Here Comes Peter Cottontail is the Holiday Inn of Rankin/Bass outings, managing to fit several special occasions into one hour thanks to a time travel story that sends its titular bunny on a quest to save Easter. To do this, he must win a contest to deliver the most eggs, but alas, he sleeps through the big day, losing the contest to the villainous Irontail, and now he’s desperately attempting to do the job on other holidays to make up for it.
Following an uneventful New Year’s Eve, Peter Cottontail finds himself stuck on Valentine’s Day. Recoloring his eggs yet again (seriously, how many coats of paints do those things have by now? Yuck!), he decides to give them away as romantic gifts. It’s then when he meets a female bunny named Donna, and I have no idea if this is supposed to be the rabbit he ends up marrying in that weird-ass “sequel” they made decades later, since her only name in that thing was “Peter’s Wife.” Anyway, Peter gives Donna an egg, and really, if he gave her two eggs, then he would win the contest, since Irontail only managed to deliver one to a sleeping hobo. Instead, because Peter is an idiot, he leaves his basket of eggs unsupervised on a park bench while he goes skating with his newfound flame.
I really like this song. It’s very pretty, and the characters move around the ice rink like figurines on a music box. It’s good stuff.
Anyway, Irontail shows up, lamenting that he has been waiting “through all the holidays” for this moment. Gotta give credit to the guy for being patient. He swipes the basket, and performing some black magic, he turns the eggs…GREEN! And not just the shells, but the whites, and the yolks too! They’re like garbage! And he ruined them like garbage! HE HATES THEM!
Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! Also, if you’re getting tired of this bit, it’s almost over. That said, Peter Cottontail will be back in like two days. Stay tuned!