Watership Down (or Blood, blood, bunnies and blood!!!)

You can file this one under "I'm checking this out because I have fond memories of it from my childhood and they were playing the song on Big Brother the other day". All I remember of the film from my younger and more vulnerable years is that I loved the bunnies and the ending scared the shit out of me. I don't think it scarred me for life like many people claim but it certainly left a mark.

Watching it again made me realise how much I miss the more classic style of animation. You know, the one that has been killed of by CGI. I don't think computers can come close to the beauty of a watercolour multi-plate background. Watership Down has some stunning animation and some that is not so great but it never looses its charm. On top of that there is a real sense of doom that bleeds through the scenes. Perhaps that is why the film is so enduring; it is not a patronising piece of animation that panders to the kiddies like most of the pap they are fed today (or back then, to be fair).

There is plenty of blood and death and some chillingly depressing scenes. When these rabbits attack, they go tooth and nail. Fur flies! And whenever there is blood, the flies come quickly. Ah, nature.

Richard Adams' original novel is a hefty tome and its distillation into a film has left a plot holes big enough for a rabbit warren. It is very episodic and by the end, when it settles down it seems a little underdeveloped. Don't worry, the kids won't mind, they will be too busy shitting themselves.

If you need a reminder...


Have a good night's sleep!

Tags: movie review, animation