Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Written by	Priscilla and Otto Friedrich (book) Thornton Burgess (story) Romeo Muller (story)
Directed by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr.
Voices of	Danny Kaye Casey Kasem Vincent Price Joan Gardner Paul Frees
Narrated by	Danny Kaye
Theme music composer	Steve Nelson Jack Rollins
Composer(s)	Maury Laws
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr.
Cinematography	Kizo Nagashima
Running time	55 minutes
Production company(s)	Rankin/Bass
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution (current)
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	April 4, 1971
Chronology
Followed by	Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie

Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Easter stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and based on the 1957 novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The title of the special is from the Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", which is also heard in the special. The name "Peter Cottontail" comes from a series of books by Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965), although the special is not based directly on his books.

It was originally broadcast on ABC-TV, and in later years, appeared on CBS, Fox Family, and The CW. In 2006, it was followed by a computer-animated sequel, Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie.

Peter Cottontail is a young Easter Bunny who lives in April Valley where all the other Easter Bunnies live and work, making Easter candy, sewing bonnets, and decorating and delivering Easter eggs.

Colonel Wellington B. Bunny, the retiring Chief Easter Bunny, names Peter his successor despite his boasting and lying. Peter, who has dreamed of being the Chief Easter Bunny almost his entire life, gladly accepts. However, January Q. Irontail wants to be Chief Easter Bunny himself so he can ruin it for children after a child roller-skated over his tail and had to wear a hard iron one.

Irontail demands that Colonel Bunny hold a contest between himself and Peter to see who wins since the Constitution of April Valley states that the Chief Easter Bunny should be the one who delivers the most eggs. Peter, being arrogant, accepts Irontail's challenge, but spends all night partying with his friends. Although he tells his rooster to wake him up at 5:30 in the morning, Irontail sneaks into his house and feeds the rooster magic bubblegum, sealing its beak and Peter sleeps on, not hearing the crows from the bubblegum bubbles popping from far away. Therefore, Irontail becomes the new Chief Easter Bunny, passing laws to make Easter a disaster, such as having eggs painted brown and gray, ordering the candy sculptures to make chocolate octopuses and tarantulas, and having Easter galoshes instead of bonnets. Meanwhile, Peter, ashamed that his overconfidence and irresponsibility led to this tragedy, leaves April Valley in shame.

...
Wikipedia