The First Easter Rabbit

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

The First Easter Rabbit

The Plot

The story of how the first Easter rabbit came to be.

Starring

Burl Ives, Joan Gardner, Robert Morse, Stan Freberg, Paul Frees, Don Messik, Dina Lynn, Christine Winter, and more.

Review

When I was a little girl, Easter just wasn’t Easter without Burl Ives and The First Easter Rabbit. It’s a classic that every child should own and I am very pleased to see that it has been digitally re-mastered.

The story begins with Burl Ives setting up (and narrating) the story. Next, we’re thrown directly into the story—which is very fast paced and entertaining. The film is clean and sharp, and though it does appear outdated with its hand-drawn characters, there is no mistaking its charm.

When a little girl named Glinda gets a stuffed toy for Christmas, it quickly becomes her most treasured possession. But when spring arrives, she comes down with Scarlet Fever and everything in her room, including her “friend”, must be destroyed—including Stuffy, the stuffed rabbit.

Heartbroken, the mother places all Glinda’s belonging into a pile to be burned. Fortunately for Stuffy, however, the mother opts to burn the pile in the morning.

That’s when a Toy Fairy appears and turns Stuffy into a real rabbit and informs him that he has been chosen to become the first Easter Rabbit—a symbol designed to help children remember that spring brings Easter.

Once turned into a real rabbit, Stuffy travels to Easter Valley to prepare for Easter Sunday. But along the way he runs into a warlock from the North Pole named Zero, and his side-kick Bruce—who aren’t pleased with the fact that Easter Valley is smack dab in the middle of the North Pole, and as green as green can be. Determined to get into Easter Valley and turn it white like the rest of the North Pole, Zero sets out to find the Easter Bunny and use him to get into Easter Valley.

When Stuffy arrives at Easter Valley, he’s greeted by Santa who offers him some sound advice and a helpful hand. Once all his Easterly duties are done, Stuffy visits Glinda and makes a date to walk with her in the Easter Parade.

The box claims to be a deluxe edition but there aren’t any “deluxe” bonuses. All you get is an interactive puzzle and a trailer for a new Peanuts cartoon; quite disappointing if you ask me. I was so looking forward to seeing behind the scenes makings of the film, a little back history on the Rankin-Bass production company, a tribute to Burl Ives, and a little history lesson on how Easter came to be, but I got none of that.

That being said, if you have an old VHS version, like I did, upgrading to the DVD version is a real treat—despite the lack of bonus features.

Your Task

Enjoy Easter with your children. Don’t worry about fancy meals or complicated activities, just relax and enjoy the holiday—and what better way to do that than with a classic like this.

Order The First Easter Rabbit Today!