Bunny Rabbits

A. Bunny Movie and Soundtrack

Big Buck Bunny tells the story of "a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself. When one sunny day three rodents rudely harass him, something snaps...."

This animated film was part of a very cool open film project using equally cool open source software and is shared with Creative Commons licensing.

Learn more and get a copy of the film at the official website. Get a copy of the soundtrack at the Free Music Archive.

license film: Creative Commons Attribution

B. Bunny Stories and Songs from Kiddie Records Weekly

Kiddie Records Weekly is a project dedicated to celebrating the golden age of children's records.

This period roughly spanned from the mid-forties through the early fifties and produced a wealth of all-time classics. Many of these recordings were extravagant Hollywood productions featuring big time celebrities and composers. Over time these lost treasures slipped off the radar and it has become our mission to give them a new lease on life by sharing them with today's generation of online listeners.

Along with many Bugs Bunny records, you will find these bunny selections.

C. Netherland Dwarf

The Netherland Dwarf is a particularly adorable, small, fuzzy, and popular breed of house rabbit.

Netherland Dwarf is also a recording artist in Japan who has released a free album of toy piano music titled May The Piper.

license: all rights reserved

D. Bunny Audio Story and Paper Toy

The Velveteen Rabbit: or, How Toys Become Real tells the story of a plush toy rabbit and his quest to become real through the love of a child.

The Velveteen Rabbit was first published in 1922. It was the first children's book written by English-American writer Margery Williams. The book would be her most famous. It has been enjoyed by all generations since it was published. Many movies and animated films have been made about this timeless story.

This production of the classic tale by Margery Williams is brought to you by Kazoomzoom. Janice D. Green, a.k.a. "Grandma Janice", reads it for you. The music was written and performed by zero-project.



license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

This official toy created by gifted illustrator and animator Mr. Fantoccini accompanies the release of our production of the classic tale by Margery Williams.

Kiddie Records Weekly Returns in 2009

Some of the best news this season is that Kiddie Records Weekly (KiddieRecords.com) will be returning to share a fourth year of audio joy in 2009. The project began in 2005 with the intentions of sharing a clean rip of children's '40s-'50s 78rpm records.

That age, considered the golden age of children's recordings, was a time when major labels actually invested in records for kids with big orchestras, Hollywood productions, big name composers and celebrities. Despite the high quality, time and technology made relics of these fantastic yet forgotten recordings. Kiddie Records Weekly gives them "a new lease on life by sharing them with today's generation of online listeners."

Basic Hip Digital Oddio, the creators of Kiddie Records Weekly, initially planned to share the digital recordings of these classic 78s for one year. Much to the joy of fan and collectors, the project returned in 2006 and yet again in 2007. Now we are all fortunate once more to look forward to enjoying another year of Kiddie Records Weekly!

If the project is news to you, guess what? Congratulations! All three of the previous years are still hosted online! Whether these are a trip back to your childhood or a visit to a time before your day, you are certain to find yourself smiling as you enjoy these stories and tunes.

Childhood Treasures

In lieu of this week's 12 free albums, let's talk about some of the earliest recordings we enjoyed, shall we? There are several sites and blogs on the web sharing the childhood treasures we would like to share with newer generations, but that have never been reissued. Here are a few of our favorite sources.

KiddieRecords.com
Ford says: "Kiddie Records Weekly is a three year project celebrating the golden age of children's records. This brief but prolific period spanned from the mid forties through the early fifties, producing a wealth of all-time classics. Many of these recordings were extravagant Hollywood productions on major record labels and featured big time celebrities and composers.

"Over the years, these forgotten treasures have slipped off the radar and now stand on the brink of extinction. Our mission is to give them a new lease on life by sharing them with today's generation of online listeners. Each recording has been carefully transferred from the original 78s and encoded to MP3 format for you to download and enjoy. You'll find a new addition every week, all year long.

"So whether you are hearing these records for the first time or reuniting with a childhood favorite from long ago, we hope you take great pleasure in your trip down memory lane!"

Tale Spinners for Children and Children's Vinyl Record Series
Matt writes: "There were a number of children's vinyl record series sold in the US during the 1950's and 1960's. Among them were Tale Spinners for Children, Golden Records, Mercury Storyteller, Pathways of Sound, Telegeneral Let's Pretend and Riverside Wonderland."

Secret Caverns
Wow! That is really the only review you need. It is just fabulous. Secret Cavern of Read Along Treasures is a great source for childhood (especially British) audio and video. Clean, sparce design and clean, clear rips. Top notch.

Way Out Junk
All my correspondence with Tony has been one way: me thanking him profusely for all his hard work. That is fine, because it gives him more time to work his magic! He seems to have somehow gone up into the family homestead attics and recorded all of our old records. Great fun!

Children's Records and More and Mostly Ghostly
Dave shares mountains of childhood classics, also hosting selections that were once offered by Mondo Daddykins and Scar Stuff. Additionally, he operates Forbidden Crypts. Dave will also put together handsome packages of these recordings on CD for a small fee.

Power Records Plaza
"A place for fans of the classic Power Records to freely trade and exchange audio files of the classic recordings. No buying or selling is permitted. If you need a file, take one, if you have a file, add it to the list."

Maimone Digital
John states: "Our goal is to preserve Tapes, LP Records, Photos and Videos in a digital format that will last in pristine condition for years to come. To this end we have spared no expense to duplicate analog recordings as close as possible to the originals."

Read-Along Adventures
Joey, a collector of these little wonders, offers much of the old see-hear-read catalog in little Flash packets.

Trick Grooving

Kiddie Records Weekly has a real nifty thing here. Have you seen it yet? I still haven't listened to all 256 stories.

The (Ever-So-Many) Amazing Adventures of Johnny [week 17] is the first of two "magic" albums offered this year. The Adventures of Bronco Bob (Week 33) will be available in August. Magic records are different from ordinary records in that each time you play a side you hear a different story! How does it work? Atlantic's "trick-grooving" process puts four record tracks on each side instead of the usual one. When you play a side, you never know which of the four grooves will play. Side 1 has four different beginnings and sides 2, 3 and 4 each have four different sequences. Every sequence dovetails into the next so they combine coherently to form one complete story. Since there are four possibilities on each side, the total number of different combinations is 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 256!

Enjoy two and a half years of weekly records at Kiddie Records Weekly. In addition to being entertaining, these 78 prm records are historic documents reflecting old-timey design, sound and ways of thinking. Each week offers time travel to the first half of the last century. Enjoy!

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Season's Greetings!

Ton's First Xmas Comp


Katya's Holiday Office Party


Let's Make a Baby King
[also by Ton Rückert]


also:

stream vintage kiddie holiday records
[via KiddieRecords.com]

enjoy 100s more seasonal downloads
[via PCL LinkDump]



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Classic Kiddie Records!

Exciting news! In 2005, Basic Hip Digital Oddio will feature an entire year of albums from the golden age of kiddie records, transferred from the original 78s and encoded to 192kbps MP3 format. One a week for 52 weeks!

We believe people from around the world and of all ages would be interested in hearing these records. Not many folks these days play 78s or share this type of recording online. Chances are you've never heard them and if you have, it's been a long, long time. They are nostalgic, entertaining and just plain fun. The colorful covers are beautiful works of art.

Someday soon these records will be altogether forgotten and we think that's a shame. Our mission is to give these wonderful old recordings a new lease on life.

The fun begins January 3, 2005!