The Bellflower Bunnies
Encyclopedia
The Bellflower Bunnies is an animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales
book series by Geneviève Huriet
. The show debuted on the TF1
network with four episodes airing between December 24 and December 28, 2001. It is a co-production between France's TF1 and several Canadian companies.
The show centres on the adventures and exploits of the Bellflower family, a clan of seven rabbit
s who live in Beechwood Grove. The two adults in the family, Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia, take care of their five children: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion and Violette.
, along with TVA International
of Montreal and Melusine
of Luxembourg; Moran Caouissin
, an animator from Disney's DuckTales movie
, served as the director. Production of the series began in the fall of 2000, at a cost of over US$2 million, or US$600,000 per episode.
Starting in 2004, later episodes were produced by Euro Visual, Tooncan
, Megafun
, Big Cash, Dragon Cartoon and Disney Television France
. This time, Eric Berthier
directed, and Alice Willis composed.
In April 2008, it was the 19th most-watched children's program in Finland, with audiences averaging 62,000 viewers (as Pupu Pitkäkorva).
The Latin American version of Boomerang
premiered the show on its Mini TV block on October 2, 2006. On March 4, 2007, it ended its first run in order to make way for the Australian/Canadian TV series, Faireez. Bellflower returned to Boomerang between June 4 and December 28, 2007.
The show was removed from Playhouse Disney France's lineup on January 2010 but reruns returned on August 2010.
, Beez Entertainment
and Seven Sept in the franchise's native France, separately and in a box set. In Germany, edelkids
released the first sixteen episodes in February and August 2008.
" episode)
Beechwood Bunny Tales
Beechwood Bunny Tales is a series of children's books written by French author Geneviève Huriet and illustrated by Loïc Jouannigot. The original books have been published in France by Éditions Milan since 1987. English translations of the first seven stories were released in the United States...
book series by Geneviève Huriet
Geneviève Huriet
Geneviève Huriet is the author of the Beechwood Bunny Tales children's book series. Huriet lives in Paris with her diplomat husband and four children, and has travelled abroad in Japan, Britain, Angola and elsewhere...
. The show debuted on the TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
network with four episodes airing between December 24 and December 28, 2001. It is a co-production between France's TF1 and several Canadian companies.
The show centres on the adventures and exploits of the Bellflower family, a clan of seven rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s who live in Beechwood Grove. The two adults in the family, Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia, take care of their five children: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion and Violette.
Production
Early on in its run, the series was produced as a package of four specials by TF1 and its subsidiary, ProtécréaProtécréa
Protécréa is a subsidiary of French broadcaster TF1, based in Paris. Productions from the company include the animated Paddington Bear and The Bellflower Bunnies, and the 1990s CNBC series Ushuaia: The Ultimate Adventure....
, along with TVA International
TVA (TV network)
TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
of Montreal and Melusine
Melusine (company)
Melusine Productions, a division of Studio 352, is an animation company based in Howald, Luxembourg. The studio has produced series such as The Bellflower Bunnies, The Mysteries of Providence and Liberty's Kids.-External links:*...
of Luxembourg; Moran Caouissin
Moran Caouissin
Moran Caouissin is an animator who did work on 1990's DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp and 1988's La table tournante. He directed the first four episodes of TF1's The Bellflower Bunnies in 2000, and later went on to direct Cédric .-External links:...
, an animator from Disney's DuckTales movie
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp is a 1990 American animated feature film based on the animated children's television series DuckTales. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures on August 3, 1990. Although it was a theatrically released animated film, it was the first feature outside...
, served as the director. Production of the series began in the fall of 2000, at a cost of over US$2 million, or US$600,000 per episode.
Starting in 2004, later episodes were produced by Euro Visual, Tooncan
Tooncan
Tooncan is an animation studio based in Montreal, Quebec founded by Paul Cadieux. The company has worked on TF1's The Bellflower Bunnies and Sylvain Chomet's The Triplets of Belleville.-List of programmes:...
, Megafun
Megafun
Megafun is an animation company based in Montreal, Quebec. Their productions have included Ratz, The Bellflower Bunnies and The Triplets of Belleville....
, Big Cash, Dragon Cartoon and Disney Television France
Walt Disney Television
Walt Disney Television was the former name of the television production division of The Walt Disney Company.-History:It was formed in 1983, as the Walt Disney Pictures Television Division, the name was later shortened to Walt Disney Television in the mid-1980s...
. This time, Eric Berthier
Eric Berthier
Eric Berthier is a Frenchman who has directed TF1's The Bellflower Bunnies, save for the first four episodes directed by Moran Caouissin. He also served as director of 2001's Prudence Petitpas, and 2004's Isegrim & Reineke.-External links:...
directed, and Alice Willis composed.
Main characters
- Poppy(French name:Romarin): He's the older of the Bellflower kids, and also the smartest. He uses blue glasses, a yellow shirt and blue pants.
- Violette(French name:Pirouette): The only girl of the family, and the most daring among her siblings. She wears a blue skirt.
