The Jack Rabbit Story: Easter Fever was a half-hour animated Easter Special produced by Nelvana that originally aired March 25, 1980.
The story is that Jack Rabbit, the Easter Rabbit, is considering retirement, so he attends a celebration of his long career where the guests reminisce on his past. An aardvark can't stand the idea of Jack retiring, so he decides to convince Jack not to retire.
The special is one of the first animated works to feature voice acting by Maurice LaMarche, who voices Don Rattles and Steed Martin.
Tropes:
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Madame Melegg wears a chef's hat and an apron as her only clothing.
- Book Ends: His parents giving him an egg for Christmas was what started Jack Rabbit to become the Easter Rabbit in the first place. At the end of the special, an aardvark presents him with what would have been the last Easter egg, which convinces him to change his mind about retiring.
- Easter Bunny: The titular Jack Rabbit is the Easter Rabbit himself.
- Evil Chef: One of the previous adventures of Jack Rabbit that is reminisced about has him rescue a bunch of kidnapped chickens from Madame Melegg, a female pig who tries to force the captured chickens to lay two million eggs in order to make the world's largest omelette. She forces the chickens into compliance by threatening to instead make them into the largest chicken pot pie and later tries to kill Jack Rabbit after he rescues the chickens.
- Interspecies Adoption: Jack Rabbit was raised by chicken parents.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Humans and anthropomorphic animals co-exist in this special.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Easter Rabbit's retirement party is hosted by a snake comedian named Don Rattles, a clear spoof of Don Rickles. There is also Steed Martin, who is Steve Martin as an anthropomorphic gnu.
- Santa Claus: Jolly Old St. Nick happens to be one of the guests at Jack's retirement party.
- 10-Minute Retirement: The whole theme of the special is the Easter Rabbit considering retirement. At the end of the special, he reconsiders his retirement.
- Villain Song: Madame Melegg gets a song about making the world's largest omelette by forcing the chickens she's captured into laying two million eggs.
