Line #6 WesternAnimation/HereComesPeterCottontail


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Here_Comes_Peter_Cottontail.jpg]]
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3	''Here Comes Peter Cottontail'' is a StopMotion puppet animated (called "Animagic") Creator/RankinBassProductions holiday special, the first of the studio's Easter specials, broadcast in 1971. It follows the usual Rankin/Bass formula of taking a holiday standard song like "Peter Cottontail", and weaving around it a narrative, in this case adapted by R/B's favorite writer Romeo Muller from Otto and Priscilla Friedrich's book ''The Easter Bunny That Overslept'', and adding original songs with music by Maury Laws and lyrics by co-producer Jules Bass. Creator/DannyKaye serves as the usual R/B InkSuitActor {{Narrator}}, Seymour S. Sassafrass.
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5	In 2005, a direct-to-video sequel called ''WesternAnimation/HereComesPeterCottontailTheMovie'' was released.
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7	Not to be confused with Rankin-Bass' two later Easter specials, ''The First Easter Rabbit'' (which is in 2D and partly based on ''Literature/TheVelveteenRabbit'') or ''The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town'' (which is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''WesternAnimation/SantaClausIsCominToTown'').
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10	!!''Here Comes Peter Cottontail'' provides examples of:
11	* AlliterativeName: '''S'''eymour '''S'''. '''S'''assafrass
12	* ArtificialLimbs: Irontail wears an artificial tail to replace his tail that was rollerskated.
13	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: At one point after taking over, Irontail sings about how his evil plans will cause problems for "all the hens who are expecting"; technically, it is impossible for any avian lifeform to be "expecting".
14	* ArtsyBeret: One gag involves the chocolate rabbit sculptors (chipping at a block of chocolate with a chisel like it was marble) Milkchocolateangelo and Leonardo de Bittersweet. The former wears a beret and the latter wears an artist's smock.
15	* BadassSanta: On Christmas Eve, Santa managed to intercept Irontail after he stole Peter's eggs and send them back to Peter.
16	* BatOutOfHell: Irontail rides a significantly unthreatening looking bat named Montressor. He also has bat-wing shaped ears.
17	* BigBad: January Q. "Boom-boom" Irontail is the main antagonist of the special.
18	* ButterflyOfTransformation: Peter accidentally leaves Antoine behind when he flies the time machine from Christmas to Valentine's Day, but in the end, after Peter has [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned his happy ending]], they reunite, with Antoine having transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly.
19	* CardCarryingVillain: Irontail has a "book of evil spells".
20	* ChildHater: Irontail blames children in general for the loss of his tail. The irony is, while they didn't hate ''him'' back then, they sure do ''now'', making his own attempt to deliver eggs rather difficult. (Which pretty much means his current situation is his own fault.)
21	* CrowdedCastShot: The final scene is the whole cast waving goodbye. Provides the image at the top.
22	* DarkIsEvil: BigBad Irontail, in contrast to the all the other bunnies who are [[LightIsGood light-furred]].
23	* DarkReprise: "The Easter Bunny Never Sleeps" begets "The Easter Bunny Always Sleeps" when Irontail takes over April Valley.
24	* DefeatMeansMenialLabor: After Peter won the contest and became Chief Easter Bunny, the end credits show Irontail sweeping up the Bunny Trail as a member of the April Valley Sanitation Department.
25	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Irontail permanently turning all of Peter's eggs completely green did seem like a brilliant way to ruin them and prevent anyone from wanting them on Valentine's Day. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard St. Patrick's Day, however...]]
26	* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: Irontail, whose original tail was roller-skated over by a child, forcing him to have an artificial iron one and leaving him with a hatred of children.
27	* EasterBunny: Of course. In this universe, there are many Easter bunnies, who all live together in April Valley dyeing eggs and making candy and Easter bonnets. The bunny who can deliver the most eggs becomes the Chief Easter Bunny, who rules over them all.
28	* EasterSpecial: The first of the three Easter specials produced by Creator/RankinBassProductions.
29	* EvilIsHammy: Irontail chews the scenery in every scene he's in. But when you're a villain voiced by Creator/VincentPrice, expect to be the biggest slice in the deli.
30	* EvilIsPetty: Irontail doesn't just want to cancel Easter, he wants to ruin it. He actually plans to have April Valley produce and distribute Easter baskets with gray and brown eggs, chocolate tarantulas and octopi, and destroyed tulips.
31	* EvilSoundsDeep: Vincent Price lends his distinctive voice as January Q. Irontail.
32	* EvilWearsBlack: Irontail wears a black suit and is the BigBad.
