The Adventures of the American Rabbit

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The Adventures of the American Rabbit is an animated film from 1986 about a young rabbit named Robert Rabbit who becomes a Superhero named the American Rabbit.

Tropes used in The Adventures of the American Rabbit include:
  • Action-Hogging Opening: Which involves Rob transforming into the American Rabbit to stop a dam burst.
  • All-American Face: The American Rabbit of course.
  • Bad Boss: All Vultor is shown doing is yelling at the Jackals, whether because they failed to kill Rob or because they don't think like he does. He doesn't even plan anything out at first--he leaves that up to the Jackals. From the Grand Canyon until The Doomsday Switch plan, he travels with the Jackals but doesn't help them out; all he does is follow a Jackal around and insult him repeatedly. He's not any tougher than the Jackals either: When Rob actually takes him on, he has no combat capabilities whatsoever.
  • All Bikers Are Hells Angels: The Jackals.
  • Big Applesauce
  • Broken Aesop: At one point, one of Robert's friends makes dismissive comments about the jackals in the nightclub Robert's band is playing in. Robert lectures his friend about how he can't assume all jackals are bad based on the actions of a few individuals. However, the jackals in the club turn out to be evil, along with every other jackal in the movie.
  • Brooklyn Rage: The Jackals tried to scare the people in the rougher neighborhoods in New York to submission, it did not work at all.
  • Captain Obvious:

Bunny O'Hare: You wanna know something, Robert?
Robert: Yes, what?
Bunny O'Hare: You play a whole lot of piano.
Robert: ...

Old Rabbit: A fine looking boy, yes sir! He's a fine-looking boy!

    • There's also this gem:

Ping: Hey, that's not nice. That's mean. What they're doing is mean.

  • Dirty Coward: The Jackals, they will gladly intimidate any animal who is smaller and weaker than they are but a bigger and stronger animal can easily scare them into submission.
  • The Dog Was the Mastermind
  • For the Evulz: At one point, the Big Bad actually says something to the effect of, “I’m a villain, therefore I have to be aimlessly evil in every direction!” This is a perfect and totally understandable explanation for how he has gone from holding some kind of unspecified grudge against a local club to plotting to destroy the Statue of Liberty and everyone who is visiting her after they have been promised free chocolate.
  • Frothy Mugs of Water: Averted there is plenty of Alcohol in this movie
  • Furry Confusion: The Statue of Liberty is still a human in this world populated by cute little animals. Huh...
  • Gonk: Ping Pong the Gorilla.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: The Chocolate Moose, a moose who makes chocolate for a living.
    • Also the Panda-Monium club, a nightclub run by a panda.
  • Kudzu Plot: That's just putting it generously.
  • Large Ham: The Big Bad, Vultor.
  • Left Hanging: Many subplots get unresolved, such as Teddy getting funds to rebuild his bar, what happened to the Jackals after Vultor cuts ties with them, or why Rob even left his village in the first place.
  • Oh Crap: The Jackals reaction to the people in the rougher New York neighborhoods scared them off when they tried to scare them into submission.
  • Only Six Faces: The rabbits.
    • In fact, most of the other animals, too.
  • Police Are Useless: Especially considering on what happened to the Panda Monium club. (That and the NYPD apparently didn't put up much of a fight against Vultor's control.)
  • Secret Identity Change Trick: With a judicious use of tap dancing.
  • Shallow Love Interest: Bunny O'Hare
  • Species Surname: Robert Rabbit. Taken to extremes with Bunny O' Hare whose whole name is a reference to her species.
  • The Dog Was the Mastermind
  • Transformation Sequence: The one relatively neat scene is the sequence where Rob transforms into the American Rabbit; he sprints and the American Flag suddenly appears behind him like a contrail before his body is changed into those colors.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Bikers desecrating the club you're playing at? Just keep playing during the entire riot!
  • Villainous Breakdown: Ever since Rob deflates Walt and Vultor the Vulture reveals that he can talk he becomes increasingly insane and paranoid.
  • We Can Rule Together: Vultor does this as a very desperate last ploy to the American Rabbit as the American Rabbit is pursuing him in which this doesn't work at all.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: One of the most disturbing cases there is.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Quite a bit actually. Characters are introduced and discarded. Like Rob's parents. Ever since Rob's village disappears... for some reason, they are never even referenced again. The mysterious old rabbit wizard makes a vague reference to Rob's home town being protected from the evils of the outside world in some way, and the "Legacy" of the American Rabbit being the price they pay for this peace, but it's never explained or followed up on in any way.