Bunnicula (TV series)

Bunnicula is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation developed by Jessica Borutski, produced by Borutski and Maxwell Atoms, and distributed by Warner Bros. Television. It premiered on Cartoon Network on February 6, 2016 and then premiered on Boomerang on the same day. The show is loosely based on the children's book series by James and Deborah Howe. It is a dark comedy about a vampire rabbit named Bunnicula who drinks carrot juice instead of blood to strengthen his super abilities in new paranormal adventures.

New episodes aired same-day on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. On March 23, 2017, Bunnicula returned after a year-long hiatus when five new episodes aired unannounced on Boomerang in a graveyard slot. It returned again on November 6, 2017. In 2017, the series was picked up for a second and third season.

The series can be streamed exclusively on Boomerang's SVOD subscription service and has also been rerun on the Boomerang TV network since July 30, 2018.

On May 23, 2018, Warner Bros. announced that the third season of Bunnicula would premiere on the Boomerang streaming service in 2019.

Plot
In New Orleans, Mina, her father Arthur, and their pets Chester the Cat and Harold the Dog move into Orlock Apartments. Mina finds a key that unlocks the crypt of the vampire rabbit Bunnicula as Mina adopts her. Bunnicula often drags Chester and Harold on various misadventures.

Main

 * Bunnicula (voiced by Chris Kattan ): The titular character of the show, Bunnicula is a vampire rabbit, and was once the pet of Count Dracula. He is very different from the original version of the character who appears in the books. As it was said by Chester, Bunnicula was found in a locked chamber in the cellar of the apartment complex that Mina, Harold, and Chester now live in. Also, he is shown to have a few vampire traits such as hiding from sunlight, sleeping in a casket, flying with bat wings, and draining juice from vegetables with his fangs. It has been seen that he cannot talk except for a few words (although Harold seems to understand him just fine). He cares for Mina a great deal but tends to cause mischief that yields supernatural consequences. Bunnicula sucks juices from vegetables (just like in the book) but different kinds of vegetables cause some kind of reaction in Bunnicula (carrots enhance his vision, sugar beets make him hyperactive and speedy, squashes enlarge his feet, onions make him cry powerful jet streams of tears, garlic turns him into a skeleton bunny, ghost peppers make him breath out a fire demon, rutabagas give him telekinesis, turnips turn the house upside-down, wasabi makes him spontaneously combust, leeks give him spider legs, eggplants turn him into a huge and hideous three-eyed monster rabbit, baby carrots make him shrink, rotten yams make him invisible, mandrake roots makes him taller with a more humanoid body, horseradish turns him into a horse, chili peppers make him breathe fire, etc.). In the books, it was unclear whether or not Bunnicula had vampiric powers although he was somehow able to get in and out of his cage without opening the door. Unlike his Ruby-Spears incarnation, Bunnicula's ears turn into bat wings to fly. He also speaks very limited English on rare occasion.
 * Chester (voiced by Sean Astin): Mina's pet Siamese cat. He is often exasperated with Bunnicula and terrified of the monsters and supernatural phenomena that happens around him and his friends. Deep down, Chester is jealous of Bunnicula. In the books, Chester is an eccentric Orange tabby whose wild suspicions of occult phenomena constantly exasperate Harold.
 * Harold (voiced by Brian Kimmet ): Mina's pet dog. He loves his friends Chester and Bunnicula, and their owner, Mina, but isn't the sharpest tool in the shed and appears to be a short-haired, brown mutt. In the books, Harold is a ponderous, thoughtful character, forced to put up with the eccentricities of Chester and the new rabbit. In the books Harold is intelligent and he resembles an Old English Sheepdog, though he claims to have Russian Wolf Hound in him as well.
 * Mina (voiced by Kari Wahlgren ): Harold, Chester, and Bunnicula's 13 year old punk owner who just moved to New Orleans, Louisiana from Middle America with her father. It was seen in the opening that she was the one who freed Bunnicula from his prison in the cellar with a key that was given to her by her Aunt Marie. Aunt Marie left an apartment to Mina and her father. Mina's mother is never seen or mentioned. In the books Chester, Harold, Bunnicula and Howie are owned by Robert, Ann, Pete, and Toby Monroe.

Supporting

 * Fluffy (voiced by Sumalee Montano): A Doberman Pinscher who is a vampire hunter that wants to kill Bunnicula at any cost.
 * Arthur (voiced by Kattan): Mina's father who moves with his daughter to New Orleans from Middle America after inheriting an apartment from Aunt Marie. He appears to be mentally unstable, as in “My Imaginary Fiend” he is seen talking to air, and in “Family Portrait” he throws a princess themed 13th birthday party for Mina. His wife isn't seen or mentioned in the series.
 * Marsha (voiced by Monie Mon): Mina’s cautious and shy best friend, who serves as a foil to the outgoing Mina. Marsha is extremely unlucky, and often only human to notice supernatural activity.
 * Becky (voiced by Kate Higgins): Mina’s other best friend. Becky is very monotone and sarcastic, acting like the stereotypical teenage girl.
 * Scott Dingleman (voiced by Scott Menville): Mina's love interest who shares many of her interests. Bunnicula, Chester, and Harold accidentally erased Scott's memories and tried to take advantage of him until they realized how much Mina missed Scott, and so restored his memory. For some reason, Scott can now understand them but chose to keep it a secret.
 * Madame Polodouri (voiced by Grey Griffin): The owner of a shop containing many supernatural objects. Madame Polodouri often has dangerous items on display, though her knowledge of them depends; in “Walking Fish” she refuses to sell a harmonica that revives all the dead fish in New Orleans as zombies, yet unknowingly sells the Haunted Portrait of Miserio to Arthur in “Family Portrait”. Madame Polodouri doesn't like children or pets in her shop.
 * Patches the Weredude (voiced by Eric Bauza): A laidback, fun-loving weredude. Patches often forgets he is a weredude, and acts like a cat even in human form. Patches moved into the Orlock in “Revenge of the Return of the Curse of the Weredude”.
 * Lugosi (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz): A deformed and insane guinea pig obsessed with serving Bunnicula, but his way of doing so makes him an enemy. He is later adopted by Marsha, who he declares his new master. Lugosi is now an ally of Bunnicula.

Broadcast
In Canada, the series started airing on Teletoon on April 2, 2016. The series premiered on Boomerang on May 2, 2016, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The series premiered on Boomerang on July 18, 2016, in Australia and New Zealand.

The series can also be streamed exclusively on Boomerang's SOVD subscription service, available on Android, iOS, desktop, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet, Roku and Chromecast.

Home media
"Night of the Vegetable", a 2-disc DVD set featuring the first 20 episodes of season one, was released on June 27, 2017 by Warner Home Video. Originally, Warner Home Video was planning to release another 2-disc DVD set featuring the remaining 20 episodes of season one on February 13, 2018, but that release was cancelled for unknown reasons. Instead, Warner Home Video released "The Complete First Season", a 4-disc set containing all 40 episodes from season one, on May 8, 2018.

Reception
It has received positive reviews. Common Sense Media gave the series three stars out of five.