Animation is usually Disney/Pixar’s department but there were several animated movies released not under that title. Watership Down is one of those movies. Based on the book by Richard Adams, it was released 6 years after the book, in 1978. It features many actors including John Hurt, Richard Briers, and Michael Graham Cox. It is a disturbing movie with action and adventure genres mixed in. Not really an adult movie but not a kid’s movie either.
The story is based around a group of rabbits who are living peacefully in their warren when one of the rabbits, Fiver, has a vision of a lot of blood running through the fields. He and his brother, Hazel, try to convince the chief of their warren to get everyone out before it's too late. He does not agree. They take about 10 other rabbits with them to try and find a better place to live, all based on Fiver’s apocalyptic vision. The movie is based around them trying to find the perfect home while also tackling other obstacles.
There is even an opening scene in the form of a fable where a god, Frith, made all animals including El-ahrairah (also known as Prince of a Thousand Enemies) or, in our case, a rabbit. However, the rabbit disobeyed Frith’s orders of telling his people not to eat all the food, so he made predators to always hunt the rabbit. While this occured, he also made the rabbit cunning enough to avoid these predators. The animation in this scene is unlike the rest of the movie, being cartoon-like instead of more realistic animation.
There are many underlying themes of the movie, taken from the book. One of them seems to be a sense of religion, but not quite the praising of it, more of a fear and awe of a higher power. There is also the Black Rabbit, who is considered a sort of Grim Reaper, a messenger of Frith. When the Black Rabbit calls your name, you must go with him and accept your fate. Around this time, death was never discussed in animated movies, so this movie shows that animation can be for an older audience as well. Another message is the theme of heroism and giving up your life for the sake of others. Selflessness is something discussed lightly in children’s movies but Watership Down takes it to a more personal and drastic measure.
As far as the acting goes, all the voices of the rabbits are British and intelligent. This whole movie could be replaced with the actual actors and it would still be good, just because all of them do a really good job being involved with their character. John Hurt is the star of the movie and rightly so, it’s hard to tell that rabbits shouldn’t talk after watching this movie just from his performance.
Animated movies released around this time were Robin Hood, The Rescuers, and The Hobbit. I really enjoyed the realistic take on the animation, making the graphic scenes even more disturbing. Blood was not hidden, but rather exaggerated when somebody was murdered or mauled. With such a display of violence, I would not recommend this movie for children, or even teenagers for that matter. I am glad I watched it at an older age or I feel like I would be scarred as a kid after watching this movie.
The only downfall of the movie is the introduction of the character Keehar, a bird. It seemed he was introduced for comic relief, but it felt a little off-putting. With the movie being serious all the way through besides this character, it felt like it was trying to be a child and adult movie at the same time but the introduction of a character like Keehar does not change it. Although it might have worked in the context of the novel, the movie does not do a good job with this. He is important to the plot of the story but making him serious, I feel, would make it a more adult-oriented movie, which it already is with all the graphic scenes, so it would only help its case. He also has an outrageous accent that really puts him out of place.
Overall, looking at this movie from a serious standpoint, it has a lot to offer. I am not sure if the movie was marketed as a children’s movie, but I hope that it wasn’t. I am giving it a 4.5/5, only because of Keehar. This is a very interesting movie that focuses on themes and plot points not seen in other animated films which raises the standard for what animated films could be.
