I actually say this as someone who has enjoyed most of Golden Films' animations. The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit didn't work for me in the same way Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, The Night Before Christmas and The Three Musketeers. It is better though than The Jungle King and Anastasia. I am well aware from the word new in the title that this was not an adaptation of Beatrix Potter's timeless story, and I wasn't expecting that. And The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit certainly has its good points. The animation is mostly bright and colourful, especially the background art. The music is really lovely, the title song is very catchy and helped by the cheery vocals while the classical music choices, including Dvorak's Humoreske, Offenbach's Can Can, Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream Scherzo, Rossini's Largo Al Factotum, and Borodin's Polotsvian Dances, are well chosen. There were also some little quirks I liked, such as Peter's ear twitching when he lied, Peter's little patter song in the garden and the "you're a liar" bickering exchange. However, the character designs could have done with being less crude sometimes, and the voice acting was mixed, the rabbit that sounded that Christine Cavanaugh was quite nice but I personally would have preferred a younger-sounding voice for Peter. The dialogue has its witty parts but I would have loved to have seen a little more of the simple charm and childhood innocence that made Beatrix Potter's original stories such a delight, that way for a character that originated from her Golden Films would have stuck to her storytelling in spirit. The story is sweet but also too thin with scenes in the middle that seemed rather padded out. So all in all, disappointing but not bad still. 5/10 Bethany Cox
The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit
(1994 Video)
Not unwatchable but didn't really work for me at the same time
28 July 2012