Now before I begin the review, I want to clear something out. If you read my review on the "South Park" Easter Special, then you already know that I'm not too fond of the idea of having an Easter Bunny on a religious holiday that has nothing to do with a bunny. Not to mention that a bunny doesn't represent or symbolize anything to the Holiday's meanings. I never believed in an Easter Bunny as a kid; it's evident that the Easter Bunny is just a commercialized figure as an excuse to get candy. With that said, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the tradition. Yeah, it's silly, it's dumb, and it's very commercialized; but it's still a lot of fun. It brings the family together; it has fun activities, even if they are childish; and the idea involving a bunny bringing eggs while being ridiculous is still a cute idea for kids. To me, as long as we know the true meaning of why we celebrate this Holiday, then I guess having an Easter Bunny isn't really hurting it. Now with my personal views of Easter out of the way, ON WITH THE REVIEW...
This Rankin/Bass Easter Special tells the story about an Easter bunny named Peter Cottontail, who is chosen to be the Chief Easter Bunny of April Valley. A land where Easter bunnies live and make material for Easter, such as painting eggs; sculpting bunnies out of chocolate; and making Easter Bonnets. However, a wicked Easter bunny named Irontail plans to take over Easter and ruin it for the kids. With the April Valley constitution saying that the bunny who delivers the most eggs on Easter becomes the Chief Easter bunny, Peter enters a constant against Irontail of who can deliver the most eggs. With full confidence that he'll win, he throws a big party on the night before Easter and goes to bed late. Irontail cheats by finding a way for Peter to oversleep and manages to deliver one egg. Irontail becomes the new Chief Easter bunny, and Peter leaves in disgrace. Fortunately, his magical Peddler friend gives him a holiday time machine to travel back to Easter, and defeat Irontail. Irontail though knows about the device and sabotages the machine, which sends Peter past Easter and into different Holidays. However, Peter finds out that the rules don't specifically say that he has to deliver the eggs on Easter, and he decides to try to give all his eggs in time before the next Easter. Irontail is still hot on Peter's trail and will stop at nothing to stop him and rule Easter.
Danny Kaye narrates the special as the magical peddler Seymour S. Sassafras, and he is just as perfect as the previous narrators from the Rankin/Bass Holiday Specials. He's tons of fun, likable, over the top, humble, and you can tell that Danny Kaye is putting all of his charm into it. Every time I hear his voice in this special, I get delighted and get into the amount of fun that he's having. As for his singing voice, it's beautiful and fits within the tone of this special. I also love that the narrator is also a character in the story itself, who also becomes a big help for our protagonist, that's pretty rare in the Rankin/Bass Holiday Special formula. What more can I say? It's an excellent vocal performance from a great performer. Oh, and to note, he does voice a few other characters as well, which I'll reveal to you later on.
Our protagonist Peter Cottontail is a lovable main character. He makes mistakes, but he learns from them as the Special plays on. He's funny; he's cute. If I were to picture an Easter Bunny coming to my house to hide the eggs that I've made (Even though this Special shows explicitly that the Easter Bunnies make the eggs, and give them away than hide him.) this is probably how I would have pictured him. He's voiced by Casey Kasem, who you may know him as the voice of Shaggy in the "Scooby-Doo," and while his voice is recognizable, he still does a great job convincing me that he's playing a different character. Instead of being over the top like he usually is, he brings such a great innocence and likability to his role, that you completely forget about the actor and the previous characters he's voiced and see the character come to life. Peter does have a funny and cute running gag in the Easter Special. Every time he tries to tell a fib, his left ear drops, and you hear the sound of a Trombone as it drops, which works in every scene that joke happens. I also love the lessons that our character learns, such as don't lie; don't let overconfidence consume you; and "tend to your duty before pleasure."
Next, we have our villain Irontail who is voiced by the legendary Vincent Price. Price is perfect as this nasty Easter Bunny, and he perfectly delivers the class, the evil, the madness, and the determination to his character. Just like the guy who voices our hero, Price's voice acting, while recognizable, is still a perfect performance when you can separate the actor from the character. The villain itself is straight out unlikable from beginning to end. He never smiles, hates children with a passion, despises Easter, and he'll never stop trying to foil Peter from becoming the new Chief Easter Bunny. This villain is also scary as well. Aside from being voiced by a sophisticated horror movie actor, his design is frightening; his evil laugh is eerie; and his personality is not only flat out unlikable, but he's the last Easter Bunny that you'd ever wish to encounter.
Now for the supporting characters, mostly throughout the film, Peter is accompanied by a French Caterpillar named Antoine, who pilots the time machine that Peter uses, who is also voiced by Kaye. Not only is Antoine an enjoyably smart character, but I didn't for a second realize that it was Kaye's voice when watching this special. I was shocked when I saw his name appear on the credits; I really couldn't connect Kaye's voice to the character at all. Kaye also voices the former Chief Easter Bunny, who is just as great as the previous characters he's voiced, even though I feel like that the character is a bit downplayed in the story. Peter also finds a love interest named Donna, who only appears during the Valentine's Day visit, and never appears again until the credits. This character serves no purpose to the plot at all; however, for some strange reason, I still feel the love between them in that Valentine's Day sequence. Maybe, it's because she's the only Easter Bunny who understands Peter's mistake and forgives him for it; you know like Clarice from "Rudolph". Peter also befriends the only talking Easter Bonnet made by the Easter Bunnies named Bonnie. Odd that she's the only talking Easter Bonnet; also, did Peter steal her from the shop she was in? Anyway, while being a lovable and cute character, I find it strange that Peter is closer to a talking Bonnet than he is with a female Easter Bunny.
