Movies - Watership Down

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Watership Down (film)

	Movies - Watership Down

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. It was largely financed by Jake Eberts' company, Goldcrest Films.

The film featured the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, 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.

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. In the United States, the film is rated "PG" by the MPAA.

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.

Although not explicitly cited, many fans feel that this film's dramatic tone has influenced other animated films about animals to tell stories with an equal dramatic gravity such as Walt Disney Pictures' films, The Fox and the Hound
and The Lion King
.

Possibly the only U-rated film to include the phrase "piss off" (spoken by Kehaar to Hazel, as in the book).

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)

Category:1978 films Category:British films Category:Animated films Category:Films based on fiction books

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Watership Down (film) ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Watership Down (film); it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Movies - Watership Down

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay