Rabbit is one of the animals mostly found as a cartoon character. From one of the oldest rabbit character, Peter Rabbit, to the most recently creation of FiFi Lapin, rabbits never escape the world of design and is still continue to evolve into different style. In this post, TFS brings your the most famous rabbits found in our daily life. [Part 2]
Cover image Source: Flickr
PETER RABBIT
Date of Birth: 1902
Hometown: England
Creator: Beatrix Potter
First Appearence: The Tale of Peter Rabbit (children book)
He first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902. Although he and the other rabbits are drawn from life, they wear human clothes; Peter wears a bright blue coat and clogs. The Peter Rabbit series has sold more than 151 million copies in 35 languages. Certain rights to the characters are owned by Frederick Warne & Co, although many of the texts are in the U.S. public domain.
Peter Rabbit also appear in varies product today. Many of them are baby products like milk feeder, baby cups. And for celebrating his 100th anniversary, the National Museum of Natural History hosted the world premiere of “Peter Rabbit’s Garden,” a multi-media exhibition on the literature and life of Beatrix Potter.
MIFFY
Date of Birth: 1955
Howetown: Utrecht, Netherland
Creator: Dick Bruna
Appearence: children’s book
Miffy was created in 1955, after Dick Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son Sierk stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, while on holiday at Egmond aan Zee. Miffy became a girl after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can be a baby or 4 years old.
Many think that Miffy is Japanese, because Sanrio’s Hello Kitty and friends are rendered using a similar line style. In addition, the Miffy brand is popular in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise.
Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This has been celebrated in cities across the globe, for example in the Manchester Art Gallery in England.
BUGS BUNNY
Date of Birth: 1938
Howetown: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Creator: Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton (prototype), Tex Avery (Epitomal)
First Appearence: Porky’s Hare Hunt
Bugs Bunny is an Academy Award-winning animated rabbit/hare who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions which became Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1944. Today, he is the corporate mascot for Warner Brothers, especially its animated productions.
Bugs Bunny was popular during the World War II years because of his free and easy attitude, and began receiving special star billing in his cartoons by 1943. Like Disney and Famous Studios had been doing, Warners put Bugs in opposition to the period’s biggest enemies:Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, and the Japanese.
Bugs have some bunny friends. The most famous one is the hot Lola bunny, she is the girl partner of bugs. In 1996, Warner Bros release a tiny cartoon series called Babs and Buster bunny and are based on Bugs Bunny, who seems to be a mentor and favorite teacher to them both.
THE WHITE RABBIT
Date of Birth: 1865
Howetown: England
Creator: Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel
First Appearence: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” Alice follows him down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.
Over the years, the White rabbit has been envolved into different style, appearing in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and computer game American McGee’s Alice.
ROGER RABBIT
Date of Birth: 1947
Howetown: Los Angeles, California, USA
Creator: Gary K. Wolf
First Appearence: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 fantasy-comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg and based on Gary K. Wolf’s novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?. The film combines the use of traditional animation and live action, with elements of film noir, and stars Bob Hoskins, Charles Fleischer, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turnerand Joanna Cassidy.
DURACELL BUNNY
Date of Birth: 1974
Hometown: USA
Creator: Duracell
First Appearence: As drumming bunny in Ad of Duracell
A Duracell Bunny is any of several anthropomorphic pink rabbits powered by batteries, used to promote Duracell brand batteries. In commercial advertisements, the Duracell Bunny is actually only one of these rabbits, powered by a Duracell battery rather than rival batteries. The point of the advertisement is that the bunny powered by a Duracell battery can continue functioning for a longer amount of time before its battery runs down.
Some samples of Duracell from 1973 to present
The Duracell Bunny does not appear in North America, due to Energizer jumping the trademark claim for the marketing use of a “battery bunny” in the United States and Canada.
