TV Special of the Week: Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971)

Easter Sunday is tomorrow, and although that hasn't been a date circled on my calendar in my adult life, it was a big deal when I was a kid. That's probably true for anybody raised in a vaguely Christian household, but my version of the holiday had basically nothing to do with Jesus. It was about the Easter Bunny, getting a basket filled with candy, and watching our VHS copies of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown and Here Comes Peter Cottontail. And that's all I needed. There were definitely worse holidays. At least it was better than having to wear that year's American Flag tee from Old Navy or address 30 different envelopes for Valentine's cards for everyone in my 3rd-grade class.

Another of my childhood favorites was 1986's The Great Mouse Detective, which probably explains why I liked Here Comes Peter Cottontail so much - the iconic Vincent Price plays the villain in both. Price may be most closely associated with Halloween, but it's his voice work that makes this Easter special sing. Just four months after Rankin/Bass brought Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town to television, they recycle many of the same motifs, characters, and even voice actors for their (now) most famous non-Christmas story.

Price plays a rabbit called January Q. Irontail, a creepy-looking bunny with an iron tail and a shitty attitude. To be fair, he's upset largely because the role of Easter Bunny has been given to Peter Cottontail, a doofus rabbit who parties, sleeps in late, and delivers Easter eggs on July 4th and Thanksgiving. It's like Peter is off the wagon. I don't think he should be the Easter Bunny either.

Unfortunately for Irontail, he's also a bad candidate. He hates Easter because he lost his tail in a roller-skating accident, so instead of chocolate bunnies, he wants to deliver chocolate spiders and octopuses to children. He also rides around on a bat. I don't think people would like that either. With his signature snarl and hair-raising evil laugh, Vincent Price was sculpted by the movie gods to play villains (I seriously cannot begin to tell you how much I love The Great Mouse Detective), but his voice coming out of Irontail's macabre character design is a particular match made.

If you celebrate, have a happy Easter. Here's hoping no chocolate spiders in your baskets.