The other day, Nicolaï Chauvet aka Méko, original creator of Bunny Maloney/Pinpin le Lapin emailed me! Our email exchange unearthed a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes information about the show and the original flash pilot. I'll post the whole exchange and the photos he sent under the cut, but here's a quick summary.
- He's been away from the internet for a while due to a back injury and is currently making a living designing collector's edition DVD box sets.
- Bunny Maloney in its final form was intended to be a show for teens and up; he thought that was made clear, but Moonscoop and Kabillion clearly had other plans. He had no idea that the show was ever distributed for younger kids overseas. He received no royalties for the overseas distribution, either.
- Pinpin le Lapin was not originally intended as a TV pilot, but after winning an award for it, he decided to alter the tone and presentation into something more workable as a TV program, the initial conception of which is shown in the images below.
- He would like to continue the show, but since Moonscoop was dissolved, he's not sure who currently owns the IP and what they plan to do with it, if anything.
- "Pinpin le Lapin" became "Bunny Maloney" due to the meddling of, quote, an "army of 40 year old Parisian mothers" who represented Moonscoop's executive board at the time. The name "Bunny Maloney" was chosen because they believed it would be more marketable to an American/English speaking audience. This "Mother's Mafia" is the entire reason that Bunny Maloney was watered down for a younger audience in the first place (although it certainly kept some of its edge).
And then he sent a bunch of pictures from the show's original pitch bible, which I believe has never been made public before!
