The Bellflower Bunnies

The Bellflower Bunnies (French: La Famille Passiflore) is a French animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales book series by Geneviève Huriet. The show debuted on TF1 with four episodes airing between December 24 and December 28, 2001.[10] It is a co-production between France's TF1 and several Canadian companies.[a]

The Bellflower Bunnies
The title card for Seasons 2 and 3, with credits imposed over a scene from "Vive la glisse."
Also known asLa Famille Passiflore (France)
Die Häschenbande (Germany)
La Famiglia Passiflora (Italy)[1]
A Família Cenoura (Portugal)[2]
Tappancs család (Hungary)
Pupu Pitkäkorva (Finland)[3]
De Knuffel Konijntjes (Netherlands)[4]
Rodzina Rabatków (Poland)

까르르 토끼 친구들 (South Korea)[5]
Os Coelhinhos Bellflower (Brazil)[6]

(in Spanish) Los Conejitos Bellflower[7]
Russian: Истории папы Кролика
GenreChildren's animated series
comedy
Created byGeneviève Huriet (original book series, Beechwood Bunny Tales)
Directed bySeason 1:
Moran Caouissin
Seasons 2 & 3:
Eric Berthier
Voices ofSee below
ComposersSeason 1:
Daniel Scott
Valérie Baranski
Seasons 2 & 3:
Alice Willis
Country of originFrance
Canada
Original languagesFrench
English
No. of seasons3[8]
No. of episodes52 [9] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersEntire series:
Patricia Robert
Seasons 2 & 3:
Yves Pont
Franck Algard
ProducerPatricia Robert
EditorsSeason 1:
Graham Chisholm
Robert Newton
Seasons 2 & 3:
Lysanne Villeneuve
Running time26 min.
Production companiesSeason 1:
Protécréa
TVA International
Banco Production
Melusine Productions
Seasons 2 & 3:
Euro Visual
Tooncan
Bigcash (Season 2)
Original release
NetworkTF1 (France)
Playhouse Disney (France season 2)
TVA (Canada season 1)
ReleaseDecember 24, 2001 (2001-12-24) –
July 13, 2010 (2010-07-13)

52 episodes were produced.[11]

The show centers on the adventures and exploits of the Bellflower family, a clan of seven rabbits who live in Beechwood Grove, which is called Blueberry Hill in the English version. The two adults in the family, Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia, take care of their five children: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion and Violette.

Production

edit

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.

Home video and DVD

edit

Europe

edit

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.[18] In Germany, edelkids released the first sixteen episodes in February[19] and August 2008.

North America

edit

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. Since the DVDs are now next to impossible to find in the USA; Amazon Prime Video, Kimcartoon and YouTube are the currently only known options in the USA.

Episodes

edit

Fifty-two episodes of The Bellflower Bunnies were 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.[20]

Voice cast

edit

Season 1

edit
  • Tom Clarke Hill
  • Regine Candler
  • Tom Eastwood - Papa Bramble
  • Rhonda Millar - Periwinkle, Violette (Pirouette)
  • Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez - Poppy

Seasons 2 & 3

edit

English version

edit

French version

edit
  • Flora Balzano
  • Julie Burroughs
  • Hugolin Chevrette
  • Mario Desmarais
  • Antoine Durand
  • Marylène Gargour
  • Annie Girard
  • Hélène Lasnier
  • Elisabeth Lenormand

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Season 2 was produced with the participation of Disney Television France.

References

edit
  1. ^ (in Italian) La Famiglia Passiflora at AntoniaGenna.net's Il Mondo Dei Doppiatori. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  2. ^ (in Portuguese) A Família Cenoura at rtp.pt. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  3. ^ (in Finnish) Pikku Kino at YLE TV2 site. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
  4. ^ "Arnan Samson biography" (in Dutch). Arnan.nl. Archived from the original on 2006-01-14. Retrieved 2008-04-07. ...en heeft hij de stem ingesproken van Roderick de Vos in de tekenfilm The Bellflower Bunnies (De Knuffel Konijntjes).
  5. ^ (in Korean) C4U Media: 까르르 토끼 친구들[permanent dead link]. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
  6. ^ (in Portuguese) Boomerang lança séries para adolescentes e crianças pequenas (2006, October 2). UOL Crianças. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
  7. ^ (in Spanish) ¡Octubre de estrenos y diversión en Boomerang![permanent dead link] (2006, October 24). Cantv.net. Retrieved September 12, 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Les interventions du CNC dans l'animation" (PDF) (in French). Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC). 2005. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-20. Retrieved 2008-04-05. La Famille Passiflore n° 3
  9. ^ "La Famille Passiflore episode list" (in French). AnimezVous.com. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  10. ^ "Films d'animation". Le Monde (in French). Paris. 2001-12-23. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  11. ^ Crump 2019, p. 66.
  12. ^ a b c "Bunnies bent on broadcast (Up Next: What's developing in kids production)". KidScreen Magazine. Brunico Communications. 2001-05-01. Archived from the original on 2021-08-17. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  13. ^ Beck 2005, p. 68.
  14. ^ Staff (2001-04-01). "Canada at the market - animation". Playback. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  15. ^ "Corporative profile for Euro Visuel (Franck Algard)" (PDF). Canada-France Mini-Immersion (in English and French). Telefilm Canada/SPFA. 2005-06-05. p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  16. ^ "Productions Mégafun Inc. company profile" (in French). Telefilm Canada. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  17. ^ "La Famille Passiflore" (in French). AnimeKa Network / Association AnimeKa. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  18. ^ (in French) La Famille Passiflore, Vol. 1-5. Chapitre DVD. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
  19. ^ (in German) edelkids: Unterhaltungsspaß mit Pettersson und Findus und der Häschenbande (2008, January 17). Brandora. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  20. ^ "Episode list for Die Häschenbande" (in German). KI.KA (kika.de). Archived from the original on 2014-02-12. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  21. ^ Platypus Theatre - Emily Saves the Orchestra Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 22, 2008.

Works cited

edit
edit