The Adventures of the American Rabbit (1986)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Directors:

Nobutaka Nishizawa
Fred Wolf

Writers:

Stewart Moskowitz (characters)
Norm Lenzer (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

He's here to save the day!

Plot:

To fight evil, a young rabbit can transform into a star spangled superhero.

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Superhero | Biker Gang | Statue Of Liberty | Grand Canyon

Cast

Bob Arbogast	...	Theo (voice)
Pat Fraley	...	Tini Meeny (voice)
Barry Gordon	...	Rob / American Rabbit (voice)
Bob Holt	...	Rodney (voice)
Lew Horn	...	Dip (voice)
Norm Lenzer	...	Bruno (voice)
Kenneth Mars	...	Vultor / Buzzard (voice)
Maitzi Morgan	...	Lady Pig (voice)
Lorenzo Music	...	Ping (voice)
Laurie O'Brien	...	Bunny O'Hare (voice) (as Lauri O'Brien)
Hal Smith	...	Mentor (voice)
Russi Taylor	...	Mother (voice)
Fred Wolf	...	Fred Red (voice)

Directed by
Nobutaka Nishizawa
Fred Wolf

Writing credits
Stewart Moskowitz		(characters)
Norm Lenzer		(screenplay)

Produced by
Thomas Coleman	....	executive producer
Masaharu Etô	....	producer (as Masaharu Etoh)
Robert Kaplan	....	co-producer
John G. Marshall	....	producer
Michael Rosenblatt	....	executive producer
Masahisa Saeki	....	producer

Original Music by
John Hoier
Howard Kaylan
Mark Volman

Film Editing by
Peter Harrison
Shinji Shimizu

Art Direction by
Isamu Tsuchida

Production Management
Yoshihiro Fujimoto	....	production manager
Kenichiro Watanabe	....	assistant production manager
Fumihiro Yoshimura	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Kafka	....	assistant director
Takao Yoshizawa	....	assistant director

Art Department
Roy Wilson	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Skip Craig	....	track reader
Dee Futch	....	track reader

Camera and Electrical Department
Hisao Shirai	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Junko Abe	....	assistant animator
Takashi Abe	....	chief animator
Shingo Araki	....	animator
Bob Curtis	....	layout artist
Ikao Fudanuki	....	animator
Yukiyoshi Hane	....	animator
Teruo Hattori	....	assistant animator
Mario Ishiyama	....	assistant animator
Tetsuo Kadoya	....	assistant animator
Junko Kashimura	....	assistant animator
Toshiaki Kobayashi	....	assistant animator
Emilie Kong	....	layout artist
Kazuko Kurosawa	....	ink and paint artist
Gita Lloyd	....	layout artist (as Gita)
Shigeo Matoba	....	animator
Sadao Miyamoto	....	layout artist
Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru	....	animator
Takashi Nashizawa	....	animator
Masatoyo Ogura	....	ink and paint artist
Yoshiaki Okada	....	ink and paint artist
Izumi Okamura	....	assistant animator
Hirohide Shikishima	....	animator
Kiyomi Sugita	....	assistant animator
Kimiko Tamazawa	....	assistant animator (as Kimiko Tamasawa)
Masako Yamanouchi	....	ink and paint artist
Yoshitaka Yashima	....	animator
Yohko Yasunaga	....	ink and paint artist
Kenji Yokoyama	....	animator

Other crew
Donna Evans	....	production assistant
Trudi Takamatsu	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Clubhouse Pictures
• Toei Animation Company

Distributors

• Clubhouse Pictures (1986) (USA) (theatrical)
• Filmways Australasian Distributors (Australia) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Murakami Wolf Swenson  post-production
• Murakami Wolf Swenson  pre-production
• The Recording Place  recording

Runtime:

85 min | Argentina:87 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:G | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Clubhouse Pictures

Quotes:

Rodney: What's so important about this chocolate anyway?
Vultor: Oooh, that's such a good question, Rodney. But tell me, do you like chocolate?
Rodney: Well, yeah, sure. I like an occasional munch.
Vultor: You and everyone else. The whole world craves chocolate. And he who controls chocolate controls *everything*!

Great Saturday Morning Patriotism

This was definitely one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoon movies when I was a child. The characters were extremely fun, the storyline was relatively complex, and the tone was not that of most condescending animated movies that caused me, even as a very young child, to feel as if the movies were talking down to me.

I haven't seen the movie in quite a few years, but I do remember watching it in late middle school or early high school and noting some of the political ideas that it seemed to be expressing. (By this time, I had realized how the media had affected my mind and opinion about political issues. For example, my once inexplicable cautious attitude towards Eastern Europeans [which have since been eradicated] could probably be trace to such propaganda films as Rocky IV.)

However, I do think this film is pretty harmless and actually delivers some good lessons that a child of any age needs to learn. It's definitely still on my favorites list.