Rabbids Invasion

Did You Know?

• In Season 2, most episodes involve the Rabbids desperately trying to get to the moon.
• The series was adapted into an interactive TV show titled Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show, released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in November 2014.
• The interactive TV show requires a Kinect or PlayStation Camera to play.

Characters

The series features a variety of distinct Rabbid characters. Rabbid Leader, identifiable by his red eye, is a bossy and aggressive leader of a small group and appears only in Season 1. Professor Mad Rabbid, a mad scientist whose inventions drive some episode plots, appears from Season 2 onward. Lapinibernatus, also called Ancestral Rabbid, is a shorter, smarter ancient Rabbid with a beard and hair; he appeared in a few Season 1 episodes and became a main character in Seasons 3 and 4. Mini Rabbid is a small Rabbid who shrank in the wash and is often babied by others. Female Rabbid wears a blonde wig and presents as feminine; it is unclear whether this is a single Rabbid or different ones taking on the role, and a female Rabbid with a short black wig also appears. CSI Rabbids are a male and female pair of investigator Rabbids who wear vests; the male speaks in a low voice and wears sunglasses and a police hat, while the female speaks in a typical female Rabbid falsetto, and they are terrible at fighting crime, first appearing in Season 2. Mafia Rabbids are three low-voiced Rabbids with features drawn in black marker who act like stereotypical tough criminals and are often seen in Rabbid Jail. Rabbid 000 is a parody of James Bond who often fights Dark Rabbid, a villainous Rabbid who originally planned to destroy Earth's Moon but now focuses on destroying Rabbid 000. Human characters include Thimothy Gluant, a spoiled boy prone to tantrums who becomes the main antagonist for two episodes in Season 1; his mother Tina Glaunt; Zak, a nervous teenager who initially saw Rabbids as alien invaders but later warmed to them; Zoe, Alice and Junior's babysitter and Zak's girlfriend; John, a scientist studying Rabbid behavior; and his assistant Gina.

Production

In October 2010, Ubisoft and Aardman announced a partnership to produce a TV series pilot and shorts based on the Rabbids franchise. The following year, 78 animated episodes were announced as Ubisoft Motion Pictures' first in-house production. The series premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on 3 August 2013. A second season of 26 half-hour blocks was ordered on 17 December 2013, and a third season on 16 June 2015. A fourth and final season was announced in July 2018 and aired on France 3 and Netflix rather than Nickelodeon.

Broadcast

France 3 broadcast the show in France. In China, it became the top children's TV series of 2017, surpassing one billion views. Disney Channel Asia released the fourth and final season on July 8, 2019. In the U.S., Nickelodeon carried the first season and part of the second; Nicktoons handled the rest of season two and all of season three. The fourth season didn't air in the U.S. until Netflix made it available in July 2019. Kabillion, a U.S. video-on-demand service, acquired the series in 2023.

Reception

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show two out of five stars, noting that while the violence is toned down from the games, the Rabbids' antics—such as using chickens' buttocks as egg shooters—would be frowned upon in the real world. She described the show as crude and minimally taxing on comprehension, likely appealing to grade-school viewers. The TV special Rabbids Invasion: Mission to Mars was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Kids: Animation at the 50th International Emmy Awards.