I talked to Nicolaï Chauvet aka Méko, original creator of Bunny Maloney/Pinpin le Lapin; here’s what I learned
Yesterday, the original creator of Bunny Maloney reached out to me via email and gave me a lot of very interesting behind the scenes information about the show. The images above are mostly from the show’s original pitch bible, which I believe has never previously been made public.
- 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.
2.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.
4.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). Full response to this question attached because I think it’s a very interesting insight as to some of the hurdles this show faced in development.