3 August 2013 (2013-08-03) – 26 December 2018 (2018-12-26)
Rabbids Invasion (French: Les Lapins Crétins: Invasion) is an animated television series based on Ubisoft's Rabbids video game series. It is a co-production of Ubisoft Film & Television, TeamTO and France Télévisions. The show was developed by Jean-Louis Momus, and stars Damien Laquet as the voice of the Rabbids.
The show premiered on 3 August 2013 on France 3. The first three seasons, each with 26 episodes, aired between 2013 and 2017. A fourth and final season aired on France 3 in 2018 and it was released worldwide through Netflix on 1 July 2019.[1][2] An hour-long follow-up after the series finale,[3] titled Rabbids Invasion: Mission to Mars, premiered in France on 29 September 2021 and on Netflix as an original film on February 18, 2022.[4]
Characters
Rabbids
Professor Barranco III is an otherwise-ordinary Rabbid with Heterochromia iridum.
Professor Mad Rabbid (or Mad Rabbid) is a Rabbid who is a Mad Scientist. His various inventions kick off several of the plots. He became a fly/Rabbid hybrid in the episode "Mad Fly Rabbid". In "Mad Rabbid and Leonardo's Astrolabe", He wanted to go to Pretzel Island. In the two-part series finale "Mad Rabbid On Pretzel Island", He managed to finally arrive on Pretzel Island.
Lapinibernatus (or Ancestral Rabbid) is a Rabbid from a time long past when the Rabbids weren't as stupid. Lapinibernatus is shorter than modern Rabbids and has a beard and hair. In the second part of the two-part series finale "Mad Rabbid On Pretzel Island", he took control of the sub and tried to take over the world, but he was defeated.
Mini Rabbid is a Rabbid who shrunk in the wash. Tends to be babied by his fellow Rabbids, and his small size makes him much more vulnerable to the usual Rabbid slapstick. In the episode "Mini Rabbid vs. Giant Chicken", he was tired of being short so Mad Rabbid successfully made him bigger. In the episode "Santa Rabbid vs the Christmas Turkey", he screamed whenever he got upset, but he managed to get a toy for Christmas. In the episode "Rabbid 000 vs The Son Of Dark Rabbid", He was abandoned by Rabbid 000 and joined Dark Rabbid's forces.
Female Rabbid is a Rabbid who wears a blonde wig and acts female. Like many Rabbids whose characters are defined by their costumes, it's unknown whether this is a single Rabbid or different ones who take on the role. However, the female Rabbid has been known to do other cosplay on top of her wig. Another female Rabbid with a shorter black wig has also appeared in the series.
CSI Rabbids are two Rabbid investigators: A male Rabbid who wears sunglasses and a baseball cap or police cap and speaks in a lower, "tough" voice, and a female Rabbid who speaks in a typical female Rabbid falsetto. They fight crime! ...badly.
Mafia Rabbids Are a group of (usually three) low-voiced Rabbids with various features drawn on in black marker who tend to act like stereotypical tough criminals. These Rabbids are often seen in Rabbid Jail (during episodes where Rabbid Jail exists).
Rabbid 000 is a Rabbid Parody of James Bond. He's often seen fighting Dark Rabbid.
Dark Rabbid is a villainous Rabbid who planned on destroying the moon, but now focuses on destroying Rabbid 000.
Humans
Thimothy Gluant (or Timothy Gluant) is a background character and main antagonist of Scout Rabbids and R.C. Rabbid. Thimothy is very spoiled and is prone to tantrums. He is Tina Glaunt's son.
Tina Glaunt is Thimothy Gluant's mom.
Zak is a nervous teenager who initially saw the Rabbids as legitimate alien invaders, but later warmed up to them.
Zoe is Alice and Junior's babysitter and Zak's girlfriend.
John is a scientist who is studying the behaviour of the Rabbids. He finds himself struggling alongside his colleague Gina in figuring them out.
Gina is John's assistant.
Alice Gassman (or Alice for short) is a young girl who befriends the Rabbids and is the big sister of Junior Gassman. She has short blonde hair, blue eyes, a pink shirt that has a ghost on it, dark blue pants, yellow and pink socks, and dark pink shoes. In the episode "Lost Rabbids", She became trapped with the Rabbids in a supermarket after its closure. In the episode "Queen of Rabbids", she became a star attraction for the Rabbids because she had magician powers.
