'The Adventures of Brer Rabbit' bounces right into animated featureland just in time for the Easter season. This G-Rated series of short vignettes revolves around the much-beloved character of Brer Rabbit, a historical icon of sorts who traces his beginnings to the folklore of slavery and before that, Africa. This time out, Brer Rabbit is updated and hip-hops into the present.
Packed full of heavy-hitters from the acting realm, 'The Adventures of Brer Rabbit' stars
Nick Cannon as Brer Rabbit, or "Brother Rabbit" (the name usually has been spelled Br'er), a resourceful creature who manages to use his wit and speed to slip out of tight spots. Danny Glover, Wayne Brady, D.L. Hughley and
Wanda Sykes round out the stellar comedic cast.
In the film, Brer Rabbit's tales are relayed to a young African-American girl who one day happens upon tortoise Brer Turtle (
Danny Glover), who miraculously begins to tell her legends of a fast-talking rabbit, whom many believe to be the blueprint for Bugs Bunny. In this comedic romp, viewers will marvel at how Brer Rabbit outsmarts his nemesis, Brer Fox (
D.L. Hughley) and the others.
The film is culturally rich -- from the oral tradition of an elder telling stories to youth, to markers such as peanuts, prayer and black vernacular. For instance, Sister Moon's (Wanda Sykes) old-time words are thrown against the wit (some would say sarcastic irony) of contemporary cartoons. When Brer Turtle is asked why the animals are still friends even though they try to eat each other, he dryly responds, "Just go with it, okay?" It's culturally authentic but still accessible to all ages and people.
"I just want people to enjoy with their kids," says multi-faceted comedian and crooner
Wayne Brady, who voices Brer Wolf. "It's good for the family, plus it's a good story, plus it's clever. It's fun watching Brer Rabbit, who manages to pull out the right thing at the right time."
Like Aesop's fables, the story of Brer Rabbit is one which has been passed down for generations, with roots in Western Africa, where the "trickster" character and morality tales with animals are ubiquitous. Mostly passed down orally, Brer Rabbit was first introduced to words by Southerner Joel Chandler Harris in the 1870s, a white man who used to listen to slave narratives and reproduce them for the white press. The conventional wisdom is that Brer Rabbit represented blacks, because though physically weak, he always managed to use his wits to outsmart the more cunning and stronger Brer Fox (said to represent whites.)
Brady admits that he was not familiar with the stories of Brer Rabbit growing up, but was introduced to him through the Disney feature, 'Song of the South,' a once-popular film from the 1946, now seen as politically incorrect. And though the Brer Rabbit story is fraught with tradition, Brady feels that kids shouldn't necessarily be "hit over the head" with story behind the story.
"If anything, it'll get kids thinking and then if they want to research even deeper," he explains. "I know I talked to my nieces about it and they wanted to know more, and I happened to know some of the African mythology, and I explained it to them. Kids are curious, so they asked, but they don't need to be hit over the head."
