Bunnytown

Bunnytown
Genre	Children's television series
Created by	David Rudman Adam Rudman Todd Hannert
Directed by	David Rudman
Starring	Alice Dinnean-Vernon Eric Jacobson Mark Jefferis Nigel Plaskitt David Rudman Victoria Willing Mak Wilson
Opening theme	Bunnytown
Ending theme	It's a Bunnytown Life
Composers	Todd Hannert Terry Fryer
Countries of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producers	David Rudman Adam Rudman Todd Hannert
Production location	Elstree Studios
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	24 minutes
Production companies	Baker Coogan Productions Spiffy Pictures
Original release
Network	Playhouse Disney
Release	November 3, 2007 (2007-11-03) – November 8, 2008 (2008-11-08)

Bunnytown is a children's television program produced as a co-production between Spiffy Pictures in the United States and Baker Coogan Productions in the United Kingdom for Playhouse Disney. It premiered in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2007 and in the United States on November 10, 2007. The series received generally positive reviews from critics.

Format

The basic format features between ten and twelve segments as follows both from the show and short Interstitials aired on Disney Junior (now called Disney Jr.):

• A running gag setting up some sort of problem played out in four parts such as bunnies getting ready to race, drumming, etc. For example, the bunnies get ready for a race in the first episode "Hello Bunnies!" but they end up disco dancing in the first part (events with disco balls usually happen in the third part in most episodes), sleeping in the second, flying in the third and finally racing in the fourth part before the ending song but there is a tape at the finish line which flies them back to the start of the race, but they failed again.
• Red and Fred, a silent comedy-slapstick pratfall team in Peopletown made up of a fat ginger haired man and a smaller, thin dark haired male, played by Ed Gaughan and Andrew Buckley. This is done in the vein of Laurel and Hardy, who have the same style as Red and Fred. On the US broadcast, they are known as "Two Best Friends". Before this scene, a bunny named Bart Bunnytoes travels through an underground tunnel system to reach Peopletown, where he watches the events before leaving.
• The Adventures of Super-Bunny, created new for Bunnytown follows the format of Little Bad Bunny stealing carrots from Bunnytown, and Super-Bunny comes to the rescue.
• The Bunnytown Hop, done by a rock-and-roll band inspired by mega groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire. Characters from earlier segments may take part in this song.
• Super Silly Sports, also held in Peopletown, hosted by Pinky Pinkerton (portrayed by Scottish actress Polly Frame), best known for her wearing a pink Alice band in her blonde bouffant hairdo along with a matching neck scarf and sportsjacket over a white tennis dress, along with pink and white-striped above-the-knee socks. An example of this spoofing of sports contests and their telecasts within is a staring contest between an 11-year-old boy and an Idaho potato (because both of them have "eyes"). Pinky's signature exclamation is "Oh me, oh my!" done multiple times. Just like in the Red and Fred segments, Bart travels through the underground tunnels to watch the events.
• After the payoff of the running gag, all of the bunnies gather to sing the closing song "It's a Bunnytown Life", followed by a bunny blowing on a party horn.
• The Bunnytown segments Two Best Friends (Red and Fred) and Super Silly Sports were formerly shown in bumper segments on Disney Junior.

Cast

The bunny rod puppets (which take up to eight puppeteers to operate with a trigger at the bottom to move their mouths and invisible marionette strings to work from above on all other parts) are made from foam rubber and covered in fake fur.

Characters include the many types of characters found in pop culture and storybooks. Included are a king and his court (supposedly the leaders of Bunnytown as they live in a castle), pirates, a superhero bunny, a female bunny who is an astronaut, two cave bunnies and their pet dinosaur, an inventor, a farmer and his helpers and many more.

Series overview

Episodes

Production

Bunnytown was created by David Rudman, his brother Adam, and Todd Hannert, under their Spiffy Pictures television production-channel company. The show was produced at Elstree Studios. The series was commissioned by Disney in an attempt to produce more shows outside the United States following the opening of their London-based Global Original Programming hub, but Bunnytown was commissioned before the creation of the hub.

Release

Reception

References