The Bellflower Bunnies
| The Bellflower Bunnies | |
|---|---|
 The title card for Seasons 2 and 3, with credits imposed over a scene from "Vive la glisse." | |
| Also known as |
''La Famille Passiflore (France) |
| Genre | Children's animated series |
| Created by | Geneviève Huriet (original book series, Beechwood Bunny Tales) |
| Directed by |
Season 1: Moran Caouissin Seasons 2 & 3: Eric Berthier |
| Voices of | See below |
| Composer(s) |
Season 1: Daniel Scott Valérie Baranski Seasons 2 & 3: Alice Willis |
| Country of origin |
France Canada Luxembourg (1st season) |
| Original language(s) | French |
| No. of seasons | 3[8] |
| No. of episodes | 52 [9] (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Entire series: Patricia Robert Seasons 2 & 3: Yves Pont Franck Algard |
| Producer(s) | Patricia Robert |
| Editor(s) |
Season 1: Graham Chisholm Robert Newton Seasons 2 & 3: Lysanne Villeneuve |
| Running time | 26 min. |
| Production company(s) |
Season 1: Big Cash Hangzhou Flying Dragon Cartoon Euro Visual Tooncan Megafun Disney Television France |
| Distributor | Beez Kids, a label of Beez Entertainment (seasons 2 & 3) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
TF1 (France) KI.KA (Germany) Rai Due (Italy)[1][10] RTP Açores (Portugal)[2] YLE TV2 (Finland)[3] TVP1 (Poland) EBS (South Korea)[5] Al Jazeera Children's Channel (Arab League) CBC Television (Quebec) TFO (Ontario) CBBC (UK) |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| First shown in | France |
| Original release | December 24, 2001 – July 13, 2010 |
The Bellflower Bunnies (French: La Famille Passiflore) is an animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales book series by Geneviève Huriet. The show debuted on the TF1 network with four episodes airing between December 24 and December 28, 2001.[11] It is a co-production between France's TF1 and several Canadian companies.
The show centers on the adventures and exploits of the Bellflower family, a clan of seven rabbits who live in Beechwood Grove. The two adults in the family, Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia, take care of their five children: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion and Violette.
Production
Early on in its run, the series was produced as a package of four specials by TF1 and its subsidiary, Protécréa, along with TVA International of Montreal and Melusine of Luxembourg;[12] Moran Caouissin, an animator from Disney's DuckTales movie,[13] served as the director. Production of the series began in the fall of 2000, at a cost of over US$2 million,[12] or US$600,000 per episode.[14]
Starting in 2004, later episodes were produced by Euro Visual,[15] Tooncan, Megafun,[16] Big Cash, Dragon Cartoon[17] and Disney Television France. This time, Eric Berthier directed, and Alice Willis composed.
Broadcast
The Bellflower Bunnies has aired on these following stations worldwide:
- TF1 (original broadcaster) and Disney Junior (formerly Playhouse Disney) in France
- KI.KA in Germany
- TVP1 in Poland
- YLE TV2 in Finland[3]
- RTP in Portugal's Azores
- Telenyanya in Russia
- CBC Television in Quebec[18]
- Boomerang in Latin America and Brazil[7]
In April 2008, it was the 19th most-watched children's program in Finland, with audiences averaging 62,000 viewers (as Pupu Pitkäkorva).[19]
Home video and DVD
Europe
At least six DVD volumes of The Bellflower Bunnies have been released by TF1, Beez Entertainment and Seven Sept in the franchise's native France, separately and in a box set.[20] In Germany, edelkids released the first sixteen episodes in February[21] and August 2008.
North America
Feature Films for Families released the first two volumes of the English version on VHS (in 2001) and DVD (in 2003), as part of a marketing deal with TVA.[12] In 2005, another four DVDs were released under the Direct Source brand. Each disc in this version consists of two episodes.
