Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I grew up watching this with my mom and I love it to this day. I find myself singing songs from the movie year round. The stop motion is excellent and Vincent price is great as iron tail. This is a great Easter film to watch with the family and if you're like me you'll watch this year round

This is an excellent stop-motion TV special that originally aired during the early 70's. It features the voices of Danny Kaye, Vincent Price and Casey Kasem and is the first and easily the best of three Easter specials from Rankin/Bass, who also graced our television sets with holiday traditions such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Coming To Town", "Frosty the Snowman", and the popular cult classic "Mad Monster Party".

This fanciful, pastel-colored Easter special is based on a book titled "The Easter Bunny Who Overslept". Peter Cottontail agrees to a contest against Evil Irontail to see who can deliver the most Easter eggs. But, when Peter oversleeps, leaving Evil Irontail to rule April Valley (the land of Easter bunnies), he must travel back through time making unplanned stops at all the other holidays on his way back to Easter.

This show really has a warm, Easter/Spring feeling, wonderful songs and a chance to catch a glimpse of all the holidays through the enchanted puppet-animated world of Animagic! Once again, Rankin/Bass have taken that fuzzy holiday warmth and turned it into a colorful, fun special.

I must have been six when I saw "Here Comes Peter Cottontail". Now that I know who did some of the voices, that only makes the movie cooler. The plot of course has good rabbit Peter Cottontail (Casey Kasem, aka Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo") trying to become the Easter Bunny after lascivious rabbit Irontail (Vincent Price) wins the contest. Through some mishap, Peter accidentally travels through the whole year, selling eggs for every holiday.

Maybe this does mostly serve as a kids' movie, but it's pretty neat. With Shaggy as the good guy, Dr. Phibes as the bad guy, and Danny Kaye as the narrator, how can you go wrong?

I love animation from Rankin/Bass, along with Walt Disney Studios, Hanna-Barbera, and Max Fleischer Studios. This is also one of my favourites out of the three Easter specials, along with "The First Easter Rabbit" from 1976. You know, I was very lucky to buy it on DVD, because they don't show it on TV anymore. Dammit!

I love it whenever Peter lies and his left ear droops. Of course, I am left-handed, so it would be the right ear. I also love the Valentine's Day skating party scene, where he meets Donna, a cute little bunny. The casting for Peter Cottontail is, in my opinion, top-notch, with Danny Kaye as Seymour S. Sassafras, Antoine, and Col. Wellington B. Bunny and Vincent Prince as January Q. Irontail. I love the talents of Vincent Price. And Scooby Doo's Casey Kasem as Peter Cottontail himself.

First-rate Rankin-Bass production that ranks at the top in terms of Easter/Easter Bunny holiday fare. I grew up with this one and loved it then and love it as much if not more now. It has a nice story with some wonderful lessons laced within, great stop-motion animation the way only Rankin and Bass can do it, the vocal talents of Danny Kaye and Vincent Price, and the beautiful, catchy music of Maury Laws. Peter Cottontail oversleeps from staying out late partying when he is supposed to compete the next morning against the wicked Irontail only to lose the challenge and see Irontail take over April Valley. There Irontail, with magnificent vocal gusto from Mr. Price, makes numerous changes from changing Easter bonnets to Easter galoshes and egg colors only to new concrete and black. Peter, now social pariah, makes his way out of April Valley to find Mr. Sassafras who hooks him up with a machine that can go back in time with French-speaking caterpillar Antoine as his pilot. Peter and Antoine then make their way through all of the holidays of the calendar as Peter learns true lessons about life. The message in this one is universal and fun at the same time. Maury Laws songs are just wonderful from "The Puzzle of Life," "In Spring the Easter Bunny Never Sleeps," "Be Mine Today," and my personal favourite "If You Can't Get It Altogether Improvise." Danny Kaye resoundingly does the voices of three key characters, and it is clear he and Vincent Price are having a lot of fun. The figures are lovely and I always had a soft spot for January "Boom-Boom" Irontail and his cry "Come Montressor! Away!". I wish they could still make them like this today. I wonder - and doubt - if much of the animated junk they churn out will last and have the same impact on it viewers that this still holds on its over 35 years ago. Well, I'm feeling old - if I could only go back to yesterday and get a second chance.