| Easter Fever | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | The Jack Rabbit Story |
| Screenplay by | Larry Mollin |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | Patricia Cullen |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Clive A. Smith |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Release | March 30, 1980 |
Easter Fever is a 1980 Canadian-American animated Easter themed television special that premiered in syndication in the United States and on CBC on March 30, 1980.
In the special, Jack Rabbit (voiced by Saturday Night Live cast member Garrett Morris) leaves his job as the Easter Bunny and is treated to a celebrity roast until an aardvark convinced him not to retire with "the last Easter egg" (Maurice LaMarche providing impressions of Steve Martin and Don Rickles [1] and SCTV s Catherine O'Hara providing the voice of Jack's wife Scarlett O'Hare). [2] It also features songs by John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful.
It is the five out of the six television specials in the 1977 to 1980 series of specials by Nelvana. It was also one of the last television specials from the company, concluding the series with Take Me Up to the Ball Game , which premiered on September 18 of the year. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Garrett Isaac Morris is an American actor. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live, appearing from 1975 to 1980, and played Jimmy on The Jeffersons (1983–1984). Morris had one of the starring roles, as Junior "Uncle Junior" King, on the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show, which aired from 1996 to 2001. Morris also had a starring role as Earl Washington on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls, from 2011 to 2017. He is also known for his role in the sitcom Martin as Stan Winters, from 1992 to 1995, until he suffered an injury. Also, he made two guest appearances on The Wayans Bros. in season one, episode one as himself and again on episode ten as the brothers' uncle Leon (1995). He played a concerned teacher in the film Cooley High (1975), Slide in Car Wash (1976), and Carl in The Census Taker (1984).
Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Maurice LaMarche is a Canadian voice actor and comedian. He has voiced The Brain in Animaniacs as well as its spin-off Pinky and the Brain, Big Bob in Hey Arnold! (1996–2004), the title character from Inspector Gadget, and a variety of characters in Futurama, including Kif Kroker. He also voiced Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters and its follow-up Extreme Ghostbusters.
Histeria! is an American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, Histeria! was an explicitly educational program created to meet FCC requirements for educational/informational content for children.
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Howard Jerome Morris was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in The Andy Griffith Show as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows (1954). He did voices for television shows such as The Flintstones (1962–1965), The Jetsons (1962–1987), The Atom Ant Show (1965–1966), and Garfield and Friends (1988–1994).
Inspector Gadget is a media franchise that began in 1983 with the DIC Entertainment animated television series Inspector Gadget. Since the original series, there have been many spin-offs based on the show, including additional animated series, video games, and films.
The Batman/Superman Hour is a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy.
Take Me Up to the Ball Game is a 1980 American-Canadian animated television special that premiered on CBC in Canada and in syndication in the United States on September 18, 1980. It is the last television special in Nelvana's 1977 to 1980 series of specials. It was also the last Nelvana television special to be distributed by Viacom Enterprises in the United States. The title is a play on the 1908 song title "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a 1977 Japanese-American Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It premiered on ABC on December 3, 1977. The story is based on the 1975 song of the same name, written by Gene Autry, Don Pfrimmer and Dave Burgess.
Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue is a 1978 American live-action/animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions featuring animated character Fred Flintstone and hosted by Roy Clark and Bonnie Franklin. It premiered on CBS on Friday, January 13, 1978 at 8:00 pm EST.
The New Alice in Wonderland is a 1966 American animated television special written by Bill Dana and produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was broadcast on the ABC network on March 30, 1966, in an hour slot. The songs were written by composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams, who were most famous for Bye Bye Birdie. The songs were orchestrated by Marty Paich, who also provided musical direction; plus devised and arranged that part of the underscoring that was drawn from the musical numbers. The rest of the underscoring was drawn from the vast library of cues that Hanna-Barbera's in-house composer Hoyt Curtin had written for various animated series.
The First Easter Rabbit is an animated Easter television special that premiered April 9, 1976 on NBC and later aired on CBS. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, it tells the story of the Easter Bunny's origin. The special is loosely based on the 1922 children's book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Burl Ives narrates the special, which also features the Irving Berlin song "Easter Parade". It marked Ives's return to a Rankin/Bass special for the first time since the company's 1964 stop motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer twelve years prior.
The Scarlett O'Hara War is a 1980 American made-for-television drama film directed by John Erman. It is based on the 1979 novel Moviola by Garson Kanin. Set in late 1930s Hollywood, it is about the search for the actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in the much anticipated film adaptation of Gone with the Wind (1939). This film premiered as the finale of a three-night TV miniseries on NBC called Moviola: A Hollywood Saga.
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast is an American series of television specials hosted by entertainer Dean Martin and airing from 1974 to 1984. For a series of 54 specials and shows, Martin and his friends would "roast" a celebrity. The roasts were patterned after the roasts held at the New York Friars' Club.
This Year's Blonde is a 1980 American television film directed by John Erman and starring Constance Forslund as Marilyn Monroe, Lloyd Bridges as Johnny Hyde, and Norman Fell. Based on the Garson Kanin novel Moviola about Monroe, the film was presented as part of a three-night TV special event on NBC titled Moviola: A Hollywood Saga.
Wolf Rock TV is a 1984 American live action/animated series produced by DIC Enterprises and Dick Clark Productions, featuring the voice of Wolfman Jack. The series ran for seven episodes on ABC before it was canceled due to low ratings. Wolf Rock TV was replaced by Scary Scooby Funnies, which consisted of reruns of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo shorts from The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (1980–1982).
How Murray Saved Christmas is a 2014 animated musical television special, directed by Peter Avanzino and written by Mike Reiss. The story, narrated in verse, is based on Reiss's 2000 picture book of the same name. Voice actors included Jerry Stiller, Sean Hayes, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Alexander, John Ratzenberger, and Dennis Haysbert.
Intergalactic Thanksgiving, sometimes known as Please Don't Eat The Planet, is a 1979 Canadian Thanksgiving animated television special that premiered on CBC and in the United States in syndication on November 22, 1979. Intergalactic Thanksgiving was the fourth television special produced by Nelvana in their 1977 to 1980 series of specials, A Cosmic Christmas, The Devil and Daniel Mouse and Romie-0 and Julie-8, all premiering in 1977, 1978 and 1979.
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas is a 1995 animated television special based on the Pinky and the Brain TV series. It is directed by Rusty Mills and features the voices of Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche. It is about the eponymous genetically modified mice, who are bent on world domination, attempting to deceive Santa Claus into delivering hypnotic devices as presents during Christmas.
