Untalkative Bunny is a Canadian/British animated series that aired on Teletoon. It is based off a 1998 short from the Nickelodeon series KaBlam!, and ran for 3 seasons of 39 episodes (each one composed of several 4-5 minute shorts) between April 15, 2001 and October 5, 2003.
The show is about a yellow rabbit of unspecified gender known only as Bunny, who as the series title suggests, is entirely mute and expresses themselves entirely through facial expressions and body language. Episodes typically focus on Bunny's life in an unnamed large urban city (apparently modelled after Ottawa, Canada) and the problems they face in their everyday life, often with a surrealist twist to its semi-satirical depiction of modern life.
Interestingly, this is actually the second KaBlam! short to be made into a full TV show for Teletoon in Canada, the first being Angela Anaconda. While the show never saw exposure in the United States (although it aired in Europe and Asia on Disney Channel), creator Graham Falk would later go on to work for a number of American cartoons, such as Adventure Time and Summer Camp Island.
Tropes:
- Amazing Technicolor Population: For starters, the titular bunny is yellow. Bunny's squirrel friend is orange, while their emu friend is blue. Also, Bunny's beaver roommate is purple.
- Ambiguous Gender: The titular bunny seems to portray both gender roles in different episodes.
- Ballet Episode: The aptly titled "Ballet Lesson" revolves around UB learning how to ballet using a CD-ROM.
- Beach Episode: "Clam!" is about Bunny trying to enjoy a day at the beach before getting harassed by a clam and a dog.
- Cuddle Bug: The Friendly Friend is a source of annoyance for the Bunny, as it hugs everyone and everything it sees (loudly announcing that it's about to hug every time). In its debut episode, it is The Thing That Would Not Leave as it insists on hugging everything in the Bunny's home.
- Ears as Hair: Seen in the episode "Short Ears", where UB goes to a hair salon to get their ears styled.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: Pretty fitting, all things considered.
- Interspecies Romance: At one point, a fox falls in love with Bunny.
- No Name Given: All of the characters.
- Power Outage Plot: In "Blackout", Bunny has a blackout in their apartment and has to feel their way around it.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: In "Passport Photo", UB decides that they want to go on a vacation, but the travel agency can't process the request until they get a passport, and they can't get a passport without having a photo. So they go to a photography studio, and many pictures later, they decide on one they want to use, but the photographer then tells them it'll take a few weeks to process the pictures. Not wanting to wait that long, UB decides to go to a photo booth and use those pictures. When they get back to the travel agency, they're told that the vacation they want costs $900; which they don't have, so they decide to take a stay-cation instead.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: The Friendly Friend, in its introductory episode, hugs UB and doesn't let go, following them home. Unfortunately, Friendly's tendency to hug everything it sees, announcing it out loud every time, gets on UB's nerves to the point where UB refuses to share their bed with Friendly, instead opting to sleep in the closet. Finally, after running out of patience, UB gets rid of Friendly by picking it up with a giant spoon and bringing it back to the park, before running away as fast as they can.
- Very Special Episode: "Concerned Marmot Surfers" and "Marmoteer Recruitment" are about the preservation of the endangered Vancouver Island Marmot. Unlike other examples of this trope, the two episodes have the same lighthearted tone as the rest of the series, with the only major difference being special end cards with information on how viewers can get involved with the issue of marmot preservation in real life.
- The Voiceless: The titular Untalkative Bunny. No points for guessing. None of the other animals are voiced either.
