I'm one of many people who loves Rankin-Bass's Christmas specials, and I used to think they made Christmas specials only. In first grade, my class watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail shortly before Easter, and I enjoyed it very much! You can probably already tell that it was my first exposure to any of RB's other content (minus the Easter Bunny is Coming to Town. I've seen it previously, but I didn't know it was made by RB at the time). A year later, my grandma got me the DVD, and I still have it and watch it every Easter. Like the Christmas specials, it is based on a song (obviously Peter Cottontail in this case), tells the song's story while adding new elements as well, is narrated by a celebrity (in this case, Danny Kaye), and has a lifelike stop motion animation style, which makes the characters look like living toys. The title character is voiced by Casey Kasem, who was also the original voice of Shaggy from Scooby Doo, and his voice sounds like Shaggy but slightly lower, which makes this even cooler! What else do I like about the special/TV movie?
Another one of the best things about it is the premise. It has a warm, Easter feeling, and has a little bit of all the holidays in it. The evil Irontail wins a contest to become the new Easter Bunny, and Peter Cottontail oversleeps and time travels so he can become the Easter Bunny and stop Irontail from ruining Easter. He accidentally goes to all the other holidays and paints the eggs to look like they're for those respective holidays: Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Mother's Day, the Fourth of July, and New Year's Day. Now that's an original concept! He does give some away, but a lot of people won't take his eggs, and he has trouble keeping them safe from Irontail. To put more bread on the table, the same version of Santa Claus from the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials appears. According to Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, all the Christmas specials are from the same universe, and Peter Cottontail is probably set in the same universe as them. If you're wondering, yes, Peter does win the contest at the end, become the Easter Bunny, and save Easter. Thank goodness for that! Don't get me wrong, I like Irontail, and I find him funny, but he was not a good Easter Bunny. He got rid of all the old Easter traditions, replaced chocolate chickens and bunnies with chocolate octopi and tarantulas (yuck!) and Easter eggs with Easter galoshes, and he tried to get revenge on the children after one of them caused an accident. Peter is a better Easter Bunny!
The songs are catchy, memorable, and have good beats, especially "If I Could Only Get Back to Yesterday" and Antoine's song "When You Can't Get It Altogether, Improvise." The former is my favorite of them all because it tells the importance of second chances, which I can relate to, hence the lyrics "If I could only get back to yesterday, today would be a perfect day" and "I'd be a different man if I had a second chance, yes I would." Second chances give people an opportunity to make up for their mistakes and improve their behavior. Also, there are absolutely beautiful visuals during the song, which consist of a night sky with stars making symbols of all the different holidays, like an Easter Bunny, a Christmas tree, hearts, and more. The latter also has a distinctive, dance-like beat and a timeless message: do something with whatever you have or without being planned at first if you're unprepared (e.g., on Halloween give your girl a Valentine, and who cares if Easter eggs are usually only given away on Easter?).
The special is great for kids and adults alike! Its charm and timeless messages about the importance of responsibility and not giving up hope are sure to appeal to everyone. This is easily the best of the three Rankin-Bass Easter specials and fun to watch, whether it's Easter or not. It's good for any holiday, but mostly for Easter.
