The Easter Bunny Is Coming To Town (Warner Home Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C Main Program: C+
Of the
many Rankin-Bass stop-motion TV specials, The
Easter Bunny Is Coming To Town was one of several holiday
specials that wanted to expand the holiday market beyond Christmas. The show is mixed, but the one thing it has
that makes it work is a singing/narrating/puppet Fred Astaire voiced by the
legend himself.
Without
any digital work whatsoever, the more you think about that, the more amazing
the work here is. Even in its time, it
was considered impressive for such a special and kept the company on the map,
but they did more than a few of these and they were not distinct enough from
each other. Besides Astaire and the
choice of holiday, you get some of their better stop-motion work and should get
a new audience with this DVD.
Despite
being shot on film, the 1.33 X 1 image can look a bit softer than expected and
I wondered if the DVD format was one of the reasons. The Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono disappoints, with
flat sound and low volume the TV broadcasts never had. Did Astaire record the songs in stereo? This deserves better audio. Three shorts (Breakfast Of Magicians, Floating Through Daydream Garden, Easter Express) are included as extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
