Watership Down (film)
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.
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.
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" (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.
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.
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)