The Bellflower Bunnies (French: La Famille Passiflore) is a children's animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales books by Geneviève Huriet, Amélie Sarn and Loïc Jouannigot. It debuted on TF1, a French television network, on 24 December 2001.[1] Many French and Canadian companies have participated in the show's production over the years; TF1 has always been involved. The series is written by Valérie Baranski, and produced by Patricia Robert. Moran Caouissin directed the first season, and Eric Berthier did the last two.
The show centres 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.[2]
The Bellflower Bunnies originally aired on TFOU TV (formerly TF! Jeunesse), the children's service of TF1, and has since appeared on France's local Disney Junior (formerly Playhouse Disney). The series has also been broadcast on CBC Television and TFO in Canada, KI.KA in Germany, Portugal's RTP in the Azores, and in several other countries.
The show has fifty-two episodes: four in the first season,[3] twenty-two in the second,[4] and twenty-six in the third.[5] In the entire series, thirteen are based directly on installments in Beechwood Bunny Tales, published by Milan Presse of France and Gareth Stevens in the United States; the rest are based on scripts by Valérie Baranski. Distributors in Europe,[6] North America,[7] and South Korea[8] have released DVDs of the first two seasons.
The English episode titles come from Feature Films for Families and Direct Source's Region 1 DVDs, as well as the online schedules of the Al Jazeera Children's Channel in the Middle East (for season 2).
| Season | Episodes | Director | Original broadcast (France) | DVD release dates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 3 | ||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Moran Caouissin | December 2001 | 1 October 2003[9] |  23 January 2003[10]  22 February 2008[11]  March 2005 – July 2006 | February 2005 | ||
| 2 | 22 | Eric Berthier | September 2004 – February 2005 | 12 April 2005[12] | November 2004 – July 2005 22 February 2008 (episodes 5–8);[13] 14 August 2008 (episodes 9–16)[14] [15] [16]  13 June 2005[17] [18] | Not released | ||
| 3 | 26 | Eric Berthier | April 2007 – July 2010 | TBA | 4 November 2008 (episodes 1-5);[19] 6 January 2009 (episodes 6-10)[20] | TBA | ||
See main article: The Bellflower Bunnies (season 1).
| Official # | TF1 # | French title | English title | Air date (France) | Original Beechwood Bunny Tale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | "Room to Move" | 25 December 2001 | Family Moving Day (La famille Passiflore déménage) | ||
| 2 | 3 | "Carnaval" | "Carnival" | 27 December 2001 | Carnaval chez les Passiflore | |
| 3 | 1 | "Vive la glisse" | "Slide On" | 24 December 2001 | Vive la glisse! | |
| 4 | 4 | "En ballon" | "Balloonatic Bunnies" | 28 December 2001 | En ballon, les Passiflore! |
See main article: The Bellflower Bunnies (season 2).
| Official # | TF1 # | French title | English title | Air date (France) | Original Beechwood Bunny Tale / Source material | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | "Born to Be Bunnies" | 22 September 2004 | |||
| 6 | 8 | "Bunnies on a Case" | 13 October 2004 | |||
| 7 | 6 | "Refried Donuts" | 29 September 2004 | |||
| 8 | 17 | "Noël chez les Passiflore" | 25 December 2004 | |||
| 9 | 7 | 6 October 2004 | Dandelion's Vanishing Vegetable Garden (Le jardin de Dentdelion Passiflore) | |||
| 10 | 9 | "Papa Bramble's Invention" | 20 October 2004 | |||
| 11 | 10 | "Kazoar the Ogre" | 27 October 2004 | Loosely follows storyline of Aunt Zinnia and the Ogre (Tante Zinia et l'ogre Kazoar) | ||
| 12 | 12 | "En avant la musique" | "Face the Music" | 17 November 2004 | En avant, la musique! | |
| 13 | 11 | "Periwinkle's First Dance" | 10 November 2004 | Periwinkle at the Full Moon Ball (Le premier bal d'Agaric Passiflore) | ||
| 14 | 26 | "Dentdelion et le bébé marmotte" | "Dandelion and the Baby Groundhog" | 23 February 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 15 | 13 | 24 November 2004 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 16 | 14 | "Pirouette sous les feux de la rampe" | "In the Limelight" | 1 December 2004 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 17 | 15 | "Coup de foudre aux Airelles" | "Love at First Sight" | 8 December 2004 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 18 | 22 | "Au pays des fantômes" | "In Ghost Country" | 26 January 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 19 | 21 | "Dentdelion fait son cinéma" | "Dandelion and the Silver Screen" | 19 January 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 20 | 23 | "Agaric et le sorcier" | "Periwinkle and the Witch Doctor" | 2 February 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 21 | 18 | 29 December 2004 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 22 | 16 | "Papa Bramble's Secret" | 15 December 2004 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | ||
| 23 | 19 | "Vive les vacances" | "Holiday with Love" | 5 January 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 24 | 20 | "Chez les petits savants" | "At the Science Academy" | 12 January 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 25 | 24 | "Au cœur de la source" | 9 February 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | ||
| 26 | 25 | "Sacrée Nounou" | "Hairy Nanny" | 16 February 2005 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski |
See main article: The Bellflower Bunnies (season 3).
| Official # | TF1 # | French title | English title | Air date (France) | Original Beechwood Bunny Tale / Source material | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 27 | 4 April 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 28 | 28 | 18 April 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 29 | 29 | 25 April 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 30 | 30 | 2 May 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 31 | 31 | "Poussières d'étoiles" | "Stardust" | 9 May 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 32 | 32 | "Vacances de rêve" | "Dream Vacation" | 23 May 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 33 | 33 | 30 May 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 34 | 34 | 6 June 2007 | Les Passiflore à la mer | |||
| 35 | 35 | "Parfum d'amour" | "Perfume of Love" | 13 June 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 36 | 36 | "Pirouette et la cigogne" | "Violet and the Stork" | 20 June 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 37 | 38 | 4 July 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 38 | 37 | 27 June 2007 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 39 | 39 | 6 July 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 40 | 40 | "Tempête aux Airelles" | "Storm over Blueberry Hill" | 13 July 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 41 | 41 | "Arsène et compagnie" | "Archie and Co" | 20 July 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 42 | 42 | 27 July 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 43 | 43 | 17 August 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 44 | 44 | 20 August 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |||
| 45 | 45 | "Chez Zinia" | "At Zinnia's Place" | 24 August 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 46 | 46 | "The Bunnyosaurus" | 22 December 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | ||
| 47 | 47 | "The Chosen One" | 23 December 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | ||
| 48 | 48 | "Roméo et Pirouette" | "Romeo and Violet" | 30 December 2008 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 49 | 49 | "Sacré manège" | "Merry Go Round" | 1 January 2009 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 50 | 50 | "Mon pantin à moi" | "My Rag Doll" | 2 January 2009 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 51 | 51 | "Pierre de lune" | "Moonstone" | 12 July 2010 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski | |
| 52 | 52 | "Fabiola la douce" | "Sweet Fabiola" | 13 July 2010 | Teleplay by Valérie Baranski |