The Tale of the Bunny Picnic
Encyclopedia
The Tale of the Bunny Picnic is a 1986 TV special directed by Jim Henson
and David G. Hillier. In the United States it was shown annually on HBO in the spring, usually during Easter
time. It was later released on VHS in 1993. The film focuses on the Muppet
character Bean Bunny
(Steve Whitmire
), who makes his first appearance in this special, and would later appear on additional projects featuring Jim Henson's Muppets. It was screened twice in the United Kingdom, first on 29th March 1986 on BBC One
, then again on 13th December 1986.
When the special originally aired on HBO, it opened with a live-action introduction that showed Jim Henson walking through a park. In the introduction, he explains the inspiration for the story. In a park one day, he saw a large gathering of bunnies and had the thought that it looked like a bunny picnic. All of a sudden, a dog came running up and the bunnies scattered. This incident led to the creation of the television special. This introduction was not included in either of the VHS releases.
) that he is too small and will only get in the way. Feeling very disappointed, Bean wanders off alone and imagines himself as the king of the bunny community. "Long live the king!" shout the bunnies in Bean's daydream. As he is out he encounters a wicked farmer's dog (Jim Henson
). Bean runs away and eludes the dog and warns the village, but none of the other bunnies believe him. They conclude that there is no dog and that Bean is simply making up the story for attention. The bunnies soon discover that the dog is indeed real and out to get them. At first, it seems that the farmer's dog is a villain in the story, but it is revealed that it is his master the farmer (who is allergic to bunnies) that wants him to destroy the bunnies. The dog is only trying to protect himself from the wrath of the farmer by hunting the bunnies.
After much debating and futile attempts to rid themselves of the farmer's dog, the bunnies finally listen to Bean, who claims to have a solution to their problem. Inspired a by a story about a giant hedgehog
, they all hide inside of a giant bunny costume to frighten the dog. The dog, being threatened by the farmer to catch the rabbits or starve, sets out to pursue the bunnies. When he enters their village he is confronted by the "giant bunny". The dog is frightened and begs for mercy, which the giant bunny grants to him:
However, Bean goes into convulsions upon being told of the farmer's intent to stew any captured rabbits, and his spasms cause the costume to fall apart, revealing the bunny tribe to the dog. The dog is now infuriated by this deception, but before he is able to attack the bunnies the farmer appears. The dog balks as his angry master approaches. The bunnies, feeling sympathy for the obviously petrified dog, decide to forgive the dog and help him against the vicious farmer. They run at the farmer singing an empowering song. The farmer, with his allergy to bunnies acting up, begins sneezing uncontrollably and runs off never to threaten the bunnies' village again. The bunnies then welcome the dog into their village.
The film then goes back to the elderly Bean who finishes telling the story to the young bunnies (one of whom refers to him as "Grandpa Bean"). The dog, by now aged as well, is with him as he does. The film ends with the bunnies singing the special's theme song ("Hello sunshine. Hello birds of a wing...").
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and David G. Hillier. In the United States it was shown annually on HBO in the spring, usually during Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
time. It was later released on VHS in 1993. The film focuses on the Muppet
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
character Bean Bunny
Bean Bunny
Bean Bunny is one of the Muppets. His first appearance was in the HBO special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. He is performed by Steve Whitmire...
(Steve Whitmire
Steve Whitmire
Steven Whitmire is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop and Disney's The Muppets Studio. He has been the performer of two signature Muppets - Kermit the Frog and Sesame Street's Ernie - since the death of their creator and original performer, Jim Henson, in...
), who makes his first appearance in this special, and would later appear on additional projects featuring Jim Henson's Muppets. It was screened twice in the United Kingdom, first on 29th March 1986 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, then again on 13th December 1986.
When the special originally aired on HBO, it opened with a live-action introduction that showed Jim Henson walking through a park. In the introduction, he explains the inspiration for the story. In a park one day, he saw a large gathering of bunnies and had the thought that it looked like a bunny picnic. All of a sudden, a dog came running up and the bunnies scattered. This incident led to the creation of the television special. This introduction was not included in either of the VHS releases.
Plot
The story is actually told by an elderly Bean Bunny to the younger bunny children. The story opens with a community of Muppet Bunnies celebrating their annual Bunny Picnic. Bean wishes he could help in the preparations for the festival, but he is told by his older brother Lugsy (Richard HuntRichard Hunt (puppeteer)
Richard Hunt was an American puppeteer best known as a Muppet performer. Hunt's Muppet roles included Scooter, Beaker, Janice, Statler, and Sweetums.-Early years:...