Episodes
Fifty-two episodes of The Bellflower Bunnies have been produced over the course of three seasons.[8] and all of these have aired in the show's native France; although episodes 39-52 were first aired on German channel KI.KA in May 2008.[22]
Voice cast
Season 1
- Tom Clarke Hill
- Regine Candler
- Tom Eastwood
- Rhonda Millar - Periwinkle / Violette (Pirouette)
- Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez
Seasons 2 & 3
English version
- Danielle Desormeaux[23]
- Anik Matern
- Holly Gauthier-Frankel (as Holly Gauthier-Frankle)
- Eleanor Noble
- Matt Holland
- Joanna Noyes
- Liz Mac Rae
- Mark Camacho
- Simon Peacock
- Laura Teasdale
- Danny Wells
- John Stocker (voice actor)
- Sonja Ball
- A.J. Henderson
- Rick Miller
- Rick Jones
- Danny Brochu
French version
- Flora Balzano
- Julie Burroughs
- Hugolin Chevrette
- Mario Desmarais
- Antoine Durand
- Marylène Gargour
- Annie Girard
- Hélène Lasnier
- Elisabeth Lenormand
See also
References
- 1 2 (Italian) La Famiglia Passiflora at AntoniaGenna.net's Il Mondo Dei Doppiatori. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
- 1 2 (Portuguese) A Família Cenoura at rtp.pt. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
- 1 2 3 (Finnish) Pikku Kino at YLE TV2 site. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ↑ "Arnan Samson biography" (in Dutch). Arnan.nl. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
...en heeft hij de stem ingesproken van Roderick de Vos in de tekenfilm The Bellflower Bunnies (De Knuffel Konijntjes).
- 1 2 (Korean) C4U Media: 까르르 토끼 친구들. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ↑ (Portuguese) Boomerang lança séries para adolescentes e crianças pequenas (2006, October 2). UOL Crianças. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- 1 2 (Spanish) ¡Octubre de estrenos y diversión en Boomerang! (2006, October 24). Cantv.net. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
- 1 2 "Les interventions du CNC dans l'animation" (PDF) (in French). Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC). 2005. p. 14. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
La Famille Passiflore n° 3
- ↑ "La Famille Passiflore episode list" (in French). AnimezVous.com. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ↑ "La Famiglia Passiflora (La TV dei ragazzi)" (in Italian). RAI. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ↑ "Films d'animation". Le Monde (in French). Paris. 2001-12-23. Retrieved 2008-07-25. (subscription required (help)).
- 1 2 3 "Bunnies bent on broadcast (Up Next: What's developing in kids production)". KidScreen Magazine. Brunico Communications. 2001-05-01. Retrieved 2008-07-25. (registration required (help)).
- ↑ Beck, Jerry (2005). "DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp". The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Reader Press. p. 68. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
- ↑ Staff (2001-04-01). "Canada at the market - animation". Playback. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ↑ "Corporative profile for Euro Visuel (Franck Algard)" (PDF). Canada-France Mini-Immersion (in English and French). Telefilm Canada/SPFA. 2005-06-05. p. 57. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
- ↑ "Productions Mégafun Inc. company profile" (in French). Telefilm Canada. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ↑ "La Famille Passiflore" (in French). AnimeKa Network / Association AnimeKa. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ↑ (French) La Famille Passiflore - Zone Jeunesse. CBC/Radio Canada. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ↑ "Top Program by Genre: Children's Programs". Finnpanel Oy. April 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ↑ (French) La Famille Passiflore, Vol. 1-5. Chapitre DVD. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
- ↑ (German) edelkids: Unterhaltungsspaß mit Pettersson und Findus und der Häschenbande (2008, January 17). Brandora. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
- ↑ "Episode list for Die Häschenbande" (in German). KI.KA (kika.de). Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ↑ Platypus Theatre - Emily Saves the Orchestra. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
External links
- The Bellflower Bunnies at the Internet Movie Database
- (French) The Bellflower Bunnies at TF1.fr
- (French) Episode list
- (German) KI.KA's Bellflower Bunnies site (with a video clip from the "Room to Move" episode)
- Series' second theme song by Alice Willis
- Promo clip of the show at ZDF site (requires RealPlayer)
- Trailers for the first two Region 1 volumes at YouTube: