Claymation Easter

*Claymation Easter*
Claymation Easter
Written by	Barry Bruce; Mark Gustafson ; Ryan Holznagel
Directed by	Mark Gustafson
Voices of	Tim Conner; Jim Cummings
Composer	Mark Mothersbaugh
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Will Vinton
Producer	Paul Diener
Editor	Scott Sundholm
Production company	Will Vinton Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	April 19, 1992

Last updated February 14, 2024

Claymation Easter is a 1992 stop-motion animated short film by Will Vinton. The Easter-themed special won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.^[1] The special aired on CBS on April 19, 1992.^[2]

Plot

A pig named Wilshire tries to run field tests on a new shark-proof diving suit, using another pig, Vince, and a live shark as his test subjects. After the shark swallows Vince whole, Wilshire considers the test results "inconclusive".

Later, Wilshire, looking at his $1.5 million electricity bill, listens to an interview with the Easter Bunny on the radio. As the host, Spike Rabbit, takes questions from callers, one listener asks the Easter Bunny why he turned down a $5 million endorsement deal for tennis shoes. Wilshire's ears perk up and he calls the station to ask for more details. The Easter Bunny answers, saying his position is an ancient and sacred trust, refusing to violate it. Intrigued, Wilshire calls in to ask what would happen if something tragic befell the Easter Bunny, and who would replace him.

Wilshire learns that, according to ancient customs, a new Easter Bunny would be chosen by a contest of champions. Armed with this information, Wilshire hatches a plan to eliminate the Easter Bunny and inherit his position, becoming an "Easter Pig". The next morning, he disguises himself as a salesman for vacuum cleaners, enters the Easter Bunny's cottage, and cranks up his vacuum cleaner, sucking up everything inside the house, including the Easter Bunny himself.

That night, news breaks over the radio that the Easter Bunny is missing and that, if he is not found by Friday, an Easter Race will be held to determine a replacement. Wilshire deduces that, to be the Easter Bunny, he must think and act like a rabbit. He turns to Dr. Spike Rabbit (the same talk show host from earlier) for help. Wearing a cyan rabbit costume, Wilshire claims that he is a "rabbit trapped in a pig's body" and "wants to come out of the carrot patch" by Friday. So for the next few days, Spike has Wilshire steal carrots from a carrot patch, only to be viciously attacked by the farmer's dog. Then, Spike pits Wilshire into crossing freeways. After three unsuccessful attempts, Wilshire recovers in his workshop, where Spike finds the Easter Bunny. After he finds out that Wilshire was the kidnapper, Wilshire springs a trapdoor, sending both Spike and the Easter Bunny into a pit.

The Easter Race is held at a large amphitheater, and Wilshire manages to enter by citing the lack of a written law saying that only rabbits are allowed to compete. Meanwhile, Spike and the Easter Bunny are suspended over the shark tank until the shark jumps up and swallows the two rabbits whole. They find Vince, alive and well, playing solitaire.

Phase One of the Easter Race begins and involves hatching an Easter Egg. Wilshire sits on his egg like the other contestants, but grows impatient with the recalcitrant chick. He uses a bomb to force the egg open, taking out a couple of rivals. The crowd boos at Wilshire's victory.

In the shark's belly, Vince suggests building a fire like in Pinocchio as a way of getting out, but Spike points out the excess of stomach acid would be dangerous if lit. Spike soon gets an idea to give the shark an upset stomach by singing "Release Me", which is enough for the shark to start sobbing and crying.

Wilshire makes it to Phase Two of the Easter Race, which involves delivering eggs to cardboard cutouts of children. While the other rabbits start up their mopeds, Wilshire uses a modified lowrider with mechanical arms and legs, crushing any competitors that get in the way and injuring others. Wilshire wins again only because he is the last contestant left standing, much to the dismay of the crowd.

The Third and Final Phase of the Easter Race involves Freeway Crossing on a fake freeway. When Wilshire takes a step, he is surprised to see that nothing happens. He ecstatically breaks into a victory dance, enduring massive booing from the crowd. However, before Wilshire can enter the coronation throne, the shark, moved by Spike's singing, spits out the three animals up into the air, sending them right into the amphitheater, and the Easter Bunny lands on the throne. Noticing this, Wilshire, denying any wrongdoing, inadvertently steps on the fake freeway and gets run over by a truck. Spike leads the crowd in a rendition of the Hallelujah chorus as the Easter Bunny wishes everyone a Happy Easter.

During the end credits, one of the rats from Wilshire's lab playfully scurries around one of the bunny guards from the amphitheater, before biting the guard's leg, and the guard's scream can be heard off camera as the Will Vinton Productions logo is shown.

Cast

Tim Conner as Vince Pig
Jim Cummings as Dr. Spike Rabbit, Stadium Announcer
Michele Mariana as Wilshire Pig, Radio Reporter
Todd Tolces as Easter Bunny, Judges

Related Research Articles

Bugs Bunny is a fictional character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. Earlier iterations of the character first appeared in Ben Hardaway's Porky's Hare Hunt (1938) and subsequent shorts before Bugs's definitive characterization debuted in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare (1940). Bob Givens, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson are credited for defining Bugs's design.

