TV REVIEW : Family Channel’s ‘Rabbit’ Is Attractive but Stolid

“The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny,” the first installment in a series of six lavish animated specials based on the stories of Beatrix Potter (premiering at 8 tonight on cable’s Family Channel), offers a textbook example of how to kill a worthy project with kindness.

The series marks the centennial of the publication of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” the first and most beloved of the children’s stories created by Helen Beatrix Potter (1866-1943). Series producer John Coates (“The Snowman”) went to considerable lengths to preserve the look of Potter’s watercolor illustrations, and the program boasts a far richer look than most prime-time specials.

The problem with “Peter Rabbit” is that director Geoff Dunbar and series writer-director Dianne Jackson approach the material so respectfully that the program feels embalmed. They fail to expand the story and make it visually interesting--as Chuck Jones did in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or Dunbar did in “Ubu,” his brilliant adaptation of Alfred Jarrey’s “Ubu Roi.”

When, for example, Mr. McGregor’s cat traps Peter and Benjamin under a basket “for five hours ,” the audience should feel the fear and claustrophobia the rabbits experience. But Potter only gives the incident a few sentences, so the wayward bunnies are rescued before the gravity of their situation has a chance to sink in. It’s possible to be loyal to the spirit--and even the letter--of a book without being so literal-minded.

“Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny” is certain to please parents of small children and Potter’s many American fans. But it’s regrettable that the filmmakers chose such a stolid approach to some of the most enchanting stories in children’s literature.