Easter special, along the lines of
Fraggle Rock. Introduced
Bean Bunny (
Steve Whitmire), who was a popular Muppet character for awhile.
Restored from a
German version and
VHS by
Garrett Gilchrist.
Support him on Patreon:
http://www.patreon.com/GarrettGilchrist
The
Tale of the
Bunny Picnic first aired on
HBO on March 26,
1986 in the
U.S, and three days later on the
BBC in the UK.
The special was taped in
Studio D at
England's Elstree Studios, the same studio where
The Muppet Show was shot. Filming took place from
February 10 to 22, 1986.
When the special originally aired on HBO, it opened with an introduction from
Jim Henson walking through a park:
“ Hi there, my name's Jim Henson and I'd like to tell you a little bit about The Bunny Picnic. Now the idea for this started one evening when my daughter
Cheryl and
I were sitting in a park at twilight. And while we were sitting there a whole big bunch of bunny rabbits came hopping out looking to all the world like they were gonna have a meeting or convention or something. About that time a great big dog showed up on the scene, he saw the rabbits he started barking like mad. The rabbits of course disappeared in a flash. Cheryl and I thought it might be fun to make up a story about what had just happened, and from that notion came 'The Tale of the Bunny Picnic'. And this tale starts with a phrase like many other good stories, "
Once upon a time..." ”
This one-hour storybook special tells the story of Bean Bunny, who learns that he is worthwhile even though he seems too insignificant to be of much help to anyone. As the story begins, a group of bunnies in a forest meadow make preparations for the annual Bunny Picnic, a special celebration of the first day of spring marked by a visit from the
Storyteller Bunny.
Bean wants to help with the preparations, but his older siblings, Lugsy and
Twitch, consider him to be a nuisance. When Bean wanders off into the forest, he becomes alarmed when he sees a dog, and goes back to warn the others. But a dog has not been seen in the area for many years, and because Bean has a reputation for daydreaming and pretending, no one in the warren will believe him.
This special was the first appearance of Bean Bunny, who would join the Muppet cast in
The Jim Henson Hour, and would take a featured role in
Muppet*Vision 3D.Jim Henson talks about the inspiration he and his daughter Cheryl had for The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.
This special has the three things that make a special great: bunnies, puppetry, and bunnies.
It's a song from the The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. The song is sung by Dog, when he is looking for Bean Bunny. In memory of Jim Henson, the performer of the ...
Easter special, along the lines of Fraggle Rock. Introduced Bean Bunny (Steve Whitmire), who was a popular Muppet character for awhile. Restored from a ...
One of Jim Henson's very first Muppet
TV specials - and the first one that the public got to see.
- published: 07 Apr 2015
- views: 1988