ENERGIZER BUNNY
Date of Birth: 1989
Hometown: St. Louis Missouri (USA)
Creator: Energizer
First Apperence: Ad of Energizer
The Energizer Bunny is the marketing icon and mascot of Energizer batteries. It is a pink rabbit wearing sunglasses and blue sandals that beats a bass drum. It has been appearing intelevision commercials since the 1980s. The Energizer Bunny does not appear in Europe and Australia where the rival Duracell Bunny is seen instead. In Australia and the UK the mascot for Energizer is a muscle-bound anthropomorphic battery.
he term “Energizer Bunny” subsequently entered the vernacular as a term for anything that continues endlessly. President George H. W. Bush employed the term in a campaign speech in 1992.
SYLVANIAN FAMILIES
Date of Birth: 1985
Hometown: Japan
Creator: Epoch Company
First Appearence: Animated television series
The Sylvanian families characters, feature woodland creatures such as beavers, hedgehogs, mice and bears. At the beginning of production, in 1985, Sylvanian Families were released in both Japan and North America, albeit with different packaging and minor differences to the characters themselves. In 1987, the success in these markets led to expansion into the UKand Ireland.
In 2007, Sylvanian Families in the UK celebrated their 20th anniversary with a selected number of new items. The best selling was an Otter boat, and a reintroduced the Dalmatian Family who now wore party hats that read “Happy 20th!“.
CUDDLES
Date of Birth: 1999
Hometoen: USA
Creator: Rhode Montijo
First Appearence: Happy Tree Friends Series
Happy Tree Friends (Often abbreviated as HTF) is a Flash cartoon series by Mondo Mini Shows, created by Rhode Montijo, Kenn Navarro, Warren Graff and Aubrey Ankrum. Since its debut the show has become a popular internet phenomenon and has won a cult following.
As indicated on the official site, it is “not recommended for small children”. Notwithstanding the somewhat childish shape of the series and the cute appearance of its characters, the show is extremely violent, with nearly every episode featuring blood, gore, and extremely painful, bloody gruesome deaths.
MY MELODY
Date of Birth: 1975
Hometown: Japan
Creator: Sanrio
First Appearence: Little Red Riding Hood
My Melody was released by Sanrio in 1975 and the first related merchandise was released at the end of that year. At first she was mostly marketed toward young girls, but like Hello Kitty her popularity has increased within all age groups, especially in Asia. My melody was also appeared in varies products like NDS game, or girl’s merchandise.
FIFI LAPIN BUNNY
Date of Birth: 2007
Hometown: London, UK
Creator: Fifi Lapin
First Appearence: Blog of Fifi Lapin
You probably have seen FiFi Lapin rabbitaization of the fahion runway model. But every day, FiFi just keep updating the group of rabbit fomr the latest show. I really like her distintive style and the cutiness of the rabbits.
If you like Fifi’s drawing, you can purchase some of her art work here.
RABBIDS
Date of Birth: 2006
Hometown: France
Creator: Ubisoft
First Appearence: Rayman Raving Rabbids
Rayman Raving Rabbids is a spinoff in the Rayman series released by Ubisoft. The Rabbids are the common enemy in this game. Their technology varies from advanced giant robots to close combat tools such as plungers and feather dusters.
RABBIT IN WINNIE THE POOH
Date of Birth: 1926
Hometown: UK
Creator: A. A. Milne
First Appearence: Winnie the Pooh Fiction
In the fictional world of the book series and cartoons Winnie-the-Pooh, Rabbit is a responsible rabbit who happens to be a good friend of Winnie-the-Pooh. He is always practical and keeps his friends on their toes, although they sometimes raise his ire unintentionally.
Traditionally, the Disney adaptation of Rabbit’s fur is usually yellow, but on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh his fur color is green.
BEAN BUNNY
Date of Birth: 1986
Howetown: USA
Creator: Diane Dawson-Hearn (Designer), Rollie Krewson (Builder)
First Appearence: The Tale of the Bunny Picnic
Bean Bunny is a fictional character, one of the Muppets. Among Muppet fans, Bean is very unpopular and not viewed in the same light as the older, ‘original’ Muppets. Even the Jim Henson Company staff doesn’t really like him much, as Brian Henson stated on The Muppet Christmas Carol DVD: “Inside the Muppet Company, we love to hate Bean Bunny.
