Blog #529: Why "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976) Left a Huge Impact on Me as a Neurodivergent Individual?

When it comes to Easter, I'm pretty sure many of you have your own traditions marking the moment JC rises from the dead, triumphant over sin and death. Some of you attend sunrise services, do Easter Egg hunts, eat Chocolate Bunnies that would make your dentist have a field day or have a traditional Easter dinner with Ham, Beef or whatnot.

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However, if you are someone who is big into Easter television specials, there are quite a few to choose from. Not as much as Christmas specials, but they still do provide a decent variety. Three of those specials were produced by none other than Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass, the creative geniuses behind "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (1964), "Frosty the Snowman" (1969), "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (1970) and many other classic Christmas and other winter holiday specials.

But they also did specials for other holidays as well, three of them were centered around Easter. Their most popular of the three was "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" (1971) and they managed to do a sequel to "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (1970) called "The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town" (1977) which brought back Fred Astaire as the narrator Special Delivery Kluger.

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However, if you were to ask me what my favorite Easter special is, it would have to be "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976) narrated by Sam the Snowman himself, Burl Ives. Out of all the Easter specials Rankin and Bass produced, this 30 minute hand drawn animated special left the biggest impact on me as a neurodivergent individual. I can remember watching this special in the 1990s on the Disney Channel and with each viewing of it, I became enraptured in the story of how Stuffy (Robert Morse), a stuffed bunny that was given to a little girl named Glinda (Dina Lynn), was saved from being burned after Glinda contracts Scarlet Fever for the sole purpose of becoming the Easter Bunny.

Perhaps what a lot of people forget to remember is that "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976) can act as sort of an allegory for the reason why we celebrate.

The special opens at Christmas (when Jesus was born) and unlike Jesus, both Stuffy and Glinda undergo their own passions where they face adversity in the form of Scarlet Fever, which in my view, is the story's main antagonist, as the "antagonist" of the special, a frozen hermit named Zero who wants to turn Easter Valley in a winter wasteland is nothing more than in the category of jerks/bullies. There have been plenty of hidden antagonists in films and television shows, with Man from "Bambi" (1942) being the most prominent.

As an antagonist, Scarlet Fever does everything in his power to keep Glinda and Stuffy apart and the only way he can be defeated is by the power of Easter and the power of spring.

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In a way, Glinda and Stuffy's friendship and the fact they are underdogs is what drives the story. Stuffy was nearly a victim of Scarlet Fever's wrath and had it not been for circumstances that would have otherwise been viewed as nonsense by others, then the hidden villain known as Scarlet Fever would have succeeded.

I bring this up because "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976) is essentially an underdog story. You've got this little girl battling Scarlet Fever and being forced to deal with the fact that all her possessions were burned to keep Scarlet Fever at bay and that includes the outfit she was initially going to wear at the town's Easter Parade. Something else that strikes me is that Glinda is willing to take the defeat with a strong grace, something that makes her mother break down crying when the truth is ultimately revealed.

On the other side, you have her stuffed toy rabbit, now brought to life with a purpose to not only become the Easter Bunny, but also reunite with the girl who had given him love from their first meeting on Christmas. With the help of three other rabbits, he ultimately succeeds in his goal while also battling Zero and his snowball sidekick, Bruce, from stealing the Golden Easter Lily.

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This, of course, ultimately leads to the big payoff of the special and my all time favorite Rankin/Bass scene that they have created: the scene where Stuffy and Glinda reunite in front of the church where they sing the first few lines of Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade." Seeing them run up to one another with Glinda in her Easter Finery (including an Easter Bonnet that Stuffy personally gave to her) sends a strong message that the underdogs have triumphed. Glinda was an underdog to Scarlet Fever and Stuffy was an underdog not just to Scarlet Fever, but also to a winter hermit.

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The fact is that I relate to "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976) more so than of the other Rankin/Bass specials because neurodivergent individuals are often considered underdogs to the outside world. You have outside forces that say that neurodivergent individuals will never do anything in life, but if you look at some neurodivergent individuals that reached their way to the top whether it's holding a job, moving into a new home, travelling across the country by themselves, etc., it's kind of like with what Scarlet Fever does to Glinda and Stuffy.

He tries to assert his dominance over them and keep them apart forever, especially preventing them from attending the Easter Parade, much like how certain know-it-alls prevent the neurodivergent individuals from achieving their ultimate goals in life. In a way, I was kind of an underdog story myself, growing up neurodivergent and I overcame many challenges to get to where I am today as a proud owner and entrepeneur.

Many people look to "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," "The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town," or some of the non-Rankin/Bass Easter Specials as part of their tradition. But, if you are a neurodivergent family who wants to find inspiration for how children and adults can overcome their roles as underdogs in life, then I highly recommend "The First Easter Rabbit" regardless if they celebrate Easter or not.

Plus, I think you might get a few happy tears during Stuffy and Glinda's Reunion during "Easter Parade." Trust me, you might want to keep your tissues handy.

Easter Parade from "The First Easter Rabbit" (1976)

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Catch you all later and Happy Easter, Passover, or whatever Springtime holiday you celebrate!!