Knuffle Bunny

Based on the 2004 children's picture book written and illustrated by Mo Willems, the full-motion animated Knuffle Bunny features simple, colorfully illustrated/animated characters against a backdrop of muted sepia-toned photographs as it spins a humorous story about a father and daughter's trip to the laundromat. Ably voiced by author Willems and his young daughter Trixie, the film opens with a slightly awkward framing device in which a father is reading to his daughter (the pair finish each other's sentences—a conceit that is too precious by half) before settling into the action itself, which follows father, then-toddler Trixie, and her stuffed toy Knuffle Bunny through the park, past the school, and into the laundromat, where Trixie watches as her father puts clothes and money into a machine. Unfortunately, on the way home, the pre-verbal Trixie notices that something's wrong and she struggles to explain this to her father (“aggle, klabble, flabble!” Trixie cries, before she “balled,” “went boneless,” and started screaming). Once they reach home, the mother (voiced by Trixie's real mother, Connie) quickly assesses the situation and the trio head back to the laundromat in search of a missing hare. Featuring a fine, bouncy soundtrack by Scotty Huff and Robert Reynolds, Knuffle Bunny—the 2007 recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video—is a charmer that is sure to resonate with very young viewers and their sometimes harried parents. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)