Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Growing up I had the holidays to celebrate. I had favorites I used to look forward to with Halloween and Easter, but had to give them up (at least their best aspect with Trick or Treat and big Egg Hunt). Certain part of the holidays I didn’t give up and always look forward is the holiday specials. Halloween had the Simpsons Halloween Specials, as Easter had few specials. So it’s best to talk about the Easter Trilogy, “sequel”, and even spinoff. The first of the trilogy is Here Comes Peter Cottontail.

Danny Kaye as Mr. Sassafras tells the story of a white bunny named Peter Cottontail (voiced by Casey Kasem), for he has been chosen to be chief Easter Bunny of April Valley by Colonel Bunniton, but villain, Irontail (voiced by Vincent Price) challenged him to a contest on who can deliver the most eggs mainly to get even with the kids for running over is fluffy tail and was surgery replaced with a tail made of iron. The contest begins on Easter, but Irontail cheated by altering Peter’s Rooster Clock by giving him corn flavored bubblegum, as Peter overslept. Irontail defeated Peter and became chief Easter Bunny with one egg delivered, as he took over April Valley to celebrate Easter in a grim way while the bunnies forever sleep. Peter was in disgraced as he banished himself from a corrupt April Valley. He stumbled onto Mr. Sassafras in the Garden of Surprise, where he helped him with his Yestermorrow Mobile with Antoine the Caterpillar as his pilot. They fly through time and space to get back to Easter of Yesterday, but Irontail sent his spider on a rocket to sabotage the Yestermorrow Mobile, thus preventing to go yesterday and land further tomorrow in different later holidays such as Mother’s Day, Independent Day, Halloween with a witch named Madame Esmeralda (voiced by Joan Gardner), Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all those good holidays. Antoine gives a suggesting song to improvise that he can’t deliver Easter eggs on other holidays, so go deliver specific holiday eggs in hoping he can be chief Easter bunny to save April Alley.

Right from the start, Danny Kaye is a perfect host for the film. He’s energetic, funny, charming, and simply magical. The design captures Danny Kaye to a tee. He does voice other characters with Colonel Bunniton and Antoine in his “French” accent that he did similar in White Christmas. He’s so good; he can have a spin-off film (Emperor’s New Clothing, which I’ll get to that.)

That’s Casey Kasem voicing Peter Cottontail, fresh off from Shaggy in Scooby Doo. He’s just as likable, wide eyed, and boastful yet not obnoxious. He does have character flaw of simply lying, as his left ear droop with a low note trumpet playing, which looks and sound funny.

Then you have the villain, Iron Tail, voiced by Vincent Price. This is the first animated character he voiced that isn’t narration or as invisible, and does he knock it out of the park. He’s very despicable and devious that we like him for being deliciously evil and scheming with a plan for everything, even if some may compare his design to a certain dictator that sadly rivals Bugs Bunny.

The music is good. Danny Kaye sings majority of it while Vincent Price sing one villain song and Casey Kasem sings the valentine song, and they’re all nice and mostly memorable to listen to, and motivating.

  

The only downside is Darla is a forgettable love interest. She’s is cute, and understanding with Peter’s mistake, but she doesn’t appear much in the film. She appears less than Bonnie the Bonnet, and she mostly appeared in the last third. Love Interest rarely worked in any of the Rankin Bass, but it was most likely required to include them for the time, yet wasn’t allowed to be main character in animation unless you’re an Alice or paired with a male character that will get more screen time .

There’s some sets and characters reused from Santa Claus Coming To Town with Somber Town and even the same Santa (this time voiced by Paul Frees). April Valley is simple, yet only the simplest factory and tower would stand out. We won’t get a better Easter theme location until Rise of the Guardian.

The atmosphere is real relaxing in a good Southern feel, and I rarely like Southern stuff with Country Music and generic hillbillies. Each of the Holidays has their respective theme in setting and music. Garden of Surprise is both a pretty place and a pretty cheap place with all the plants designed yet flat. It would have been time consuming to make multiple skinny plastic plants that may break easily just for one tracking scene. Then again, a garden to me is mostly a flat display that I can barely touch and glance over.

This made me realize if Tim Burton was inspired by this film for Nightmare Before Christmas. Everyone usually credit just Rudolph as the only inspiration, but it’s the Christmas that was part of it, but Peter Cottontail is the inspiration in plot point and characters. The fact that each of the holidays have their own gateway (Cottontail had a Calendar for the holiday, as Nightmare Before Christmas has trees for holiday.), Vincent Price is his iconic favorite he use him in Vincent and Edward Scissorhead as his last film (not count earlier recording in Thief and the Cobbler.), there’s a Pumpkinhead in Halloween, and an Easter Bunny is what Oogie’s kids.

This is my favorite Easter film of all time. Is it the greatest Easter film of all time? Easter with Rabbits, yes, unless you prefer Charlie Brown and the Easter Beagle. In terms of the holiday in religious aspect, no, usually Greatest Story of All Time is usually regarded as the best, along with Tenth Commandment as being aired every Easter on ABC. It’s a shame to talk about the later Easter films as the opinion might be a bit unfair, but it’s a bigger shame of the existence of the “sequel” of this classic. Oh I’ll get to that disgrace of the film after this review. In the meantime, enjoy the egg hunt for the kiddies, as the adults enjoy relaxing and other stuff we’ll rarely do anything else.

  

Happy Easter, everyone!