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Rabbit Ears Productions: A Retrospective
Hello Retro community!
Rabbit Ears Productions (or Rabbit Ears Entertainment, as
it is called now) was an animated company that specialized in telling stories
both old and new by using various celebrities who were popular during the 1980s
and the 1990s to narrate the stories.
Some of the stories that were being told in this series were “Pecos
Bill,” narrated by Robin Williams, “John Henry,” narrated by Denzel Washington
and “The Elephant’s Child,” narrated by Jack Nicholson.
Even though this company has been around for nearly 10
years in its original run, many people are not aware of this company’s
existence, due to the series being distributed in limited markets at the time
(limited as in only libraries and schools can order these videos).
So, I wanted to take the time to talk about the history
of Rabbit Ears Productions and the impact it had on me as a child. So, let’s begin the retrospective adventure!
HISTORY
Rabbit Ears Productions began its production in 1985 and
it was being created by Mark Sottnick and Doris Wilhousky. Both Mark Sottnick
and Doris Wilhousky wanted to create this company because they believed that
quality entertainment can help children show more appreciation for literature,
art and music. The first story
that they adapted was “The Velveteen Rabbit,” which was narrated by Meryl
Streep at Palace Production Center in South Norwalk, Connecticut.
From 1985-1994, Rabbit Ears Productions had created over
63 titles, which included “The Fool and the Flying Ship,” narrated by Robin
Williams, “Brer Rabbit and Boss Lion,” narrated by Danny Glover, “Jack and the
Beanstalk,” narrated by Michael Palin and “East of the Sun West of the Moon,”
narrated by Max Von Sydow. But
unfortunately, in the mid-1990s, Rabbit Ears Productions ended up changing
hands and no more titles were being made during this period. However, the word of mouth praise for the
company and their stories kept the company in the public’s conscience. So,
in 2000, Chris Campbell, who was one of the original partners of the company,
was able to gain control of the programs and along with Mark Sottnick and Doris
Wilhousky, they were able to reinvent the company and now call it “Rabbit Ears
Entertainment, LLC.” Now, the
company is busy working on new titles, with their most recently released title
in 2008 called “Tom Thumb,” which was narrated by John Cleese.
IMPACT
I had grown up watching this series ever since I was
little. I used to go to my public
library during the summer and pick up these tapes whenever I could and watch
them from day in and day out! One of the
reasons why I loved going to the library so much when I was little, besides the
fact that I loved to read, was because I was always excited to see what new
Rabbit Ears tapes would be available at the library. And since then, I had developed a great love
for this series!
Rabbit Ears Productions was unlike any other company that
I had seen before. Not only was
its animation style much more different from the animated movies and TV shows
that came out during that time. As the animation mainly consisted of the
camera moving across the illustrations, while the characters dissolve into the
next scene whenever they are moving. But
it also developed my love for fairy tales and folktales in general. Even though Disney was partially responsible
for my love of fairy tales such as “Pinocchio,” “Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs” and “Aladdin,” Rabbit Ears Productions helped me discover the more
obscure folktales and fairy tales like “The Fool and the Flying Ship,” “Finn
McCoul,” “Mr. Jeremy Fisher” and “How the Camel Got His Hump.” If it wasn’t for Rabbit Ears Productions, I
probably would have never noticed that there were far more fairy tales and
folktales besides “The Three Little Pigs” and “Snow White.”
Also, this series helped convinced me that celebrities
can narrate children’s stories, as I believed at first that celebrities
probably wouldn’t want to narrate such stories. But this series has shown me that there
were various celebrities at the time who have shown such excitement and commitment
for this series, such as Danny Glover, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington and
Robin Williams.
MY
FAVORITE STORIES
Rabbit Ears Productions had created so
many fantastic stories over the years and there were a couple of stories that really shaped
my love for this series!
PECOS BILL
This little gem was narrated by the late Robin Williams and it detailed the adventures of everyone’s favorite cowboy! “Pecos Bill” was a treat to me because it showed just how capable Rabbit Ears can be with both incorporating good humor in their productions and still tell an engaging story! I especially loved the scene of Pecos Bill fighting off the tornado!
