The Bellflower Bunnies (season 3)

The third season of The Bellflower Bunnies, a children's animated series based on the Beechwood Bunny Tales books by Geneviève Huriet and Loïc Jouannigot, began airing on France's TF1 network on 4 April 2007.^[1] The episodes are directed by Eric Berthier, produced by Patricia Robert, and written by Valérie Baranski.

This season consists of twenty-six episodes, During April and May 2008, all of them were first broadcast on Kinderkanal (KI.KA), a German children's station; episodes 27–38 first aired in France from April 4 to July 4, 2007, episodes 39–45 aired from July 6 to August 24, 2008, episodes 46–50 from December 22, 2008 to January 2, 2009 and episodes 51 and 52 on July 12 and July 13, 2010 respectively.^[2] In July and August 2008, most of those were broadcast on the French-language channel TFO in Ontario, Canada.^[3]

Production

As with season 2, The Bellflower Bunnies is a co-production of France's TF1, Euro Visual, Big Cash and Walt Disney Television, and Canada's Tooncan. Newcomers to the series included the Département de la Charente,^[4] Région Poitou-Charentes,^[4] and Peter Scheede Animation of Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente.^[5]

Production of this season began in 2005,^[6] and ended around early 2007.^[7] Returnees included director Eric Berthier, producer Patricia Robert, writer Valérie Baranski, executive co-producer Paul Cadieux, and executive producers Yves Pont and Franck Algard.

Episodes

Each episode in this season runs 22 minutes in length. Except for "Les Passiflore à la mer" (based on an original Beechwood Bunny Tale), the episodes are based on original scripts by Valérie Baranski. The English titles for this season's episodes come from broadcasts on other countries, such as TVP1 in Poland and Boomerang in Latin America/Brazil.

The 38th episode in the official order, "Le violon du marais," aired in France before #37, "L'expédition glaciale." On KI.KA's list, however, "La reine des corsaires" ("Das Geheimnis von Schloss Meadow") comes at #37, while "L'expédition glaciale" is placed at #39 instead.^[8]

Note: O = Corresponds to the official order as listed by Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) and AnimezVous.com. B = Corresponds to TF1's broadcast schedule. Numbers to the right refer to their positions in this season.

