The Bellflower Bunnies

The Bellflower Bunnies

Company type	Television series
Industry	Animation
Founded	2001 (2001)
Headquarters	France, Canada
Products	Animated television series

The Bellflower Bunnies () is an animated French television series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales books authored by Geneviève Huriet. It debuted on TF1 with an initial batch of four episodes broadcast from December 24 to 28, 2001. The show represents a collaborative production between France's TF1 and multiple Canadian studios, with the second season created in association with Disney Television France.

In total, the series comprises 52 episodes.

The narrative centers on the Bellflower family, a group of seven rabbits residing in Beechwood Grove (referred to as Blueberry Hill in the English adaptation). The household includes two adults—Papa Bramble and Aunt Zinnia—who look after their five offspring: Periwinkle, Poppy, Mistletoe, Dandelion, and Violette.

Production

During its initial phase, the series was developed as a set of four special episodes by TF1 and its affiliate Protécréa, alongside Montreal’s TVA International and Luxembourg’s Melusine. Direction was handled by Moran Caouissin, an animator known for his work on Disney’s DuckTales feature. Production commenced in autumn 2000 with expenditures exceeding US$2 million, averaging roughly US$600,000 per episode.

Starting in 2004, subsequent episodes were produced through collaboration with Euro Visual, Tooncan, Megafun, Big Cash, Dragon Cartoon, and Disney Television France. This period saw direction led by Eric Berthier and musical scores composed by Alice Willis.

Europe

In France, at least six DVD collections of The Bellflower Bunnies have been issued by TF1, Beez Entertainment, and Seven Sept, available both individually and as box sets. In Germany, the label edelkids (under Edel Music) distributed the first sixteen episodes in two releases during February and August 2008.

North America

Feature Films for Families launched the English-language version on VHS in 2001 and on DVD in 2003 through a distribution agreement with TVA. Later in 2005, four additional DVDs were released under Direct Source branding, each featuring two episodes. These DVDs have become scarce in the United States; currently, the series is primarily accessible via Amazon Prime Video, Kimcartoon, and YouTube.

Episodes

Across three seasons, a total of fifty-two episodes were produced and broadcast in France. Notably, episodes 39 through 52 had their premiere on Germany’s KI.KA channel in May 2008.

Season 1

• Tom Clarke Hill
• Regine Candler
• Tom Eastwood – Papa Bramble
• Rhonda Millar – Periwinkle, Violette (Pirouette)
• Joanna Ruiz Rodriguez – Poppy

English version

• Danielle Desormeaux
• Anik Matern – Violette
• Holly Gauthier-Frankel (credited as Holly Gauthier-Frankle) – Mistletoe
• Eleanor Noble – Periwinkle
• Matt Holland
• Joanna Noyes
• Liz MacRae – Dandelion
• Mark Camacho
• Simon Peacock – Papa Bramble
• Laura Teasdale – Poppy
• Danny Wells
• John Stocker
• Sonja Ball
• Susan Glover
• A.J. Henderson
• Rick Miller
• Rick Jones
• Danny Brochu

Version française

• Flora Balzano
• Julie Burroughs
• Hugolin Chevrette
• Mario Desmarais
• Antoine Durand
• Marylène Gargour
• Annie Girard
• Hélène Lasnier
• Elisabeth Lenormand

Voir aussi

• Beechwood Bunny Tales
• Max & Ruby
• Watership Down

Liens externes

• Les Bellflower sur TF1.fr (en français)
• Liste des épisodes (en français)
• Site de KI.KA dédié aux Bellflower Bunnies avec extrait de l’épisode « Room to Move » (en allemand)
• Deuxième générique de la série interprété par Alice Willis
• Bande-annonce du programme sur le site de ZDF (nécessite RealPlayer)

• Bandes-annonces des deux premiers coffrets Région 1 sur YouTube :
  • "Room to Move" / "Carnival"
  • "Balloonatic Bunnies" / "Slide On"