Remember "Watership Down"?

Colonel Shatner

Have any of you seen the 1978 animated rabbit movie Watership Down? It was an adaptation of Richard Adams novel produced and directed by Martin Rosen, scored by Angela Morley, and voiced by John Hurt, Richard Briers, and Michael Graham Cox. The story is about a plucky band of rabbits leaving their Sandleford warren, moving across very dangerous territory, and starting afresh at Watership Down, but then coming across a band of militarized rabbits led by a rabbit warlord known as Woundwort.

I'm baffled why Watership Down has a U rating, what with fighting, abuse, mauling, and implied mass deaths involving cute animated rabbits. The general tone of the movie feels quite morose and the ending is bittersweet, while some of the more trippy segments would blatantly upset many under tens, so strictly for small children it ain't and it deserves a PG rating. I'd put Watership Down in the same category as the Studio Ghibli movies in terms of moderate violence and handling themes darker than most other Disney movies, without going overboard like some Japanese animation. The score by Angela Morley is memorable and defines the different moments and characters effectively.

There is also a memorable, haunting Big Lipped Alligator Moment where a young rabbit (voiced by Briers) is led into the foggy nightime countryside by the Black Rabbit of Inle (a rabbit Anubis) while Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes" gently plays in the background. The beautiful animation was at its best here. The animation is a bit grimy and slow in places, what being made in the 1970s, but putting things into perspective Disney released the abominable Pete's Dragon and the not so terrible but still so-so The Rescuers around the same time, while there was also the awkward Lord of the Rings movie by Bakshi.

Rick Roberts

I never been interested in seeing this one because it looked like another unfortunate product of animation in the 1970's, save Bakshi films like HEAVY TRAFFIC and FRITZ THE CAT.

Colonel Shatner wrote:

The Rescuers around the same time

The best thing about that film was Madame Medusa animated by late, great Milt Kahl.

John Drake

Colonel Shatner wrote:

There is also a memorable, haunting Big Lipped Alligator Moment where a young rabbit (voiced by Briers) is led into the foggy nightime countryside by the Black Rabbit of Inle (a rabbit Anubis) while Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes" gently plays in the background. .

That scene is totally freaky and probably disturbed an entire generation of children. But Watership Down teaches kids that the natural world can be cruel and is not some hippy-dippy paradise, so it's probably quite good for them to see it. Although they will have nightmares.

Alex

I saw it as a kid and it freaked me out, but good.

It's been a while, the rabbit strangled in a snare gushing blood stayed with my younger sister and me for a long time. Around that same period we also watched Bakshi's Wizards, (which I love), and his LOTR, (I like the battle scenes but the potrayal of the Hobbits, Sam Gamgee in particular, were cringe inducing)

Rick Roberts

Alex wrote:

I saw it as a kid and it freaked me out, but good.

It's been a while, the rabbit strangled in a snare gushing blood stayed with my younger sister and me for a long time. Around that same period we also watched Bakshi's Wizards, (which I love), and his LOTR, (I like the battle scenes but the potrayal of the Hobbits, Sam Gamgee in particular, were cringe inducing)

Well at least he made Frodo Less of a freaken sissy.

I thought WIZARDS wa okay. You saw HEAVY TRAFFIC ? That's his best work ever.

Alex

I didn't see Heavy Traffic until my late 20s. I loved the pinball scenes slowed down and interwoven with the animation.

Despite the criticism against his use of rotorscoping, I find it an artistic feast for the eyes. Especially through a teenage mind.

Wizards & Fire and Ice, mainly due to the collaboration with Frazetta, remain my favorite Bakshi efforts. And yes, Fritz the Cat, which my mom busted me renting from a mom and pop store, is included.

Rick Roberts

Alex wrote:

I didn't see Heavy Traffic until my late 20s. I loved the pinball scenes slowed down and interwoven with the animation.

There is much to love about the film, especially the those shorts of "Mama Pile" and the animation with the song "Maybelline".

You know Bakshi was also behind the revival of Mighty Mouse in the late 80's ? Famous cartoonists like John Kricfalusi and Bruce Timm got their major starts from that show. You should check it out sometime if you hadn't before.

thesecretagent

I watched Watership Down as a young boy and it really upset me. It was possibly the first film to affect me with the subject of death and I remember crying at the end. I read the book much later when I was twelve or thereabouts, and it was really good (no surprise that it was better than the film, all books tend to be). I watched it many years later and thought it was a brilliant piece of animation, though the spirit scene at the end is really weirdly animated. I really think the certfication is wrong though, as a father now, I certainly wouldn't allow my daughter to watch it until I thought she was ready.

