Review of Watership Down (1978) by Kenneth E — 04 Mar 2013
Despite the presence of cuddly rabbits, WATERSHIP DOWN is nowhere near innocuous nor family-friendly. Instead, it's a rather dark, sometimes gritty story in which our hopping "stars" endure peril after peril in their quest for freedom.
This film is based on a bestselling British novel by Richard Adams, which explains the edginess of the movie. Indeed, in staying faithful to the book, director Martin Rosen ultimately succeeds in creating an animated work of art that can stand on its own.
Aesthetically, the animation itself can seem a bit rough at times; the production values aren't quite up to Disney standards. (There is, however, a very clever choice of different artistic styles at the beginning where we learn about the creation of animals from the god known as Frith, and some beautiful uses of shadows.
) The real triumph of WATERSHIP DOWN is in the scope of its story, which is richer and more complex than one would expect for a non-Disney or non-Japanese animated feature. (Spoiler alert: it also has a somewhat sad ending.
) Indeed, compared to the likes of other animated features around the year of its release (Bakshi's output and Disney's own THE RESCUERS), it truly stands out. It's also one of the better "adult" animated features around.
Violent though it can be at times, it is not presented as shock value. The vocal performances (led by John Hurt) -- recorded as a radio drama to be set to pictures -- further compliment the maturity of the content as well.
This review of Watership Down (1978) was written by Kenneth E on 04 Mar 2013.
Watership Down has generally received very positive reviews.
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