- Periwinkle(French name:Agaric): He's usually shy. He wears a blue shirt and brown pants with a belt. He also has a crush on Pimpernelle, one of his friends and former neighbor.
- Mistletoe(French name:Mistouflet): The middle kid. He wears a cap and a shirt both consisting of light and deep pink stripes, and blue pants.
- Dandelion(French name:Dentdelion): The smallest of the kids, and he's often prone to dangerous situations. He wears a yellow shirt with a carrot printed on it, and a small red jacket.
- Papa Bramble(French name:Onesime): The father of the kids, his wife, named Mia according to the book L'album photos des Passiflore, was killed by a hunter. He takes care of the children along with his sister Zinia.
- Aunt Zinia: Bramble's sister, who helps him take care of the children after the death of Bramble's wife. She can be a bit harsh against the children sometimes, but she still loves them.
Broadcast
As of 2010, The Bellflower Bunnies is airing on these following stations worldwide:- TVP1 in Poland
- YLE TV2YLE TV2YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...
in Finland - RTPRádio e Televisão de PortugalRádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....
in Portugal's Azores - CBC TelevisionCBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
in Quebec
In April 2008, it was the 19th most-watched children's program in Finland, with audiences averaging 62,000 viewers (as Pupu Pitkäkorva).
The Latin American version of Boomerang
Boomerang (Latin American TV channel)
Boomerang Latin America is a 24-hour cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a unit of Time Warner broadcasting in all Latin America. Initially it was focused on classical series and shows, as the Latin American version of Boomerang from the United States. In 2006, it...
premiered the show on its Mini TV block on October 2, 2006. On March 4, 2007, it ended its first run in order to make way for the Australian/Canadian TV series, Faireez. Bellflower returned to Boomerang between June 4 and December 28, 2007.
The show was removed from Playhouse Disney France's lineup on January 2010 but reruns returned on August 2010.
Europe
At least six DVD volumes of The Bellflower Bunnies have been released by TF1TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
, Beez Entertainment
Beez Entertainment
Beez Entertainment is a European anime distributor, and they also distribute anime soundtracks. They mainly act as the European branch for Bandai Visual as it is owned by Namco Bandai Holdings...
and Seven Sept in the franchise's native France, separately and in a box set. In Germany, edelkids
Edel Music
-History:Edel Music was founded in 1986 by Michael Haentjes in Germany as a mail order record company selling mostly soundtracks. With artists such as Scooter, SASH!, Holly Johnson and many others, it became a very successful pop music label...
released the first sixteen episodes in February and August 2008.
North America
Feature Films for Families released the first two volumes of the English version on VHS (in 2001) and DVD (in 2003), as part of a marketing deal with TVA. In 2005, another four DVDs were released under the Direct Source brand. Each disc in this version consists of two episodes.Episodes
Fifty-two episodes of The Bellflower Bunnies have been produced over the course of three seasons. and all of these have aired in the show's native France; although episodes 39-52 were first aired on Germany's kid channel KI.KA in May 2008.Season 1
- Tom Clarke Hill
- Regine Candler
- Tom Eastwood
- Rhonda Millar - Periwinkle / Violette (Pirouette)
- Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez
English version
- Danielle Desormeaux
- Anik MaternAnik MaternAnik Matern is an actress and founder of the Dynamic Theater Factory. She graduated from John Abbott College Professional Theatre Program.Television series and voice work includes:* The Littl' Bits...
- Holly Gauthier-FrankelHolly Gauthier-FrankelHolly Gauthier-Frankel is a Canadian voice actress, singer, and Burlesque dancer. She is the daughter of Ron Frankel and Mary Lou Gauthier. Holly is best known for supplying the voice of Fern in Arthur, Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat, Teri in What's with Andy?, Loulou in Wimzie's House, and Flora...
(as Holly Gauthier-Frankle) - Eleanor NobleEleanor NobleEleanor Noble is a Canadian voice actor. She voices Lori Mackney in What's With Andy? and George in Arthur . She also acted onscreen in the sixth season of the MTV anthology series Undressed, as well as a Genie named Belle in the episode Tale of the Time Trap, on the SNICK show Are You Afraid of...
- Matt Holland
- Joanna Noyes
- Liz Mac Rae
- Simon Peacock
- Laura Teasdale
French version
- Flora Balzano
- Julie Burroughs
- Hugolin Chevrette
- Mario Desmarais
- Antoine Durand
- Marylène Gargour
- Annie Girard
- Hélène Lasnier
- Elisabeth Lenormand
External links
The Bellflower Bunnies at TF1.fr Episode list KI.KA's Bellflower Bunnies site (with a video clip from the "Room to MoveFamily Moving Day
Family Moving Day is the seventh book in the Beechwood Bunny Tales series. It was published in 1992 by Éditions Milan in France, and Gareth Stevens in the United States. In the book, the Bellflower family of rabbits move to a new house on the other side of the hill near which they live. Everyone...
" episode)
- Series' second theme song by Alice Willis
- Promo clip of the show at ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
site (requires RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
) - Trailers for the first two Region 1 volumes at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
: