Rabbit (Winnie the Pooh)
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- This article is about the character in Winnie-the-Pooh. For the real-world animal, see Rabbit.
In the fictional world of the book series and cartoons Winnie-the-Pooh, Rabbit is a responsible rabbit who happens to be a good friend of Winnie-the-Pooh. He is always practical and keeps his friends on their toes, although they sometimes raise his ire unintentionally.
[edit] Role in the books
The first appearance of Rabbit is in chapter II in the Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. He also appears in chapters VII, VIII, IX and X of that book, as well as in chapters III, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X in The House at Pooh Corner.
Unlike most of the cast in the books, who are based on stuffed animals owned by Christopher Robin Milne, the illustrations of Rabbit look more like a living animal than a stuffed one. This idea is also supported by Rabbit's own comment to Owl, "You and I have brains. The others have fluff." In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, Rabbit appears like a typical, long-eared rabbit, except that he walks on two legs and uses his front paws as hands. The top of his head reaches about to Pooh's nose; his ears, when pointed straight up, reach to just above Pooh's head.
Rabbit is often described as "Clever". Even though he "hasn't Learnt in Books", he can read and write, not perfectly, but better than most of the other characters. (Possibly even better than Owl, to judge by the spellings we see each of them use, and the fact that Owl has trouble reading Rabbit's notes.) Rabbit also likes to take charge and come up with elaborate plans, such as the one to scare Kanga by hiding Roo, and the one to "unbounce" Tigger. He is also an organizer, as in the case of the Search for Small. As detailed as his plans are, they often miss certain key points, and thus go wrong in one way or another.
Rabbit tends to include Pooh and Piglet in particular in his plans, and he goes to Owl when there is "thinking to be done". He sees his relationship to Christopher Robin as being the one that Christopher depends on. While loyal to the friends he knows, Rabbit shows a certain reluctance to welcome newcomers, as evidenced by his initial negative reaction to the arrival of Kanga and Roo in the first book, and to Tigger in the second book. Nonetheless, he warms up to all of them in time.
Rabbit also has good relationships with the minor animals in the forest, who are usually referred to as his "friends-and-relations". Several are mentioned by name, including a wasp called Small, a beetle named Alexander Beetle, another member of the beetle family named Henry Rush, and three unspecified creatures called Smallest-of-All, Late, and Early. According to the illustrations of the book, his other friends-and-relations include other rabbits, a squirrel, a hedgehog, some mice, and insects. At one point, Rabbit estimates that he would need "seventeen pockets" if he were going to carry all his family about with him; whether that number refers just to his relatives or to the friends-and-relations as a group is unknown, if it had any basis at all.
Rabbit lives in house in the north central part of the Hundred Acre Wood, between the sandy pit where Roo plays and the area where his friends-and-relations live.
[edit] In Disney adaptations
Rabbit appears in most Disney Winnie the Pooh cartoons.
As an addition to his character, he likes his garden and does whatever he can to protect it from other animals such as bugs and crows. He gets cross and grumpy when they try to steal his vegetables, especially carrots. In one episode, he even goes so far as to build a fortress around his garden, including a moat and booby traps. Tigger, Pooh, and Piglet come to see him, and he tells them to go away and leave him alone. The trio leaves him to his gardening, at which point he realizes he forgot to add a door to his fortress, and he is stuck inside.
Traditionally, the Disney adaptation of Rabbit's fur is usually yellow, but on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh his fur color is green (perhaps unintentionally).
In one episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh he adopts a bluebird named Kessie that he rescued from a snowstorm.
Though Rabbit is considered a living animal (see above), the episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh titled "How Much Is That Rabbit In The Window" contradicts this, in which Rabbit runs away - thinking the others have forgotten his birthday. He is picked up by a peddler, put in a store, and sold back to Christopher Robin. As Rabbit was not put in a cage, we can assume, at least in this episode, that he was stuffed.
The original voice of Rabbit in the Disney films was Junius Matthews. After his death, Will Ryan, and later Ken Sansom replaced him as the voice of Rabbit.
As of 2004, Rabbit now appears at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, FL and Disneyland in Anaheim, CA for meet and greets. He is a more elusive character than Piglet, and much more than Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, or Eeyore. He's in the same place as Kanga and Roo.
Rabbit was featured as one of the guests in House of Mouse.
[edit] In Kingdom Hearts
Rabbit plays a small role in the video game Kingdom Hearts II. Like his traditional character he seems to have the most sense of the Winnie the Pooh characters, if you exclude Owl. In the minigame "Block Tigger" you must protect his carrot patch from an overexcited Tigger. He is also one of the characters that needs to be found in "Hide and Seek"
His Japanese voice is Naoki Tatsuta.