) that he is too small and will only get in the way. Feeling very disappointed, Bean wanders off alone and imagines himself as the king of the bunny community. "Long live the king!" shout the bunnies in Bean's daydream. As he is out he encounters a wicked farmer's dog (Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
). Bean runs away and eludes the dog and warns the village, but none of the other bunnies believe him. They conclude that there is no dog and that Bean is simply making up the story for attention. The bunnies soon discover that the dog is indeed real and out to get them. At first, it seems that the farmer's dog is a villain in the story, but it is revealed that it is his master the farmer (who is allergic to bunnies) that wants him to destroy the bunnies. The dog is only trying to protect himself from the wrath of the farmer by hunting the bunnies.
After much debating and futile attempts to rid themselves of the farmer's dog, the bunnies finally listen to Bean, who claims to have a solution to their problem. Inspired a by a story about a giant hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
, they all hide inside of a giant bunny costume to frighten the dog. The dog, being threatened by the farmer to catch the rabbits or starve, sets out to pursue the bunnies. When he enters their village he is confronted by the "giant bunny". The dog is frightened and begs for mercy, which the giant bunny grants to him:
However, Bean goes into convulsions upon being told of the farmer's intent to stew any captured rabbits, and his spasms cause the costume to fall apart, revealing the bunny tribe to the dog. The dog is now infuriated by this deception, but before he is able to attack the bunnies the farmer appears. The dog balks as his angry master approaches. The bunnies, feeling sympathy for the obviously petrified dog, decide to forgive the dog and help him against the vicious farmer. They run at the farmer singing an empowering song. The farmer, with his allergy to bunnies acting up, begins sneezing uncontrollably and runs off never to threaten the bunnies' village again. The bunnies then welcome the dog into their village.
The film then goes back to the elderly Bean who finishes telling the story to the young bunnies (one of whom refers to him as "Grandpa Bean"). The dog, by now aged as well, is with him as he does. The film ends with the bunnies singing the special's theme song ("Hello sunshine. Hello birds of a wing...").
Animals featured
- BunnyRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
(Bean, Lugsy, Twitch, etc.) - DogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
(The Dog) - ButterflyButterflyA butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
- BirdBirdBirds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
- DuckDuckDuck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
- HumanHumanHumans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
(The Farmer) - ChickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
(seen at the farm) - SnailSnailSnail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
(told the dog a secret) - FrogFrogFrogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
(seen at the Bunny Picnic) - TurtleTurtleTurtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
(seen at the Bunny Picnic and as Father Bunny's new hat) - HedgehogHedgehogA hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
(seen at the Bunny Picnic rolling into a ball of fear, also one of the Storyteller's puppets) - FoxFoxFox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
(one of the Storyteller's puppet) - OwlOwlOwls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
(nighttime scene) - DragonflyDragonflyA dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
Muppet Performers
- Camille Bonora - Twitch Bunny
- Kevin ClashKevin ClashKevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl...
- Be-Bop Bunny, Father Bunny - Louise GoldLouise GoldLouise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials...
- Mother Bunny - Jim HensonJim HensonJames Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
- Farmer's Dog - Richard Hunt - Lugsy Bunny
- Ron MueckRon MueckRonald "Ron" Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom.-Early work:Ron Mueck began his career working on the Australian children's television program Shirl's Neighbourhood...
- Storyteller Bunny - Karen PrellKaren PrellKaren Prell is best known as the performer of Red Fraggle on Fraggle Rock. She also performed some characters in other Jim Henson films, and has enjoyed a significant second career as a computer animator for such studios as Pixar and DNA. On Sesame Street she performed Deena Monster, which was a...
- Baby Bunny, Babble Bunny, Great Grandmother Bunny - Mike QuinnMike QuinnMichael Patrick Quinn is a former professional gridiron football quarterback. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and was also a member of the Rhein Fire, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Montreal Alouettes...
- Bulbous, Mayor Bunnyparte - Martin P. RobinsonMartin P. RobinsonMartin P. Robinson is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company. He originally built, designed, and performed the puppets for Little Shop of Horrors. He is perhaps best known for his work on Sesame Street. He has performed the characters of Telly Monster, Slimey the Worm, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and Tony...
- Farmer - David RudmanDavid RudmanDavid Rudman is a puppeteer, voice actor and producer, best known as a performer of many of Sesame Street's Muppets. He originated the role of Baby Bear, and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work replacing Frank Oz in the role of Cookie Monster...
- Snort Bunny, Snail - Steve WhitmireSteve WhitmireSteven Whitmire is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop and Disney's The Muppets Studio. He has been the performer of two signature Muppets - Kermit the Frog and Sesame Street's Ernie - since the death of their creator and original performer, Jim Henson, in...
- Bean Bunny