Bunnytown

Bunnytown is an American children's television program that aired on Playhouse Disney. It premiered in the United States on November 10, 2007. The series received generally positive reviews from critics.

Format

The basic format features between ten and twelve segments as follows:

• A running gag setting up some sort of problem played out in four parts such as bunnies getting ready to race, drumming, etc. For example, the bunnies get ready for a race in the first episode "Hello Bunnies!" but they end up disco dancing in the first part (events with disco balls usually happen in the third part in most episodes), sleeping in the second, flying in the third and finally racing in the fourth part before the ending song but there is a tape at the finish line which flies them back to the start of the race, but they failed again.
• Red and Fred, a silent comedy-slapstick pratfall team in Peopletown made up of a fat ginger haired man and a smaller, thin dark haired male, played by Ed Gaughan and Andrew Buckley. This is done in the vein of Laurel and Hardy, who have the same style as Red and Fred. On the US broadcast, they are known as "Two Best Friends". Before this scene, a bunny named Bart Bunnytoes travels through an underground tunnel system to reach Peopletown, where he watches the events before leaving.
• The Adventures of Super-Bunny, created new for Bunnytown follows the format of Little Bad Bunny stealing carrots from Bunnytown, and Super-Bunny comes to the rescue.
• The Bunnytown Hop, done by a rock-and-roll band inspired by mega groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire. Characters from earlier segments may take part in this song.
• Super Silly Sports, also held in Peopletown, hosted by Pinky Pinkerton (portrayed by Scottish actress Polly Frame), best known for her wearing a pink Alice band in her blonde bouffant hairdo along with a matching neck scarf and sportsjacket over a white tennis dress, along with pink and white-striped above-the-knee socks. An example of this spoofing of sports contests and their telecasts within is a staring contest between an 11-year-old boy and an Idaho potato (because both of them have "eyes"). Pinky's signature exclamation is "Oh me, oh my!" done multiple times. Just like in the Red and Fred segments, Bart travels through the underground tunnels to watch the events.
• After the payoff of the running gag, all of the bunnies gather to sing the closing song "It's a Bunnytown Life", followed by a bunny blowing on a party horn.
• The Bunnytown segments Two Best Friends (Red and Fred) and Super Silly Sports were formerly shown in bumper segments on Disney Junior.

Cast

The bunny rod puppets (which take up to eight puppeteers to operate with a trigger at the bottom to move their mouths and invisible marionette strings to work from above on all other parts) are made from foam rubber and covered in fake fur.

Characters include the many types of characters found in pop culture and storybooks. Included are a king and his court (supposedly the leaders of Bunnytown as they live in a castle), pirates, a superhero bunny, a female bunny who is an astronaut, two cave bunnies and their pet dinosaur, an inventor, a farmer and his helpers and many more.

Puppeteers

• Alice Dinnean-Vernon as Space Bunny, Dino, Edna, Teacher Bunny, Blue Pirate Bunny
• Eric Jacobson as Super Bunny, Melvin, Green Cave Bunny, Royal Assistant Marvin, Captain Dan
• Mark Jefferis as Inventor Bunny, Farmer Gramps
• Nigel Plaskitt as King Bunny, Little Bad Bunny, Green Bunny Pirate
• David Rudman as Yellow Cave Bunny, Hoppy Funtooth, Blue Bunny Musician
• Victoria Willing as Louise
• Mak Wilson as Jester Bunny

Live-action cast

• Andrew Buckley as Red
• Polly Frame as Pinky Pinkerton
• Ed Gaughan as Fred
• Keely Cat-Wells as Millie The Cheerleader
• Jami Reid-Quarrell as Spot
• Owen Mulhall as Chef flanders
• Alanis Peart as Smart Lady
• Ian Stacey as Fingers Frederico

Production

Bunnytown was created by David Rudman, his brother Adam, and Todd Hannert, under their Spiffy Pictures television production-channel company. The show was produced at Elstree Studios.

Release

Broadcast

Bunnytown premiered in Canada on November 3, 2007. It aired in the United States on November 10, 2007. The series was released in the United Kingdom on the Playhouse Disney channel on January 13, 2008, a sublet of pay-broadcaster Family Channel. In France, it began airing on January 27, 2008, and kept its original title Bunnytown. The series ran for one season and twenty-six episodes total, which finished its run on November 8, 2008.

Home media

The show was released in DVD on March 17, 2009. The Bunnytown shorts were made available to stream on DisneyNow. Disney-ABC Television Group later released the series on Hulu.

Reception

Critical response

Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote, "What you do get on screen is a fast-moving variety-show and sketch-comedy format that alternates elaborate silly jokes with musical numbers in which the bunnies grab guitars and crank out generic but bouncy R&B-inflected power pop. (If you had access to those press notes, you too could say, “Ah, they are trying to sound like Earth, Wind & Fire.”) It all seems sufficiently safe and diverting to serve as a surrogate baby sitter, while perhaps just strange enough to appeal to hung-over adult hipsters." Marilyn Moss of Associated Press described Bunnytown as "very colorful and fast-moving for the youngest set," writing, "Bunnytown is a musical bonanza for preschoolers. If the music is not original (its sound resembles the jingles of many other preschooler shows), that’s not a problem for this venture. The animation is lively enough to overcome anything else." Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave Bunnytown a grade of three out of five stars and complimented the depiction of positive messages, asserting, "The energetic series promotes animation and exposes preschoolers to a range of musical styles, including disco, country, piano, and light opera. Lyrics or dialogue very occasionally include repetitive counting or other simple skills, but on the whole, entertainment outweighs educational content."

Accolades

Bunnytown was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design at the 2008 Daytime Emmy Awards.