Rabbit Ears Productions is a production company best known for producing three television series that feature individual episodes adapting popular pieces of children's literature. Rabbit Ears episodes have been released on

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

, broadcast on Showtime, and rerun on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. The series features actors, such as

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

Raul Julia Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen. He started his career in the Public Theater before transitioning to film. He ...

, Laura Dern,

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Ly ...

Danny Glover Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...

and others narrating children's books that are either well known in the United States or around the world. The series made use of a limited animation technique whereby still images are moved throughout the scene, similar to modern motion comics. Rabbit Ears Productions has also won numerous awards, including Parents' Choice Awards and

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. The stories were released on CDs,

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

, and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

by several distributors, including

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Home Video (1985 to 1986), Sony Video Software (1987 to 1990), and Uni Distribution Corp. Rabbit Ears Productions was acquired by Vanguard Animation in early 2024; the studio then began uploading full episodes of its programs onto its official YouTube channel.

Stories

Storybook Classics

From 1984 to 1990, Rabbit Ears Productions created a set of storybook classics that were well known around the world. Probably the most popular storybook classic from Rabbit Ears Productions was ''The Velveteen Rabbit'', the first story that Rabbit Ears Productions had created. ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' also received many awards, such as a Parents' Choice Award and a nomination for a Grammy Award. Showtime acquired the broadcast rights to ''Storybook Classics'' in 1987.

''We All Have Tales''

From 1991 to 1995, Rabbit Ears Productions created the next set of stories that were collected from around the world, including the countries of Russia, France, Jamaica, England, Germany, Colombia, Scandinavia, Japan and India.

''American Heroes and Legends''

From 1992 to 1993, Rabbit Ears Productions made another set of stories that originated in the U.S., about great American heroes, such as John Henry,

Johnny Appleseed Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman; September 26, 1774March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, I ...

, and many other heroes and heroines who made a great impact on American society.

''The Greatest Stories Ever Told''

From 1991 to 1993, Rabbit Ears Productions created its final installments, relating to stories from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The Bible stories are (only released on audio CD): *''The Creation'' *''Noah and the Ark'' *''Joseph and His Brothers'' *''Moses in Egypt'' *''Moses the Lawgiver'' *''David and Goliath'' *''Jonah and the Whale'' *''The Savior is Born'' *''Parables That Jesus Told'' Of the 9 Bible stories, the first 7 focus on stories from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

( Genesis, Exodus,

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

and

Jonah Jonah the son of Amittai or Jonas ( , ) is a Jewish prophet from Gath-hepher in the Northern Kingdom of Israel around the 8th century BCE according to the Hebrew Bible. He is the central figure of the Book of Jonah, one of the minor proph ...

), and the final 2 focus on stories from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

. This series was not shown on television. Of the 13 Bible stories, 10 were released on

and

. None were in the order found in the Bible, except ''The Creation'' (which was first) and ''Parables That Jesus Told'' (which was last). In ''The Creation'' video, the narrator concludes that

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

and

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

ventured into the world. They "went out into the world until they returned to the ground from which they were made".

''Holiday Classics''

''Holiday Classics'' are stories that are found throughout all the Rabbit Ears Productions series, whether they are Christmas, Halloween or Easter-themed.

Cast and Stories

Cast

Danny Aiello Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. () (June 20, 1933 – December 12, 2019) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974), ''The Front'' (1976), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''Hide in ...

: told ''Pinocchio'' * Rubén Blades: told ''Joseph and his Brothers'' *

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

: told Davy Crockett *

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

: told ''King Midas and the Golden Touch'' *

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...

: told ''Stormalong'' * Keith Carradine: told

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

: told '' The Ugly Duckling'' *

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

: told David and Goliath *

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

: told ''Tom Thumb'' *

Glenn Close Glenda Veronica Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. In a career spanning over five decades on Glenn Close on screen and stage, screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Glenn Close, numerous ac ...

: told ''The Emperor and the Nightingale'' / ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' *

Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy ''Toots ...

