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. However, the movie's trailer 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 the movie is that it has little to no connection to the first Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The only connections to it are the characters' names, the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song, and the main setting, April Valley. The events of the source material are barely acknowledged or followed up on, making this more of a standalone movie. The story is mostly about new 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 this and its predecessor are Easter movies, and the titular song is an Easter song.
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.
The movie is mostly about spring rather than Easter. There are multiple places representing different seasons, similar to the places representing different holidays in its predecessor. Irontail and Jackie Frost spend most of the movie trying 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 character designs and animation in this sequel are quite disappointing. Most of the returning characters look very different from their original designs, which makes the film feel disconnected from the first one. I was also surprised that the movie wasn't made using stop-motion animation. While April Valley looks decent in CGI, the rest of the visuals are subpar.
The design of Seymour S. Sassafras is particularly poor; it looks nothing like the original and seems to have been modeled after the Mad Hatter instead. Additionally, he has been recast by Christopher Lloyd. If Danny Kaye, the original voice actor, had passed away or retired before the new film was thought of, the filmmakers should have created a new character for the narrator, as Seymour's original design and voice were modeled after Kaye's.
Peter and Donna resemble their stop-motion counterparts, but they have larger heads and eyes and smaller bodies, which makes them look much younger and more cartoonish. Antoine somewhat resembles his original design, but he is now purple instead of green for some reason and has reverted to a caterpillar, despite becoming a butterfly at the end of the first movie. I assume the filmmakers chose to revert him to a caterpillar because that design is more iconic, which does make sense.
Irontail's design is accurate; however, he looks unattractive in CGI, like the rest of the characters. Their lack of expressive facial features gives them a soulless appearance. The use of CGI rather than stop-motion makes the movie feel more like a remake of the original rather than a sequel.
In contrast, the new Rudolph movie introduces a new character as the narrator and stays true to the source material, which I appreciate. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about this sequel. Personally, I enjoy "Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys" despite its flaws, but I understand why some viewers might not like it.
The new characters are not very likable and lack depth. At first, Jr is focused exclusively on the future, neglecting the present. He constantly invents various futuristic contraptions that he believes could improve Easter and the spring season, but he hardly collaborates with his father. One of his inventions is a futuristic catapult designed to launch Easter baskets from April Valley to their destinations. This invention defeats the role of the Easter Bunny and could break fragile Easter eggs. Fortunately, Jr eventually learns that while it's important to think about the future, it is equally crucial to focus on the present, appreciate where you already are, and not think too far ahead.
Flutter and Munch accompany Jr throughout the movie, but they do not contribute meaningfully to the story. Additionally, Jackie Frost is a rip-off of Jack Frost. The only difference is she's female, while Jack is male. 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 in the Rankin-Bass Christmas films also appear in the original "Peter Cottontail," sharing the same animation style. This implies that "Peter Cottontail" is set in the same universe as the Christmas movies, which raises the possibility that Jack could have returned here, eliminating the need for Jackie.
Is there anything I like about this, besides April Valley's design and the scene where Jr learns from his mistakes? Yes, there is. 1) It surprisingly doesn't ignore all of its predecessor's events: there's a flashback from the original Peter Cottontail at the beginning, and Irontail's backstory is explained again and physically appears on screen, but those are the only callbacks to the original that are acknowledged. 2) There's a rock version of the titular "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" song at the end. I have to admit it's electric and catchy, but not as good as the version from its predecessor. These items are why I give it a 2/10.
Don't watch this. Watch the original Peter Cottontail instead.
