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The Bellflower Bunnies
Season 1
The 2003 PAL VHS/Region 2 cover of the original French episodes. From left to right: Pirouette, Periwinkle, Dandelion, Poppy, and Papa Bramble.
No. of episodes	4
Release
Original network	TF1 (France)
Original release	24 December (2001-12-24) – 28 December 2001 (2001-12-28)
Season chronology
Next → Season 2
List of episodes

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. 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. 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. "Room to Move", the first episode in the official production order, deals with the family's move to their new house at Blueberry Hill.

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), CBBC in the United Kingdom, and Germany's Kinderkanal (KI.KA) and ZDF among others. Since early 2003, it has been made available on DVD in the United States, France, Germany and South Korea.

Production

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 at a cost of €380,000 (C$610,000) per episode. Graphics and Animation of Antwerp, Belgium, a subsidiary of Luxembourg's Studio 352, designed the layouts for these episodes, and North Korea's SEK Studio handled overseas animation duties. Premium Sound, based in Montreal, was responsible for the sound effects, design, dialogue editing, foley and mix. 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.

This season represented TF1 International at the conferences of the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) in early 2001 and 2002, and MIPTV Media Market in April 2001. For both events, the four episodes were promoted as "specials".

The first two episodes of the series were planned to air on TF1 in November 2001, with the next two to follow in December. Ultimately, all four premiered in late December on TF! Jeunesse.

Cast and crew

This article is missing information about this season's French voice crew. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (November 2008)

The first season's English voice cast included Rhonda Millar (who played two characters, Periwinkle and Pirouette), as well as Tom Clarke Hill, Tom Eastwood, Regine Candler and Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez. Their voices were recorded at Ten Pin Alley, a company based in Gloucestershire, England.

The director of this season, Moran Caouissin, was previously involved in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp as an animator. Character designer Josette Zagar previously worked in the trace and paint department for The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. 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. Fournier's partner, Dominique Mendel, became Vice President of Montreal's Spectra Animation in November 2004. Daniel Scott, a Canadian composer who created the theme for Wimzie's House, teamed up with Valérie Baranski to write the score and songs. Several more would return for the next season: screenwriter Baranski, producer Patricia Robert, and story editor Fabrice Ziolkowski to name a few.

Reception

José Evrard of France's DVDcritiques.com wrote of The Bellflower Bunnies' first season: " 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." 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.

Episodes

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.

DVD releases

Region 2 (Europe)

France

The first season was also released by TF1 Vidéo on 23 January 2003 and again on 19 February 2004. Its only special features were a collection of songs from the episodes and a DVD-ROM weblink to the distributor's site.

Germany

On 22 February 2008, in time for Easter, edelkids released the German-dubbed version as Die Häschenbande, Folge 1. This came about as a result of the show's success on local television. The extras were colouring pages and previews of other edelkids products.

Netherlands

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. The third volume in this version, "Hoog in de Lucht" ("Balloonatic Bunnies"), was released several months before #2, "Carnaval" ("Carnival").

Region 1 (North America)

As part of a marketing deal with TVA, 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. Extras on both discs included trailers for other FFF releases and special messages from the distributor's staff.

Region 3 (Asia)

The first season was released on DVD and VHS by South Korea's C4U Entertainment in February 2005 as 까르르 토끼 친구들. There, they are titled "이사가는 날" ("Room to Move"), "축제는 즐거워" ("Carnival"), "열기구 대소동" ("Balloonatic Bunnies") and "달려라, 썰매야!" ("Slide On").

See also

• List of The Bellflower Bunnies episodes

Notes

1. ^ For the English version of season 2, Pirouette was renamed Violet (as she was called in Gareth Stevens' translations).
2. In the Beechwood Bunny Tale, Family Moving Day, the house was called The Berries.
3. The company has since been renamed DeFamilieJanssen (DFJ).
4. O = Corresponds to the official order as listed by Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) and AnimezVous.com.
5. B = Corresponds to TF1's broadcast schedule.

References

General

• "La Famille Passiflore episode list" (in French). AnimezVous.com. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
• "Episode list for The Bellflower Bunnies (Die Häschenbande)" (in German). KI.KA (kika.de). Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2008.