: told ''Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin'' * Laura Dern: told ''The Song of Sacajawea'' *

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as leading actress in film. She has received List of awards and nominations re ...

: told '' The Fisherman and His Wife'' *

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

: told ''Follow the Drinking Gourd'' / ''The Savior is Born'' *

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

: told '' The Emperor's New Clothes'' *

: told ''Brer Rabbit and Boss Lion'' / ''Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby'' / ''How the Leopard Got His Spots'' / ''Moses in Egypt'' *

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

: told '' Koi and the Kola Nuts'' *

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...

: told The Creation / ''The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat'' / ''The Lion and the Lamb'' *

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

: told ''Squanto and the First Thanksgiving'' * Bob Hoskins: told ''The Bremen Town Musicians'' * Holly Hunter: told ''The Three Billy Goats Gruff'' / ''The Three Little Pigs'' *

: told ''Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'' * William Hurt: told ''The Boy Who Drew Cats'' *

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress, director and model. She is best known for playing Morticia Addams in the ''The Addams Family'' and '' The Addams Family Values'', as well as often portraying eccentric and distincti ...

: told ''

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" () is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in Colonial history of the United States, colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Du ...

'' * Jeremy Irons: told ''

The Steadfast Tin Soldier "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" () is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of ''Fair ...

'' *

: told ''The Monkey People'' *

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

: told ''Mose the Fireman'' * Garrison Keillor: told Johnny Appleseed / ''Parables that Jesus Told'' *

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

: told ''The Tiger and the Brahmin'' / ''Moses the Law-giver'' * John Lone: told '' The Five Chinese Brothers'' * Kelly McGillis: told ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

'' / ''Noah and the Ark'' *

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

: told ''The Elephant's Child'' / ''How the Rhinoceros got his Skin'' / ''How the Camel got his Hump'' *

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...

: told ''Finn McCoul'' *

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

: told ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' *

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, activist, director, and author. He amassed Christopher Reeve on stage and screen, several stage and screen credits in his 34-year career, including playin ...

: told ''The Lion and The Lamb'' *

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accola ...

: told ''Jonah and the Whale'' * Meg Ryan: told ''Red Riding Hood'' / ''Goldilocks'' * Susan Saint James: told ''A Gingerbread Christmas'' *

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

: told ''The Firebird'' *

Sissy Spacek Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Sissy Spacek, numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including ...

: told ''The Talking Eggs'' *

: told ''The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher'' / ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' / ''The Velveteen Rabbit'' / ''The Night Before Christmas'' / ''The Tailor of Gloucester'' *

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

: told ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon'' *

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 ...

: told ''The White Cat'' *

Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. Known for her distinctive deep husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards. After debuting ...

: told ''Rumpelstiltskin'' * Tracey Ullman: told ''Puss in Boots'' *

: told John Henry / Anansi *

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra ( ; born October 8, 1949), better known by her stage name Sigourney Weaver, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines in Blockbuster (entertainme ...

: told ''Peachboy'' *

: told ''The Fool and the Flying Ship'' /

Pecos Bill Pecos Bill ( ) is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Tex O ...

* Jonathan Winters: told Paul Bunyan

Crew

* Mark Sottnick: Executive Producer, Producer, Director * Mike Pogue: Executive Producer * Eric Metaxas: Writer * Brian Gleeson: Writer * C.W. Rogers: Animation Department, Film Editing, Production Design * Tim Raglin: Illustrator, Art Direction, Director * Paul Elliott: Art Director * Ken Hoin: Producer * Doris Wilhousky: Executive Producer * Susan C. Anderson: Production Director

Episodes

Storybook Classics

We All Have Tales

American Heroes and Legends

The Greatest Stories Ever Told: 1991–1994

Holiday Classics: 1986–1994

Audiobooks

Many of the stories have been made available as audiobooks through Listening Library.

References

External links

Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC

Rabbit Ears YouTube channel
{{Showtime Network programming Television production companies of the United States Entertainment companies established in 1984 Mass media companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in the United States Showtime (TV network) original programming