of the franchise, Rayman was dropped, but continues to appear in his own.

Professor Barranco III – the supreme leader of the Rabbids who remained evil and the one who planned out all of their invasions on Rayman's world, Earth and others. He is seen in the games Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Rabbids: Travel in Time and Rabbids: Alive and Kicking as the main antagonist (despite having a minor role in RRR 2 and RTiT). He is one of the rare smart Rabbids to exist, but can be easily fooled as well. In RAaK he has a Rabbid scientist as his second in command, who would later go on to become a major character in the TV series.

Serguei – Serguei is the main villain of Rayman Raving Rabbids. He is a large, black rabbid who abducted Rayman and the Globox kids and forced them to take part in the Rabbids Olympics filled with deadly challenges. In the end, Rayman manages to escape and free most of the Globox kids. It is unknown what happens to Serguei at that point, though his absence in further games suggest that he was relieved of his duties due to failure in keeping Rayman.

The Semi-Leaders – the Semi-leaders are fat, lazy and angry Rabbids who serve as the secondary antagonists of Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. They constantly force the Rabbids to bring them food and don't do pretty much anything than sitting or lying around and keeping things in check. They each have different themes in clothing.

Verminators – the main antagonists of Rabbids Go Home. They mistake the Rabbids as a large threat and go on a wild hunt to kill them. Throughout the game, there are many kinds of Verminators who keep trying to kill the Rabbids, but fail miserably. At the end, they use bombs to launch them straight into space to the moon (which was the Rabbids' goal to begin with) and celebrate, but this is short-lived as all the stuff the Rabbids took for their tower to the moon start falling from the sky right on them.

Games

Year Title Developer(s) Platform(s)
Sony Microsoft Nintendo Other(s)
2006 Rayman Raving Rabbids (handheld version) Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Sofia PS2 Windows, Xbox 360 Wii, GBA, DS
2007 Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 Ubisoft Paris Windows Wii, DS
2008 Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party
2009 Rabbids Go Home Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Sofia Windows
2010 Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Casablanca Wii, 3DS
Rabbids Go Phone Ubisoft iOS
2011 Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Paris Xbox 360
Raving Rabbids: Party Collection (Feat Rayman) (Compilation of Rabbids, Rabbids 2 and TV Party) Wii
2012 Rabbids Land Ubisoft Paris Wii U
Rabbids Rumble Headstrong Games 3DS
2013 Rabbids Big Bang Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Paris iOS, Android, Windows Phone
2014 Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show Ubisoft Barcelona PS4 Xbox 360, Xbox One
2016 Rabbids Heroes[7] Ubisoft iOS, Android
2017 Rabbids Crazy Rush[8]
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Paris Nintendo Switch
Virtual Rabbids: The Big Plan Ubisoft Android

In other media

TV series

Main article: Rabbids Invasion

In October 2010, Ubisoft and Aardman announced a partnership to produce a TV series pilot and several shorts based on the franchise.[9] One year later, it was announced that 78 7-minute CG animated episodes would be made solely by Ubisoft Motion Pictures, and broadcast as 26 half-hour episodes by Nickelodeon on August 3, 2013.[10] In early 2012, Ubisoft Motion Pictures called on the French animation studio TeamTO to create most of the CGI parts of the series.[11][12][13] On E3 2013, it was announced that it would be an interactive Xbox One show entitled Rabbids Invasion. The show premiered on Nickelodeon on August 3, 2013.[14]

Film

A live-action/animated movie based on the franchise is currently in the works.[15] It is being developed by both Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios as the film is written by Matthew Senreich, Tom Sheppard and Zeb Wells.[16]

Comic book series

A comic book series based on the franchise exists, but is only sold in France, Belgium and Switzerland. All comic strips are drawn by the French cartoonist Romaine Pujol and written by Thithaume. There are ten volumes thus far.

Merchandising

Aside from video games and the comic book series mentioned above, the Rabbids also have other merchandising such as T-shirts, figurines, plush toys, school equipment, fan club magazines, and for a limited time, a Happy Meal toy.

