| Season Number: | 1 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Image Upright: | 1.15 |
| Num Episodes: | 4 |
| Network: | TF1 (France) |
The first season of The Bellflower Bunnies, a children's animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales books by Geneviève Huriet and Loïc Jouannigot, aired on France's TF1 network during the week of 24 December 2001, at 7:00 a.m. Central European Time.[1] Consisting of four episodes, it was directed by French animator Moran Caouissin, produced by Patricia Robert, and written by Valérie Baranski. The music was composed by Baranski and Daniel Scott.[2] A handful of crew members from this season would be carried over for future episodes.
The episodes follow the adventures of the Bellflowers, a family of seven rabbits who live in the community of Beechwood Grove. The two adults, Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia, take care of their five children: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion and Violet.[3] "Room to Move", the first episode in the official production order, deals with the family's move to their new house at Blueberry Hill.[4]
The first season has been broadcast on TF! Jeunesse, the children's service of TF1, as well as South Korea's Educational Broadcasting System (EBS),[5] CBBC in the United Kingdom,[6] and Germany's Kinderkanal (KI.KA)[7] and ZDF[8] among others. Since early 2003,[9] it has been made available on DVD in the United States, France, Germany and South Korea.
The season was a co-production of France's TF1, its subsidiaries Protécréa and Banco Production, and Canada's TVA International. It was produced in association with France's Sofica Valor 6 and Luxembourg's Melusine, and with the participation of the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC). Production began in late 2000[10] at a cost of €380,000 (C$610,000) per episode.[11] Graphics and Animation of Antwerp, Belgium,[12] a subsidiary of Luxembourg's Studio 352, designed the layouts for these episodes,[13] and North Korea's SEK Studio handled overseas animation duties.[2] Premium Sound, based in Montreal,[14] was responsible for the sound effects, design, dialogue editing, foley and mix.[15] Early during the show's production, the crew created a one-minute promotional pilot, in which a little mouse tells of the show's premise and introduces its main characters.[16] [17]
This season represented TF1 International at the conferences of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) in early 2001 and 2002,[18] [19] and MIPTV Media Market in April 2001.[20] For both events, the four episodes were promoted as "specials".[18] [20]
The first two episodes of the series were planned to air on TF1 in November 2001, with the next two to follow in December.[21] Ultimately, all four premiered in late December on TF! Jeunesse.[1]
The first season's English voice cast included Rhonda Millar (who played two characters, Periwinkle and Pirouette),[22] as well as Tom Clarke Hill, Tom Eastwood, Regine Candler and Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez.[2] Their voices were recorded at Ten Pin Alley, a company based in Gloucestershire, England.[23]
The director of this season, Moran Caouissin, was previously involved in as an animator.[24] Character designer Josette Zagar previously worked in the trace and paint department for The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.[25] Co-producer Louis Fournier once served Cinar as Vice President of Sales & Co-productions; during this season's production, he was President of TVA International's Youth and Animation Unit.[26] Fournier's partner, Dominique Mendel, became Vice President of Montreal's Spectra Animation in November 2004.[27] [28] Daniel Scott, a Canadian composer who created the theme for Wimzie's House,[29] teamed up with Valérie Baranski to write the score and songs.[2] [30] Several more would return for the next season: screenwriter Baranski, producer Patricia Robert, and story editor Fabrice Ziolkowski to name a few.
José Evrard of France's DVDcritiques.com wrote of The Bellflower Bunnies' first season: "[It] combines quality entertainment with a charming style that can be found in children's books. The stories, full of tenderness, emotion and humour, develop in a magical world where everything is done to give the young viewer true moments of joy! Every event with our little heroes—so mischievous and affectionate—is a delight."[9] In the United States, Dove Foundation reviewer Linda Eagle praised the episodes as "an adorable piece of animation", and gave both Region 1 DVDs four stars out of five.[31] [32]
This season, based entirely on books in the Beechwood Bunny Tales series, is about 92 minutes long. In each episode, the Bellflower children perform a song whose title does not appear in the credits.
The first season was also released by TF1 Vidéo on 23 January 2003[9] and again on 19 February 2004.[35] Its only special features were a collection of songs from the episodes and a DVD-ROM weblink to the distributor's site.[9]
On 22 February 2008, in time for Easter, released the German-dubbed version as Die Häschenbande, Folge 1.[36] [37] This came about as a result of the show's success on local television.[37] The extras were colouring pages and previews of other products.[38]
| German title | English title | |
|---|---|---|
| "Ein neues Zuhause" | "Room to Move" | |
| "Peppino in Gefahr" | "Carnival" | |
| "Rackies Schneeabenteuer" | "Slide On" | |
| "Ein gefährlicher Flug" | "Balloonatic Bunnies" |
Under the series title De Knuffel Konijntjes, Dutch FilmWorks B.V. released the first four episodes individually in the mid-2000s; all of these were put together in a box set on 21 March 2006.[39] The third volume in this version, "Hoog in de Lucht" ("Balloonatic Bunnies"), was released several months before #2, "Carnaval" ("Carnival").
| Dutch title | English title | Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Verhuizing" | "Room to Move" | 8 March 2005[40] | |
| "Hoog in de Lucht" | "Ballonatic Bunnies" | 30 August 2005[41] | |
| "Carnaval" | "Carnival" | 13 January 2006[42] | |
| "Winterpret" | "Slide On" | 20 July 2006[43] |
As part of a marketing deal with TVA,[10] the English version of Season 1 was distributed on VHS by the Utah-based Feature Films for Families (FFF) in 2001; the Region 1 DVD versions came out on 1 October 2003.[31] [32] Extras on both discs included trailers for other FFF releases and special messages from the distributor's staff.
| Title | Episodes | |
|---|---|---|
| The Bellflower Bunnies, Vol. 1 | "Room to Move" / "Carnival" | |
| The Bellflower Bunnies, Vol. 2 | "Balloonatic Bunnies" / "Slide On" |
The first season was released on DVD and VHS by South Korea's C4U Entertainment in February 2005 as 까르르 토끼 친구들.[5] [44] There, they are titled "이사가는 날" ("Room to Move"), "축제는 즐거워" ("Carnival"), "열기구 대소동" ("Balloonatic Bunnies") and "달려라, 썰매야!" ("Slide On").[44]