Les Contes de Pierre Lapin et ses Amis

In 1993, a TV series brought the classic tales of Beatrix Potter to life. This is great, unscary cartoons for kids without being too twee for grownups. Characters such as Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Mr McGregor, Jemima Puddle Duck and Mr Jeremy Fisher wetre brought to life. Every Easter, they re-run them on the BBC. Advice: WATCH THEM.

"The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends" was (and is) an absolutely beautiful television show about Beatrix Potter's stories. The animation was perfect, it looked exactly like the illustrations in the stories! And the music was just stunning, among the most beautiful music that I've ever heard. I have a few episodes on tape that I watched all the time as a kid and I still do. The show captured the comedy and the drama of the stories, though, frankly, the drama nearly had me in tears as a kid because it was that sad and it still does. But don't ever think that it's too sad for children to watch, because it's not. Adults will be hooked into it as well and also may get teary eyed! In conclusion, I very highly recommend this show. It's beautiful, it's funny, it's sad and, most of all it's stunning.

My diagnosis: WATCH IT!

The other day I stumbled across a VHS in the charity shop of 'Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny' from this series; 1st time seeing this production since the early-mid 90's I guess ! If 'Peter and Benjamin' was the 1st in this series, they made (8?) other programmes of Beatrix Potter tales.

I forgot just how classy and refined this series was. It was beautifully animated; true and accurate to the style of Beatrix Potter's illustrations, with no caricatured/digital plasticity.

I particularly liked the live-action segments at the start and end of the cartoons, portraying Beatrix Potter- played by the highly cute Niamh Cusack - at her farmhouse home, inspired by her beloved pets to write the stories of the animals.

The music featured during the end credits of the early programmes from 1992 is also worth mentioning; a tender, refined folky number, sung by Miriam Stockley of Adiemus fame.

All in all, I will have to give this production a full 10/10 for its beauty, perfection and nostalgic element, the latter evoking the good ole' early 90's we all remembered and loved !

I should preface this review by stating that I am a major fan of the Beatrix Potter series and therefore am also a major fan of the show The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. This series does such a great job of reflecting the pure innocence that the books are known for. I personally don't understand why some of the books were a single episode while other times two books were combined into two segments per episode, although I can kind of understand this in the case of Peter Rabbit/Benjamin Bunny since the books are somewhat connected. I also wish that there was a Squirrel Nutkin episode. Those two small nitpicks aside, I absolutely adore the series. For one thing, I really love the animation, which is very felt-like. I know I use that comparison a lot but it's very noticeable here. Another thing that I very much enjoy is the dialogue, which is very nice and somewhat funny at times. Best of all, the stories always keep the whimsy and enchantment of the originals. Consisting Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, Two Bad Mice And Johnny Town-Mouse, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Jeremy Fisher, Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddleduck, The Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs Tittlemouse, Samuel Whiskers, Pigling Bland, Mr Tod, and The Tailor of Gloucester. Check out this magical land of disobient bunnies, rambunctious kittens, and practical hedgehogs.

You can keep watching the series just for the opening sequence. Wish they continued making animations like this...