Here Comes Peter Cottontail Review · 1:38pm Apr 12th, 2020

Easter's here everybody! Whoo!

...

But why doesn't it feel like it for me? *whines*

Well even with that, I know just the thing to review for today. Now I would have picked one of the other movies I've done, but I think something Easter related would be Peter Cottontail! Hehe. So let's not waste time, let's get into a piece of childhood nostalgia.

Peter Cottontail, of course, is about the story of Peter Cottontail, as he has to challenge the evil Iron Tail rabbit in a contest to see who can deliver the most Easter Eggs, and become the next ruler of April Valley! And that's all there really is.

That's one of the reasons I love this special so much; it's simple, it's easy to follow, they don't overcomplicate things, Rankin-Bass know how to deliver a story and keep it simple and to the point. This is a 50 minute special, and at no point in that time did I feel they wasted time or dragged things on, they keep things snappy and consistent, just like their Christmas specials.

Another thing is it's lighting and visuals; they do have a solid amount of set design for whatever scenes they need to do, and I like that they too, keep it simple and and pleasing to the eyes. Even during the musical numbers they keep those visually interesting, things with the little animations or the changing in lights, those are always a joy.

Music, as per usual of Rankin-Bass form, is well done, and full of catchy as hell tunes. I think the two ones that stick out for me is these two; I freaking love these two songs and they will never leave my head.

And there's also the characters, they're nothing complex, but they're good and they do their job. They do a good job of making you like our main character Peter and want him to succeed in his job, and they do a good job of making you hate this evil Iron Tail. ... Even though his hatred stems from some kid running over his tail with a rollerskate. ... Ow. Also Mr Sassafras as our narrator, love him.

Also the acting from everyone is solid as per usual; Danny Kaye, Casey Kasem, Vincent Price, Paul Frees, they all ace their performances.

If I had to name any negatives, I can't really say there are any, outside of maybe a few awkward frames with the stop-motion. One thing I will admit, is some of the facial expressions do reach a bit creepy on some parts, a bit of uncanny valley I suppose. But that's probably to be expected with most of the Rankin-Bass specials, their animations can get a bit creepy. But they still do a good job of animating the right expressions when they need to be.

Honestly, give this a watch. It's a fun flick to watch on Easter. It's charming, it's cute, it's just a fun Easter special. What more can I say?

I give Peter Cottontail an 8 out of 10.

Have a great Easter everyone!