DVD Review: Watership Down Deluxe Edition
Goldcrest, Warner Bros. Film Directed By Martin Rosen
Oct 8, 2008
In 1978, first-time director Martin Rosen took Richard Adams' children's book and turned it into one of the most under-appreciated animated films of all time. Mixing rabbit myth with taut storytelling, Watership Down evokes a world as realistic as it is wondrous.
What's It About?
Fiver (Richard Briers), a runty rabbit living in rural England, has a terrible vision. The warren is about to be destroyed, and his fellow rabbits must find another home before they're all killed. Fiver's older brother Hazel (John Hurt) believes him, as does the muscular Bigwig (Michael Graham Cox), but not the Chief Rabbit. He forbids them to speak of it again, lest they cause a needless panic.
Eluding the Chief Rabbit's security forces, Fiver, Hazel and their companions start seeking another home, one that won't be destroyed by encroaching humans. Their journey takes them past countless dangers, bloodthirsty predators - and the occasional ally - until they find the home they've been seeking. And that's when the wandering rabbits encounter their greatest peril: a rival warren, ruled by the deranged General Woundwort (Harry Andrews).
The cel animation is well done. The characters are sometimes a little jerky in their movements, but the backgrounds are stellar. Add Angela Morley's haunting score, and a powerful sequence featuring Art Garfunkel singing Mike Batt's "Bright Eyes," and you have a film that lingers in one's memory long after the final credits roll.
This is a British production so the story's pacing is a little more leisurely than most children's fare: this isn't a bad thing (far from it) but it's something to keep in mind.
Also be warned: Watership Down is unflinching in its depiction of a rabbit's life. As The Black Rabbit says in the prologue, "All the world will be your enemy . . . And when they catch you, they will kill you."
These rabbits have countless enemies: from a hawk that sees rabbits as lunch, to a farm cat that kills for the sadistic joy of it. It's realistic, not gratuitous, but those who think Disney paints an accurate picture of forest life won't like this more accurate vision of the food chain.
Extra Bits
There are a couple of fascinating featurettes here: "Watership Down: A Conversation With the Filmmakers" features scriptwriter/director Martin Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings discussing how the film came together. "Defining a Style" shows various animators, artists, and voice actor Joss Ackland (The Black Rabbit) discussing how they visualized Richard Adams' characters, and the English countryside.
Finally, "Storyboard to Screen" takes 4 segments and shows how they translated from initial vision to final product.
The Final Analysis
Watership Down is about as far from your typical Disney or DreamWorks product as you can get while still remaining in the realm of animated film. There are no sickeningly cute supporting characters, no topical references, and it's fearless in its depiction of death and destruction. But it's also a brilliant story that's beautifully animated. More parents will flip out over the occasional disturbing scene than their kids will.*
Sure, your kids can learn important life lessons about friendship and perseverance from a DVD featuring plastic dolls. But why settle for garbage when you don't have to? Watership Down gets an 9/10.
*"KIds are quite keen on blood, as long as it's being shed by the deserving," award-winning novelist Terry Pratchett once observed. "Or not. You never know with some kids."
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