Watership Down (film)
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| Watership Down | |
|---|---|
 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) Harry Andrews (voice) |
| Music by | Mike Batt (song "Bright Eyes") (sung by) Art Garfunkel Angela Morley Malcolm Williamson (incidental music) |
| Editing by | Terry Rawlings |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 1, 1978 (UK) November 1, 1978 (US) |
| Running time | 101 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Watership Down is an animated film directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book Watership Down by Richard Adams. It was released in October 1978 and was largely financed by Jake Eberts' company, Goldcrest Films. After a slow start upon release, it became the sixth most popular film of 1979 at the British box office.[1]
The film featured the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, 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.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The movie begins with a prologue, explaining the creation of the world as seen by rabbits: El-ahrairah, the rabbit prince, is blessed by the sun, who is known by rabbits as "Frith". "Frith" is seen as a god by the rabbits. The rest of the film is mostly formed around the basis of this tale.
After we get a glimpse of the story's setting, the movie begins. Fiver, a weak and nervous runt rabbit, and his brother Hazel live together in the shelter of a rabbit warren, called the Sandleford Warren. Although we don't know at first, Fiver actually has a secret sixth sense. He can see the future. While Fiver and Hazel are outside, Fiver sees something. A wooden post sticking out of the ground. He begins to have a horrible vision of Sandleford being destroyed. He complains to Hazel of his vision and, although not so sure at first, Hazel believes Fiver and they decide to tell Threarah, the Warren's Chief Rabbit.
When going to see the Chief Rabbit, they meet Bigwig, a member of Sandleford's owsla (the "military" of a rabbit warren). Bigwig decides to let the two brothers see Threarah ("Look, Bigwig, when have I ever asked to see the Chief Rabbit before?"), but Bigwig is told otherwise by Holly, the captain of the warren's Owsla. Bigwig does not do what he is told and lets Fiver and Hazel see Threarah. Hazel tells Threarah about what Fiver saw. The Chief Rabbit thinks they are insane, and sends them away. Threarah then scolds Bigwig for not listening to his orders from Holly.
Later that night Fiver, Hazel, and at least 20 other rabbits that have heard about Fiver and Hazel's plans, all leave the warren. But as they escape, many of them are arrested by the owsla. The lineup of escapees is shortened to 8 rabbits: Hazel, Fiver, Dandelion (a rabbit who seems to be friends with Hazel), Pipkin (a small runt rabbit. Like Fiver, only smaller), Blackberry (a large, quiet rabbit), Silver (Threarah's nephew) Violet, and Bigwig, who has left owsla. They are then confronted by Captain Holly. A fight soon starts between Hazel and Holly, but Bigwig is able to break up the fight after it starts. Holly flees back into the warren and the rabbits move on through the forest.
The rabbits soon come to a shore. They cannot swim across it and, to make matters worse, a nearby dog sees the rabbits. The group thinks quick and, thanks to Blackberry, find a wooden plank to carry them across the water. After traveling across a road, the group decides to rest. While the other rabbits nap, Violet wakes up and finds food. As she quickly devours the grass, a nearby hawk swoops down, picking her up and carrying her away, shortening the lineup to 7 rabbits.
After escaping from a rat-infested cemetery, the group meets Cowslip. Cowslip is a sleazy, gentlemen-like rabbit who is nice and lets the group stay in his warren. Although the rabbits are completely oblivious to the fact that Cowslip is hiding something, Fiver is suspicious. He decides to run away and go off on his own when, all of a sudden, Bigwig is caught in a snare. Fiver runs for help. Bigwig is rescued, but apparently dead. He is given a short funeral, when he opens his eyes. He is wounded fatally and nearly dead but decides to go on with the group.
It is then that the rabbits discover Nuthanger Farm. They rest under a wagon. Hazel wakes Pipkin up and they explore the farm. they eventually find hutch rabbits. They decide to rescue them, But Pipkin is scared because a cat has just caught sight of him. Hazel and Pipkin have to leave early, but vow to come back for the hutch rabbits, later. After a chase, the rabbits leave the farm.
While walking, the begin to hear strange noises. The rabbits are frightened. But, out of the shadows steps a wounded pale rabbit. It's Captain Holly! He tells the rabbits of the destruction of the warren. He then mentions a warren he found called Efrafa. He then faints before he can tell them about Efrafa.
Fiver finds a hill called Watership Down. They climb it and eventually find an empty warren that they can live in.
Bigwig discovers a seagull named Kehaar. Kehaar has a broken wing and cannot fly. His wounded wing forced him to take refuge on Watership Down. Meanwhile, Hazel realizes they have no female rabbits since Violet was killed by the hawk. Thus, they cannot have kittens. Kehaar offers to help the rabbits find mates in order to repay Bigwig for helping him find food. Kehaar flies into the sunset as the rabbits wait for him to return when he finds mates.
A few days pass by and Kehaar has not returned. Thinking that Kehaar has betrayed the rabbits, Hazel, Dandelion, and Blackberry go to Nuthanger Farm to rescue the hutch rabbits they met. But, while the gang is trying to set the hutch rabbits free, two farmers hear strange noises coming from the barn. They enter the barn, one armed with a shotgun. As Hazel, Dandelion, and Blackberry are about to escape with the hutch rabbits, the farmers return them to their hutches. Hazel, Blackberry, and Dandelion run. A farmer fires one shot from his gun, piercing Hazel on the leg and wounding him. Hazel's friends watch in shock as the farmers argue wether or not Hazel was shot. Blackberry and Dandelion return to Watership with the news of Hazel's death. But Fiver knows Hazel is not dead. After searching the farm, Fiver finds Hazel only wounded on the leg, not killed. Fiver brings Hazel back to the down.
The next morning, Kehaar returns to Watership Down. Fiver tells Kehaar about Hazel's wounded leg. Kehaar knows what to do, he simply removes the bullets from Hazel's leg. Hazel asks what Kehaar found. He found no mates, but found Efrafa. Holly resumes telling the rabbits of Efrafa. It is a very strict warren, not too far away from Watership Down.
Later, Bigwig volunteers to infiltrate Efrafa and get does to come to Watership with him. Bigwig is captured by Efrafans and brought to Efrafa. He meets the Chief Rabbit of Efrafa, General Woundwort. Bigwig talks to him. The General lets him join Efrafa. Bigwig becomes a member of Efrafa's owsla and meets Hyzenthlay and Blackavar, two rabbits Holly mentioned in his description of Efrafa. Hyzenthlay is a very rebellious young doe who is being watched by the owsla in case she tries to escape. Blackavar has tried to escape Efrafa regularly to the point where he is used as an example of what will happen to an Efrafan if they try to escape. He talks them into going to Watership Down, along with several other does.
At sunset, Bigwig, Blackavar, Hyzenthlay, and a few other does escape to Watership Down. Efrafa's owsla chases behind them. When the owsla catches up, Kehaar attacks them, allowing the escapees to get to Watership Down.
Days later, Pipkin exclaims that General Woundwort and Efrafa's owsla are going to attack Watership Down. The rabbits of Watership Down hide inside the warren, when Hazel has an idea. Hazel has Hyzenthlay and Blackberry wait in hidden locations between Watership and Nuthanger Farm, while he and Dandelion head to the farm, where Hazel tries to awaken the farm's dog. Meanwile, at Watership Down, General Woundwort has entered the warren. The rabbits retreat to another part of the warren, where they conceal Bigwig under loose dirt. Blackavar confronts his old chief and the General kills him easily. As Woundwort continues through the warren, he passes over the buried Bigwig, who reveals himself and strikes. They both fight, nearly until death. Back at the farm, the dog awakens and chases Dandelion. Dandelion leads the dog to where Blackberry is hiding, then hides himself; when the dog catches sight of Blackberry, the dog chases him. Similarly, Blackberry leads the dog to Hyzenthlay's hiding place, at which point the dog chases Hyzenthlay back to Watership. The dog spies the invading Efrafa rabbits and begins to attack them, and the commotion brings Woundwort out of the warren. The dog catches sight of Woundwort and pounces at him. Woundwort, uncharacteristically for rabbits but characteristically for him, pounces back. The outcome of this duel is not revealed, but the dog most likely killed Woundwort. (The narration explains that Woundwort's body was never found, but his memory becomes a ghost story that local rabbit parents use to frighten their children.)
The film ends with an epilogue. Years later, Hazel is Hazel-rah (lord Hazel) chief rabbit of Watership Down. He is old and his warren is thriving. El-ahrairah comes to him, revealing himself to also be the Black Rabbit of Death, and invites Hazel to join his owsla. Lines from the opening creation myth are repeated as Hazel passes on and follows El-ahrairah into the Lapine afterlife.
[edit] Comparison to the novel
[edit] Similarities
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
Several changes were made to the novel's storyline in the film adaptation. Some of the most significant include:
- In the book, eleven rabbits leave Sandleford Warren, all bucks, and all of them survive to reach Watership Down. In the film, eight rabbits leave Sandleford. Seven are characters from the book, the eighth is a doe, Violet, who is killed by an eagle during the journey. The other four original Sandleford bucks - Acorn, Speedwell, Hawkbit, and Buckthorn - do not appear in the movie.
- The order in which some events occur is re-arranged, and the length of time spent in different places is changed. For example: in the movie Pipkin and Hazel make their first visit to Nuthanger farm during the journey to Watership Down. In the book they make their first visit much later, after the journey is over and they've been settled on Watership Down for a while. Additionally, in the movie the rabbits find Holly before finding the down, whereas in the novel they find him later.
- The Watership Down warren is significantly smaller in the movie at the time of their expedition to Efrafa. By that point in the book it had grown to seventeen rabbits: the original eleven plus Strawberry (who joined them from Cowslip's warren), two other Sandleford survivors (Holly and Bluebell), and three hutch rabbits liberated from the farm (Clover, Boxwood, and Haystack). In the movie they are still only a band of eight - the original seven plus Holly. In the movie, all the hutch rabbits are re-captured by their human owners and never make it to the Down, while Strawberry and Bluebell do not appear at all.
- Some characterizations are changed. For instance, the character of Silver takes on some of the attributes and actions of the absent Hawkbit, and Dandelion's primary roles in the book as the group's best scout and storyteller are almost entirely absent; his storytelling ability is alluded to a couple of times, but he never actually tells a story or does any scouting in the movie.
- Hawkbit, Speedwell, and Acorn challenge Hazel's authority at one point in the book and suggest they should all go back to Sandleford. With those characters absent in the movie, it is Dandelion, Silver, and Pipkin who challenge Hazel. This move is completely out of character at least for Pipkin, who in the book always displayed absolute loyalty to Hazel.
- In the novel, Hazel and his companions dig Watership Down Warren themselves, under the direction of Strawberry. In the film, Fiver finds an empty warren already dug that they move into.
- Blackavar is killed by General Woundwort; in the novel, this does not happen.
- In the novel, when Holly finds the group he says he was attacked by Cowslip. However, in the film, it was the Efrafans who attacked Holly.
- In the novel, Hazel has a much more significant interaction with the girl at the farm, leading him to change his attitude about humans somewhat. In the film, the girl who rescues Hazel from the cat is never seen; instead, the scene ends with Hazel still under the claws of the cat, and Hazel is seen unharmed and free when we next seem him, with no mention of any overt rescue by humans, though one is led to assume that the girl somehow convinced the cat to let Hazel go.
[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] Major cast
[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 in which they dressed as rabbits and parodied the film.
- Quite a few of the actors who provided voices for Watership Down also starred in the BBC adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Michael Hordern (Gandalf/Frith); Simon Cadell (Celeborn/Blackberry); Richard O'Callaghan (Merry/Dandelion); and Michael Graham Cox (Boromir/Bigwig).
- John Hurt, who voiced Hazel in the film, returned to voice General Woundwort in the later Watership Down animated TV series.
- John Hurt and Nigel Hawthorne also starred in the animated film of another novel by Richard Adams, The Plague Dogs, as Snitter and Dr. Robert Boycott respectively.
- Mike Batt, who wrote "Bright Eyes", also wrote another song for the film which was not used. The song, "Losing Your Way in the Rain", has a very similar feeling and arrangement, and was recorded by ex-Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone in 1979. It was later re-recorded by Art Garfunkel and used in the animated TV series.
- The Musical group "Bright Eyes" has a song named "Watership Down", alluding to Art Garfunkel's song from the film.
- In a scene from Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Gromit turns on a radio which then starts playing "Bright Eyes".
- The musical group Gravenhurst have a song called 'Flowers In Her Hair' on their mini album "Black Holes In The Sand". The song contains the line "there's a dog loose in the wood", a line spoken by Bigwig in the film.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Watership Down. Toonhound. Retrieved on December 18, 2006.
[edit] External links
| 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 - Hyzenthlay - 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 |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1978 films | British films | Animated films | Films based on fiction books | Watership Down | Drama films | English-language films | Independent films | Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
