E. Aster Bunnymund is the Rise of the Guardians re-imagining of the Easter Bunny, speaking with an Australian accent and known as the Guardian of Hope. Bunnymund is a Pooka, a philosophical warrior rabbit, and used to live in a village with other Pookas on his homeworld before they were wiped out, leaving him as the only survivor. He currently lives on Earth in his Warren, an oasis deep under the surface of Australia that is said to be the birthplace of spring. He is voiced by Hugh Jackman.
Physical Appearance[]
He is a Pooka; a fictional rabbit species that stands between six to seven feet tall, with grayish-blue fur, flower-like imprints on both his forehead and shoulders, and bright emerald-green eyes. He wears leather bracers set with orange stones, a single-strap holster with which he carries his boomerangs, and leather wrappings on his feet. In his disbelieved state, he assumes the form of a regular rabbit, but still retains the ability to talk.
Personality[]
Bunnymund is a cool, calm Australian as dry as the Outback. A natural ranger, he is in the dirt, rough and tumble protector of nature. He follows nature's rhythms and when it's time to spring into action he waits for the perfect moment to act. When he finally does, it's all over in a heart beat with the help of his exploding eggs and enchanted boomerangs. Bunny is completely unflappable. The only things that does get under his skin are North's constant ribbing about how Christmas is more important than Easter and his grudge on Jack Frost for causing a blizzard on Easter in '68. (And how Jack use to call him a Kangaroo.)
Bunnymund takes great pride in Easter, and its corresponding season, Spring, stating Spring and Easter represent new beginnings, new life, and the Hope that comes of it. Aside from his tough side, Bunnymund is afraid of Greyhounds.
Bunnymund greatly dislikes Jack Frost due to an incident known as the Blizzard of '68. Beyond it occurring on Easter Sunday, this blizzard and why it caused Bunnymund to hate Jack is unknown, but at the time of the movie, many years later, Bunnymund still held a grudge over it. As a result, Bunnymund was the most vocally against Jack joining the Guardians, even saying that he preferred the Groundhog (who Bunnymund had been hoping wouldn't be the new Guardian moments before) over Jack. He spent a great deal of time arguing with and competing with Jack, but as he got to know him better, seemed to grow to like and trust the young winter spirit. Notably, after Jack helps him with painting his eggs for Easter and have fun with Sophie Bennett, the two are able to share a friendly moment where they joke about one of their previous arguments. However, when Jack appears to have betrayed them to Pitch, all of Bunnymund's trust in him is shattered and he nearly hits the boy, but restrains himself at the last moment. His actions result in Jack getting thrown out of the Guardians and he is surprised when Jack returns to help in the end. He instantly assumes that Jack told Jamie Bennett to make fun of him and is deeply touched when Jamie reveals that Jack made him believe in Bunnymund instead. Indeed, Jack had used his powers to restore Jamie's fading belief in Bunnymund when Jamie had asked Bunnymund for a sign and got nothing in return. During the battle, Bunnymund seems to have regained full trust in Jack again as he fights side by side with him with no issues and even tries to save him from Pitch's attack. Afterwards, when Jack is offered the chance to become a Guardian once again, Bunnymund voices no objections and in fact congratulates Jack on his achievement afterwards saying "that's my boy!"
While Bunnymund doesn't have much experience with children up close, he develops a special bond with Sophie Bennett who is shown to be very fond of the Easter Bunny, always going "bunny, hop, hop, hop." Bunnymund at first panics upon seeing Sophie in his Warren, but once under the influence of Jack's magic snowflake, he has great fun with her, having her help paint his eggs and carrying her on his back around the Warren. When she falls asleep he even holds her in his lap. When the Guardians say goodbye to the kids, Bunnymund admits he is going to miss Sophie greatly and gives her some eggs he painted for her.
Rise of the Guardians[]
Bunnymund is the Guardian of Hope and first appeared complaining about the cold weather when North called the Guardians to the North Pole to alert them about the uprising of Pitch. Bunnymund was annoyed by this since Easter was in 3 days and began to argue with North when he said that Christmas was more important than Easter.
