BatBunnyBestBuds

Batbunny starring Ricky Rabbit and Batty

By Francis Glebas, based upon a character created by Ryan Glebas

c. 2005

Look! It's BATBUNNY! Who?

A world of rabbits and cute critters lead bustling lives in

Carrotopolis. RICKY RABBIT is the kind of kid that gets picked

on in school, that is until he runs into BATTY the fateful night

his parents are "parentnapped" and he learns the secret ways of

the Ninja Bats. RICKY RABBIT becomes BATBUNNY—defender of the

cute and innocent.

RICKY RABBIT lives a normal life by day, harassed by

inconsequential bullies, while at night he is BATBUNNY who, with

his trusty but batty sidekick BATTY, battles the darkest forces

of Carrotopolis. Driven by his need to find his parents, he

finds the courage to go on by remembering his idyllic days at

the Temple of the Night of the Ninja Bats.

It's as if we took a parody of BATMAN, DR. STRANGE, and THE

KARATE KID with the flashback structure of KUNG FU. These, along

with FOSTER’S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS, BUFFY, CHARMED,

MCGYVER, FRANKENSTEIN, BLADERUNNER, POPYEYE’S SPINACH,

SPIDERMAN, ROCKY & BULLWINKLE, and CRUSADER RABBIT were all

influences.

RICKY RABBIT AKA BATBUNNY

RICKY RABBIT is the kid who is always picked on. He always

dreamed of a defender of justice and now it's him. The night his

mum and dad were parentnapped is when he met BATTY. Actually,

BATTY flew right into the criminal and RICKY fell. BATTY let out

the secret about the SECRET ORDER OF BATS, or SOOB, and RICKY

persuaded him to have them teach him the secrets. Now RICKY goes

to school by day and is a superhero by night. RICKY has become

almost a parent himself to BATTY who stays with him. RICKY makes

sure BATTY brushes his teeth at night. But RICKY doesn't think

his friends would accept BATTY so he tries to keep him secret.

RICKY gets jealous when his friends pal around with BATTY.

RICKY is still picked on at school, and now it's even worse

because he wears thick glasses as a disguise. He bumps into

things because he can't see with them on. He gets paranoid and

angry when someone suspects that he might be BATBUNNY. He tries

to laugh it off. His anger covers the terrible loss he feels

over his parents. It haunts his dreams and gets expressed in his

bloodcurdling scream—the sign that BATBUNNY is on the case.

RICKY is very serious and gets kidded easily. He's an

intense, driven rabbit on a quest. His impulsiveness and anger

cover his hurt. He also gets jealous easily. He's new at the

superhero thing and has a lot to learn. He needs to discover

that his powers come and go. One time he channels his anger into

a laser beam.

Other rabbits make fun of the rabbit who wears glasses:

"Didn't you eat your carrots?"

RICKY has a paper route. He reads headlines and runs off to

fight crime. Later he has to deliver wet papers in the dark. He

wonders why he never gets a tip. BANGING INTO THINGS HEAD ON.

BATTY demonstrates echolocation to RICKY using a mirror.

RICKY bangs into it in the dark. When RICKY astral projects he

bangs into things.

BATTY AKA STEALTH

BATTY is BATBUNNY's sidekick and best friend to RICKY RABBIT.

BATTY would do anything for RICKY, his idol. He thinks RICKY

saved his life and now he owes him his. He imagines them as long

lost brothers. BATTY is a member of the SECRET ORDER OF BATS, or

SOOB. BATTY is the one who got RICKY into the order. BATTY is

not the class scholar, in fact, letting RICKY know about the

order almost gets him kicked out.

BATTY can't keep a secret. When he's nervous, secrets just

slip out, but then he wonders how you knew the secret. BATTY

wants to be called STEALTH, but when people actually call him

that, he doesn't answer. He forgets it's his nickname. He really

is a little "batty."

BATTY is over-zealous. He wants to help but often causes

more problems. He has lots of wacky relatives. He's naturally

goth cool, without trying to be. BATTY is RICKY's best friend

and teaches RICKY that his parents would have wanted him to be

happy.

He has a tendency to ask villain, “What's so funny?”

BATTY has trouble with the mystical stuff, except when he

sleepwalks—then he's unstoppable until he wakes up again. He

travels astral planes and then wakes up and can't remember how

he got there.

MASTER BLIND OL’ BAT—MASTER OM

When RICKY comments about the MASTER being blind, MASTER

gestures to a field of fireflies in the dark. A few seconds

later, the lights go out, he has eaten all of them. He left one

blinking. RICKY'S first task on becoming a SOOB is to catch the

last one. He learns it's not so easy. The MASTER has a way of

showing up without anyone being aware of him. This is awkward

when BATTY is making fun of him. The MASTER is not friendly, but

he is patient and truly caring. The MASTER answers questions

with questions, especially rhetorical questions. He has speed,

agility, strength, and almost mystical powers—he truly is THE

MASTER.

Lessons: Master Om catches a whole view of fireflies, comes

back and burps. He leaves one left for RICKY and BATTY to catch

and they spend all night trying.

SQUIRRELY GIRL AKA FLYING SQUIRREL

SQUIRRELY GIRL is a girl in RICKY's class. She has a crush on

him, but he doesn't know she exists. SQUIRRELY GIRL has a secret

of her own. She is FLYING SQUIRREL, a cat burglar but in a good

way, kind of like Robin Hood stealing from the bad guys.

Technically, she does break the law so her and BATBUNNY's paths

will cross many times. As the ultimate irony, she can't stand

BATBUNNY, however BATBUNNY has a secret crush on FLYING

SQUIRREL.

THE VILLAINS

An assortment of villains threaten Carrotopolis, but they are

all bit players compared to the darkness emerging from the

astral planes. This darkness is trying to find a material form

but so far all it's got is a brain. It controls the minds of

those weaker than it. BATBUNNY suspects that it has something to

do with his parents’ disappearance.

MASTERMIND

The MASTERMIND VILLAIN is a giant brain sitting in a vinyl

swimming pool. He steals a giant TV screen so we can see what

he's thinking. Sidekicks keep changing the channels for him. He

can also spy on BATBUNNY, and nearly discovers who he really is.

He's trying to recover a new body by stealing parts like

Frankenstein. He tries robotic versions of a new body; nano

versions that can be stepped on like bugs. He steals RICKY's

parents to get a conscience. Some villains look like scarecrows

and RICKY finds that they're radio controlled. There's something

of a Pharaoh in him. He's trying to learn to materialize objects

but only eats junk food. The sidekicks accidently puncture the

pool while leaf skimming and have to steal a new pool. RICKY is

puzzled by the strange thefts going on: the theft of body parts

in the "arm"ory, "foot"hills, etc.

The MASTERMIND destroys the library looking for the sacred

book. The MASTERMIND used to be the leader of SOOB but went bad

and was destroyed in the ultimate battle, which destroyed SOOB.

RICKY and BATTY escaped with the sacred book and have to protect

it.

BEWARE THE JACKALOPES AND OTHER FOES

The JACKALOPES, thought to be urban legends, are superfast

mystical warriors who look like rabbits except for the horns.

They pester rabbits when they try to sleep so they can't dream.

Then the MASTERMIND is able to plant his dreams into them,

turning them into zomrabbits.

OCTOOWL is a large owl with extra tentacles like an

octopus. Imagine an octopus with wings that can see in the dark

and you have some idea of the dangerousness of this foe. Add his

ability to shoot ink and he's unstoppable.

CRABBY CLAW is a giant crab that destroys anything in its

path. His mecha skeleton is on the outside, which makes him

tough to defeat.

MESMO KAT is a master of mind control. He hypnotizes the

population of Carrotopolis.

FERECIOUS FERRET is a serpentine-like creature who can

breathe fire.

HOW RICKY BECAME BATBUNNY

The inhabitants of Carrotopolis don't stay out at night. One

particular night RICKY RABBIT was loving imagining himself as a

superhero and wanted to play his favorite videogame at the

arcade a little longer. His family headed home later than was

safe for a rabbit family. Tempting the fates, they bumped into a

villain, who captured the family. RICKY remembers being swooped

up until he heard a crash and hit the ground. When he came to,

his parents were gone and he was face to face with a little bat—

BATTY.

BATTY was surprised that RICKY could see him—he's supposed

to be invisible. He was upset that his invisibility skill wasn’t

working and that he was revealing secrets that he shouldn't.

RICKY kept probing until he learned the secret that BATTY took

an oath not to reveal—that he is a member of SOOB, the SECRET

ORDER OF THE BAT.

RICKY followed BATTY to SOOB, where they met the MASTER.

The MASTER was puzzled as he’d never had a rabbit learn the

secret ways of the bat. "Can you fly?" the MASTER inquired. "I

can hop," RICKY replied.

RICKY and BATTY train very hard to learn the way of the

bat. RICKY has trouble sleeping upside down. Flying is even

harder to learn so he makes a cape and learns to sail like a

flying squirrel, complete with jet-engine sound. Learning the

WAY is hardest of all. He continually trips over his own anger,

which hides his loss.

RICKY RABBIT returns to Carrotopolis sworn to protect

bunnies everywhere from the forces of evil and bad stuff. The

MASTER appoints BATTY as his faithful sidekick and together he

and BATBUNNY rule the night.

SHOW STRUCTURE

Problems in real life (school, job, girls etc.) get interrupted

by a serious crime problem. They get to an impasse, are trapped,

tied up etc. Flashbacks to training lead the way to solving the

problem then deal with real, live issue still unresolved. All

the action is set against the backdrop of a continual search for

his parents and fighting the forces of darkness in Carrotopolis.

ARCHITECTURE

RICKY has a home in the country by a covered bridge, the

entrance to the spirit world. There's a door where there was no

door before, but it appears to go nowhere. There are doors,

stairs, windows that appear and lead to astral planes.

The entrance to SOOB is at the top of a mountain and leads

deep into the caverns beneath. RICKY can't see it at first, it's

mystical. The city is a maze of endlessly tall buildings. Grey

3D city covered in neon and fog.

ART DIRECTION

Shoot up on BATBUNNY, down on RICKY.

BATBUNNY UNDERTEXT

Worldview: corporate success is robotic, inhuman.

SERIES SECRET

The whole thing was a hallunication triggered by RICKY’s

traumatic loss of his parents. When he slowly realizes this he

gains more power to deal with his real-life issues, but the

fantasy life begins to fade, including BATTY. The astral planes

are really the future above and past below. The Sacred Book

RICKY and BATTY have to guard is empty. The fantasy is saving

his parents. He has to learn to deal with his loss, anger, and

jealousy.

RICKY RABBIT lives with his parents and his six hundred

brothers and sisters in Carrotopolis. He's the youngest except

for the baby who gets all the attention. Never getting enough

attention, he battles for it in his own imaginary world as the

superhero—BATBUNNY! He believes that his parents have been

kidnapped by the evil mastermind, HIPPOPOTAMUS CORTEX (HC). HC

is really a giant brain that sits keeping moist in a vinyl

swimming pool, while he waits for his inept henchmen, the

JACKALOPES, to build him a new body. RICKY battles crime with

his sidekick BATTY. RICKY met BATTY the night his parents were

kidnapped.

RICKY actually performs heroic deeds, they just don't match

the intense hyperbole of his imagination's version of the event.

For example, RICKY helps a little old lady rabbit cross the

street. In his vision he and BATTY have to rescue her from HC's

giant robot. They defeat the robot, which prompts the Jackalopes

to find the nearest body of water for their boss. Of course,

from the little old lady rabbit's point of view, she sees this

kid in a cape running around in traffic causing near accidents.

In another escapade, RICKY helps a little bunny rescue her pet

kitten from a tree. RICKY perceives this as a dogfight high

above the city.

RICKY has to hide BATTY from his brothers and sisters, even

though he doesn't exist.

RICKY's always the last to get everything, last in the long

line for the bathroom, last to get the remnants from breakfast.

He's always missing the bus.

The school counselor thinks RICKY has created the brain so

his parents will remember his name. It’s a good theory, except

the brain attacks the counselor.

BAT-BUNNY-BEST-BUDS

RICHARD B. BUNNY is ... he hasn't totally decided yet. BATTY is

RICKY Bunny's Best Bud.

Together they attempt to find RICKY an identity that he can

call his own. It's not easy finding out who you are when you're

surrounded by siblings—all six hundred of them. Just imagine the

wait to use the bathroom!

The Bunny Family own Carrot Cookies Ink and its outlet

stores. They make Carrot Cookies from a secret recipe (which

involves carrots). Everyone in the family helps out and loves

it. Everyone except RICKY, who thinks there's more to life than

being a cookie-cutter carbon-copy rabbit. He just doesn't know

what it is yet.

BATTY and RICKY are best buds but more like siblings than

RICKY’s real siblings. An only child, BATTY's a foreign exchange

student bat that lives with RICKY's family. BATTY's a little

goofy. He's not dumb but definitely has his own version of

reality. One thing BATTY is, is cool, naturally cool. RICKY's

family loves BATTY, apparently more than RICKY. This makes RICKY

jealous. BATTY on the other hand is jealous of RICKY's belonging

to a big family. He wants them to adopt him.

RICKY is determined to be unique, so he tries various

careers, attitudes, animals, and looks, all in an effort to find

himself. Sometimes he takes himself too seriously, and is too

hard on himself. He doesn't give himself a chance. He always

learns that roles are harder than they appear, not realizing it

takes time to become good at something. All the while, RICKY

doesn't know how unique he truly is. BATTY is there for

contrast, he just is himself and accepts it. He's BATTY the one

and only—that's his blessing and his curse. BATTY adds color to

RICKY's quests. He's a know-it-all who really doesn't. What he

does have is great passion and imagination. In fact, he has too

much imagination, which borders on paranoia (the fun kind, like

imagining secret plots). He goes along with RICKY's quests to

try things out just for the fun of it. That's just the way he

is.

The world is a carrot. Everything looks like a carrot when

you're a rabbit. They live at home with all the siblings in the

warren. Below is a vast network of tunnels leading to great

adventures. Watch out for the Hamster stuck in the bubble in the

tunnels.

BAT-BUNNY-BEST-BUDS is aimed at six- to eleven-year-olds.

It plays up to their silliness, and is formatted with two

eleven-minute episodes.

EPISODE IDEAS

SCHOOL OF GOTH

RICKY doesn't want BATTY to be seen but BATTY wants to go to

school. He follows RICKY. RICKY'S friends finally discover BATTY

and thinks he's got the coolest fashion. They think he's Goth.

The other rabbits start to dress like BATTY, wearing black and

trimming their ears. This doesn't go over well with the school

principal. He bans Goth from school. RICKY still has trouble

learning the lesson that who you are is not something on the

outside. All the rabbits are still not BATTY—the one and only.

BATTY’S GONE GOTH BAND

BATTY is always writing songs (mostly about the superhero,

BATBUNNY). BATTY starts a Goth band that’s a cross between a

heavy-metal group and the Chipmunks. RICKY wants to join but

there’s one small problem—he has no musical talent.

DECIDING ON A NAME AND THE BAT COSTUME

When BATTY sees RICKY dressed as a bat he really is convinced

that he is his brother. RICKY searches for scary animal names.

Monkey Bunny? Bunny Dog? Kangaroo Bunny?

BABYSITTER SUPERHERO

RICKY gets a job babysitting. When a villain strikes, does he

bring the kid? Does the kid get kidnapped?

RICKY'S ANGER MANAGEMENT

RICKY has a problem with impulsiveness. RICKY has to go to anger

management at school.

DON'T BRING JELLY DONUTS ON A MISSION

BATTY squirts a jelly donut into RICKY’s eye as he's about to

fly on a mission. He can't see.

RICKY'S HOMEWORK

RICKY has trouble doing his homework. He's used the “dog ate my

homework” excuse too many times, particularly when his teacher

learns that he doesn't even have a dog. BATTY suggests trying to

"attack" his homework like BATBUNNY attacks criminals. RICKY

puts on his costume and pantomimes attacking his homework. He

hands it in to the surprise of his teacher. It looks like a bat

ate it.

PRINCIPAL MIND CONTROL

RICKY'S PRINCIPAL gets hypnotized by the villain.

RICKY'S FLIGHT

RICKY builds a rocket pack, with disastrous results.

RICKY hang glides, and annoucnes "Oh, I swallowed a bug!" (or a

bug is in his eye). BATTY replies, "Lucky". (Rabbits are

vegetarian, but bats are "meat eaters”.)

Learning to fly: there's a first time for everything.

BATBUNNY soars down and accidently saves a girl (SQUIRRELY GIRL,

who's trying to get some press coverage). This happens again.

BATBUNNY sneaks up to a tall building to learn to fly. He keeps

deciding to go one floor higher. The other passengers get mad.

They get to the roof, but BATBUNNY keeps creating delays.

Finally, he launches but can't fly and grabs BATTY. BATTY can't

hold the two of them up. He lets go, but remembering his

training he soars at the last minute. BATBUNNY ends up knocking

out a villain holding up a girl from his class. She thinks she

knows him and he tries to distract her. This happens again—she

planned it to get publicity. But again, she is upstaged by

BATBUNNY.

PRACTISING ESCAPE TRICKS

You never know when you need them. RICKY has BATTY tie him up to

practice escaping. Somebody always comes at the wrong time

(girlfriend, villain etc.) Clueless BATTY helps villain take

RICKY. Untie me!

DIFFERENT SCHEDULES

RICKY and BATTY have a hard time adjusting to each other’s

schedules. Always tired.

SPIRIT WORLDS

The spirit of Master OM informs BATBUNNY. His koans make

BATBUNNY mad but this is exactly what he has to learn to deal

with. BATTY tries to literally figure out the koan puzzles and

he's excited when he "gets it." What is the sound of one hand

clapping? It must be half the sound of two hands clapping.

When BATBUNNY astral projects he lands bumping into things.

RICKY DOESN’T LIKE CARROTS!

When RICKY's father offers him a chance to work in the carrot

cookie factory, RICKY tells him no, he wants to find himself.

His father is hurt and counters, “What! Don't you like carrots?”

His brothers and sisters hear this and word quickly spreads to

all six hundred of them. They tease him about it relentlessly.

At dinner his plate is empty—he doesn't like carrots.

GLASSES FOR A RABBIT?

RICKY learns he needs glasses. This isn't the way RICKY thought

he would find his uniqueness—being the only rabbit in the world

to need glasses. How many times can you hear the "how do you

know carrots are good for your eyes?" joke? BATTY loves the idea

because he steals RICKY's glasses to become the superhero

BATBUNNY! (Contrary to most superheroes he puts on the glasses

to disguise himself as the superhero.)

DO YOU WANT CARROTS WITH THAT?

RICKY has to work at the Carrot Cookie outlet at the mall. RICKY

and BATTY get the crispy and regular mixed up, but the real

problems start when he asks the wrong customer if he wants

carrots with that ... the customer goes berserk: “No! I never

want carrots!!” It turns him into a raving monster—oops, too

late.

ANYONE WANT A SIBLING? SIX HUNDRED OF THEM?

RICKY's older siblings all have the typical older sibling

syndrome—bullying. RICKY gets away to find BATTY telling

superhero stories about BATBUNNY to his younger siblings. BATTY

casts himself as BATBUNNY's sidekick. RICKY secretly desires to

become the superhero BATBUNNY. In BATTY's version he's always

having to rescue RICKY. RICKY's new problem is they like BATTY

more than him.

ASTRAL PROJECTION ANYONE?

RICKY doesn't really believe BATTY's tall tales of his mystical

training at SOOB, the Secret Order of the Bats, until one day he

finds the secret manual. He reads it and learns to astral

project, only he always hits his head. BATTY is annoyed that

RICKY has found the manual (it was left out in the open). RICKY

starts to get interested in BATTY's arch nemesis—THE MASTERMIND,

a giant brain that his henchmen have to keep moist in a swimming

pool full of jello. Along the way the truth comes out that BATTY

is jealous that RICKY can astral project—he never learned

himself. Of course, when RICKY wakes up he goes back to thinking

BATTY made the whole SOOB business up.

BEST BUDS DO EVERYTHING TOGETHER

When RICKY and BATTY learn that best buds do everything

together, RICKY tries to sleep in the daytime like BATTY,

hanging upside down in his closet. He starts to doze and falls

on his head. When night finally arrives he tries to stay awake

all night eating bugs like BATTY. He starts dreaming while awake

and ends up face to face with the MASTERMIND.

