The Tale Of The Bunny Picnic

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The Tale Of The Bunny Picnic
Directed by	Jim Henson David G. Hillier
Produced by	Jim Henson
Written by	Jocelyn Stevenson
Music by	Philip Balsam
Distributed by	BBC / Walt Disney
Release date(s)	1986
Country	U.K. /U.S.A.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Tale Of The Bunny Picnic is a 1986 television film directed by Jim Henson and David G. Hillier. It was originally a made for t.v. movie, but was later released on VHS in 1993. The film focuses on the Muppet character Bean Bunny, who has been known to appear on Jim Henson's The Muppet Show and on movies featuring Jim Henson's Muppets. The story is actually told by an elderly Bean Bunny to younger bunny children. The story opens with a community of Muppet Bunnies celebrating their annual Bunny Picnic. Bean wishes he could help in the preparations for the festival, but he is told by his older brother he is too small and will only get in the way. Feeling very disappointed, Bean wanders off alone and imagins himself as the king of the bunny community. "Long live the king!" shout the bunnies in Bean's daydream. As he is out he encounters a wicked farmer's dog. Bean runs away and eludes the dog and warns the villiage, but none of the other bunnies believe him. They conclude that there is no dog and that Bean is simply making up the story for attention. The bunnies soon discover that the dog is indeed real and out to get them. At first, it seems that the farmer's dog is a villain in the story, but it is revealed that it is his master the farmer (who is allergic to bunnies) that wants him to destroy the bunnies. The dog is only trying to protect himself from the wrath of the farmer by hunting the bunnies.

After much debating and futile attempts to rid themselves of the farmer's dog, the bunnies finally listen to Bean, who claims to have a solution to their problem. They all hide inside of a giant bunny costume to frighten the dog. The dog, being threatened by the farmer to catch the rabbits or possibly be shot, sets out to pursue the bunnies. When he enters their village he is confronted by the "giant bunny" (which is actually the bunnies from the villiage in a large costume). The dog is frightened by the giant bunny and begs for mercy. However, one of the bunnies sneezes and the costume falls apart, revealing the bunny tribe to the dog. The dog is now infuriated by this deception, but before he is able to attack the bunnies the farmer appears. The dog balks as his angry master approaches. The bunnies, feeling sympathy for the obviously petrified dog, decide to forgive the dog and help him against the vicious farmer. They run at the farmer singing an empowering song. The farmer, with his allergy to bunnies acting up, begins sneezing uncontrollably and runs off never to return to the bunnies' village again. The bunnies then welcome the dog into their village. The film then goes back to the elderly Bean who finishes telling the story to the young bunnies. The dog, by now aged as well, is with him as he does. The film ends with the bunnies singing a song.