Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      How to Draw a Bunny

      Released Jan 12, 2004 1h 38m Documentary List
      81% 27 Reviews Tomatometer 82% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score The cartoon rabbit that was artist Ray Johnson's signature serves as the inspiration for the title of this documentary that examines the work, life and untimely death of this one-of-a-kind artist. Interviews of fellow contemporary artists like Christo and Billy Name shine a light on the professional work and private life of Johnson, while archival video shows him in his element creating his unique artwork that combined everything from Pop Art images, rubber stamps and collage. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (61) audience reviews
      Howard M Anyone who thinks writing about a little girl choking to death is an asshole. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/16/23 Full Review Audience Member A great film about art with a beautiful little suicidal (?) note at the end. Arthur Millers take note: This is how a man swims offstage if he must! When drawing bunnies or making any art, it's important to know who you are as an artist. Are you a Courtney Love, who attacks a teenager for their album art because Love is no longer relevant and is upset about that? Or are you Elvis Costello, who recognizes he's just one thief in a long list of thieves who pillaged Chuck Berry's work for pay, so Olivia Rodrigo can certainly do that too? Do you forgive the thieves like yourself, or do you try to punish them like Love to keep your own work in the news? Each are artistic strategies, only you can know your karma. Let's take it back to the Bible, shall we? No one likes the beginning where we learn the history of the Tree of Creation or Beget--as Blah beget Blah beget Blah goes on page after page. If you are bored by this list of progenitors, we can definitely put an end to such pop culture progenitors as well, because (fart sounds) SHARE AIR YOU MOTHERF$%KERS! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Even the people they asked to talk in this documentary didn't know the guy. Sorry people I was not impressed. Very tedious and non interesting and I like the idea of this guys art but I don't know If I'm a fan of his work. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Ray Johnson made art, he did his thing, he had a creative surplus of ideas flowing in his noggin, he wasn't focused on fame or money, he found joy in expressing himself in mostly unlucrative mediums. He had a lot of personality, he carried himself as a wonder. This documentary covers all that, pulling dead talent out of obscurity, for a collage artist reborn from the ashes of infamy, featuring this, that and Warhol, during the pop art days in New York. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member While the work of Ray Johnson seems very interesting, and his death enigmatic, I'm having trouble making it through this documentary. The thing is, Johnson was so reclusive and enigmatic, that nobody has much to offer about him other than variations of "I didn't really know the guy but he sent me this really cool postcard once." I think I would be better served with a book of his artwork than this so-far static documentary. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Limited audience biopic. To the extent anything about abstract artist Ray Johnson lends itself to the description "straight-forward", "How to Draw a Bunny" is a straight-forward documentary about the man's life. The films spends some time on building mystery over Johnson's eventual suicide at 62 but the mystery turns out to be a little less surprising than the ending of "Titanic". Otherwise the documentary traces Johnson's life from childhood through the growth of his reputation in the abstract art community presenting mostly unknown contemporaries with the exception of Christo and his wife Jean-Claude. These friends, fellow artists and others can give little insight into understanding Johnson's remote collages or his unusual behavior. Ultimately, whether you enjoy the film depends on whether you find an interest in Johnson 's art and life which limits the audience for the film severely. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      88% 91% The Devil and Daniel Johnston 99% 90% Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time 70% 78% In the Realms of the Unreal 80% 80% Bodysong 94% 70% Cinévardaphoto Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Photos

      View All How to Draw a Bunny photos

      How to Draw a Bunny

      View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (27) Critics Reviews
      Roger Moore Orlando Sentinel A coherent statement of mystery at the beginning and a resolution of that mystery at the end don't make up for the general repetition and tedium in between. Rated: 3/5 Jun 11, 2004 Full Review Chris Vognar Dallas Morning News Worth seeing, especially for anyone interested in American art history. Rated: B+ Jun 3, 2004 Full Review Jeff Shannon Seattle Times Serves as worthy tribute to a true original, an 'artist's artist' for whom life itself was a singular mode of expression. Rated: 3/4 Apr 30, 2004 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) The film itself becomes not so much a portrait of Ray Johnson as a collage. Maybe that's exactly as it should be. Rated: 4/5 Apr 7, 2010 Full Review Dan Schneider culturevulture.net Simply put, Ray Johnson was neither good nor original. All that he did in his 'art' was done before and better by others. That the same can be said of his documentarian's film may be a small synchronicity, but that's all it is. What it is not is art. Mar 27, 2007 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4.5/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis The cartoon rabbit that was artist Ray Johnson's signature serves as the inspiration for the title of this documentary that examines the work, life and untimely death of this one-of-a-kind artist. Interviews of fellow contemporary artists like Christo and Billy Name shine a light on the professional work and private life of Johnson, while archival video shows him in his element creating his unique artwork that combined everything from Pop Art images, rubber stamps and collage.
      Director
      John W. Walter
      Producer
      Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith
      Distributor
      Elevator Pictures, Palm Pictures, Moticos Motion Pictures Inc., Mr. Mudd
      Production Co
      Elevator Pictures, Mr. Mudd, Moticos Motion Pictures Inc.
      Genre
      Documentary
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jan 12, 2004, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Sep 21, 2004
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $2.7K
      Runtime
      1h 38m