Act of God Strands Bunny

By C.J. Hirschfield

For the last decade, Twilight the purple bunny has charmed little ones at Children Fairyland’s Bunny Weekend with his one floppy ear, and big smile. But not this year.

“It took an act of God to keep me away,” says a deeply disappointed Jimmy Chin, the man who created, and wears, the costume. Because of horrible storms in the Southeast, Jimmy’s flight home from Florida was cancelled, along with 25 other flights out of Fort Lauderdale that day. He could not get a flight until late Easter Sunday, when all six of his fellow Critters By the Bay costumed characters will have already gone home after performing at the park all weekend.

Critters By the Bay at Fairyland's 2018 Bunny Weekend. image via

The Critters have been part of the Fairyland family since 2004, performing at our various themed holiday events, and always creating an air of excitement and whimsy. Kids love them, and photos taken with Critters create family memories that are cherished.

Formed in 1997, the Critters’ website describes them as “part hobby, part business, part true calling.” They’ve appeared at a wide variety of venues, including parades, ball games, corporate parties, zoos, theme parks, racetracks, grand openings, trade shows, children's hospitals, and even as background extras in a few TV shows (including a segment of Parenthood, filmed at Fairyland).

Jimmy first performed at Fairyland fifteen years ago at the opening of our Old West Junction, playing Yippee Coyote, the most popular of the 18 costume suits that he has created. The strangest? “That would probably be Blip, who I describe as a little lost alien, or a short-tailed space mouse,” he explains.  His Walden the reindeer is always a hit during our holiday festivities.

As a youngster, Jimmy says he was a shy kid who loved cartoons. “Creating and wearing costume characters seemed like a fun way to express myself,” he recalls. “Anonymity gives you courage.”

Costumer/mascot Jimmy Chin has performed at Children’s Fairyland for 15 years.

Jimmy’s day job is as a computer consultant in Silicon Valley, but he has also been Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote at Six Flags, Rikter the Cyberdog, the husky mascot of the San Jose Earthquakes, and the mascot performer for the now-defunct Cyber Rays professional women’s soccer team.

Jimmy built Twilight the purple bunny for an Easter party, and the color and name were inspired by that special time of day when colors and stars inspire. Twilight’s head is made of upholstery foam (“Clean, not used,” Jimmy points out). Plastic struts were used for the ears, and patterned fur is laid over the foam. Trimming, sewing, gluing—all are part of the creative process.

Jimmy Chin, in his popular Twilight the bunny costume, at Fairyland.

But the costume isn’t everything. I’ve observed Jimmy and other Critters as they use techniques to put nervous kids at ease; lowering themselves to kid level, and earning their trust. “Kids have a safety bubble,” Jimmy says. “When you get their trust, the bubble shrinks.”

Jimmy says that his heart sank when he realized he couldn’t be with us this year. “Fairyland is such a magical place, and it’s an amazing feeling for me to perform there,” he says.

This would have been Jimmy’s eleventh Bunny Weekend, and was proud of the fact that he’s never skipped one.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he told me on a phone call from Florida.

We’re gonna miss you, too, Jimmy, but we look forward to seeing one of your many faces at the park real soon.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.