MASHIMARO
Date of Birth: 2000
Hometown: Korea
Creator: Kim Jae In and Jang Mi Yeong
First Appearence: MashiMaro Forest Animation
Mashimaro is the pioneer in internet flash animation - the series is started by Kim Jae In in 2000 and became a popular hit in the internet forums. Mashimaro stands as the opposite personality as most other popular cartoon character of the day. He is mean, vulgar, mischievious, and undisciplined.
The original Mashimaro cartoons are full of toilet humour, and some of this is also to be found in the merchandise. You can check out more Mashimaro video here.
Rabbit is one of the animals mostly found as a cartoon character. In Part 1, we cover some famously know rabbit like Peter Rabbit, Miffy, Bugs Bunny, Fifi Lapin Bunny……. Thanks for the readers’ comments, now we continue the series in Part 2..
Cover image Source: Tod Kapke
PLAYBOY BUNNY
Date of Birth: 1956
Hometownn: US
Creator: Hugh Hefner
First Appearence: 1960
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960–1988. They wore a costume called a bunny suit inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot, consisting of a corset, bunny ears, a collar, cuffs, and a fluffy cottontail.
Some of the Playboy bunnies in the old days
The Playboy Bunnies were waitresses who served drinks at Playboy Clubs. To become a Bunny, women were first carefully chosen and selected from auditions. Then, they undergo a thorough and strict training before officially becoming a Bunny. Bunnies were required to be able to identify 143 brands of liquor and know how to garnish 20 cocktail variations.
Although the Playboy Club was shut down in 1999. In 2006, it was reopened. Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli was chosen to reimagine the original Bunny Suit.
USAVICH
Date of Birth: 2006
Hometown: Japan
Creator: Kanaban Graphics
First Appearence: ウサビッチ Season 1
Usavich is about an odd couple of rabbits imprisoned in a Russian prison. While the first season shows the absurd everyday occurrences of the two rabbits’ prison life, the second season tells the adventures of their escape and life on the run.
You can check it out there episodes, it is quite funny!
THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE
Date of Birth: 1915
Hometown: London
Creator: Lord Dunsany
First Appearence: Fifty-One Tales
“Slow and steady wins the race.” I think many of you have heard it when young. The bunny in the story is widely known worldwide and it was illustrated in many children story book.
Video shows the first animation of the story. It is appear in Aesop’s fables: The Hare and the Tortoise (1947)
DONNIE DARKO
Date of Birth: 2001
Hometown: US
Creator: Richard Kelly
First Appearence: Donnie Darko (The Film)
Donnie Darko is a 2001 film written and directed by Richard Kelly, and starring The film depicts the reality-bending venture of the eponymous character as he seeks the meaning and significance of his troubling end-of-the-world visions.
The character Frank, becoming the inspiration of many designers, and we can also see the toy of it is selling well. The film is going to 2nd episode in 2009.
HARVEY RABBIT
Date of Birth: 1950
Hometown: US
Creator: Mary Chase
First Appearence: Harvey
Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster. The story is about a man whose best friend is a “pooka” namedHarvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall rabbit, a shape-shifting elemental spirit of very ancient origin.
Harvey is thought to be the inspiration of Field of Dream, A Beautiful Mind and also the one we also have here, Donnie Darko.
OSWARD THE LUCKY RABBIT
Date of Birth: 1927
Hometown: US
Creator: Ub Iwerks
First Appearence: Poor Papa
The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa, was rejected by the Universal studio heads due to poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald. After this, Disney, together with Ub Iwerks, created a second cartoon called Trolley Troubles featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short officially launched the series and proved to be Disney’s greatest success yet.
