Watership Down 1978

director: Martin Rosen  


Genre

Category

Country

Great Britain

Cast

Synopsis

Richard Adams's best-selling modern classic becomes a dramatic full-length cartoon in the skilled hands of director Martin Rosen and his team of superb animators. Best described as the Long March of Every Rabbit; it is the story of a warren of English rabbits who leave their own home in an instinctual shudder of tribal alarm and found a new burrow on peaceful Watership Down. Along the route occur many of the fears that flesh or fur is heir to. Black rats launch guerrilla attacks; a buzzard picks of stragglers with the whoosh of a long-bow's arrow; a carrot field is mined with garrotting noose; and eventually war has to be fought, with a slave burrow ruled by a rabbit dictator called General Woundwart. It is to be enjoyed as much for its grassroots adventures as for its mystical undertones, which are nicely summed up in Art Garfunkel's Hit 'Bright Eyes'. All ages will delight in its, yes, humanity.

Other Releases

Formats

Available on VHSAvailable on Betamax

Average User Rating: 3 Vote(s)
 
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Average User Rating
Coverscan of Watership Down
Video Cover Thumbnail(s)

Distributor Thorn EMI
Catalogue Number TVA 900682 2
Release Series
Release Date April 1982
Duration: 88m 00s
Printed Classification
Notes
User Reviews:
by Lee James Turnock
Watership Down scarred generations of youngsters with its unsentimental depiction of nature red in tooth and claw, complete with rabbits getting shot, savaged by dogs, caught in snare traps, gassed by property developers and tearing each other apart. Everyone remembers the colourful piss the dog takes and the seagull squawking "PISS OFF!", which should be warning enough that this isn't Disney - not by a long shot. Although the animation can look crude by modern standards, and the all-star voice cast gives the soundtrack the feel of a radio play, Watership Down is still essential viewing for cartoon buffs and anyone looking for an intelligent, thoughtful children's film. Don't expect a happy ending either.