JOHN HENRY
This brilliant story is about a strong
man named John Henry who loved working on the railroad until one day, a man
comes in with a steam drill machine and challenges John Henry to see who can
drive the most nails into the railroad tracks.
Does John Henry win the race?
Well, you’ll have to watch this story to find out!
Denzel Washington was a fantastic
narrator for this story and I just loved the fact that this story is about the
importance of determination and never giving up on your dreams. My favorite part of this story was definitely
the late B.B. King’s musical score as the catchy blues soundtrack really
captures the optimistic tone of this story.
HOW THE RHINOCEROS GOT HIS SKIN AND HOW THE CAMEL GOT
HIS HUMP
Now, this list wouldn’t be complete
without these truly imaginative yet bizarre little tales! Both stories dealt with a camel and a rhinoceros
who were both rude and arrogant towards other people and they both get taught a
lesson about humility.
What made these stories a true delight to
watch was Jack Nicholson’s silky narration! I never would have expected Jack
Nicholson to sound so calm and charming while narrating these stories,
especially after you’ve seen him in “The Shining” (although, I didn’t watch “The
Shining” until I was well into high school). I also loved Bobby McFerrin’s music, especially
during the Camel’s dance scene!
THE
FOOL AND THE FLYING SHIP
And last, but definitely not least, there
was “The Fool and the Flying Ship,” which was narrated by the late Robin
Williams! In this story, a young foolish
man hears about the Tsar’s proclamation that whosoever build a flying ship,
will win the hand of his daughter, the princess. So, the fool decided to go out and build a
flying ship and once he finished that, he ends up picking up a group of men who
all possess special abilities. When the
fool and his new companions finally arrive at the Tsar’s palace, the Tsar was displeased
with the fact that the fool and his companions are just peasants and he ended
up giving them impossible tasks to complete, before the fool can marry the
princess. Can the fool and his companions complete the Tsar’s impossible
tasks? Watch this story to find out!
This is absolutely my all-time favorite
story from the company as the late Robin Williams’ narration was truly
hilarious and the artwork by Henrik Drescher was highly creative yet bizarre! Probably my most favorite scene in this story
was when the Puffer was pulling the land apart in order to get the penguins
from the North Pole!
FINALE
Overall, Rabbit Ears Productions is truly one underrated
company that had a lot of brilliant stories and fantastic celebrities who
really brought these stories to life with their engaging narrations! So, before I wrap up this article, here
are a few questions for you Rabbit Ears fans:
1.
What was the weirdest Rabbit Ears story
you have ever seen?
2.
What’s your favorite Rabbit Ears story?
3.
Who was your favorite celebrity narrator
(Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep)?
4.
What did you like best about Rabbit Ears
Productions?
5.
Do you think that Rabbit Ears Productions
should make their own TV series?
Rabbitearsblog Posted on Aug 18, 2019 at 11:10 PM
Oooh! A John Henry movie from Dreamworks! Sounds awesome!
jkatz Posted on Aug 18, 2019 at 08:02 AM
The poster for John Henry almost looks like it could be a Dreamworks movie.
Rabbitearsblog Posted on Aug 18, 2019 at 04:37 AM
Thanks everyone! Glad you got the chance to see what this series is all about! I also agree that B.B. King's score in "John Henry" was probably the best part of the story!
echidna64 Posted on Aug 15, 2019 at 09:44 PM
Well done! The John Henry film is my favorite version, I love the B.B. King score.
Benjanime Posted on Aug 15, 2019 at 09:25 PM
wow, i thought this sounded familiar, it totally reminds me of shelly duvall's bedtime stories! this was a pretty neat in-depth look at rabbit ears and their work. great first article!
Vaporman87 Posted on Aug 15, 2019 at 08:58 PM
I had never heard of Rabbit Ears before you came along. This was a very thorough and interesting breakdown of it's history though. Nicely done!
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