JACKALOPES AND COWBOYS

BATTY scares RICKY's younger siblings with urban myths about

jackalopes! They're ghost rabbits with devil horns that do

terrible things—too terrible to mention. RICKY gets the idea of

trying to be a cowboy. They take the rabbit express to the open

range and begin doing cowboy things like trying to lasso prairie

dogs. RICKY seems to like being a cowboy until they realize they

don't know what cows are (they're surrounded by them). They

setup their tent for the night and hear strange sounds—moooo.

They wake up terrified—it's the Jackalopes! They run into the

cows and get covered in ectoplasm! At home, RICKY's brothers

inquire why they're covered in milk.

SPELUNKIN ANYONE?

RICKY gets excited about spelunkin. It becomes the little

rabbit’s favorite new word. BATTY even makes a song about it.

RICKY and BATTY are all set to try this occupation until RICKY

discovers that it's done in caves—IN THE DARK! RICKY never told

BATTY he's afraid of the dark.

YUKON HO! HO! HO!

RICKY decides to become a dog-sled driver. He hitches up his

younger brothers and sisters as the dogs. BATTY gets a little

mixed between dog-sledding and sledding down a giant mountain.

RICKY and BATTY go sliding down, dragging the little ones

behind. Things finally work out when they give Santa and his

reindeer a tow out of a snow bank.

(Note that sometimes you'll find logic problems in your stories—

for example Ricky is the youngest bunny, yet in this episode he

hitches up his younger brothers and sisters as sled dogs. You

need to make decisions to fix these kinds of problems. I decided

to make Ricky the oldest responsible one.)

A FOREST FOR THE TREES

BATTY can't see the forest because of all the trees when RICKY

tries lumberjacking. They can't make a dent in one of the big

trees but get into more trouble when they pick a tree owned by a

crazy squirrel. The squirrel chases them to the river where they

learn log rolling—right to the edge of the WATERFALL!

RICKY THE BAT

RICKY decides to be like BATTY and be a bat. BATTY tries to

teach him echolocation using a mirror but in the dark RICKY

keeps banging into it. BATTY tries to demonstrate but finds he

can't do it anymore. He doesn't realize its because he has the

hiccups.

A DAY AT THE BEACH

The Rabbit family decides to go on a family outing for Carrot

Day. They go to the beach and RICKY tries surfing. Surfs up

until they mistake BATTY for a shark.

THE CARROT COOKIE SECRET RECIPE

RICKY gets the job of guarding the family’s secret recipe for

their carrot cookies. He misplaces the recipe and thinks the

MASTERMIND stole it, especially when he sees the green jello.

RICKY’S PRIVATE LANGUAGE

In his quest to be unique, RICKY invents a private language. The

problem is that no one understands him, including BATTY.

BATTY THE VAMPIRE

When BATTY trips and is missing from the family photo, rumors

spread that BATTY is really a vampire! It so happens that that

day BATTY got his eyes checked and they're dilated and extremely

sensitive to daylight. RICKY is terrified but can't tell his

best bud that he's afraid that he's a vampire.

BATTY THE BETTER BUNNY

BATTY pretends to be a bunny and is a better bunny than RICKY.

He's able to memorize all the Rabbit Rules, like don't run with

pointy carrots. RICKY tries to be a better bat than BATTY. In

the end, friends don't care if you're a bat or a bunny.

BATTY’S BLOG

BATTY starts a blog and gets his own fan site. RICKY's

incredibly jealous, until they discover the MASTERMIND is behind

the fan site and knows too much about them.

EPISODE SEEDS

Ricky the Sheep Dog

Yo Ho, It's a Pirate’s Life

Ricky the Stuck-up Movie Star

Ricky Pro Skater

Fire Bunny

Trouble with Being an Angel

No Carrots on the Chain Gang

Clowning Around

Escape Artist

Ricky's Rocket Pack

Alien Encounters

This Isn't a Toga Party, I'm Zeus

A Little Pot of Gold

Don't Look at Us, We're Spies

Sheep Herders, Why Do They Have to Climb so High?

Five Minutes or Less, Hot Pizza!

Cro-Magnon Bunny

Pachyderms! or Why Does my Trunk Smell like an Old Sock?