Specific

1. ^ "Films d'animation". Le Monde (in French). Paris. 23 December 2001. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
2. ^ Moran Caouissin, director (27 December 2001). "Carnival". The Bellflower Bunnies. Season 1. Episode 2. TF1.
3. ^ 까르르 토끼 친구들 (in Korean). C4U Media. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
4. "CBBC schedule". Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire: The Sentinel. 4 May 2002. Retrieved 5 October 2008. (accessed via Google News Search)
5. "Episode list for The Bellflower Bunnies (Die Häschenbande)" (in German). KI.KA (kika.de). Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
6. "Die Häschenbande: Sendetermine der TV-Serie (ZDF, 2006)" (in German). imfernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
7. ^ Evrard, José (23 January 2003). "Review of La Famille Passiflore" (in French). DVDcritiques.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
8. ^ "Bunnies bent on broadcast (Up Next: What's developing in kids production)". KidScreen Magazine. Brunico Communications. 1 May 2001. Archived from the original on 17 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
9. Staff (1 April 2001). "Canada at the market - animation". Playback. Brunico Communications. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
10. "Visual development - About". Sylvie Lacroix (fourmi.info). 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
11. "Contact information". Premium Sound. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 April 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
12. "Television credits". Premium Sound. 2007. p. 2. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
13. "Promo clip of The Bellflower Bunnies" (RealPlayer) (in English and German). ZDF.de. 1999. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
14. "Programme 2000: List of the projects". TV France International. 2001. Archived from the original on 10 February 2001. Retrieved 8 October 2008. The Bellflower Bunnies (Protecrea [sic])
15. ^ "TF1 International. (NATPE 2001 Profiles)". Television Europe (accessed via Business Library at BNET's FindArticles). January 2001. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
16. "Natpe 2002. (National Association of Television Program Executives)" (Free registration required with library card). Television Asia (accessed via AccessMyLibrary). 2 January 2002. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
17. ^ "TF1 International. (MIP-TV 2001 Profiles)". Television Europe (accessed via Business Library at BNET's FindArticles). April 2001. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
18. "Product information for En ballon, les Passiflore!" (in French). alapage.com. Retrieved 8 October 2008. Pour mémoire, les deux premiers dessins animés de 26 minutes des aventures de la famille Passiflore seront diffusés fin novembre sur TF1. Deux autres suivront fin décembre.
19. "Profile for Rhonda Millar". Yakety Yak All Mouth Ltd. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
20. "Ten Pin Alley Ltd. business information". My Local Services/Lowi Ltd. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
21. Beck, Jerry (2005). "DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp". The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago, Ill.: Chicago Reader Press. pp. 68. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
22. René Goscinny, Henri Gruel, Albert Uderzo and Pierre Watrin (directors) (1976). The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (Animated film). Dargaud Films / Les Film René Goscinny / Studios Idéfix. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
23. Business Editors (10 January 2002). "CINAR Continues Restructuring Program, Louis Fournier Rejoins Company as Head of Distribution". Business Wire. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
24. "Profile of Dominique Mendel". Spectra Animation. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
25. "History of Spectra". L'Équipe Spectra. 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
26. "Information on composer Daniel Scott (under "Credits")" (in English and French). danielscott.net. Archived from the original (Flash required) on 28 August 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
27. "Film and Series". danielscott.net. c. 2001. Archived from the original on 21 September 2001. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
28. ^ Eagle, Linda (2003). "Review of The Bellflower Bunnies, Vol. 1". Dove Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
29. ^ Eagle, Linda (2003). "Review of The Bellflower Bunnies, Vol. 2". Dove Foundation. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
30. "Broadcast information for "Le déménagement"" (in French). Institut National de l'Audiovisuel. 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
31. "Broadcast information for "Carnaval"" (in French). Institut National de l'Audiovisuel. 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
32. "Broadcast information for "Vive la glisse"" (in French). Institut National de l'Audiovisuel. 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
33. "Broadcast information for "En ballon"" (in French). Institut National de l'Audiovisuel. 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
34. "La Famille Passiflore (2001) product information". DVDfr.com. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
35. "Die Häschenbande, Folge 1 DVD information" (in German). Brandora AG. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
36. ^ "edelkids: Unterhaltungsspaß mit Pettersson und Findus und der Häschenbande" (in German). Brandora AG. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008. DAS "Osterei" für Kids zum Fest: Die Häschenbande – Folge 1 und Folge 2 brandneu auf DVD!
37. "Die Häschenbande, Folge 1 product information". Amazon.de. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
38. ""Knuffel Konijntjes Avonturenbox" product information" (in Dutch). beslist.nl. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
39. ""Knuffel Konijntjes 1 - Verhuizing" product information" (in Dutch). beslist.nl. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
40. ""Knuffel Konijntjes 3" product information" (in Dutch). beslist.nl. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
41. ""Knuffel Konijntjes - Carnaval" product information" (in Dutch). beslist.nl. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
42. ""Knuffel Konijntjes 4" product listing" (in Dutch). VelvetMusic.nl. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
43. ^ "까르르 토끼 친구들 product description" (in Korean). Internaru (인터나루). Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2008.

External links

• (in French) The Bellflower Bunnies at TF1.fr
• The Bellflower Bunnies at IMDb
• Official sites for this season's distributors:
  • Feature Films for Families (U.S.)
  • TF1 Vidéo (France)
  • edelkids (Germany)
  • Dutch FilmWorks (Netherlands)
  • C4U Entertainment (South Korea)
• Trailers for the first two Region 1 volumes at YouTube:
  • "Room to Move" / "Carnival"
  • "Balloonatic Bunnies" / "Slide On"
• (in German) 2-minute clip of "Room to Move" at KI.KA site
• (in French) Moran Caouissin's page at MotionGraphic, with backgrounds, sketches and illustrations by the animator and Loïc Jouannigot

• 2001 Canadian television seasons
• 2001 French television seasons