We reveal the origins of the Easter bunny, as a hare and a hen fall in love at a party in the woods, get married, and give birth to a special rabbit that lays eggs. We see him grow up in a loving environment, only to be mocked and bullied at school by other children, because he looks like a rabbit, but does something only chickens do: laying eggs. Feeling alone and outcast, he decides to run away and meets a human girl in the forest. He then takes the human world by storm and becomes a star, ultimately known as the easter bunny. Despite his fame and success, he feels lonely without his family. So he returns home on easter, as he realizes that nothing is compared to the warmth of family.

Literally everybody in Germany knows the easter bunny: a rabbit that brings colored eggs on easter and hides them in your garden. The weird thing is, though: nobody knows any background for this. Who is this bunny? Why does he do that? It’s a big part of German and European culture. And oddly enough, it’s been a mystery for many centuries. That’s why in our film we finally reveal the origin story of the easter bunny. A touching coming-of-age-piece that talks to children as much as it reaches adults – and the child in all of us.

The big decision in this challenging project was to not make it a film built completely in CGI. Instead we produced this 2 minute animated film with live plates shot in a massive studio, where an entire forest-like set was built with highly detailed props. This meant, we needed character designs that would fit the world we were building around them: so real, that they do not feel out of context and feel humanlike in their emotions. We created 4 lead characters that were so versatile in their display of emotions and were able to tell the story without any dialogue. However the challenge was directing without having any of the characters on set. To overcome that, we printed 3D model of our characters to use them as a reference for lighting, reflections, and interaction with the grass and foliage. All characters were then seamlessly composited into their magical world.