Junior Gassman (or Junior for short) is the baby brother of Alice Gassman and son of Mr. Gassman and Ashton Lincoln. Unlike Alice, He is shorter than her and has blonde hair, blue eyes, and wears a Rabbit outfit. Junior is prone to crying and will start crying over anything, even over the smallest of things. In the episode "Rabbid Babysitting", he was in his nursery dressed up as a rabbit and playing with a toy rocket until the babysitter turned on the lullaby music box. He fell asleep hearing it. But, The Rabbids (who were the intruders) entered his nursery, woke him up without making him cry and followed the Rabbids up to their rocket. Later, The Rabbids successfully calmed him down and tried to give him to the babysitter, only to get the door closed by the Rabbid who was treated by the babysitter. In the episode "Mini-Rabbid", he tried to play with Mini Rabbid until he got burped by Zoe, making him bawl. In the episode "Rabbid Test Pilot", He was taken to the supermarket while a Rabbid tried to use him as a test pilot. In the episode "Nanny Rabbid", He was taken to prehistory with the Rabbids. After accidentally making him cry so loudly that it was heard above the trees and almost deafened the Rabbids, The Rabbids used a bug as a makeshift pacifier for him, making him calm down by putting it in his mouth mid-wail. While the Rabbids jump and eat flies, a caveman tries to save him from a dinosaur. Later, While the Rabbids were playing a game of jumping up and eating flies, He was playing with the bug the Rabbids used as a pacifier next to a dinosaur until he sneezed. After falling on his bottom, His crying scared the dinosaur, making it run into the caveman who tried to save him. The Rabbids put the bug (which acts as a pacifier) into his mouth to make him stop, only for him to spit it out and poop his diaper. He was taken back to the present with the now-deafened Rabbids after the caveman ate the bug the Rabbids gave to him for sucking on like a pacifier and for playing with, making him cry very loudly and almost deafening the caveman family. In season 4, His voice is realistic baby sounds.
Ashton Lincoln (or Ashton Gassman) is an irritable enemy of the Rabbids. She is a frequent target of their antics. She is the ex-wife of Mr. Gassman and mother of Alice Gassman and Junior Gassman.
Otto Torx is the antagonist of season 4 and an egotistical supervillain who wants the world to recognize his genius. He was defeated in the episode "Mad Rabbid and Leonardo's Astrolabe".
In October 2010, Ubisoft and Aardman announced a partnership to produce a TV series pilot and several shorts based on the Rabbids franchise.[5] The following year, it was announced that 78 animated episodes would be made by Ubisoft's Montreuil-based studio Ubisoft Motion Pictures as its first in-house production.[6] In the United States, the series premiered on Nickelodeon on 3 August 2013.[7] On 17 December 2013, the series was renewed for a second season of 26 half-hour blocks, with three segments per block.[8] On 16 June 2015, it was renewed for a third season.[9]
A fourth and final season was announced in July 2018. This season was not aired by Nickelodeon, and it instead aired on France 3 and Netflix.[10]
Broadcast
The series airs on France 3 in France. In China, Rabbids Invasion ranked as the most-watched children's television series in 2017, having gathered over a billion views.[11]Disney Channel Asia premiered the fourth and final season of Rabbids Invasion on 8 July 2019.
In the United States, from 3 August 2013 onward, the first season (and several episodes of the second season) aired on Nickelodeon. The rest of the second season and all of the third season aired only on the Nicktoons channel. The fourth and final season was not aired in the United States until Netflix released it in July 2019.[12] In 2023, the series was picked up by the U.S. video-on-demand service Kabillion.[13]
Reception
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show two out of five stars, stating: "Rabbids Invasion tones down the violence for the characters' jump from gaming to the TV, but they still have a lot of fun at the expense of each other and unsuspecting bystanders, and a lot of their antics would be frowned upon in the real world (using chickens' buttocks as egg shooters in a mock battle, for instance). Ultimately, though, it's crude and minimally taxing on viewers' sense of comprehension, so for better or worse, it's bound to appeal to the grade-school set."[14]
Video game
Rabbids Invasion was adapted into an interactive TV series, titled Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show.[15] The game which combines existing television episodes with a series of challenges, was released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in November 2014, requiring a Kinect or PlayStation Camera, respectively.[16]
