World Famous Rabbits from Popular Media

10 Rabbits and Bunnies from Cartoons, Books, Commercials and More

Linda StCyr
In honor of the upcoming Easter season, I thought it would fun to figure out how many famous rabbits there were in popular media. I sat down and created a list of 10 rabbits that are widely known the world over. How many famous rabbits can you think of?

Top 10 World Famous Bunny Rabbits

#10- The Velveteen Rabbit

Margery Williams and illustrator William Nicholson created the story of The Velveteen Rabbit. In this story, a well-loved toy learns what it takes to become real. It is an unforgettable story that should be shared with every child.

#9- Peter Cottontail

Peter Cottontail was created by Thornton W. Burgess in his children's book Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The book's are based around how Peter Cottontail became The Easter Bunny. Rankin-Bas, an American stop-motion production company, turned the books into a well loved Easter television special in 1971.

#8- Br'er Rabbit

Br'er Rabbit is one of the oldest, most well known rabbit figures in popular media. His origins are unknown although there is evidence that Br'er Rabbit was passed down from African heritage and Cherokee folklore since the early 1800's. It wasn't until 1946 that Disney based the movie "Song of the South" on three of the Br'er Rabbit stories.

#7- Roger Rabbit

Married to the voluptuous Jessica Rabbit, Roger, has an entire movie based around him called "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Steven Spielberg produced the film and it was released through Walt Disney Pictures under the Touchstone banner. The movie was based off the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf. It was among the first movies to combine live action with traditional animation.

#6- The White Rabbit

"I'm late. I'm late. For a very important date. No time to say Hello, Goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" The white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland gave us one of the most memorable lines in popular media. Alice follows the white rabbit and an adventure begins.

#5- Trix Rabbit

He doesn't have a name but he appears on all the commercials for Trix cereal, always and almost never succeeding in trying to get a bite of the fruity cereal. He is most well known by the Trix slogan, "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!" The Trix rabbit is known for his trickiness in trying to get a bite of the cereal by disguising himself. He had help from another famous bunny in two commercials which leads us to the next rabbit on our list...

#4- George Washington Bunny aka Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny was given the honor of being called the greatest cartoon character by TV Guide in 2002. Many phrases in popular culture were made that way because of the Bugs Bunny cartoons produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions including, "eh..what's up doc?" and "of course you realize, this means war." Bugs' nemesis is Elmer Fudd who is always hunting wabbit for sport.

#3-Thumper

Bambi's friend and confidante makes number three on the list of world famous rabbits because he is well known in several countries due to the widespread audience that the story Bambi, A Life in the Woods caught. Bambi, A Life in the Woods was written by Felix Staltan in 1923 and has been turned into a Disney cartoon movie, a live action film, a ballet and a musical.

#2- Cadbury Bunny

The bunny that clucks like a chicken is featured in Cadbury Crème Egg commercials on television in North America. You always know Easter is approaching when you see this fluffy bunny on the tube.

And #1 on the list of World Famous Rabbits is...

The Energizer Bunny!

He just keeps going and going and going. You can't mistake him for any other bunny with his dark shades while beating a bass drum. He has been appearing in Energizer ads since 1989. He has appeared in over 115 television commercials.

Published by Linda StCyr

Linda St.Cyr has been a featured contributor for Associated Content from Yahoo!, she is the author of several short stories including the story "Leaving" published in the anthology collection, Elements of Ti...  View profile

11 Comments

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  • Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben5/22/2010

    I love The Velveteen Rabbit- used him for a Reader's Theater class in college.

  • Laura Everly3/27/2010

    Nice appropriate Easter article for kids and the kids at heart. I think my favorite rabbit will always be Bugs Bunny-just a classic cartoon character. Laura Everly

  • Jan Corn3/27/2010

    I know all of these and it was fun revisiting them, mainly due to the way you wrote about them.

  • Angel Vee3/26/2010

    Bunny love, adorable read!

  • Lady Samantha3/25/2010

    BUNNY LOVE :)

  • Vincent Summers3/25/2010

    Fun stuff, Linda - you did forget MY FAVORITE BUNNY, though! Let's make it 11: Uncle Wiggily! I have a collection of the children's books. Great stuff...

  • Kim Keason3/24/2010

    I love bunnies:)

  • Terrie Schultz3/23/2010

    How cute! I never realized there were so many famous rabbits!

  • Rodney Southern3/23/2010

    How very fun and creative. Great Easter topic and slant Linda! Great job

  • Michael Segers3/23/2010

    Good list bur the Br'er [Brother] Rabbit stories used in "Song of the South" came from the writings of Joel Chandler Harris, who, as you note, compiled them from various sources. Harris's home, Wren's Nest, where he did much of his writing is still open as a museum in Atlanta.

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