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January Q. Irontail
Performer: Vincent Price (original special)
Roger Moore (sequel)
Appears in:
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie

January Q. Irontail is the main antagonist of the Rankin/Bass Easter special Here Comes Peter Cottontail. He was originally nice and was the Chief Easter Bunny one time until one day, a kid accidentally roller-skated over his tail and had to replace it with an artificial iron one, which why he’s called Irontail. Since then, He detested all children and he became wicked. He wants to rule April Valley so he can eliminate Easter and he’ll never be bothered by children again. He has a henchman, a bat named Montressor to fly and assist him. Upon learning that Colonal Wellington B. Bunny has chosen Peter Cottontail as his successor, Irontail proposes a contest to them that whoever delivers the most eggs on Easter will be the new chief Easter bunny and they agreed. Ever a cheater, Irontail sabotages Peter's plan to wake up early by feeding his rooster corn flavored bubble gum. While Peter slept all Easter, Irontail only managed to deliver one egg to a sleeping man and won the contest. He tells his new plans for Easter through the song "The Easter Bunny Always Sleeps" much to the horror of everyone in the valley.

When Peter was given a second chance to deliver his eggs with the Yestermorrowbile owned by Seymour S. Sassafras, the narrator of the special, and piloted by Antione, Irontail sends his spider to sabotage the machine to make it go to other holidays except Easter. When Peter landed on Halloween, he phone his friend Esmerelda the Witch to scare Peter, but that plan backfired and he sends Montressor to get the eggs, only for Peter and Antione to retrieve them. As Peter was about to trade his eggs for Bonnie Bonnet on Christmas Eve, Irontail steals the eggs and flies away on Montressor vowing to hide them where Peter can't find them. Without looking where he was going, he crashes to Santa Claus's sleigh and leaves without the eggs which Santa gives back to Peter. While Peter was ice skating on Valentine's Day, Irontail finally catches up with Peter's egg basket and used his black magic to turn the eggs green in hopes that it'll ruin Peter's plan. Unfortunately for him, Peter finally managed to deliver the green eggs on St. Patrick's Day, officially won the contest, and became the new chief Easter bunny. During the credits, Irontail is shown being demoted to sanitational duty.

Out of the characters from the special, Irontail was one of the few characters that returned in the 2005 Classic Media direct-to-video sequel Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie. Because Vincent Price died in 1993, Roger Moore, known for playing Simon Templar on The Saint and being the third James Bond in the James Bond movies, was brought in to voice the character. In the film, he schemes to get revenge on Peter by teaming up with Jackie Frost to steal the spring of Spring from the April Valley to prevent Easter from coming, only to foiled by Peter and his son, Junior.

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