Here Comes Peter Cottontail the Movie and three other long "overdue" Rankin-Bass sequels (Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys, Frosty Returns, and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman) are not well liked by fans of their predecessors, and I can see why. I watched Peter Cottontail the Movie on YouTube last spring, when Easter was right around the corner. That was the first and only time I've ever seen it, and I hated it, but the trailer for it was one of the previews on a Frosty the Snowman DVD I had when I was little, so I've known about it for all my life.
One of the biggest problems with it is that it has little to no connection to the first Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The only connections to it that are made are the characters' names, the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song, and the main setting, April Valley. The title implies that this is a remake of the first Peter Cottontail, even though it's supposed to be a sequel, making the title misleading. It takes the title of the first movie and adds the words "the Movie" to the end of it. It's mostly about Peter Cottontail's son, Peter Cottontail Jr, and Peter Cottontail Sr has little to no screen time, which also makes the title misleading. Peter Jr and his new friends Flutter the Bird and Munch the Mouse are the main characters, and all the returning characters from the source material, other than Irontail, are barely there. There is very little to do with Easter here, even though its predecessor is an Easter movie, and the titular song is an Easter song.
The movie is mostly about spring rather than Easter, even though this is supposed to be an Easter movie. There are multiple places representing different seasons, similar to how there are places representing different holidays in its predecessor. Irontail and Jackie Frost try to get rid of spring and make every season winter. What do any of those things have to do with Peter Cottontail or Easter? Those are interesting and original concepts, but the story would've worked better if this was a standalone movie and didn't have Peter Cottontail characters.
The animation and character designs are lackluster. Most of the returning characters barely resemble their original designs. Even though this is supposed to be a sequel to the original Peter Cottontail, the designs make it feel completely different and not at all like a sequel, and I'm surprised it's not in stop motion. April Valley looks a lot like it does in the first movie, except it's now in CGI and has even expanded. I've got to admit it looks very nice! Other than that, the visuals look terrible. Seymour S. Sassafras's design is the worst offender. He looks nothing like his stop motion counterpart. Instead, he looks like the Mad Hatter and has been recast by Christopher Lloyd. Like all the other Rankin-Bass narrators, Mr. Sassafras was originally voiced by a celebrity.; he was voiced by Danny Kaye and looked like him. I'm guessing Kaye passed away long before this was thought of. If so, a new character should've been the narrator. Peter and Donna do look similar to their stop motion counterparts, but their heads and eyes are bigger, making them look younger and more cartoony. Antoine looks accurate to his original design for the most part, but he's purple instead of green for some reason. He's now a caterpillar again, despite becoming a butterfly at the end of the first movie. I'm guessing they made him a caterpillar again because his caterpillar design is more iconic. Irontail's design is accurate to his original design, and he looks the best or least bad out of all the returning characters, but he looks ugly in CGI, just like the rest of the characters. His whiskers are now curvy, and his eyes are bigger, which gives him an even more cartoony design as well. All the characters are soulless and have just one facial expression. The fact that Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys is in CGI instead of stop motion makes it feel somewhat like a remake of the first Rudolph rather than a sequel, but at least it's true to the source material and has a new character as the narrator (even some people who don't like it have said that). I can't say the same about this. If you're wondering, yes, I like Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. It's the only long "overdue" Rankin-Bass sequel I like, but it's not without its flaws, and I understand why other people don't like it.
The new characters aren't too likable, and there's very little depth to them. At first, Jr thought about nothing but the future, didn't live in the present at all, invented all sorts of futuristic contraptions he thought could improve Easter and the spring season, and barely worked with his father. He invents a futuristic catapult that can bounce Easter baskets from April Valley to their destinations (I think there is a special name for it, but I can't think of what it is), which defeats the purpose of the Easter Bunny and could break fragile Easter eggs. Thankfully, he later learns that while it is important to think about the future, it is also important to focus on the present. Flutter and Munch are just there with Jr for most of the movie, and they don't contribute to the story at all. Jackie Frost is a rip-off of Jack Frost. The only difference is she's female. According to Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, all the Rankin-Bass Christmas movies are set in the same universe. The versions of Santa Claus and the reindeer from the RB Christmas movies are in the first Peter Cottontail and has the same animation style, so it's likely set in the same universe as the Christmas movies. If that's the case, Jack Frost could've returned here.
Is there anything else I like about this? Yes, there is. The movie barely follows up the events of its predecessor and ignores most of its events, but it surprisingly doesn't ignore all of its events. For example, there's a flashback from the original Peter Cottontail at the beginning, and Irontail's backstory is explained again and physically appears on screen. That's why I give it a 2/10. There's a rock version of the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song at the end. I've got to admit it's electric and catchy, but not as good as the version from its predecessor.