With great characters voiced by great actors, along with an imaginative story, how about the songs? Well, Danny Kaye sings most of the songs in the special, and they are all wonderfully sung by this talented performer. There's the Special's theme song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," a timeless classic Easter song that opens and closes the Special perfectly. There's "If I Can Only Get Back To Yesterday" as Peter and Antoine start time traveling, which is a magical song that always gives me chills, and is my favorite song in the entire Special. Then there's the song "In The Puzzle Of Life", and while not being very memorable, it's still a beautiful song. For some odd reason, Kaye doesn't do the singing for Antoine or the former Chief Easter Bunny. Instead, they are sung by Paul Frees, who nails the characters singing voices so well that I didn't know the difference. The Chief Easter Bunny's song, "The Easter Bunny Never Sleeps," fits that Easter feel just as well as the film's theme song, and Antoine's song, "When You Can't Get It All Together, Improvise" is very catchy and motivational. Vincent Price gets a song as well. He sings a darker version of "The Easter Bunny Never Sleeps" called "The Easter Bunny Always Sleeps", and while being a depressing moment in the Special, Vincent Price is still enjoyable to listen too. Finally, there's the love song "Be Mine Today", and again, while being a pointless love sequence, the song is still beautiful, and the love between the two is there.
As for the Stop-Motion, it's just as good as all the other Rankin/Bass classics. If you're not crazy about the Rankin/Bass Stop-Motion puppets or find them scary, well, this Special will indeed not change your mind at all. For me, for what they have, and for what kind of world and look they created for their Holiday Specials, I think it's excellent and artistic in its own right. Yeah, I can understand why some people might be afraid of these Specials, or even make fun of them, but for me, I love them. While having the traditional Rankin/Bass Stop-Motion style, I also adore the look to this special. The look is bright and colorful; the hand-drawn animated scenes look magical, and the environments are creative. What I truly love about the Special is the different Holidays that our characters visit. Each Holiday is not only represented well with its artistic Holiday look and feels but also makes the film more than an Easter film. Like "Nightmare Before Christmas" (Which I'm sure that Burton got the different Holiday worlds idea from this Special) where people like to watch it on both Halloween and Christmas; or the film "Holiday Inn" that has a variety of Holiday's that can be viewed on any of the Holiday's featured in the movie. This Special, while mainly having Easter become its focus, it still has a re-watchable all-year-round value to it, since it depicts every Holiday accurately.
While the "South Park" Easter Special is my all-time favorite Easter Special of all time, I think this Special is the best one of all time. The story is creative. The characters are likable, voiced by tremendous actors, who bring plenty of life and energy to their role. The songs are memorable and still hold up. And the traditional Rankin/Bass Stop-Motion puppets still holds up and is just as good as all the other Holiday Specials that they've made. It's indeed an Easter treat for the entire family to enjoy.
RATING 5/5
Oh, and just for fun; if you want to get an all year around feel for this movie; try to follow these Steps.
STEP 1
On Easter, take whatever copy you own of the Special and watch it from the beginning, to the end of the song "If I Can Only Get Back To Yesterday".
STEP 2
Whenever a Holiday that's featured in the film arrives; get your copy of the Special, and watch each Holiday visit on that Holiday.
If you are still unsure of what I mean, or if you need guidance. Follow the directions below.
ON EASTER DAY
From the beginning of the Special, to the end of "If I Can Only Get Back To Yesterday" song.
ON MOTHER'S DAY
From Irontail discovery of the "Yestermorrow Mobile", to the line "And, whenever Peter went on Mother's Day, the reaction was exactly the same".
ON THE 4TH OF JULY
From Antoine trying to fix the time circuits, to Antonie's line "Nothing justifies a fib".
ON HALLOWEEN
From Peter asking what's happening, to Antoine saying that they can't go back to the Holiday Halloween.
ON THANKSGIVING
From the narrator clarifying what Antoine is saying, to the line "Everybody, everywhere was so stuffed that Peter couldn't give a single egg".
ON CHRISTMAS EVE
From the December Calendar, to the line "I sure do miss Antoine".
ON NEW YEARS EVE
Just play it only for the Narrators bit.
ON VALENTINES DAY
From Peter's line "It's no use", to the end of the narrator talking about the Green Eggs.
ON PRESIDENTS DAY (FEBUARY 22ND)
From The George Washington green eggs gag, to the song "In The Puzzle Of Life".
ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY
To Peter vowing that he won't give up, to the fade out after Peter makes his St.Patrick's day appearance.
ON EASTER
From the narrator talking about the outcome of St. Patrick's Day visit, to the end of the Special.
And that's how you can get an all year around experience of this movie. If you want to try it, go ahead, and let me know if you tried it. This is Tyler Michael, hoping that you had a wonderful Easter!
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