As Bunnymund and North bickered and Tooth was busy giving orders to her fairy minions, Sandy noticed The Man in the Moon shining from above. After many attempts to get the attention of the other Guardians, Sandy started to shake an elf (a bell was connected to its hat), successfully receiving attention. The Man in the Moon told the Guardians that Pitch had returned once again, resulting in a chosen new Guardian. Tooth asked them who could it be and Sandy suggested the Leprechaun. Bunnymund however started praying that new Guardian wasn't the Groundhog. When it was revealed that the new Guardian was Jack Frost, Bunnymund argued that Jack didn't care about children and preferred the Groundhog instead.
Bunnymund is later seen in an ally confronting Jack Frost after he lead him there. Jack asked Bunnymund if he was still mad about their last meeting (the Easter of '68) but soon after Jack was thrown into a bag by North's Yetis. The Yetis asked Bunnymund about coming with them through the portal but Bunnymund refused and he opened a tunnel to take him back to the pole. The Yetis then shuffle Jack in to the magic portal teleporting him to North's Workshop.
At the Pole, Jack was impressed and curious as to why he was there. He was shocked to find that he was chosen to be a Guardian but he refused something that Bunnymund was happy for. Bunnymund thinks Jack doesn't know anything about bringing joy to children causing a fuss to start between him and Jack.
After Bunnymund told Jack that children believe in him and that Jack was invisible to them. North takes Jack away and explains to him about The Man in The Moon must have known that Jack has something special in him and North reveals his center which is Wonder. Jack, still confused, doesn't know what his center could be. Just then Bunnymund reveals there's trouble in Tooth's Palace and they have to make their way to help Tooth.
On their way there, it's revealed that Pitch has sent his Nightmare to catch all the fairies and collect the teeth of the children of the world. Jack saves Baby Tooth from one of the Nightmares before they arrive inside of the Palace to find a panicking Tooth. Pitch then confronted the Guardians and after a battle between them he escapes.
Soon after it's revealed that the children of Earth are losing hope in Tooth, North thinking fast comes up with a plan of them collecting the teeth and with Jack Frost aboard the Guardians start their quest. Soon after a competition between them started but when Tooth told them they were as fast at collecting teeth and leaving gift as her fairies, the guys remembered that they forgot to leave a gift and had to travel back around the world to leave the gifts.
The Guardians all gather in Jamie's room but caused an uproar that caused Jamie and his dog, Abby, to wake up and see them (except Jack). Abby starts growling at Bunnymund and Jamie tries to stop her. Jack wanting to have fun with Bunnymund, makes the alarm go off, causing Abby to attack Bunnymund and make him jump around the room. Sandy, trying to put Abby to sleep with his dream sand, ends up hitting everyone except Jack, Jamie and himself. Jamie flies out of bed when North lands on it and Sandy catches him, putting Jamie to sleep also. Then Sandy and Jack go to fight Pitch's Nightmares that have appeared outside Jamie's window.
Soon after Jack and Sandy are battling Pitch and his nightmares, Bunnymund joined in with North and Tooth but as the battle heats up, Pitch's Nightmares surrounds Sandy while Pitch took the opportunity to shoot him with an arrow made of nightmare sand, turning The Sandman into more nightmare sand. Jack, angry and horrified, charged at Pitch and creates an ice wave destroying the Nightmares.
The Guardians return to the Pole and do a memorial for Sandy. Knowing that they still can turn things around, the Guardians decided to help Bunnymund with Easter. Bunnymund got excited when North said that this time Easter was more important than Christmas and when North announced about going to the Warren Bunnymund said that since it was 'his warren, his rules' then opened a tunnel under everyone feet.
At the Warren, they find Jamie's sister, Sophie, who had used one of North's snow globes and was transported to the Warren. Jack used his special skills to make Bunnymund more relax and to open up to fun, so he could play with Sophie. Afterwards, Bunnymund relaxes with Jack and Sophie and even shares a friendly moment with the winter spirit. After the eggs were ready, Sophie fell asleep and Jack decides to bring her home.
Soon after the Nightmares attacked the Warren, destroying every egg. Jack found them, but it was too late as Bunnymund tried to impress some children, it was revealed he had become invisible. When Tooth asked about Baby Tooth and where he get the Tooth Box and Jack stuttered for an answer other than he was with Pitch. Bunnymund got mad at him and told the other Guardians that they shouldn't have trusted him, nearly hitting Jack in the process. Bunnymund also revealed his center, hope, by saying that "Easter is new beginnings. New life. Easter's about hope, and now, it's gone." Jack, knowing he has lost the trust of the Guardians, left.