Don't watch this. Watch the original Peter Cottontail instead.
One of the biggest problems with it is that it has little to no connection to the first Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The only connections to it that are made are the characters' names, the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song, and the main setting, April Valley. The title implies that this is a remake of the first Peter Cottontail, even though it's supposed to be a sequel, making the title misleading. It takes the title of the first movie and adds the words "the Movie" to the end of it. It's mostly about Peter Cottontail's son, Peter Cottontail Jr, and Peter Cottontail Sr has little to no screen time, which also makes the title misleading. Peter Jr and his new friends Flutter the Bird and Munch the Mouse are the main characters, and all the returning characters from the source material, other than Irontail, are barely there. There is very little to do with Easter here, even though its predecessor is an Easter movie, and the titular song is an Easter song.
The movie is mostly about spring rather than Easter, even though this is supposed to be an Easter movie. There are multiple places representing different seasons, similar to how there are places representing different holidays in its predecessor. Irontail and Jackie Frost try to get rid of spring and make every season winter. What do any of those things have to do with Peter Cottontail or Easter? Those are interesting and original concepts, but the story would've worked better if this was a standalone movie and didn't have Peter Cottontail characters.
The animation and character designs are lackluster. Most of the returning characters barely resemble their original designs. Even though this is supposed to be a sequel to the original Peter Cottontail, the designs make it feel completely different and not at all like a sequel, and I'm surprised it's not in stop motion. April Valley looks a lot like it does in the first movie, except it's now in CGI and has even expanded. I've got to admit it looks very nice! Other than that, the visuals look terrible. Seymour S. Sassafras's design is the worst offender. He looks nothing like his stop motion counterpart. Instead, he looks like the Mad Hatter and has been recast by Christopher Lloyd. Like all the other Rankin-Bass narrators, Mr. Sassafras was originally voiced by a celebrity.; he was voiced by Danny Kaye and looked like him. I'm guessing Kaye passed away long before this was thought of. If so, a new character should've been the narrator. Peter and Donna do look similar to their stop motion counterparts, but their heads and eyes are bigger, making them look younger and more cartoony. Antoine looks accurate to his original design for the most part, but he's purple instead of green for some reason. He's now a caterpillar again, despite becoming a butterfly at the end of the first movie. I'm guessing they made him a caterpillar again because his caterpillar design is more iconic. Irontail's design is accurate to his original design, and he looks the best or least bad out of all the returning characters, but he looks ugly in CGI, just like the rest of the characters. His whiskers are now curvy, and his eyes are bigger, which gives him an even more cartoony design as well. All the characters are soulless and have just one facial expression. The fact that Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys is in CGI instead of stop motion makes it feel somewhat like a remake of the first Rudolph rather than a sequel, but at least it's true to the source material and has a new character as the narrator (even some people who don't like it have said that). I can't say the same about this. If you're wondering, yes, I like Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. It's the only long "overdue" Rankin-Bass sequel I like, but it's not without its flaws, and I understand why other people don't like it.
The new characters aren't too likable, and there's very little depth to them. At first, Jr thought about nothing but the future, didn't live in the present at all, invented all sorts of futuristic contraptions he thought could improve Easter and the spring season, and barely worked with his father. He invents a futuristic catapult that can bounce Easter baskets from April Valley to their destinations (I think there is a special name for it, but I can't think of what it is), which defeats the purpose of the Easter Bunny and could break fragile Easter eggs. Thankfully, he later learns that while it is important to think about the future, it is also important to focus on the present. Flutter and Munch are just there with Jr for most of the movie, and they don't contribute to the story at all. Jackie Frost is a rip-off of Jack Frost. The only difference is she's female. According to Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, all the Rankin-Bass Christmas movies are set in the same universe. The versions of Santa Claus and the reindeer from the RB Christmas movies are in the first Peter Cottontail and has the same animation style, so it's likely set in the same universe as the Christmas movies. If that's the case, Jack Frost could've returned here.
Is there anything else I like about this? Yes, there is. The movie barely follows up the events of its predecessor and ignores most of its events, but it surprisingly doesn't ignore all of its events. For example, there's a flashback from the original Peter Cottontail at the beginning, and Irontail's backstory is explained again and physically appears on screen. That's why I give it a 2/10. There's a rock version of the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song at the end. I've got to admit it's electric and catchy, but not as good as the version from its predecessor.
Don't watch this. Watch the original Peter Cottontail instead.