'Toon Reviews Shorty: Rankin/Bass Easter Specials Part 3: The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town

The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town

Told and Sung by Fred Astaire

Original Airdate: April 6, 1977
Available on DVD

Does Rankin/Bass’ third and last Easter special end the trilogy on a high note?  Well, it’s certainly charming and cute on its own. However, when observing the overall setup, this special makes it perfectly clear that the company prefers to stick to the holiday it knows the best.

As a reviewer, I’ve come across material that follows all too common conventions that make everything predictable and part of a trend.  I tend to look past the predictability as long as the work is still entertaining and likable, and if the characters involved can put their own spin on things.  However, following conventions is one thing, but it’s another to flat out copy how another work used them, making the special feel like an imitation.  That’s the trap this special falls into.  Just from the title alone, you can tell that it’s working off Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town right down to including the same narrator, Fred Astaire, as the same mailman character.  At first, the special is set up like a series in which the mailman explains the origins of famous holiday figures which honestly sounds kind of interesting.  Then it transitions from feeling like an entry in a series to a clone of the first Comin’ to Town special. We have the opening newsreel and the mailman’s introduction with suspiciously similar dialog.  Not only that, but the way the story unfolds with the roles the characters play and the placement of events solidifies this special not exactly being its own thing.

So, the Easter Bunny, named Sunny, starts out as an orphan. He’s taken in by the kids of a town populated by orphan children called Kidville and decides to expand its trade by delivering its main product, eggs. It's just like how Kris Kringle was taken in by the Kringle Elves and decided to deliver their toys.  They’re thwarted by a big thug bear called Gadzooks who later becomes their friend through the power of song, similar to the role Winter Warlock played.   Sunny finds an unusual sidekick, a hobo named Hallelujah Jones, to help him on his mission, just like Topper the penguin.  He sets his sights on delivering the goods to a town called Town where everything fun and kid-friendly is outlawed by the leader Lily Longtooth. That's akin to how toys were forbidden in Sombertown by its ruler. For the special’s remainder, as Lily keeps trying to stop Sunny and his friends from delivering their Easter goods, more Easter Bunny customs keep evolving. Then becomes so popular, everything he does becomes a yearly tradition, just like how the other special went for its remainder. 

As you can see, the structure of both this and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town are pretty identical to each other. As you watch this, you’ll constantly be reminded that you’ve seen something like this before, which does not make it very interesting.  In addition, it’s not even as engaging.  Well, if you’re a little kid who celebrates Easter, you’d probably be interested in this interpretation of how certain customs come to be, but that’s the thing.  Unlike getting gifts at Christmas, the customs associated with the Easter Bunny are not universal. Most things like getting a bunch of eggs and hunting for them are ones you tend to grow out of.  I used to follow them when I was younger, but now apart from getting candy some years, I typically celebrate Easter by going to Mass and having a special dinner.  As a result, it’s hard to get as invested with a story of how the Easter Bunny came to be.  They’re not even as substantial as the Santa customs. They have to add on things to the customs that honestly feel too random such as a pointless ritual eating Easter eggs, and Sunny using a train to get to Town at one point.  While the latter addition is certainly out-of-the-box and the train character, Chugs, is a fun one for how his lines are to the beat of the sounds he makes, it’s a little too out there. Where else are trains associated with the Easter Bunny? What regular promotions of the Easter Bunny have him driving a train?  It just doesn’t add up.  Basically, its lack of originality and the main holiday customs appealing more to kids than all ages kind of hold the special back.

Even if this special is a near-total retread of an earlier Rankin/Bass special, if you don’t factor the similarities in, the special is still uplifting enough to get you into the Easter spirit.  For one thing, the characters may be retreads of another cast, but they’re all likable enough to follow.  Some of them even have their own way of standing out as their own character.  For example, Hallelujah Jones turns out to be more than just Sunny’s sidekick.  He’s also humorous and resourceful and actually does a lot more heavy work for the cause than his Christmas special counterpart.  Also, unlike Topper, not only can Hallelujah talk, but he’s way more fitting for the setting than a penguin. 

The Kidville kids also have an layer of endearment in their roles as shown in an adorable scene when they first discover Sunny and take him in as they bond over how they’re all orphans.  Even stronger is how them finding him on Easter is said to connect the day’s rebirth of all life, making this the only time in these three specials to allude to the holiday’s true meaning.  Not to mention it gives some background to the mailman by revealing that he was one of the Kidville citizens. 