Due to Pitch's power, all the children in the world stopped believing in the Guardians except Jamie Bennett due to his strong belief and seeing them in his room earlier. In desperation, Jamie speaks to a toy bunny, trying to reach out to Bunnymund for a sign that he is real. When Bunnymund doesn't respond, Jamie despairs and almost gives up before Jack, having returned to help, uses his powers to create a snow bunny and egg. Seeing that causes Jamie to realize the Easter Bunny is real and restores his belief in the Guardians. Jack's efforts to make Jamie believe in Bunnymund inadvertently leads to Jamie becoming his own believer and being able to finally see him.
Losing Easter took the greatest toll on Bunnymund, shrinking him to the size of a regular bunny. Despite this, he joined the near-powerless North and Tooth in their efforts to reach the last light, Jamie Bennett. To the Guardians' shock, they found Jack had beaten them there and that Jamie still believed. When Jack asks about Bunnymund, North reveals that losing Easter took its toll on all of them, Bunnymund most of all. At that moment, Bunnymund emerges from the sleigh in his small form to an "oh no" from Jack. Jamie is deeply amused to see Bunnymund in this form and scratches him, giving Bunnymund a moment of excitement until Jamie asks what happened to him as he used to be "cool" and is now just "cute." Believing Jack told Jamie to say that, Bunnymund attacks Jack's leg ineffectually and challenges him to a fight until Jamie reveals that Jack instead told him that Bunnymund was real just when Jamie was starting to think he wasn't. Learning that Jack made Jamie believe in him earns Jack Bunnymund's gratitude and he stares at Jack with a stunned and grateful expression for a moment, forgiving him for his earlier apparent betrayal.
Pitch soon appear and Jack goes to confront him. Making Bunnymund and the other Guardians to take Jamie away from Pitch but soon they find themselves in alley. Jack crashes down and revealed that Pitch was stronger. With the Guardians trapped Pitch started to approach them making Jamie tell Jack that he was scared. Jack got an idea and after hitting Pitch with a snowball they went to find Jamie's friends.
With the help from the other Guardians, Jamie's friends start to believe again. Pitch asks them who was going to protect the Guardians if the Guardians were protecting them. Jack reassured Jamie to not be scared since the Nightmares are just bad dreams and Jamie volunteered to protect the Guardians causing his friends to join him. Pitch then sends a wave of nightmare sand their way but once Jamie says, "I do believe in you. I'm just not afraid of you!" Jamie was able to turn the nightmare sand back into dreamsand. Which helps the Guardians get their full energy back and battle Pitch. North used his snow globes to bring his Yetis to help out while Bunnymund opened tunnels to get his Warrior Eggs to also help in the battle against the Nightmares while the Guardians confronted Pitch. Jamie gets an idea on how to revive the Sandman and told his friends about it.
As the battle with Pitch continued, the Nightmare King was cornered by the Guardians, but hid in the shadows and appeared behind a distracted Jack with scythe created of nightmare sand. Before he could hurt him the Sandman returns at the last second saving Jack from Pitch and uses his sand to give everyone good dreams and make more believers. Upon Sandy's return, Bunnymund eagerly greets him, telling him "mate, you are a sight for sore eyes."
The Guardians and the children started celebrating and Jack hits Jamie with a snowball, which caused a friendly snowball fight. When Pitch woke up, he tried to make Jamie fear him again but found that Jamie was not scared of him anymore because he was able to pass through him. Pitch, afraid, retreats to his lair which caused the Guardians to follow and confront him one last time. After Pitch was taken away by his own Nightmare creatures, the Guardian ceremony was performed again. Jack looked at Jamie which caused him to nod. Proud of himself and of Jamie, Jack says, "I will," making him an official Guardian. Their experiences together having changed his mind about Jack, Bunnymund congratulates Jack on becoming an official Guardian and is proud of his accomplishment.
Bunnymund is seen saying goodbye to Sophie and saying that he will miss her. Bunnymund is later seen welcoming Jack on the sleigh, after Jack said his good bye to Jamie and Jamie gave him a hug.