O	B	Title (English / French) / Air date
27 - 1	27 - 1	"Fairy Violet" "La fée Pirouette" 4 April 2007[1] Violette is granted the powers of a fairy from Aunt Zinnia's childhood book.
28 - 2	28 - 2	"Magic rabbit" "Le lapin magique" 18 April 2007[9] The Bellflowers investigate the mysterious appearance of a gigantic white rabbit in their village.
29 - 3	29 - 3	"Lighthouse in the Forest" "Un phare dans la forêt" 25 April 2007[10] Periwinkle takes care of an injured bird from the forest, but it ends up dead the following morning. After Papa Bramble tells him what happened, the young rabbit goes on an adventure in search of his deceased friend.
30 - 4	30 - 4	"Treasure Hunt" "La pêche au trésor" 2 May 2007[11] To meet a jealous badger's demands, Poppy must build a machine to lift out a sacred treasure from a lake.
31 - 5	31 - 5	"Stardust" "Poussières d'étoiles" 9 May 2007[12] A meteorite strikes Beechwood Grove, then causes problems for the community after it is stolen.
32 - 6	32 - 6	"Dream Vacation" "Vacances de rêve" 23 May 2007[13] Mistletoe feels reluctant about his house duties, but eventually learns that there is no holiday from chores.
33 - 7	33 - 7	"The Bellflowers and the Henbar" "Les Passiflore et le Barapoul" 30 May 2007[14] The Bellflowers receive a visit from the Barapoul, a trio of musical chickens.
34 - 8	34 - 8	"Bellflowers by the Sea" "Les Passiflore à la mer" 6 June 2007[15] Bramble takes his family to the seaside, where the children take sailing lessons and help a friend. Later, their day is ruined when Dandelion gets caught in a smugglers' trap. Based on Les Passiflore à la mer (ISBN 2-7459-1788-9).
35 - 9	35 - 9	"Perfume of love" "Parfum d'amour" 13 June 2007[16] A love fragrance makes Periwinkle attracted to the perfumer's granddaughter, Clara, and his neighbour Pimpernelle, at the same time. Now he must make a tough decision over whom he truly loves.
36 - 10	36 - 10	"Violette and the stork" "Pirouette et la cigogne" 20 June 2007[17] The family adopts a red-eyed white rabbit, only to find out that a stork with poor eyesight delivered it to them by mistake.
37 - 11[18]	38 - 12	"The Ice Expedition" "L'expédition glaciale" 4 July 2007[19] On his birthday, Poppy goes on an expedition to the world's largest glacier.
38 - 12	37 - 11	"The Violin in the Marsh" "Le violon du marais" 27 June 2007[20] The bunnies are delighted at Poppy's performance on a violin he bought from a flea market; Mistletoe wants to prove he can play it better than his brother. But when the instrument is broken, it will lead both on a dangerous quest through a marsh to find its maker.
39 - 13	39 - 13	"Pirate Queen" "La reine des corsaires" 7 May 2008 6 July 2008[21] With his parrot—a pirate whose ancestors have been robbed of their treasure—Anthony from Scotland gives the Bellflowers a hand once again.
40 - 14	40 - 14	"Storm over Blueberry Hill" "Tempête aux Airelles" 12 May 2008 13 July 2008[22] Poppy is thrilled at the newest flying machine around, owned by a rooster, but Bramble forbids his children from going on it.
41 - 15	41 - 15	"Archie & CO" "Arsène et compagnie" 13 May 2008 20 July 2008[23] Dandelion wanders away from the house during stormy weather, and is then saved by a group of ravens. However, the rabbit has suspicions that they could be thieves.
42 - 16	42 - 16	"Inventor Bunnies" "Les petits bricolos" 14 May 2008 27 July 2008[24] Papa Bramble's old friend, an inventor named Agathe, pays a visit to the family; her daughter Lilli comes along.
43 - 17	43 - 17	"The Softies" "Les Toudoux" 15 May 2008 17 August 2008[25] During an intense heat wave in Beechwood Grove, Periwinkle and his father visit an underground stream. While there, they come across the cursed belt buckle of Baldini, the legendary Knight.
44 - 18	44 - 18	"The Bellflowers United" "Les Passiflore unis" 16 May 2008 20 August 2008[26] During a rough winter, the Bellflowers try to get Violette a new dress.
45 - 19	45 - 19	"At Zinna's Place" "Chez Zinia" 19 May 2008 24 August 2008[27] A car accident lands a restaurant critic close to the Bellflower home; impressed by Aunt Zinnia's cooking skills, he persuades the rabbits to open their own establishment. Though hoping to help his family out, Periwinkle gets left behind with rats who eventually force him to make their meals.
46 - 20	46 - 20	"The Bunnyosaurus" "Le Lapinosaurus" 20 May 2008 22 December 2008 While the young rabbits spend another winter at Theo's, Poppy discovers a dinosaur fossil and informs Ernest Babine about it; a well-preserved specimen soon awaits both of them.
47 - 21	47 - 21	"The Chosen One" "L'élu des Airelles" 21 May 2008 23 December 2008 The Bellflowers go to a local election to decide which of two partridges will rule their land.
48 - 22	48 - 22	"Romeo and Violet" "Roméo et Pirouette" 22 May 2008 30 December 2008 Mistletoe and Poppy become rivals with Romeo, a race car driver; even Violette falls in love with him. However, the Bellflowers suspect that he could be a fraud.
49 - 23	49 - 23	"Merry Go Round" "Sacré manège" 23 May 2008 1 January 2009 The young bunnies try out an old carousel machine. But when they break it down, it could land them into trouble with its owner and his brother.
50 - 24	50 - 24	"My Rag Doll" "Mon pantin à moi" 26 May 2008 2 January 2009 Because his siblings feel he is too small to qualify for a track competition, Dandelion suddenly strays away from the family.
51 - 25	51 - 25	"Moonstone" "Pierre de lune" 27 May 2008 14 January 2009(Playhouse Disney)/12 July 2010(TF1) In order to impress his girlfriend Pammy, Poppy builds a moon-ready rocket. But upon her return, her new stepbrother Norbert puts Poppy in a bad mood.
52 - 26	52 - 26	"Sweet Fabiola" "Fabiola la douce" 28 May 2008 15 January 2009(Playhouse Disney)/13 July 2010(TF1) Violette goes for the main role in a stage production, but then her costume gets stolen. Eventually, as she searches for it, she ends up in the cave of an evil witch.

DVD releases

Beez Entertainment and Seven Sept released the first DVD of this season on 4 November 2008, as La Famille Passiflore: Les Nouvelles Aventures.^[28] Like the second season discs, the original French versions are paired with their English dubs.^[28] Another volume was released on January 6, 2009.,^[29] the two DVDs include five episodes each. No new volumes of this season have been released since then.

See also

• List of The Bellflower Bunnies episodes

References

General

• "La Famille Passiflore episode list" (in French). AnimezVous.com. Retrieved 2008-09-26. 
• "Episode list for The Bellflower Bunnies (Die Häschenbande)" (in German). KI.KA (kika.de). Retrieved 2008-09-26. 
• Some French titles were provided by TFO's schedules during its summer 2008 run.

Specific

External links

• (French) The Bellflower Bunnies at TF1.fr
• The Bellflower Bunnies at the Internet Movie Database
• Official sites for the DVD distributors, Beez Entertainment and Seven Sept