Watership Down

Dir: Martin Rosen

1978

*****

Martin Rosen's 1978 British animated adventure-drama thriller, based on the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams, is one of the toughest cartoons ever made, in that it is full of graphic brutality and abject beauty. It makes me cry each and every time I watch it, without fail. It features the voices of  some of Britain's greats, including John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne and Roy Kinnear, and was the last film work of Zero Mostel (best known for his role in Mel Brook's The Producers), as the voice of Kehaar the gull. It's probably most famous for its score by Angela Morley and Malcolm Williamson and Art Garfunkel's hit single "Bright Eyes", which was written by songwriter Mike Batt. Just thinking of the song makes me want to well up. The film was originally to be directed by John Hubley, who died in 1977. His work can still be found in the film, most notably in the "fable" scene. He was replaced by the film's producer Martin Rosen, which was to be his directorial debut. While much of the film is fantastical and based on mythology, there is something strikingly Orwellian about the story. According to Adams' Lapine language, culture and mythology, the world was created by the god Frith, who represents the Sun. All animals lived harmoniously, but the rabbits eventually multiplied, and their appetite led to a food shortage. At the prayers of the desperate animals, Frith warned the rabbit prince El-ahrairah to control his people, but was scoffed at. In retaliation, Frith gave special gifts to every animal, but some animals he made predators to prey upon the rabbits. Satisfied that El-ahrairah (Now also known as "Prince with a Thousand Enemies") had learned his lesson, Frith also gave the rabbits speed and cunning; while many would seek to kill them, the rabbits could survive by their wits and quickness. However, it's clearly not about rabbits at all. The rabbits themselves are kept rabbit-like, apart from their voices, but this is clearly a human fable about religion, politics and the fight for survival versus the fight for power. After the 'genesis story', which was rendered in a narrated simple cartoon fashion, the animation style changes to a detailed, naturalistic and at times, rather bloody one. There are concessions to render the animals anthropomorphic only to suggest that they have human voices and minds, some facial expressions for emotion and paw gestures, but generally not physically. They don't wear trousers, smoke pipes, drive cars or look like their voice actors. The animation backgrounds are beautiful watercolours but never too detail so no to distract from what is happening in the foreground. Although that said, the backgrounds and locations, especially Efrafa and the nearby railway, are based on the diagrams and maps in Richard Adams's original novel. Most of the locations in the movie either exist or were based on real spots in Hampshire and surrounding areas. Although the film is fairly faithful to the novel, several changes were made to the storyline, mainly to decrease overly detailed complexity and improve the pace and flow of the plot. In addition, the order in which some events occur is re-arranged. Unlike many animated features, the film faithfully emulated the dark and violent sophistication of the book which lead to a few problems regarding its classification. It was released as being suitable for children but has famously been reported to the British Board of Film Classification every year since 1978 by angry parents with upset children. It's a stunning animation, almost like Animal Farm but with bunnies instead of farm animals. It's a British classic and a huge part of my generation's childhood and a cartoon that was never afraid to treat children as intelligent human beings and not complete idiots. I love everything about it.