The First Easter Rabbit

The First Easter Rabbit is an animated Easter television special that premiered April 9, 1976 on NBC and later aired on CBS. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, it tells the story of the Easter Bunny's origin. The special is loosely based on the 1922 children's book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Burl Ives narrates the special, which also features the Irving Berlin song "Easter Parade". It marked Ives's return to a Rankin/Bass special for the first time since the company's 1964 stop motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer twelve years prior.

Plot
G.B., a rabbit, tells the story of Stuffy, who began as a stuffed rabbit given as a Christmas present to a little girl named Glinda. Soon afterward, Stuffy encounters Spats, Flops, and Whiskers, a trio of scheming live rabbits who mock Stuffy for not being real. One day, when Glinda becomes sick after contracting scarlet fever, her clothes and old toys, including Stuffy, are thrown away to be burned in order to disinfect the playroom.

Stuffy is rescued by a sprite named Calliope, who brings him to life and sends him to Easter Valley at the North Pole. Along the way, he again encounters Spats, Flops, and Whiskers, who join him, expecting profit. The four meet Santa Claus, who shows the way to Easter Valley and convinces Stuffy’s companions to give up their selfish ways and help him with the Easter traditions.

Meanwhile, an ice being named Zero, aided by his reluctant henchman, a sapient snowball named Bruce, discovers the secret passage to Easter Valley and manages to freeze the valley by stealing the Golden Easter Lily, which has hitherto kept the valley in eternal springtime. Due to the theft, Stuffy and the other rabbits, who have been preparing Easter eggs and other presents for Glinda’s hometown, are snowed in and consequently unable to make their Easter delivery.

However, Bruce, remorseful about his role in the theft, confesses to Santa, who rescues the rabbits, allowing them to make the Easter delivery. Stuffy’s delivery to Glinda, who has by now recovered from her illness, is a new Easter bonnet and an invitation to the local Easter parade. Due to the timely gift of a new Easter outfit from her doctor, Jonathan (who is implied to be pursuing Glinda’s mother romantically), Glinda is able to attend the parade. There, she and Stuffy again meet, and the two sing Easter Parade.

After the parade, Santa forces Zero to return the Golden Easter Lily to the valley. As Zero does so, he meets Stuffy for the first and only time. Stuffy’s rabbit companions then give Stuffy a new name, G.B., revealing that it is his older self who has been narrating the story all along.

Cast

 * Burl Ives as G.B.
 * Robert Morse as Stuffy
 * Stan Freberg as Flops
 * Paul Frees as Santa Claus, Zero, Spats
 * Joan Gardner as Elizabeth, Calliope
 * Dina Lynn as Glinda
 * Don Messick as Jonathan, Whiskers, Bruce the Snowball
 * Christine Winter as Vocalist

Crew



 * Producers/Directors - Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
 * Writer - Julian P. Gardner
 * Songs - There's That Rabbit, Easter Parade
 * Music and Lyrics - Jules Bass, Irving Berlin, Maury Laws
 * Sound - John Curcio, Don Hahn, Dave Iveland, Tom Clack
 * Post Production Editing - Irwin Goldress
 * Overseas Animation Production - Topcraft (uncredited)
 * Animation - Toru Hara, Tsuguyuki Kubo
 * Animation Directors - Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Hidemi Kubo (uncredited)
 * Backgrounds - Minoru Nishida (uncredited)
 * Key Animation - Yoshiko Sasaki, Tadakatsu Yoshida (uncredited)
 * Design - Paul Coker, Jr.
 * Music Arranger and Conductor - Maury Laws

Home media
The First Easter Rabbit was first released on VHS by ABC Video Enterprises and Golden Book Video in 1986. The second release, by Warner Home Video, to VHS occurred in 1993, and a remastered "Deluxe Edition" was issued on DVD in 2010.