Watership Down (TV series)
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| Watership Down | |
|---|---|
 The Watership Down title card. From left to right: Pipkin, Bigwig, Hazel, Blackberry, and Fiver. |
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| Genre | Fantasy Children's television |
| Format | Animated cartoon |
| Composer(s) | Mike Batt |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom Canada |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CITV, YTV |
| Original run | September 28, 1999 – December 4, 2001 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Watership Down is an animated television series, adapted from the novel of the same name by Richard Adams. It was a co-production of Alltime Entertainment of the United Kingdom and Decode Entertainment of Canada,[1] and produced by Martin Rosen, the director of the 1978 feature film adaptation.
Watership Down aired for 39 episodes and three seasons from 1999 to 2001, on both YTV in Canada and CITV in the UK[1], though the latter did not broadcast the third season. It starred several well-known British actors, including Stephen Fry, Rik Mayall, Phil Jupitus, Jane Horrocks, Dawn French, John Hurt, and Richard Briers, among others. Stephen Gately sang a new arrangement of Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes", which had been included in the 1978 feature film, while Mike Batt (who wrote "Bright Eyes") and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra contributed a completely new score.[2] In 2003, the second season was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series.[3]
Some episodes from the adaptation were released on VHS and later, DVD. In October 2005, a Region 2 DVD box set of all three series was released in the UK.
Contents |
[edit] Plot overview
Following the basic plot of the novel, Watership Down follows the lives of a group of rabbits as they leave their endangered warren in search of a safe new home. They travel across the English countryside, braving perilous danger, until they find a hill called Watership Down, where they begin a new warren. However, they are endangered by another warren, Efrafa, which is lead by the fascist General Woundwort, and they are soon forced to defend their home and lives.
[edit] Voice cast
Watership Down was voiced by many familiar faces in the world of British film and television. John Hurt, the voice of Hazel in the film, was reappointed for the series as the voice of General Woundwort, and Richard Briers, the voice of Fiver in the film, appeared in the series as Captain Broom. Comedienne Dawn French, Jane Horrocks, Stephen Fry, Phil Jupitus and Rik Mayall all provided voices, as Buttercup, Hannah, Cowslip, Dandelion and Kehaar, respectively. To a lesser extent, Stephen Gately, who performed the re-working of "Bright Eyes", provided the voice of Blackavar, and comedy actor Stephen Mangan provided the voice of Bigwig and later, Silverweed, replacing Tim McInnerny who provided Silverweed's voice for one episode in Series 1. Oddly enough, Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland was involved and played the role of a new rabbit called Hickory, but only for 3 episodes, to be replaced in Series 3 by Rob Rackstraw who also provides the voice for Captain Campion and various other characters. Of course by Series 3 most of the celebrity voices were gone and were replaced by new actors, with only a few of the original cast decided to stay and reprise their roles.
[edit] Soundtrack
The official soundtrack for the series was produced by Mike Batt with the aid of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He had also gathered an array of stars to provide their voices for some of the songs. As well as Stephen Gately performing Bright Eyes, Art Garfunkel who sung Bright Eyes for the film sang When You're Loosing Your Way In The Rain, Cerys Matthews from the group Catatonia performed Thank You, Stars which was used in the series as a romance theme for Hazel and Primrose and Paul Carrack from the group Mike and the Mechanics performed Winter Song, though the song wasen't used, an instrumental piece was in the 'Winter on Watership Down' two parter. Mike himself sang for the soundtrack, performing the song A View From A Hill which oddily enough was used in the series, but only in the German version and British voice actor Gary Martin provided the narration for the story of Frith's Blessing, though in the TV series, it was Dandelion who told the tale of Frith's Blessing.
[edit] Differences from the novel
Although the story was broadly based on that of the novel, with most characters and many incidents retained, there was an increasing divergence as the series went on, and in later episodes especially some storylines and characters were entirely new.
- Hyzenthlay was replaced by a character called Primrose, and her connection to Efrafa was replaced by a heritage in a warren called Redstone.
- Fiver's power of prescience became more prominent than in the book and film; he goes blank with visions, sometimes telepathic, instead of simply delivering omens, and also speaks mostly in rhyme while in this state (though he speaks normally otherwise).
- Kehaar, in direct contrast to the book, severs his gull-like instincts and becomes attached to the Watership rabbits, even pushing aside his own kind at one point.
- A new character named Captain Broom was added, as a somewhat senile and talkative rabbit.
- Blackberry was changed from a buck rabbit to a doe.
- Woundwort's backstory was altered to include a connection to a warren called Darkhaven.
- The major character of Hannah the female mouse was added for the series. Although a male mouse does appear in the novel as a minor character, his personality is much meeker than Hannah's and he speaks with an Italian accent, while Hannah has a British one like the rabbits.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Decode Entertainment. "Watership Down". http://www.decode.tv/index.php?sid=50
- ^ MikeBatt.com. http://www.mikebatt.com/watershipdown
- ^ Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. "Canada's Awards Database". Accessed April 19, 2008.
[edit] External links
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