This 1971 TV special tells the story of how Peter Cottontail almost failed in his quest to become Chief Easter Bunny. It begins with narrator Seymour S. Sassafras (voiced by Danny Kaye) peering into his magic egg and seeing the spunky bunny in his hometown of April Valley. But Peter’s not exactly a model citizen. In fact, he’s an irresponsible, smart-alecky rabbit who tends to stretch the truth.

But if Peter wants to become Chief Easter Bunny, he’ll have to deliver more eggs on Easter Sunday than the evil Irontail (Vincent Price), a sinister bunny who rides a giant bat and specializes in mud-colored eggs! When Peter oversleeps, he travels back in time via Mr. Sassafras’ Yestermorrowbile to deliver eggs on competing holidays – Fourth of July eggs, Valentine’s Day eggs, Christmas eggs, and green St. Patrick’s Day eggs. Along the way, Peter learns a few lessons about being humble and responsible.

This movie was produced by the legendary animation team of Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., which also brought us “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and the popular cult classic, “Mad Monster Party.” As with these movies, “Cottontail” features stop-motion animation, vibrant colors, great writing, and catchy songs, including “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” and “If I Could Only Get Back to Yesterday.”

• Animated Stories: “Peter Rabbit & Other Tales,” adapted from the works of Beatrix Potter.
• Sneak Peek: “Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie”
• Music Video Preview: “Ready” from “Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie”
• Sing-Along Songs: “Here Comes Peter Cottontail,” “If I Could Only Get Back to Yesterday,” and more. These are animated videos, with the song lyrics along the bottom of the screen, allowing little ones to read and sing along.
• Spanish-language version.

This sequel to the 1971 classic — created for video in 2005 — updates the original’s stop-motion puppetry with the vivid animation of CGI (computer-generated images). The story takes us back to April Valley, where Spring is in the air and the rivers are flowing with pink lemonade (bright pink, of course!). Narrator Seymour S. Sassafras (Christopher Lloyd) introduces us to Peter Cottontail (Tom Kenny, also the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants), who runs the local candy factory. He and his pals are making lots of candy for Easter, when suddenly, the Evil Irontail (Roger Moore) and the queen of winter, Jackie Frost (Molly Shannon), sneak into April Valley with a sinister plot to end Spring forever!

Now it’s up to Peter Cottontail's son, Junior (also voiced by Tom Kenny), to save the day – if he can tear himself away from his wacky inventions, that is! Junior joins forces with a “flight-challenged” bird, Flutter (Kenan Thompson), and Munch (Miranda Cosgrove), a mouse who never met a meal she didn’t like. Together, these three unlikely heroes set out on the adventure of a lifetime. Along the way, they’ll test their friendship, travel to the edge of the Earth, and uncover the secret of the Clocks of the Seasons. With fun original songs by Beatguru, this movie is sure to become an Easter classic, just like the original.

• Junior’s Video Jukebox: Build a custom playlist from four songs on the “jukebox,” including “Ready,” “Ice Life,” “The Bubble Song,” and “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.” Songs play against a backdrop of animation.
• Storyboard Slideshow: Select from one of three storyboards to see the first representations of characters acting out the written scenes. Storyboards include “Calendar Day,” “The Clock Has Stopped,” and “Cat in the Cornfield.” Development Art: See how the characters are brought to life through 3D computer animation.
• Picture Slideshow: View still pictures of various scenes.
• Deleted Scene: “Bring on the Blue Sky”.
• Spanish-language version.

  PRE-SCHOOLER (ages 2-5): Both of these movies are perfect for preschoolers. Although the 1971 movie is stop-motion animation and the 2005 sequel is CGI, they’re both bright and colorful, with lots of music and motion that little ones love. There are also no cringe-worthy scenes – that is, nothing that will make you think, uh oh, I wish my preschooler hadn’t seen that. Carefree, innocent movies are few and far between these days, so it’s good to cherish the ones that come along. The only problem is, you’ll probably get sick of these movies because your youngsters will want to watch them over and over, long after the Easter baskets have been emptied.

  GRADE-SCHOOLER (ages 6-10): Okay, your grade-schoolers are probably going to take one look at these movies and say, “These are too baby-ish for us!” But I bet they’ll be drawn into the bright images and fun music as much as younger kids. Let’s face it – with all the violent cartoons on television these days (not to mention the computer games that kids clamor for), these movies are refreshing, positive, and family-friendly.

  TWEEN/TEEN (ages 11+): Even grown-up kids (and adults!) will love these two movies – one classic and one soon-to-be classic – if they give them a chance. The animation is fun and funky, the writing is intelligent, and the familiar voices of Roger Moore, Molly Shannon, Miranda Cosgrove, Christopher Lloyd and Tom Kenny in the sequel are a hoot. These movies are the epitome of “warm and fuzzy.” Don’t we all need more of that in our lives?

  Jane Louise Boursaw is a freelance journalist specializing in the movie and television industries.