Licensing

The Rabbids franchise has also been licensed for the out-of-home entertainment market such as the recent collaboration with arcade game manufacturer LAI Games to produce Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride, an attendant-free VR attraction.[17][18]

Reception

The Rabbids from the Raving Rabbids series became massively popular both through the teaser trailers and the game itself. IGN has stated that the Rabbids have "more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular video game mascots combined",[19] and that the bunnies have literally "upstaged Rayman himself".[1] GameSpot has noted, "The Rabbids themselves are almost exclusively responsible for [selling the game's humor], as they are, without a doubt, hysterical. They're adorably designed, with their dumb stares, high-pitched shrieks, and a penchant for taking comedic bumps."[2]

The success of the Rabbid characters led the developers to create more games in the franchise, and eventually even remove Rayman from them entirely. This was first hinted at in the launch trailer of the first game, where Rayman, despite being the title character, only appears for a fraction of a second, only to be squashed flat by a couch taken over by Rabbids. In Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, Rayman disguises himself as a Rabbid, causing the game to put more emphasis on them than on Rayman himself. Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party was considered further evidence, as Rayman, who is no longer playable, only appears in the game's cutscenes although he does make a couple cameos and references in the gameplay of some minigames, and is more scared and annoyed by the Rabbids despite his bravery against the Rabbids in Rayman Raving Rabbids. This was then proven to be true with the announcement of Rabbids Go Home, which does not feature Rayman at all and dosen't explain what happened to him in the previous Rabbids game.

The Rayman series' genre shift and decline in critical acclaim has been linked to Rabbids by fans and critics. Before Rabbids Go Home's release, when asked about why Rayman was omitted, director Jacques Exertier confirmed that Rayman would return for more action-adventure video games.[20] A Rayman-only game was released on March 1, 2011, but was merely a Nintendo 3DS re-release of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, titled Rayman 3D. However, Rayman Origins, a new Rayman game, was released in 2011 followed by a sequel, Rayman Legends released in September 2013. Both games were released to critical acclaim.

The music style for the franchise was created by composer Mark Griskey. Mark worked with Audio Director Yoan Fanise to define the comedic style of the early games and the style was continued with the further versions of the franchise. [21]

References

  1. ^ a b Matt Casamassina (2006-10-13). "Rayman Raving Rabbids: Impressions and Video". Retrieved 2007-11-12. The bunnies in the game are so well-designed, animated, and voiced, that they have actually upstaged Rayman himself to become the spotlight of Ubisoft's marketing efforts for the title.
  2. ^ a b Alex Navarro (2006-11-19). "Rayman Raving Rabbids Review on GameSpot". Retrieved 2007-11-12. It might have Rayman in the title, but the real stars of the show are the adorably bizarre raving rabbids.
  3. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fccgHnBQ0YM
  4. ^ "Facts & Figures". Ubisoft. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  5. ^ Matt Casamassina. "Rayman Raving Rabbids Interview". Retrieved 2007-11-12. The Rabbits are hundreds and they are vicious, but at the same time they are totally stupid.
  6. ^ "Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 interview". 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  7. ^ Frank, Allegra (25 May 2016). "The Raving Rabbids return with a collectible card game on mobile". Polygon. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  8. ^ Rabbids (2017-02-23), Rabbids Crazy Rush, retrieved 2017-03-10
  9. ^ Ubisoft & Aardman to Create Pilot for Animated Television Show Based on Raving Rabbids, IGN
  10. ^ Keslassy, Elsa (October 6, 2011). "Nick licenses 'Raving Rabbids'". Variety. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  11. ^ "Des news de l'anim numéro 48 été 2012". SPFA. Summer 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  12. ^ "Drôme: Le studio TeamTO recrute". France3 Rhône-Alpes. June 6, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  13. ^ "De retour d'Annecy 2012". Catsuka. June 10, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  14. ^ "Rabbids Invasion: Debut Date Announced and Trailer Revealed". IGN. 2013-07-12. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  15. ^ Kroll, Justin (October 14, 2015). "'Robot Chicken' Writers to Pen 'Rabbids' Movie for Sony, Ubisoft (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  16. ^ "Sony To Make Movie Based On Ubisoft's 'Rabbids'". deadline.com. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  17. ^ "LAI Virtual Rabbids – December 2017 | RePlay Magazine". www.replaymag.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  18. ^ "Ubisoft's Rabbids Are Back In VR With Virtual Rabbids – The Big Ride". VRFocus. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  19. ^ Matt Casamassina (2006-11-16). "Rayman Raving Rabbids Review". Retrieved 2007-11-12. Although we could honestly take or leave Rayman himself, Ubisoft has with the bunnies created characters with more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular videogame mascots combined.
  20. ^ Matt Casamassina (May 5, 2009). "Why You'll Love Rabbids Go Home: Two and a half years in development, a brand new engine, no mini-games and it's a full-blown comedy adventure". IGN. News Corporation.
  21. ^ http://www.griskey.com
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