Not all the characters stand out though.  Gadzooks goes through most of the Winter Warlock’s motions right down to getting beaten after joining Sunny and his friends. Unlike Winter Warlock who still found ways to be helpful despite losing his powers, when Gadzooks breaks his leg, he’s dropped from the story altogether.  At least he was already useful for showing why the Easter Bunny hides eggs and why certain fancy clothes are associated with Easter.  In fact, all the ways Easter Bunny customs are worked in are clever enough to stand on their own, even if they’re more appealing to kids. 

They mostly stem from one original element to the story. Sunny builds his tradition from helping the real king of Town, 7-year-old King Bruce the Frail, stand up to his mean aunt Lily and rule in his own fair just way. He delivers jelly beans in place of normal distasteful beans and stuffed toys to serve as friends to make him confident.  While it is unfortunate that Bruce doesn’t grasp the meaning of the toys at first, he does at least get some backbone at the end. By the way, that shows Lily Longtooth come around and agree to making the Easter Bunny official, unlike in the other specials where the town ruler fell out of power off-screen.  Along with a likable array of songs, even if some don’t serve a point, it’s nice that this special still has ways of being fun and likable with the characters and some story directions.

The story is too similar to a previous Rankin/Bass special, preventing it from being as interesting or impressive as it could’ve been and some little things could use improvement. It does shine in certain areas when some of the characters, the origins of certain Easter customs, and a few imaginative additions stand as their own thing.  It’s not original enough to be a top-priority watch every Easter, but if you do decide to check it out, it may be enjoyable enough to warrant a few more watches on occasion.

Recommended

That’s all the Rankin/Bass Easter specials there are, and for the most part, they seem to have a pretty good grasp on the feel and spirit of the holiday.  The overall look of them is bright and colorful which emulates the warmth of springtime. When it’s that time of year and you catch a glimpse of any of them, that will be enough to entice you to stick around for the whole show.  When you do, you’re sure to be left with something memorable and pleasing which, from my experience with reviewing Rankin/Bass specials, is par for the course.  You'll find imaginative world building and plot points, characters with relatable or dynamic personalities, and catchy and memorable songs. These specials are guaranteed to have something positive to take away from them and forever be on your mind when you think of Easter.

That said, going through these specials makes it clear that when it comes to holiday specials, Rankin/Bass really does not feel willing to step out of their comfort zone.  That doesn’t just have to do with the quality of the specials themselves. Only one of them, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, is worthy of ranking up with some of the company’s best while the other two are lacking in notable areas with story and characters.  There’s also the matter of how the specials handle Easter itself.  While they do have warm wholesome seasonal moments of bunnies making colored goods, Easter parades, and springtime valleys, these specials never fully focus on the holiday.  They tend to give a significant amount of focus to other holidays, usually Christmas, or have the whole plot heavily modeled after the events of an older Christmas special.  Even the best of the specials falls into the trap where half of it is fully dedicated to Easter and the other half has Easter set amidst almost every other holiday imaginable.  There’s nothing really wrong with that and it can serve as a commentary for how Easter is viewed compared to other holidays in real life.  It’s just not as immersive in the holiday as we know Rankin/Bass can be. 

Plus, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of variety in the subject matter of the specials.  While their many Christmas specials covered a variety of subjects relating to that holiday, all their Easter specials are about the Easter Bunny and nothing else. Two of them released about only one year apart even cover his origins in different ways.  It doesn’t make the specials feel monotonous since you can easily distinguish one from the others. However, it does show that Rankin/Bass does not allow themselves a lot of material to work with in regards with these specials.  For that, it makes perfect sense why there’s only three of them.  It’s overall commendable that Rankin/Bass was willing to try their hand at other holidays, but key factors show that their hearts really belong to the biggest holiday of them all.

Even if the Easter specials of Rankin/Bass aren’t as immersive in the holiday as they could be, there’s still a lot to enjoy from them. If you’re looking to add to your Easter traditions or are interested in looking into animated products you’ve never seen, check them out and see what you can take from them.

Recommended

That’s it for this ‘Toon Reviews Shorty.  Next time we’ll be returning to our currently scheduled review set.  Until then:

Stay Animated Folks, And Happy Easter Day!