Customer Reviews

Easter Bunny Is Comin to Town [VHS]

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Microjoe review: Another stop-motion Animagic hit from the holiday entertainers, of Rankin/Bass Studios, the kings of holiday TV specials. This 1 hour show was released for the first time on April 6, 1977 on ABC television network. The storyline is very similar to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", from the same studio - and by that I meant that part of the story explains all the traditions of Easter and how they began, such as why we eat chocolate bunnies, or why we color eggs. The show opens with a newsreel showing kids asking these questions. Fred Astaire reprises his role as the singing mailman S.D. Kluger and gives a great voice performance but he has a bigger role this time. He has traded in his snowmobile mail truck for "the little engine that could", voiced by Robert McFadden. In the story we go back in time to the beginning of the children's Easter traditions to answer these questions, to a hidden town called "Kidville". There is a scary bear named Gadzooks who hates holidays, and he is similar to the Winter Warlock character. A rabbit named "Sunny" grows up to be the Easter Bunny and bring joy to children, making great friends and allies along the way. He is voiced by Skip Hinnant, who voiced "Pogo" in a special from another studio. He befriends a lonely young King, named Bruce, who is being controlled and bullied by his tyrannical Aunt Longtooth.

We have come to expect good music in these holiday specials and they did not disappoint. There are 6 songs total with music by Maury Laws and lyrics by Jules Bass including the catchy, "Someone's Got to be First", along with "Big Rock Candy Mountain", the inspiring "Somebody Will Love You, If You Do", and "The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town Today". Fred Astaire sings "All You Have to Do is - Think Can Do". There is a hilarious song by the Hendrew Sisters, "What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?". This very colorful special has terrific character designs by Paul Coker, who did the same for most of the studios products. The look of the film is, well, very Easter... They just did a great job capturing what the visuals should be for the kids.

This show is the 3rd and last of the Easter themed holiday shows made by the studio. In 1971 they made an hour long Animagic TV special for ABC, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", about the selection contest for the Easter Bunny, and it actually travels through time to all the holidays. In 1976 they made a half hour traditional cel animation special "The First Easter Rabbit" for NBC. As you know, Rankin/Bass Studios brought us such beautiful holiday TV classics such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Year without a Santa Claus, `Twas the Night Before Christmas, Nestor the Long Eared Donkey, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Mouse on the Mayflower, Cricket on the Hearth, the Stingiest Man in Town, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, and more. They also made non-holiday films such as the Hobbit, and Flight of Dragons. It is incredible that one company was responsible for all those TV specials, 95% of the ones we see every year. Their work includes traditional hand drawn cel animation, stop-motion Animagic, and live action. Little Golden Books Publishing owns the rights to almost every show the studio made, and have done a commendable job re-mastering them and releasing them on DVD. I hope this comes out on a restored DVD too; I have bought all the other Rankin/Bass that has been released on DVD. A Microjoe review.

It's hard to believe that ARTHUR RANKIN and JULES BASS were able to Produce another GREAT 'ANIMAGIC' Easter Special after HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL....BUT they did! They were able to do it with the help of FRED ASTAIRE as the narrator and once again ROMEO MULLER as the writer. As far as the music goes, one reviewer is way off base here. One of the most memorable RANKIN/BASS Songs is the theme to this one "THE EASTER BUNNY IS COMIN' TO TOWN TODAY" sung by FRED ASTAIRE and of course "Someone's Gotta Be First." This has also become a family tradition at my home and it's hard to believe the Networks (ABC) stopped airing it. Who forget GADZOOKS the bear? WARNER BROTHERS is to be applauded for this GREAT clam shell cover featuring the ANIMAGIC characters.....now if it could just be released on DVD with THE FIRST EASTER RABBIT starring BURL IVES! Rick Goldschmidt RANKIN/BASS Biographer/Historian

This is a Rankin/Bass classic and one of my favorite Easter specials. The use of the Mailman character from "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" creates a wonderful link between the holidays. I easpecially love how all of the Easter traditions are explained in such a whimsical manner!