The Guardians of Childhood[]
Pitch, the Nightmare King, and his Fearlings had been soundly driven back by Nicholas St. North and company in the first Guardians’ adventure. But now Pitch has disappeared completely—and out of sight does NOT make for out of mind. It seems certain that he’s plotting a particularly nefarious revenge, and the Guardians suspect he might have gone underground. But how can they find him there? Enter E. Aster Bunnymund, the only emissary of the fabled brotherhood of the Pookas—the league of philosophical warrior rabbits of imposing intellect and size. Highly skilled in martial arts (many of which he invented himself), Bunnymund is brilliant, logical, and a tunnel-digger extraordinaire. If the Guardians need paths near the Earth’s core, he’s their Pooka. He’s also armed with magnificent weapons of an oval-sort, and might just be able to help in the quest for the second piece of the Moonclipper. This second book in The Guardians series is about much more than fixing a few rotten eggs—it brings the Guardians one step closer to defeating Pitch!
He is also the last of his kind, having the rest been killed off by Pitch.
Powers and Abilities[]
Rabbit Prowess[]
Bunnymund has the physical prowess of a rabbit at its peak, enabling him incredible speed and jumping abilities.
Power over Flora[]
Bunnymund has the power to control flora growth, sometimes making a flower grow whenever his tunnels close up. In the Warren, he has various flowers and plants with magical abilities that help him paint and decorate his easter eggs.
Rabbit Holes[]
Bunnymund can open holes to underground tunnels by tapping his foot on the ground. This allows him to travel anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. He taps his foot twice to travel, and appears to tap thrice to summon something from the tunnels, as he did when he summoned some of his sentinel eggs to fight Pitch and his Nightmares.
Martial Artist[]
Bunnymund claims to be a master of Tai Chi with nerves of steel.
Magic[]
Bunnymund clearly has access to magic, given his enchanted boomerangs and explosive easter eggs.
Master Boomerang Wielder[]
Bunnymund's weapons of choice are his enchanted boomerangs, and wields them with uncanny skill and swiftness. He can easily take down several Nightmares with them single-handedly, up-close or from a distance, making him a very versatile combatant.
Hope Manipulation[]
As the Guardian of Hope, Bunnymund can sense and manipulate hope including the virtue of people, animals and other creatures. This is by either increasing, decreasing, causing or otherwise channeling hope, even manifesting the emotional energy to physical level.
Bunnymund's elaborately decorated Magic Eggs were designed to be little symbols of hope.
Gift of Life[]
Bunnymund is the Guardian of life and hope. He can bring his Sentinel Eggs to help him with his Easter tasks.
Shape-shifting[]
Bunnymund, or Pooka, has the ability to shape-shift. By eating chocolate, Bunny can increase in power, size, grow extra arms or acquire the ability to fly. Bunny's shape-shifting powers are so advanced that he was able to change the Earth's shape from an oval to a sphere.
The movie, Rise of the Guardians, also reveals that Bunny has a decrease in power and size by the lack of belief which reduces him into a small and adorable bunny.
Appearances[]
The Guardians of Childhood[]
Picture books[]
- The Man in the Moon (The Guardians of Childhood)
Chapter books[]
- E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!
- Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies
- The Sandman and the War of Dreams
Rise of the Guardians[]
Film[]
- Rise of the Guardians
Conception and Creation[]
Bunny was the only Guardian who didn’t have any associated effects. Half-kangaroo, half-rabbit, Bunny symbolizes nature. “He dovetails with the meaning of Easter as a time of renewal, rebirth, and the return of life,” Ramsey says. “He’s also a warrior, a nature ninja. He’s the most superhero, a protector of nature. And, he is an ornery, crusty foil for North.”
Hordos and Wanneroy tested various evolutions of Bunny until, as with Tooth, everyone realized that he wouldn’t work until they made him a creature, not human. “As we talked with Peter, though, we realized he still needed to stand like a man to make his acting readable, but he couldn’t look like a man in a suit,” Hordos says. “The kangaroo is almost humanoid, but doesn’t look humanoid. So, he’s a mixture of kangaroo, human, rabbit all in one. The tricky thing is that he has to run on all fours and walk upright. While his body is horizontal to the ground and his head is forward, he needs to swivel his head without breaking his head. We took ideas we learned from rigging Toothless and added them to Bunny. And then, Philippe Lebrun, who had done animation tests for the reindeer, took over this character and put the energy in his acting.”