Lexi

I watched this too - and it made me really upset. Any film with animals dying tend to do that though - haven't seen Black Beauty, or Bambi to this day )

Colonel Shatner

John Drake wrote:

That scene is totally freaky and probably disturbed an entire generation of children.

Freaky?! Looking at it today at 24 I think it is poignant and touching, while as a child I found it puzzling and suspenseful, but I never found it freaky.

I would've thought the "fields of blood", Bigwig in a snare, the "bad trip" depiction of that warren getting destroyed, the duel between Bigwig and Woundwort, and the dog ravaging rabbits is more potent Nightmare Fuel.

But Watership Down teaches kids that the natural world can be cruel and is not some hippy-dippy paradise, so it's probably quite good for them to see it. Although they will have nightmares.

Diseney is know for being very corporate and soft edged, but now and again the animators and writers sneak something through, like "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective.

Alex

Not always soft. Disney fueled a few of my nightmares as well.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the terrifying fate of wayward youths changed to jackasses in Pinocchio, the implications of what was going to happen to Dumbo's dear mother, the witch from Snow White. etc.

Hardyboy

Talk about freaky--I saw Coraline a little over a week ago, and even now, at my plus-40 age, I found people with button eyes (and the threatened fate of the heroine) to be creepier than anything Stephen King could dream up. It's a great stop-motion animated film, but I can see little kids running from the theaters in terror!

Alex

Oh and Professor Ratigan was voiced by the incomparable Vincent Price. It's no wonder you were suitably impressed, Col Shat!

Napoleon Plural

The song that got rejected in favour of Bright Eyes:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fOZjiDaw4

Colonel Shatner

Here's a interesting fan video

General_Ourumov

Watership Down has always been one of my favourites. A truly superb animation, sad, scary, haunting. Loved it when I was young and I own a copy on DVD today.

For a long time I was looking for a copy of the much sought after soundtrack by Angela Morley (who passed away earlier this year), and I recently got it. The music is absolutely masterful in my opinion. I personally find it difficult to fault the film except for the fact that despite its U rating, as you say it's certainly not for kids.

As an aside, you might be interested to know that my girlfriend has a kind of association with Watership Down. In recent years 'Watership Down: The Musical' has been written by Bob Baker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Baker), who asked her to play the role of Fiver amongst a generally young cast. When the show was on in Cardiff last December, none other than 88-year old Richard Adams turned up to see it, and stayed behind afterwards to tell stories and sign their programmes. I was surprised to learn that he absolutely despised the film version.

Tobias

Colonel Shatner wrote:

Have any of you seen the 1978 animated rabbit movie Watership Down? It was an adaptation of Richard Adams novel produced and directed by Martin Rosen, scored by Angela Morley, and voiced by John Hurt, Richard Briers, and Michael Graham Cox. The story is about a plucky band of rabbits leaving their Sandleford warren, moving across very dangerous territory, and starting afresh at Watership Down, but then coming across a band of militarized rabbits led by a rabbit warlord known as Woundwort.

I'm baffled why Watership Down has a U rating, what with fighting, abuse, mauling, and implied mass deaths involving cute animated rabbits. The general tone of the movie feels quite morose and the ending is bittersweet, while some of the more trippy segments would blatantly upset many under tens, so strictly for small children it ain't and it deserves a PG rating. I'd put Watership Down in the same category as the Studio Ghibli movies in terms of moderate violence and handling themes darker than most other Disney movies, without going overboard like some Japanese animation. The score by Angela Morley is memorable and defines the different moments and characters effectively.

There is also a memorable, haunting Big Lipped Alligator Moment where a young rabbit (voiced by Briers) is led into the foggy nightime countryside by the Black Rabbit of Inle (a rabbit Anubis) while Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes" gently plays in the background. The beautiful animation was at its best here. The animation is a bit grimy and slow in places, what being made in the 1970s, but putting things into perspective Disney released the abominable Pete's Dragon and the not so terrible but still so-so The Rescuers around the same time, while there was also the awkward Lord of the Rings movie by Bakshi.

Yes l have seen it loads of times it is a great film when we got our first video recorder back in the early 80's Watership Down and Airplane were the first films we saw.Watership Down was good for the effects for its time l agree that it should of got a PG there is a little blood letting in this