← Back to results
Watership Down
1978 92 min United Kingdom PG 6+
★7.4
Adventure, Animation, Drama
Director: Martin Rosen, John Hubley
🎭 Based on
«Watership Down»
byRichard Adams
Trailers
EN
EN
EN
Description
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.
Budget:
$1M
Worldwide:
$3.71M
Starring
John Hurt
Actor
Richard Briers
Actor
Ralph Richardson
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Animated Feature
Saturn Awards 1979
— Best Fantasy Film
Key opinion
Watership Down is a visually striking and uniquely grim survival fable that subverts expectations of traditional animation through its brutal realism and mature philosophical themes. While it is highly regarded for its artistic ambition and faithfulness to its wildlife-focused source material, it remains a divisive experience due to its unsettling juxtaposition of cute animal protagonists and graphic, life-or-death violence.
| Production | The animation is consistently praised for its realistic, detailed rendering of wildlife and surreal mythic sequences. | |
| Score | The score, featuring Art Garfunkel’s 'Bright Eyes,' provides a pleasant and emotionally resonant atmospheric backdrop to the film's harsh narrative. | |
| Adaptation | The film succeeds in adapting the core plot and mythology of Richard Adams' novel, though it often sacrifices the depth and development of supporting characters in the process. | |
| Accessibility | The film’s target audience is heavily debated, as the combination of child-like animation aesthetics and intense, graphic brutality leaves viewers conflicted over whether it is appropriate for children or meant solely for an adult audience. |