33	* TheExile: Peter [[SelfImposedExile exiles himself from April Valley]] after Irontail causes him to oversleep.
34	* FallingInLoveMontage: "Be Mine Today" as Peter and Donna share a romantic moment on Valentine's Day together and bond.
35	* FreezeSneeze: Antoine sneezes from the cold as the time machine arrives at Christmas, right after [[BlatantLies denying that he feels cold.]]
36	* FreudianExcuse: Irontail wasn't always a nasty bunny. The entire reason he dislikes children at all is that a kid accidentally squished his tail while rollerskating. [[DisproportionateRetribution Why he couldn't just be an adult about it and accept an apology rather than decide to be a dick to all children is up for grabs.]]
37	* HaveAGayOldTime: The theme song contains the lyric "things to make your Easter bright and gay".
38	* HeroicBSOD: Peter goes through a major one when Irontail forces him to oversleep on Easter Day and takes over April Valley as a result.
39	* HeroicVow: As he's leaving April Valley in disgrace, Peter promises to make up for his mistake that allowed Irontail to win. He follows through with it.
40	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Irontail turns the eggs completely green near the end to foil Peter's plans. Naturally, this comes back to bite him in the boom-boom on St. Patrick's Day.
41	* InkSuitActor: Danny Kaye as Seymour S. Sassafrass
42	* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: The time machine only visits holidays and there's no acknowledgement that time has passed outside the contest during it.
43	* JustEatGilligan: While he had no way of knowing Peter would be able to sell the eggs on St. Patrick's Day, it ''would'' have been more efficient for Irontail to just destroy the eggs while he was alone with them instead of turning them green.
44	* LaughablyEvil: In-universe, Madame Esmeralda broke down when her attempts to intimidate Peter with her magic only resulted in him laughing in enjoyment.
45	-->'''Madame Esmeralda:''' You're not supposed to '''enjoy''' my evil powers!
46	* LiesToChildren: Peter tries to get rid of his eggs on the Fourth of July by telling a couple of kids they're firecrackers. The kids take all the eggs, to Peter's relief...until they actually try them out, realize they were tricked, and give the rest back.
47	* LoopholeAbuse: Peter wins the egg-delivering contest in the end and saves Easter because the rules did not specify that the eggs had to be delivered on Easter. Irontail also got away with it at the beginning: Although he only managed to deliver one egg to a sleeping hobo, that was still one more than Peter delivered.
48	* MauriceChevalierAccent: Antoine speaks with a French accent.
49	* MrViceGuy: Peter, for most of the original special. He's intelligent and avuncular, and shows kindness to everyone he meets, even those who nobody else would think about. He also genuinely wants to make up for the mistake he made, and he's clearly cut out for the job of Chief Easter Bunny. However, he's prone to overconfidence and boastfulness, and has a propensity towards fibbing that constantly gets the better of him. His pride, in fact, is the reason why he nearly lost in the first place--[[IncitingIncident if he'd been humble enough to leave nothing to chance and gone to bed early the night before the contest on Easter, he wouldn't have overslept and needed Seymour Sassafras' help to begin with, since he would almost certainly have delivered more eggs than Irontail]].
50	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Peter regrets his actions when Irontail causes him to oversleep, to the point that he exiles himself from April Valley.
51	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Irontail turning the eggs completely green to stop Peter backfires ''big time'' when the latter delivers them on St. Patrick's Day.
52	* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: Probably the only reason why Irontail got away with half the stuff he did in the original special.
53	* OnlySixFaces: The humans Peter encounters during his adventure all tend to look alike.
54	* PinocchioNose: Peter's left ear droops whenever he’s fibbing.
55	* RedRightHand: Irontail sports an artificial tail and is a villain.
56	* RunningGag: Peter's left ear drooping whenever he fibs.
57	* StockAnimalDiet: Since chickens love corn, Peter's pet rooster loves corn-flavored bubble gum. Irontail takes advantage of this by giving him magic corn-flavored gum, which sticks his beak shut and prevents him from crowing to wake Peter in time for the egg-delivering contest on Easter morning.
58	* TenorBoy: Peter Cottontail has a high, youthful, friendly voice, courtesy of Casey Kasem.
59	* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Irontail takes over April Valley after tricking Peter into oversleeping.
60	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Seriously, what kind of parents would give their son the name "January Q. Irontail"? Why give the name "January" to an Easter bunny who lives in April Valley? And for that matter, how did his family get the surname "Irontail"? It's almost as if he were destined to have such a mechanical prosthesis at some point in his life!

Context WesternAnimation / HereComesPeterCottontail