Animation of Osward in 1927. Though, I think he look like Mickey Mouse……
MAPLE TOWN
Date of Birth: 1986
Hometown: Japan
Creator: Hiroshi Shidara
First Appearence: メイプルタウン物語
Although Maple Town is only shown on TV in Japan in a rather short period, from 1986 - 1987, but it’s influrence is not small. The show, dubbed in English for U.S. audiences, prominently displayed traditional (Western) values in a live-action segment. Each episode was prefaced with an introduction by “Mrs. Maple”, who delivered the moral of the episode. The entire series has been released on DVD in Spain. Its episode is also well known in Europe.
Maple Town’s opening theme for TV
HARO
Date of Birth: 1993
Hometown: Japan
Creator: Yoshiyuki Tomino
First Appearence: V Gundam TV series
The original Haro is a little robot companion built by the main character Amuro Ray. It is a cute testament to Amuro’s exceptional talent for machines. Although the series didn’t say it is a rabbit, but I personally think that Haro is inspired by rabbit, at least the outlook.
In real life, Bandai released a series of Haro Capsule toys (called Haro Cap, different from the Gundam Haro Capsule selling by Broccoli USA) with different colours and painting, which mostly painted as a reference to different icons of the Gundam universes. Also, the Haro are found in different toy in Japan and it is still a hit even now.
WATERSHIP DOWN
Date of Birth: 1972
Hometown: England
Creator: Richard Adams
First Appearence: Watership Down
Watership Down is the first and most successful novel by British author Richard Adams. The novel takes its name from the rabbits’ destination, Watership Down, a hill in the north of Hampshire, England, near the area where Adams grew up. Though it was initially rejected by thirteen publishers, Watership Down has never been out of print and was the recipient of several prestigious awards.
I found out that Pixie has rather detailed information in here.
UNTALKATIVE BUNNY
Date of Birth: 2001
Hometown: Canada
Creator: Dawn Wilton
First Appearence: Untalkative Bunny
Untalkative Bunny is a Canadian/British co-produced animated series about a yellowrabbit and its life in the big city.The episodes usually deal with Bunny and the problems of a modern life in the big city, and often present surreal elements.
The name of the show comes from the fact that Bunny, the main character, never says any word at all, expressing itself completely by facial expressions and other forms of body language.
TRIX RABBIT
Date of Birth: early 1960
Hometown: US
Creator: Joe Harris
First Appearence: Package box of the Trix Cereal
The evolution of the Trix Rabbit from 60s to 00s
Joe Harris created the Trix Rabbit in Trix animated television commercials, this rabbit would keep trying to trick kids into giving him a bowl of Trix cereal, but he would be discovered every time, and the kids would say, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” After the success of the first commercial, the Trix brand soon became one of General Mills’ best sellers.
Ad Campaign of Trix in the 60s
LABBIT
Date of Birth: 2000s
Hometown: US
Creator: Frank Kozik
First Appearence: Toy Series of Smoking Labbit
The Labbit is a designer toys created by Frank Kozik, the most famous series of the Labbit is the smoking labbit with a cute rabbit taking a cigarette.
Frank has also release other Labbits which are the younger, more innocent brothers of the Smorkin’ variety.
BUNNY SUICIDE
Date of Birth: 2003
Hometown: England
Creator: Andy Riley
First Appearence: The Book of Bunny Suicides
The Book of Bunny Suicides is a bestselling collection of mostly one-image black comedy cartoons drawn by author Andy Riley.
Each cartoon shows one or more white rabbits in their creative attempts to end their lives using a variety of items. Revolving doors, a toaster, a cricket ball, a boomerang, a hand-grenade and any combination of these are all featured as suicidal tools. It’s a little bit similar to the Happy Trees Friends.
A special edition, The Bumper Book of Bunny Suicides, was released in the UK in 2007. It contains every bunny suicide ever. This book has been withdrawn from bookshelves in Shanghai, China for fear of children imitating the scenes.
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