Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''

The Tale of Peter Rabbit ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns h ...

'' in 1902, and subsequently in five more books between 1904 and 1912. The six books by Potter featuring Peter Rabbit have sold over 150 million copies. Spin-off merchandise includes dishes, wallpaper, painting books, board games and dolls. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented

stuffed toy A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...

, making him the oldest licensed character. Peter Rabbit appears as a character in several adaptations, including the television series '' The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'' (1992–1998) and ''Peter Rabbit'' (2012–2016), and the live-action/animated films ''

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subseq ...

'' (2018) and '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' (2021). Peter Rabbit/Ninjago

Background

The rabbits in Potter's stories are

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

and wear human clothes: Peter wears a blue jacket with brass buttons and shoes. Peter, his widowed mother, Mrs. Rabbit, as well as his younger sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail (with Peter the eldest of the four little rabbits) live in a rabbit hole that has a human kitchen, human furniture, as well as a shop where Mrs. Rabbit sells various items. Peter's relatives are his cousin Benjamin Bunny and Benjamin's father, Mr. Benjamin Bouncer. Peter Rabbit was named after a pet rabbit whom Beatrix Potter had as a child, and whom she called Peter Piper. The first Peter Rabbit story, ''

'', was created in 1893 initially as a letter to Noel Moore, the five-year-old son of Potter's former governess, Annie Moore. The boy was ill, and Potter wrote him a picture and story letter to help him pass the time and to cheer him up. The letter included sketches illustrating the narrative. In June 1903, a trade edition of the tale was published by

Frederick Warne & Co Frederick Warne & Co. is a British publisher founded in 1865. It is known for children's books, particularly those of Beatrix Potter, and for its Observer's Books. Warne is an imprint of Random House Children's Books and Penguin Random House, ...

, and by the end of the year, 28,000 copies were in print. Over the years, ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and as of 2008, the Peter Rabbit series of six books has sold more than 150 million copies in 35 languages. File:The Tale of Peter Rabbit - letter to Noel Moore part 1.jpg File:The Tale of Peter Rabbit - letter to Noel Moore part 2.jpg File:The Tale of Peter Rabbit - letter to Noel Moore part 3.jpg File:The Tale of Peter Rabbit - letter to Noel Moore part 4.jpg

Books

Peter Rabbit made his first appearance in 1902 in ''

'' where Peter disobeys his mother's orders and sneaks into Mr. McGregor's garden (where his father had once had "an accident" involving his being put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor). He eats as many vegetables as he can before Mr. McGregor spots and chases him. Peter manages to escape, but not before losing his jacket and shoes, which Mr. McGregor uses to dress a scarecrow. Peter returns home weary, ill, and naked and is put to bed with a dose of

chamomile Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, '' Matricaria chamomilla'' and '' Chamaemelum nobile'', are commo ...

tea. In '' The Tale of Benjamin Bunny'', first published in 1904, Peter's cousin Benjamin Bunny brings him back to Mr. McGregor's garden and they retrieve the clothes Peter lost in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit''. However, after they gather onions to give to Peter's mother, they are captured by Mr. McGregor's cat. Bouncer arrives and rescues them, but also punishes Peter and Benjamin for going into the garden by whipping them with a

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...

. In this tale, Peter displays some trepidation about returning to the garden. In '' The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies'', first published in 1909, Peter has a small role and appears only briefly. He is grown up and his sister Flopsy is now married to their cousin Benjamin. The two are the parents of six little Flopsy Bunnies. Peter and his mother keep a nursery garden, and the bunnies come by asking him for spare

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

. In '' The Tale of Mr. Tod'', first published in 1912, Benjamin and Flopsy's children are kidnapped by notorious

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

Tommy Brock. Peter helps Benjamin chase after Brock, who hides out in the house of the fox, Mr. Tod. Mr. Tod finds Brock sleeping in his bed, and as the two get into a scuffle, Peter and Benjamin rescue the children. Peter makes

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s in two other tales. In '' The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle'', first published in 1905, Peter and Benjamin are customers of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, a

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

washerwoman. The two rabbits are depicted in one illustration peeping from the forest foliage. In '' The Tale of Ginger and Pickles'', first published in 1909, Peter and other characters from Potter's previous stories make cameo appearances in the artwork, patronising the shop of Ginger and Pickles. To mark the 110th anniversary of the publication of ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', Frederick Warne & Co. commissioned British actress