William Gale Vinton was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work alongside several Emmy Awards and Clio Awards for his studio's work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claymation</span> Stop-motion animation made using malleable clay models

Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay.

<i>Springtime with Roo</i> 2004 film by Saul Andrew Blinkoff, Elliot M. Bour

Springtime with Roo is a 2004 American direct-to-video Easter animated musical fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and DisneyToon Studios, and animated by Toon City Animation in Manila, Philippines.

<i>A Claymation Christmas Celebration</i> 1987 American television Christmas special

Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration is an animated Christmas television special originally broadcast on the American CBS TV network on December 21, 1987. The special featured stop motion clay animation and was produced and directed by Will Vinton. The special debuted alongside A Garfield Christmas and the two continued to be aired back to back in subsequent years.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Easter stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, currently distributed by Universal Television and based on the 1957 novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The special is narrated by Danny Kaye and starring Casey Kasem, Vincent Price, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees. The special also features Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins' Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".

Easter Yeggs is a 1947 Looney Tunes theatrical animated short. The cartoon was released on June 28, 1947, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The title is a play on "Easter eggs" and on "yegg", a slang term for a burglar or safecracker.

A Hare Grows In Manhattan is a Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series, released on March 22, 1947. It was produced by Edward Selzer and directed by I. Freleng. The short features Bugs Bunny.

Bedevilled Rabbit is a 1957 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on April 13, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny. In this cartoon, Bugs is lost in Tasmania, and has to deal with the Tasmanian Devil.

Bugs Bunny's Easter Special is a 1977 Easter-themed Looney Tunes television special directed by Friz Freleng and features clips from 10 Warner Bros. cartoons. It originally aired on the CBS network April 7, 1977.

To Hare is Human is a 1956 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 15, 1956, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. In this film, Wile builds a UNIVAC computer, and grows to rely on its answers.

Yogi the Easter Bear is an American animated television special starring Yogi Bear, produced by Hanna-Barbera and animated by Filipino animation studio Fil-Cartoons. It was broadcast in syndication on April 3, 1994. This is one of Don Messick's last voice-over roles; he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1996 and died in 1997. It would also be the last official Yogi Bear media for 16 years until the release of the live-action Yogi Bear film.

Presto is a 2008 American animated short film by Pixar, shown in theaters before their feature-length film WALL-E. The short is about Presto, a magician who is trying to perform a show, but his rabbit, Alec, would not cooperate with him until he gets his carrot. The short is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes, as well as the work of Tex Avery. Presto was written and directed by veteran Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, in his directorial debut with the story written by Ted Mathot, Valerie Lapointe and Justin Wright.

Compressed Hare is a 1961 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble. The short was released on July 29, 1961, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. This is the final first-run Golden Age short in which Wile E. Coyote speaks, although he speaks again in the Adventures of the Road Runner featurette a year later.

The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town is a 1977 musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. It reunites the writer Romeo Muller, designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred Astaire from Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, and stars the voices of Skip Hinnant, Bob McFadden, Meg Sargent, James Spies, and Allen Swift. The special originally premiered on ABC in the United States on April 6, 1977.

Rabbit's Feat is an animated 1960 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on June 4, 1960, and stars Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote. As Maltese had left for Hanna-Barbera, his name was removed from the credits.

Hop is a 2011 American live-action/animated fantasy comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and Relativity Media, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Tim Hill and produced by Chris Meledandri and Michele Imperato Stabile, from a screenplay written by Brian Lynch and the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, the latter two of whom also conceived the film's story. It stars James Marsden, Russell Brand, Kaley Cuoco, Hank Azaria, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, David Hasselhoff, Chelsea Handler, and Hugh Laurie, with Tiffany Espensen, Dustin Ybarra, and Hugh Hefner in supporting roles. The film follows a young rabbit who would rather drum in a band than succeed his father as the Easter Bunny, and befriends a human slacker seeking a job.

The Egg Cracker Suite is a 1943 Easter-themed animated short produced by Walter Lantz, co-directed by Ben Hardaway and Emery Hawkins and animated by Les Kline, Laverne Harding and Paul J. Smith that features a redesigned Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. This is the last animated short to feature Oswald until Get a Horse! in 2013.

Claymation Comedy of Horrors is a 1991 Halloween stop-motion short film by Will Vinton. Animator Teresa Drilling won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement for her work on this short. It was produced in 1990, and broadcast on CBS on May 29, 1991.

References

↑ "Outstanding Short Format Animated Program Nominees / Winners 1992".
↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 244. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.

External links

Claymation Easter at IMDb

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Outstanding Short Format Animated Program Nominees / Winners 1992".

[2] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 244. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.

[1]

[2]