This weekend we watched a film named 'The Christmas Bunny' on Netflix, hoping it would put a massive smile on our faces.
I thought, as it is bunny related, I would write a short review.
Despite the PG rating, I wouldn't feel too happy about having my children watching it. The plot is very holey, and follows a moody foster child, Julia, (who has a druggie-hooker mother!!!!) as she settles in with her new foster family. Julia seems almost demonic, and is not likeable in any way whatsoever. Not a typical kids film.
Julia finds a bunny and gives it the horrible name 'Rumple'; as Rumple is injured, he has a vacation with 'The Bunny Lady' to recover. Meanwhile, Julia learns how to care for bunnies.
This tutorial on bunny care is the one redeeming feature of the film, really. It teaches the importance of good diet and having plenty of space to run around, and also educates about cecotropes in a mildly humorous way.
Another important issue that was raised was how quickly children get bored with their pets. The bunny lady literally had hundreds of bunnies (the best part of the film as there were bunnies everywhere; but fairy lights in a barn full of straw is the stupidest idea ever), and most of them were from children who got bored.
One thing we noticed that we didn't agree with was that the bunnies in the film were repeatedly picked up by the scruff, a practice most professionals would not recommend!
Overall, a useful film for older children if you want to teach them a bit about bunny care, but it could be a bit inappropriate for a younger audience. There isn't even a particularly happy ending and the lack of likeable characters makes it a difficult film to watch.
My advice is this: if you want to see some cute bunnies, go onto Youtube.
Here is a link to the website for the film, it has some useful information...
http://www.thechristmasbunny.com/about/