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Emma Thompson on screen and stage, Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson, her accola ...

to write ''The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit'', in which Peter ends up in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

after accidentally hitching a ride on Mr. and Mrs. McGregor's wagon. The book was released on September 18, 2012. In autumn 2012, it was reported that Thompson would write more Peter Rabbit books. Her next tale, ''The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit'', was released in 2013, followed by ''The Spectacular Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 2014. On 27 May 2021, a reboot of Peter Rabbit was released, entitled ''Peter Rabbit Head Over Tail'', written by Rachel Bright and illustrated by Nicola Kinnear, followed by ''Peter Rabbit Hide and Seek'' in 2022, then is ''Peter Rabbit Up and Away'' in 2024.

Merchandising

Potter created a soft doll depicting Peter Rabbit and a Peter Rabbit board game shortly after the tale's first publication. The character has been depicted in a multitude of spinoff merchandise such as porcelain figurines, painting books and dishes. Peter Rabbit was the first soft toy to be

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

, in 1903, making Peter the oldest licensed character. The following year they went on sale and were mass-produced by Steiff.

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

department store in London has been selling it since at least 1910, when toys of Potter characters first appeared in their catalogues. The British publisher

owns the trademark rights of the Beatrix Potter characters. The Peter Rabbit (rather than other Beatrix Potter characters) stories and merchandise are very popular in Japan: many Japanese tourists visit the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

after becoming familiar with Potter's work at an early age at school. There is an accurate replica of Potter's house and a theme park in Japan, and a series of Mr. McGregor's gardens in one of the largest banks. Merchandisers in Japan estimate that 80% of the population have heard of Peter Rabbit.

Commemoration

A statue of Peter Rabbit is located on the grounds of Lingholm country house just outside the village of Portinscale in the

, north west England, where Potter spent her summer holidays (between 1885 and 1907) and where she drew inspiration for her Peter Rabbit books. She credited the Lingholm kitchen garden as her original inspiration for Mr. McGregor's garden in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit''. Lingholm was listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

in 2013. In 2016, Peter Rabbit and other Potter characters featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth. The same year, Peter Rabbit and other Potter characters appeared on a small number of collectors' 50p British coins.

Adaptations

In 1936,

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

expressed interest in making a ''Peter Rabbit'' film. He proposed his idea of a feature-length film to Beatrix Potter, but she refused and did not give him the rights. Peter Rabbit appears in the 1971 ballet film, '' The Tales of Beatrix Potter''. He also was featured in

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's 1991 '' Storybook Musical'' adaptation of ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', narrated by

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American comedian, actress, singer and writer. Burnett has played dramatic and comedic roles on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Carol Burnett, nu ...

. Several of the stories featuring Peter Rabbit were also animated for the 1992

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, '' The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends'' and two edutainment titles published by Mindscape ''The Adventures of Peter Rabbit & Benjamin Bunny'' in 1995 and ''Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit's Math Garden'' in 1996. An animated children's TV series ''

'' premiered on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

and

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

in December 2012, with Colin DePaula voicing Peter in its first season (American version) and L. Parker Lucas taking over the role for the second season, respectively. An animated/live-action adaptation, ''

'' produced by

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...

, was released on 8 February 2018. James Corden voices Peter Rabbit with Domhnall Gleeson and

Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994) , and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She gained her first leading film role in ...

starring in the live-action role of the lead female named Bea (based on Potter herself). Other cast members include Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley and Elizabeth Debicki.

Will Gluck Will Gluck (born November 7, 1978) is an American filmmaker, songwriter, and composer. He is known for writing and directing films such as ''Easy A'' (2010), ''Friends with Benefits (film), Friends with Benefits'' (2011), the ''Peter Rabbit'' f ...

directed and produced the film, and Zareh Nalbandian also produced, while Lauren Abrahams oversaw the project for Sony Pictures Animation. A sequel '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' (2021) reunited most of the cast of the previous film.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Anthropomorphic animals Anthropomorphic rabbits and hares Literary characters introduced in 1902 Rabbits and hares in literature Fiction about talking animals