About Big Buck Bunny (2008)
The story behind the film
Big Buck Bunny is a short comedy made by the Blender Institute in Amsterdam, part of the Blender Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind Blender, the free and open-source 3D animation software. The foundation makes "open movies" to push Blender's development forward and to show what free software can do: the films are funded partly by the community, and everything — the finished film and its production files — is released under a Creative Commons license so anyone can reuse it.
Code-named "Project Peach", it was the institute's second open movie, after the dark, abstract Elephants Dream (2006). This time the team deliberately went the opposite way: a bright, cartoony, slapstick comedy with furry woodland animals. During production, Blender's developers worked alongside the artists to improve the software's hair and fur rendering, particle systems and other tools, improvements that went into later versions of Blender.
The story is simple and wordless. A big, gentle, good-natured rabbit enjoys a peaceful morning in the forest until three bullying rodents — Frank the flying squirrel, Rinky the red squirrel and Gimera the chinchilla — start pelting him with fruit and nuts, and kill two butterflies he has been admiring. That's the last straw. The giant bunny prepares a series of elaborate, Looney Tunes-style traps for revenge.
Cast & crew
- Produced by the Blender Institute (Blender Foundation)
- A small international team of artists and developers
- Made entirely with free and open-source software, chiefly Blender
- No dialogue: the comedy is visual, with an orchestral score
Why it's worth watching
At about ten minutes, Big Buck Bunny is a breezy, very funny short that works for all ages. The character animation is expressive and the forest is lush and colourful. The slow-burn build of the bunny's revenge, and the classic cartoon payoff, recall the great Warner Bros. shorts.
It's also a small piece of internet history. Because it's freely licensed and high quality, Big Buck Bunny became one of the most widely used sample videos in the world: if you have ever tested a video player, streaming service or new TV, there's a good chance you've seen this rabbit.
Fun facts
- The film premiered in Amsterdam on April 10, 2008, and was released online for free download on May 30, 2008.
- It inspired a spin-off video game, Yo Frankie!, also made with open-source tools.
- The Blender Foundation has since released many more open movies, including Sintel (2010), Tears of Steel (2012), Spring (2019) and others — several of which also air on Starlite TV.
License and credit
Big Buck Bunny is not public domain: it's shown under a Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows commercial use as long as the creators are credited. Credit: Big Buck Bunny - (c) copyright 2008, Blender Foundation | www.bigbuckbunny.org - licensed CC BY 3.0. Starlite TV is not endorsed by the Blender Foundation. See "Credit & license" below.