I have a copy of the 2006 release of "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town" and this 2008 Deluxe Edition and have compared them. The deluxe edition has definitely improved the quality. I checked it on our tv and computer. It isn't noticeably clearer, mind you, but the motion is less choppy, more smoothed over, making it a better video to watch. I'm not sure why the 2006 version was like this. The old VHS tape we have of it was smoother than the 2006 dvd, too. All in all, it's a fun, good feelin', holiday classic that an avid Rankin Bass fan like me can't do without. People, if you get a copy, save your eyes and get this newer one.

Beautiful clear copy of an Easter classic. It is wonderful to see this film on DVD, there is a noticeable improvement from the video version. Unfortunately there are no special features besides languages and subtitles. Also comes in a plastic case which is an improvement from the cardboard cases Warner Bros. usually issues. I highly recommend this DVD for grownups and children alike.

While Peter Cottontail is certainly an excellent Rankin/Bass special, the one Animagic all Easter special (Peter Cottontail touched on all holidays and the First Easter Rabbit was cel animation) and the most popular when I was growing up was this one. While Peter Cottontail came out some years earlier, once this one appeared in 1977, it became THE perennial Easter special of the late 70's and early 80's. With it's cute lead character, Sunny, with the goofy voice, big Gadzooks, lots of colorful eggs, and the Fred Astaire character from Santa Claus is Coming to Town, this is one attention grabbing magical animation like only Rankin and Bass could have made.

For all of us who loved Santa Claus is Coming to Town, this one was very similar in it's story of the characters from their beginnings to the start of each holiday. It was a can't miss special back then, and it should get the DVD release it finally deserves for all the new kids to see this magical story in stunning Animagic! Just as it followed Here Comes Peter Cottontail when it was originally released, The Easter Bunny finally rolls into DVD town, a questionable 4 years after Peter!!

One of the very best animated Easter shows for children of all ages, it offers an adorable "explanation" for each of the Easter traditions~how and why jelly beans are popular; why we have Easter egg hunts and Easter egg rolling contests; the history behind Easter bonnets, and so on, all told in a sweetly charming story that makes for the most delightful entertainment. This is a must-have, for Easter and after!

THE EASTER BUNNY IS COMIN' TO TOWN is a great stop-motion Animagic special from those king of holiday TV Specials, Rankin/Bass. For that special alone, I would rate 5 stars.

However, it was released on DVD just a few years ago by Warner (with a better cover) and now has been re-released in this supposed "Deluxe Version" without any additional R/B material?!?! Why bother?? Warner does own the rights to another R/B Easter special, "The First Easter Rabbit", which is a nice cel-animated special featuring the voice of Burl Ives and it seems it would have been a no-brainer to stick that one on with this "Deluxe Edition". But instead we get 3 terrible stop-motion shorts that are not cartoons, but rather stop-motion experiments that have nothing to do with either Rankin/Bass or Easter. There are also NO CHAPTER STOPS for this DVD which means if you want to access a particular scene in the special, you will have to rewind or fast-forward your way to it, just like with a VHS tape!!

The other thing that really irks me is that nowhere on the box front or back does it even mention "Rankin/Bass". That is just stupid! Rankin/Bass fans are a-plenty and leaving their name off the box could only hurt sales as well as shows a complete lack of respect for the history of the film. C'mon Warner...stop being greedy and open up your vaults!! If you release a "Deluxe Edition", try actually adding some additional content that anyone purchasing this DVD might be interested in. I would recommend getting the previous DVD release...it has the same special, a better cover and a lower price!!

Another claymation classic! I remember very little of this as a child and as I rewatched it, it all came back to me. If you enjoy Santa Claus is Coming to Town, you'll enjoy this. It has many similarities with questions being answered about the main character, mountain villians who turn nice, somber towns, a cruel ruler, catchy songs, memorable, adorable characters, etc. Sunny the Bunny is adorable with his rosey cheeks and the chickens are so sassy. And bringing back Fred Astaire at the Narrator was a smart choice. I recommend this DVD or the one made a few years back. The nice one about this is the DVD has a paper cover over it and Sunny has fuzzy fur you can feel. It may be cheesey at times, but give in to your inner child and have fun!

This video has become a tradition and a classic in my family. Me and my two sisters used to watch this every easter. It has all of the charishable characters and memorable songs that will stay in your family for generations. This is a great easter movie for the entire family.