Other than his superpowers, the most magical thing about Bunny is the way in which he colors all the Easter eggs. He accomplishes this inside his bunny warren, in a green, lush landscape. “There’s a little river that all these hundreds of thousands of little eggs jump into to get their first coat of paint,” Prescott says. “We worked with the simulation team at PDI to create shots of the river using a mixture of Houdini and in-house tools. The fluid simulations have a magical quality, with pink and purple colors and glitter.”
As for the eggs, crowd simulations manage the multitudes of pretty little eggs and also the fighting, warrior eggs made of stone.
Trivia[]
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- His signature color is green.
- Bunnymund's signature shape is a triangle.
- Bunnymund was partly responsible for Jack gaining Jamie Bennett as a believer: Jack was trying to restore Jamie's fading belief in Bunnymund by responding to Jamie's desire for a sign that his faith was not for nothing and due to the way he did it, using a snow rabbit, Jamie realized that it was Jack Frost and not Bunnymund who had sent the sign and finally started believing in the winter spirit.
- His early concept art depicted him in a green robe, but the artists felt this wasn't allowing him to move as swiftly. They pulled it down to a thin lab coat, but they still didn't feel like Bunnymund was filling in their thoughts. They eventually stripped him of all clothing, and they settled on his current design.
- William Joyce, author of the series which the movie is based on, says of Bunnymund: “Earth was originally egg-shaped, but that was rotationally unstable, so we were heading toward the sun. The planet was going to be cooked like a hard boiled egg, so against his aesthetic judgment, with his incredible digging ability, he rounded out the Earth into a rotationally more docile sphere. In doing so, he created a number of continents, among them his favorite, Australia."
- He seems to dislike the Groundhog. However, he likes him better than Jack Frost as while he didn't want the Groundhog to be the new Guardian, he instantly changed his mind after learning the new Guardian was Jack Frost.
- He seems to suffer from air sickness and is afraid of heights, as shown in the scene where he, North and Jack fly in North's sleigh. He later seems to develop an appreciation for it as he smiles and says that "everyone loves the sleigh" when the kids see it. When he's last seen in the sleigh, he even seems comfortable in it.
- Bunnymund has a flock of enchanted eggs that carry out his work with great precision.
- According to the Rise of the Guardians App, Bunnymund protects spring and ensures the cycle of life, which is all symbolized through eggs.
- “In early designs, Bunny was professorial, wore a cloak, and was a little uptight. But then when Hugh was cast to play Bunny, the artists came up with this notion of him as a cool and tough Australian ranger.”— Rise of the Guardians Producer, Christina Steinberg.
- During the scene where Jack and Toothiana are discussing Jack's memories, Bunnymund can be heard in the background. He, North, and Sandy quiet down after a bit and start paying attention to Tooth and Jack, so you can't hear what they were talking about. However, before that, he is heard telling North "I told you never to mention that!"
- “Our goal was to look at Bunny as the creator of life and to view his Warren as the birthplace of spring. This realm was once inhabited by a large population of rabbits, but today Bunny is the sole survivor. He is the Guardian of Hope. He feels this huge responsibility because if he goes, then all hope will be lost as well.”— Rise of the Guardians Art Director, Max Boas.
- According to William Joyce, "the inspiration for Bunnymund was a play from the 1950s -- and a movie -- called Harvey starting Jimmy Stewart. In which Jimmy Stewart's best friend is a six foot all knowing all powerful invisible rabbit named Harvey. Harvey is described as a Pooka a creature of Celtic mythology. I loved that play and movie as a kid and I still love it. So I made Bunnymund the last of the Pooka's and gave them a history that amused and delighted me and I tried to do honor to the original concept of Harvey. The chocolate thing, it just made narrative sense."
- When E. Aster Bunnymund eats chocolate he is transformed in a variety of ways depending on the intensity of the chocolate. This transformation was the result of a particularly robust blend which was required by the situation at hand.