Watership Down (film)
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| Watership Down | |
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 Poster for Watership Down |
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| Directed by | Martin Rosen |
| Produced by | Martin Rosen |
| Written by | Original novel: Richard Adams Screenplay: Martin Rosen |
| Starring | John Hurt (voice) Richard Briers (voice) Michael Graham Cox (voice) Simon Cadell (voice) |
| Music by | Mike Batt (song "Bright Eyes") Angela Morley Malcolm Williamson (incidental music) |
| Editing by | Terry Rawlings |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 1, 1978 (UK) |
| Running time | 101 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Watership Down is an acclaimed animated film directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book Watership Down by Richard Adams. It was released in 1978 and was largely financed by Jake Eberts' company, Goldcrest Films.
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[edit] Cast and crew
The film featured the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Hannah Gordon, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne and Roy Kinnear, among others, and was the last film appearance of Zero Mostel as the voice of Kehaar, the gull.
Art Garfunkel's British No.1 hit, "Bright Eyes", was also featured, although in a different arrangement from the version released as a record. The musical score was by Angela Morley and Malcolm Williamson.
[edit] Similarity to the novel
Unlike many animated films, the film faithfully emulated the dark and violent sophistication of the book. As a result, many reviewers took to warning parents that children might find the content highly disturbing. This attitude extended to when the animated television series remake was marketed with the producers making an effort to reassure parents that the violence was softened and that the main characters would not be permanently harmed in their adventures.
The aforementioned violence, which includes several bloody scenes, makes it perhaps surprising that it is rated "U" by the BBFC. The PG certificate was not introduced until the 1980s, but the U certificate was retained for both video and DVD releases. The film is also possibly the only U-rated film to include the phrase "piss off"[citation needed] (spoken by Kehaar to Hazel, as in the book). In the United States, the film is rated "PG" by the MPAA.
Some marketers in the US were also worried that the main promotional poster (see above) appeared too dark and may scare some children. The poster is actually showing Bigwig in a snare (his distinctive hair is clearly visible), and the image on the poster did not appear in the film, which has a far bloodier depiction of Bigwig in the snare.
[edit] Differences to the novel
Several changes were made to the novel's storyline in the film adaptation:
- Several characters are deleted, including Hawkbit, Strawberry and Bluebell. Bluebell was a jester-like character who provided a great deal of comic relief in the dark second half of the novel, which is absent in the film (although comic relief is still provided by the gull character Keehar).
- The character of Silver takes on some of the attributes and actions of the absent character Hawkbit.
- In the book, all of the rabbits who left Sandleford Warren with Hazel were bucks and the entire group (with a later addition of Strawberry along the way) survived to reach Watership Down. In the film, the doe Violet is added, only to be killed off before the group reaches Watership Down.
- The order in which some events occur is re-arranged. For example: in the novel, Captain Holly arrives at Watership Down and relates the tale of what happened to Sandleford Warren; later, he is dispatched by Watership as ambassador to Efrafa, after which he returns and relates what happened there. In the film, Holly's time in Efrafa occurs before he reaches Watership, and the two stories are told in one sequence.
- Due presumably to the cutting of Hawkbit, Speedwell, and Acorn, it is Blackberry, Dandelion, Silver and Pipkin who tell Hazel that they think Fiver was wrong and that they want to go back. This move is completely out of character at least for Pipkin, who in the book always displayed absolute loyalty to Hazel, even volunteering for the expedition to Efrafa.
- Other events from the book take place in a shorter amount of time. For example: Hazel and company spend only one night in Cowslip's Warren, rather than days, as in the novel.
- In the novel, Hazel and his companions dig Watership Down Warren themselves, under the direction of the character Strawberry. In the film, Strawberry is absent and Fiver finds an empty warren to move into on Watership Down.
- Some prominent supporting characters in novel, such as Blackberry and Dandelion, have smaller roles in the film.
- Blackavar is killed by General Woundwort; in the novel, this does not happen.
- Late in both the novel and film, Hazel suggests that Dandelion should be the one to tell their story in the event they survive a dangerous mission. However, while Dandelion tells many stories in novel and is often referred to as a great storyteller by the characters and the narrator, he never tells any stories in the film. The only El-ahrairah story to be included in the film is "The Blessing of El-ahrairah", which plays as a prologue.
[edit] Critical acclaim
The movie was nominated for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1979.
In 2004 the magazine Total Film named Watership Down the 47th greatest British film of all time.
In 2006 Channel 4 UK's "The 100 Greatest Cartoons" named "Watership Down" the 85th greatest Cartoon.
[edit] DVD Releases
- Watership Down Deluxe Edition (Region 2, UK) (2005)
- Watership Down 25th Anniversary Edition (Region 4, Australia) (2003)
- Watership Down (Region 1, USA) (2002)
[edit] Trivia
In a scene that was cut from the theatrical version of Donnie Darko but included on the DVD, Donnie's class watches the Watership Down movie.
Gerry Beckley of the 1970s supergroup America penned a theme song for the Watership Down animated film. The song was not used for the film, but the group included it on their 1976 album Hideaway. According to Beckley, singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, who loved the book, helped Beckley with the song offering critiques and suggestions.
The song was also featured in an episode of "The Goodies" where they were dressed as rabbits and parodied the film.
[edit] External links
Watership Down at the Internet Movie Database
| Richard Adams' Watership DownEdit |
|---|
| Novels: Watership Down - Tales from Watership Down |
| Adaptations: Feature film - TV series |
| Characters: Bigwig - Blackavar - Blackberry - Campion - Cowslip - Dandelion - Fiver - General Woundwort - Hazel - Kehaar - Vervain - Minor characters |
| Mythical/story creatures: El-ahrairah |
| Locations: Efrafa - River Enborne - Railway line - Redstone - River Test - Watership Down |
| Other: Chief Rabbit - Concepts in Watership Down - Lapine - Owsla |
