The Bunny Museum

Cute and Quirky Museum

Unfortunately the Bunny Museum was burned to the ground in the California fire January 2025 and all the bunnies are sadly gone. They are raising funds to rebuild and I am hoping to visit again one day (but it won’t be quite the same).

Another Monday out on the road. A friend was having a birthday meetup in Pasadena, so headed out to have lunch and hang out a bit. As usual, I wanted to explore and wander a bit. Since I spend quite a bit of time in Pasadena area, was wanting something new. Close by was the Bunny Museum, which I had never visited before.

I have heard about this museum for many years, but recalled previously it was only open by appointment. Good news, it is now a museum opened 7 days a week. When you walk in the door, you get the feeling that this won’t take too long, it is only a few little rooms. But, little do you know, it is a whole house full of bunnies, floor to ceiling, over 43,000 bunny items!!! Housed in an old art gallery and photo studio in Altadena. The museum opened at the owners residence in Pasadena in 1993, but have been in the new location in 2017. They were awarded a Guiness Book of Records for the most bunny items in 1999 and again in 2011. The museums collectors have meticulously placed the 1,000’s of bunnies in curated goups around the numerous rooms and hallways. Every inch of the house is covered in bunnies from floor to ceiling. As you enter, turn to the right and you will find a “dining” room and kitchen covered in bunny dishes and food products. Step out onto the patio to see garden statues, zen bunnies with a water feature. Then back out into the house, where you can wander down the long hallways and 6-7 rooms of tons and tons of bunnies. In the far back is a “secret” room that is not kid friendly, where you can see some of the more cruel aspects of society and some fun horror movies posters. There is also another closed off room filled with fluffy cuddly plush and some real rabbits hopping around (with a few cats, as well.) There are interesting little antidotes, fascinating facts and information scattered all around the museum. I would recommend stopping and taking some time to learn a little bit more about bunnies.

This is a tiny sampling of those bunnies that I found interesting, but there is a bunny for everybunny in this museum. Everything from sweet, cute and cuddly to morbid, scary and horror to shiny and smooth ceramic. Miniscual to giant. Crazy to Zen. Pirates to well loved characters to the Easter Bunny well all know and love (to eat). Bunnies pop up in so many ways throughout our lives. I was surprised by the number of bunnies that have been part of my life from childhood through to adulthood.

I also was a little taken aback by the number bunnies encountered in my professional life– Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh’s Rabbit, Alice’s White Rabbit and Thumper were scattered all though out the museum, with Bugs having his own curated section.

One room housed holiday bunnies- Christmas and my favorite- Halloween bunnies. It was a nice display of pumpkin bunnies and witch bunnies that tended towards the cute side of Halloween. Also included bunny skeletons (fake) and Zombie bunnies. Overall a good collection displayed with some orange fairy lights to set the mood and overall ambience. space and room to wander around the museum at your leisure.

I have a prediliction to the creepy, scary, quirky, and oddball sectors of life and there was plenty to find, mostly in the off limits room. With horror movies, Donnie Darko, David Lynch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, playboy bunny references, Kozik smoking bunny, and scads of creepy bunnies,,, it was in heavan (or hell). A grouping of Jackalope brought me back to my childhood camping and reading about the Jackalope at the gift store. There was a small reference to animal testing which I am wholeheartedly against, as well as a display of lucky rabbit feet, which I will have to admit I owned as a kid in the 70’s, before I know better.

It is nice that you can wander the museum freely with no time constraint. You can take your time to examine all the bunnies, read the information cards to learn about all things bunny related. I didn’t know that I liked bunny rabbits, but after visting, I realized how much influence they have had in my life. Donnie Darko is one of my favorite films, David Lynch one of my favorite directors and have collected Dunny figures (which I didn’t notice any at the museum). There are thousands of bunnies that were not my style, but was still able to find so many funky, odd, vintage, etc., it was worth the couple of hours hanging out.

I am an advocate for no testing of animals and the mascot for the movement is a bunny rabbit and it was nice there was a bit of education about that at the museum. I use the bunny free application to check on companies that are against animal testing.

Also managed to be visiting during the end of Chinese New Year in the year of the rabbit.